I have a 6.5 Grendal Howa hunting rifle. Finding hunting ammo for it has been a pain in the butt. I have been able to find Hornady Black 123 grain and Hornady Custom 123 grain ammo, both BTHP.

Of these two, which would you use for deer hunting? Thanks for any advice, its appreciated.

I think either would work. I have some of the black. Got into that caliber earlier this year and feel your pain re: ammo. Good news is it seems to slowly be coming back. Academy has the BTHP about 40% of the time now. I lucked out and found 3 boxes of the Hornady Custom 123 SST's

I've shot the SSTs and the Black with the ELD-match. My rifle likes the ELDs better than the SSTs. I've taken several hogs and a few deer successfully with the ELDs. Neck shots result in DRT.

https://www.nosler.com/6-5-grendel-120gr-ballistic-tip-hunting-ammunition.html

Also start reloading. If you don't want to go all-in get a press, shell holder, seater die and a caliper, and learn to pull bullets from commercial ammo and replace it with an equal or lower weight hunting bullet (like 123 sst). You can tweak seating depth to work on accuracy too. Just make sure coal is not so long as to jam the bullet in your rifle

tandy miller said:

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I think either would work. I have some of the black. Got into that caliber earlier this year and feel your pain re: ammo. Good news is it seems to slowly be coming back. Academy has the BTHP about 40% of the time now. I lucked out and found 3 boxes of the Hornady Custom 123 SST's

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I was able to get 4 boxes of each, so after zeroing, i will have plenty of whichever I use. I originally found some american eagle stuff that is really accurate, but I am a little leery of using that for hunting.

I use the black's but also have some custom's as well just to have extra ammo. I'm sure either is really fine.

Marooned1994 said:

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I've shot the SSTs and the Black with the ELD-match. My rifle likes the ELDs better than the SSTs. I've taken several hogs and a few deer successfully with the ELDs. Neck shots result in DRT.

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I've never shot anything w the ELD-M but that's what my 2 cousins use and I've helped them trail a few deer. Have found them all, but all were good shots. Never found much blood at all, and exit hole seemed small on them.

Yeah, I had similar experience with behind the shoulder shot.....that's why I've gone to taking neck shots.

I shoot the 123 SST's out of mine. Zero issues so far, both on pigs and deer.

My AR is tack driver with the ELD-M. I originally used the ELD-M on some hunts and the animals ran 75 yards more than I wanted with very little blood trail. I dont have has much luck grouping as I would like with the SST but its a better hunting round Ive found.

The ELD-M is a target bullet, no?

tandy miller said:

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The ELD-M is a target bullet, no?

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Yes, this is why the CM gets a bad wrap. People keep shooting animals with target rounds.

We're all dumb once.

IronRed13 said:

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We're all dumb once.

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It's not dumb. It's just the ammo isn't being marketed correctly.
Those SSTs are devastating in flesh whereas the ELD-M group great. The box doesn't say that at Academy.

AggieLostinDallas said:

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IronRed13 said:

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We're all dumb once.

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It's not dumb. It's just the ammo isn't being marketed correctly.
Those SSTs are devastating in flesh whereas the ELD-M group great. The box doesn't say that at Academy.

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Also, they look almost identical to the SST's, except the tip is darker. Still, they say they're match ammo on the box (I believe). I'd think most could infer that match=competition=target

I have read of a lot of people that use ELD-M for hunting and they do well.

123SSTs, 115 Barnes Tac-tx are money.

I love American Eagle 90gr TNTs. Devastating on hogs.

Can't find them anywhere B but b have bc about 100 left.

Which one of you keeps buying out Academy in College Station?!?!



(I know, I know… ammoseek. But haven't been in a rush and didn't want to pay shipping)

All I can find is Black ELD-Ms and BTHPs. I am taking my 9 year old on a drawn hunt and plan to use the 6.5 Grendel, but I cannot find the SSTs or any other hunting rounds. Even after scouring the internet.

Of the 2, I assume the BTHPs would be the best option?

If anyone has any spare SSTs I would pay a pretty penny for a few. Or does anyone have any sources to buy some online?

TIA!

Didn't mean to stir up any controversy over the ELD bullet use. Use whatever bullet you have confidence your rifle shoots the best. Was just sharing my experience.

Yes, the ELD-M is a match bullet designed with target shooting in mind. However, the accuracy with which it shoots from my rifle gives me the confidence to shoot pigs behind the ear or take a doe with a neck shot. In every case, the animal has been DRT. That said, I agree there are better bullets available and especially if one is going to take traditional behind the shoulder shots. I mainly bow hunt, so if I am carrying the grendel it's for pigs or to take a few meat does.

tandy miller said:

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Marooned1994 said:

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I've shot the SSTs and the Black with the ELD-match. My rifle likes the ELDs better than the SSTs. I've taken several hogs and a few deer successfully with the ELDs. Neck shots result in DRT.

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I've never shot anything w the ELD-M but that's what my 2 cousins use and I've helped them trail a few deer. Have found them all, but all were good shots. Never found much blood at all, and exit hole seemed small on them.

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I've taken 4 mule deer and a pronghorn with 147gr ELD Match out of a 6.5 creedmoor with ~2625fps muzzle velocity measured by magnetospeed. Furthest track job was 20 yards on shots from 40yds to 470. They turned the vitals to mush, even after going through the spine on a deer facing away and steeply uphill at 300.

Once I shoot up the berger 156gr bullets for my 6.5-284, I'll probably switch back to using 147gr ELDMs due to availability and price. They kill incredibly well if the person pulling the trigger does their part.

Wonder in the 123s have a different jacket thickness.

So strange how the ELD-Ms have some reviews that say the yare devastating and mostly DRT, while others say very little blood trail and long tracks even on good shots.

jpb1999 said:

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So strange how the ELD-Ms have some reviews that say the yare devastating and mostly DRT, while others say very little blood trail and long tracks even on good shots.

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I would venture to saw that many of those people fall into two categories:
1. Don't know what a "good" shot actually is
2. Liars

Very few people will admit it was their bad shot. It's always some part of the equipment.

Or maybe they don't expand unless they hit bone? You know, because they're match bullets and not designed to expand

Would the SST's have a different jacket thickness than the ELD-M?

jpb1999 said:

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So strange how the ELD-Ms have some reviews that say the yare devastating and mostly DRT, while others say very little blood trail and long tracks even on good shots.

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Bullets and bodies interact in weird ways.

You see the same thing in self defense shootings. Sometimes a single .32 acp is drt while a guy survives 14 hits from a .45.

Its why anecdotal experiences are so wildly varied. Hit a slightly different area on a different animal and you might have two completely different results. I also rarely see barrel length or twist mentioned with anecdotes, and those both matter a lot.

Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Or maybe they don't expand unless they hit bone? You know, because they're match bullets and not designed to expand

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I made the mistake of switching from my normal gutless method to a more traditional gutting when I shot a mule deer doe with a frontal at 40 yds. Figured she was close enough to the truck and it was in the 20s, so I'd just drag her back and put her in the bed and go home. Big mistake. The bullet never touched a bone and there was significant damage from stem to stern. It was a mess.

No one is being forced to use ELDMs or TMKs, but it's kinda funny that people who haven't shot animals with them keep telling those who have why they don't work.

@Tandy: I don't know about jackets between SSTs or different weights of ELDMs, just postulating since the yaw and fragmentation ELDMs do so well is velocity dependent. 1800-1900fps is the threshold IIRC.

NRH ag 10 said:

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Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Or maybe they don't expand unless they hit bone? You know, because they're match bullets and not designed to expand

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I made the mistake of switching from my normal gutless method to a more traditional gutting when I shot a mule deer doe with a frontal at 40 yds. Figured she was close enough to the truck and it was in the 20s, so I'd just drag her back and put her in the bed and go home. Big mistake. The bullet never touched a bone and there was significant damage from stem to stern. It was a mess.

No one is being forced to use ELDMs or TMKs, but it's kinda funny that people who haven't shot animals with them keep telling those who have why they don't work.

@Tandy: I don't know about jackets between SSTs or different weights of ELDMs, just postulating since the yaw and fragmentation ELDMs do so well is velocity dependent. 1800-1900fps is the threshold IIRC.

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Yeah I don't know that much about bullets in general, much less what yaw means lol. It just seems weird that the ELD would act any different than SST's when they look identical. Both just look like a ballistic tip to me

Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Or maybe they don't expand unless they hit bone? You know, because they're match bullets and not designed to expand

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It's a numbers game. Perfect shots with just about any round will do the job. But imperfect shots happen and that when having a bullet that performs is ideal.

Have shot deer and hogs with the black 123 bthp, DRT err time

ELD-M is exactly the same as the A-MAX, but with the newer heat shield tip. It has the interlock core, but don't think it is a bonded bullet. Little bit smaller expansion pocket than SSTs.

SST's have a shorter ogive and a cannelure, more traditional design versus the lower drag. But higher BCs than the ELD's.

Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Or maybe they don't expand unless they hit bone? You know, because they're match bullets and not designed to expand

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… not sure if this is a serious post? They aren't designed to expand, but they do. There's pages and pages on rokslide of kills and info using ELD-Ms. They expand more and at lower velocities than ELD-X due to having a thinner jackets, which could be good or bad. Still it's a great hunting bullet and shouldn't be discounted because it's a match bullet. Same goes for the Berger 215 Hybrid Targets, very much a target bullet but it is an amazing 30 cal projectile for hunting.

jpb1999 said:

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All I can find is Black ELD-Ms and BTHPs. I am taking my 9 year old on a drawn hunt and plan to use the 6.5 Grendel, but I cannot find the SSTs or any other hunting rounds. Even after scouring the internet.

Of the 2, I assume the BTHPs would be the best option?

If anyone has any spare SSTs I would pay a pretty penny for a few. Or does anyone have any sources to buy some online?

TIA!

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I have some SSTs in my ammo bank. I'll let them go at 2x the going rate on GB. I know that it is high but I'm also not really wanting to sell. Just saying if you need some that bad. I'm in CS. Mike [at] Hnatt then a dot com at the end.

I killed several deer with the 123 SST from my Howa mini. Every deer has dropped in it tracks. I load them in Starline brass with IMR 8028XBR.

Did you get the mini action?