Little game of what if here.
What caliber with what twist do you see this bullet as the best fit for a varmint rig ?
What caliber with what twist do you see this bullet as the best fit for a varmint rig ?
6mm 80 gr eld-vt
- Thread starter Fair chase
- Start date
Great question! One I'm also pondering at the moment. For a varmint rig (i.e. coyotes), I think this bullet has 6mm ARC written all over it. I'm already having trouble this season trying to reach out on the far ones with 108gr ELD-M factory ammo (6 ARC, I'm building up brass) because my velocities are way slow (2550 fps, 22" bbl, -20 F) and every 10 yards of range means another 0.1 MIL come-up with that heavy, slow bullet. It would also be awesome in a barrel burning cartridge like the 6mm Creedmoor or in my case, the 243 WSSM. I've got a back burner project brewing to bring back a Browning A-Bolt in 243 WSSM and maybe even do a custom build in that chambering with a Coup De Grace action.
These new ELD-VT bullets seem to be a good answer to a shooting question that hasn't quite been hit upon yet in the precision world: how do you reach out to distant targets in extremely cold weather with a very tough time problem involved? For a coyote hunter, the answer has always been just shoot a small, not so aerodynamic bullet really fast and hold fur out to 400 or so (e.g. 22-250 w/ 55gr V-Max or better yet, 243 WSSM w/55 gr ballistic tip). You don't have much time, if any, to squirt ranges on coyotes, they're moving constantly, and wretchedly cold air (when coyote hunting is at its best) wreaks havoc on you typical "precision rifle" cartridge's dope. The 6mm ARC with the 108 ELD-Ms is a great example where in -20 F air at -650ft DA, every 10 yards means another 0.1 MIL elevation adjustment. Any error there means a miss on a coyote's vitals at 500-600 yards where the smart ones hang up. In my opinion, for bigger, heavily furred northern coyotes, a 6mm/.243 bullet is better for a good, quick ethical kill. All this to say, I'm very much looking forward to getting my hands on some 6mm ELD-VT bullets to play with. For the 80 gr ELD-VT, I'd imagine 6mm Creedmoor would be an awesome cartridge for a bolt gun and 6mm ARC in a gas gun.
These new ELD-VT bullets seem to be a good answer to a shooting question that hasn't quite been hit upon yet in the precision world: how do you reach out to distant targets in extremely cold weather with a very tough time problem involved? For a coyote hunter, the answer has always been just shoot a small, not so aerodynamic bullet really fast and hold fur out to 400 or so (e.g. 22-250 w/ 55gr V-Max or better yet, 243 WSSM w/55 gr ballistic tip). You don't have much time, if any, to squirt ranges on coyotes, they're moving constantly, and wretchedly cold air (when coyote hunting is at its best) wreaks havoc on you typical "precision rifle" cartridge's dope. The 6mm ARC with the 108 ELD-Ms is a great example where in -20 F air at -650ft DA, every 10 yards means another 0.1 MIL elevation adjustment. Any error there means a miss on a coyote's vitals at 500-600 yards where the smart ones hang up. In my opinion, for bigger, heavily furred northern coyotes, a 6mm/.243 bullet is better for a good, quick ethical kill. All this to say, I'm very much looking forward to getting my hands on some 6mm ELD-VT bullets to play with. For the 80 gr ELD-VT, I'd imagine 6mm Creedmoor would be an awesome cartridge for a bolt gun and 6mm ARC in a gas gun.
70 grain nosler ballsitic tip varmint
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