Man I don't want to re-derail this thread but this just isn't how bullets work. Bullets need a minimum impact velocity to perform which is why the minimum velocity they publish doesn't change with the bullet weight. If it was energy dependent, the minimum velocity would change as the bullet weight changes.
It depends on retained velocity and is therefore cartridge dependent. In general, the ELD-X bullets will provide reliable and effective terminal performance up to velocities of approximately 1,600 feet per second. Click here for more information on Hor...
www.hornady.com
Here's a video for illustration purposes (0:45 for shot, bullet has impact energy of probably ~960 ft/lbs at that range)
And other miscellaneous posts from SH. This guy seems to kill elk just fine below 1500 ft/lbs.
Then don’t take a shot you shouldn’t. Bow hunters know this well. Guess everyone that bow hunts elk are idiots. You must have autism or something.
www.snipershide.com
We can make it into a checklist or something.
1. Can my choice of bullet penetrate as far as it needs to penetrate if I meet its minimum impact velocity?
- Since your example was 6.5CM let's go with a 147gr ELD-M which is good to go above a velocity of about 1600 fps.
2. Yes, it can penetrate far enough above that velocity to kill an elk. We know this from a lot of guys who have killed elk with that bullet (including me).
- There's a separate thread on Rokslide of 6.5CM for elk where guys post roughly the same stuff as they do for the .223 for elk. So our sample size is pretty good plus people have tested in organic ballistic gel too against other bullets like Barnes.
3. So we know it can do that and now we just need to figure out our max distance with that cartridge based on velocity.
4. It looks like with a MV of 2700 fps (I'd call that a reasonable MV) that bullet it still above 1700fps at 1000 yards unless I've managed to screw my ballistic calculator up.
- If we want to play it really safe and go for 2000 fps, we're good to 700 yards.
5. Alright so we're good to go for essentially any range you'd actually shoot an elk at. I'm not advocating for taking 1000 yard shots at animals, to be clear.
We can agree to disagree but I just wanted to be clear that it's a vibes-based disagreement and not a facts one. Energy is a nearly useless indicator of terminal performance for bullets.