Thread: Deer Projectiles for 6mmPPC

Hi, I've got the loan of a 6mmPPC USA for a while.



Could anyone recommend projectiles that would work for goats or small deer like sika ?

Many thanks in advance.

I found the 87g V-Max was very good on goats in my 6BR.
Think I have a few left if you'd like to trial some.

80 grn Speer. I can send you a few to try if you want. PM me your address if you want some.

They work great on deer and can pushed along a bit.

What twist is it 14 or 13.5 ish ?

That will have a bearing on it.

Hi thanks for the offers of projectiles. I'll just think about that. Would need about 50 and I'm not planning to do a lot of experimenting workup, just get a basic load and try out the gun at this stage.

The barrel doesn't have a twist on it. Its a sako AI so looks as if they might have only been made in 1987. As said, I saw a couple of references to 14". so that's likely what it is. I've got BM2 and AR2208 powders so a 70 gr bullet could be doing about 2800 fps. If anyone has a calculator for how heavy a bullet it might stabilise that would be helpful. I don't have to go really long range heavy BC, just not sure if a varmint or target type bullet is ideal.

I use the 70 belistic tip in my 6ppc for hunting, and it will stabilize the 75 gr Serria hp, also a good choice, 1-14 twist.
Have shot a few coyotes,and one small deer-with the 75gr and 70 B-tip in my 6x47 Remington Cooper, has the same case capacity as a 6ppc, just use a bit of common sense with your shooting.
80gr will likely not stabilize, fully. I tried the 80gr serria softpoint, it was ok at 100m, say 1.5". The 70-75 are 1/2" groups.

I've measured the twist by running a tight patch down the bore seeing how far the rod needs to go for one full revolution. Its about 12.5".

Looking at bullet stability stats in Litz Applied Ballistics Vol 2 (it only goes out to 10" max for .243) stability of some bullets like the Nosler 70 and 80 gr Ballistic tip and Hornady 75gr V-Max will be quite poor.
The most stable seems to be the Sierra 70gr Matchking and 80 gr Sierra Blitz, which should be OK; they do have a bit lower BC, and are the shortest at under 0.9" long.

However, most 6mm bullets 80gr or less are intended for target shooting (Matchking) or varmints (Nosler BT varmint and bliztking). Sierra doesn't make a gameking in that weight as far as I can see. The market is saying that the 6MM PPC (and similar shorties) are good for target and varmint but not really for deer.

So, why does this gun have such a slow twist ? It was made in the late 1980s, when velocity was king. We didn't have range finders, so flat shooting cartridges had an advantage for hunting. On the range, 6mmPPC would have been much better in the wind than the 55gr bullets in the .223. Nowdays this flat shooting advantage is lost and the wind advantage is with high BC, heavy for calibre bullets and we see 75 gr in .224 . The rifle is designated the "hunter" model and has a 4 shot hinged floorplate magazine. There was another model that was single shot for target. So this model was intended for hunting but more for big varmints like hares, maybe muntjac, roe or coyote or in NZ south island wallaby specially where there's a bit of wind. Not so much as a light deer cartridge. In theory the 6mmPPC would be superior to the .223 for small deer but would need a faster twist barrel than this.

If it is a factory barrel it will be 14:1 twist.