Nosler Whitetail Country 140 Grain SBSP in 6.5 Creedmoor is an accurate load designed for hunting deer-sized game. It has a ballistic coefficient of 0.495 which helps it to maintain energy at longer ranges. The solid base soft point (SBSP) bullet is designed to expand reliably while maintaining structural integrity at a wide range of velocities.
The ammo is made in the United States. A 20-round box cost $34.81 at nosler.com at the time of this writing. That is a quite fair price for a load with such a premium bullet.
If you hunt deer with a rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, I recommend running a box or two of Nosler Whitetail Country through your rifle to see how well your rifle likes it. If your groups are good, you may want to consider this for your standard deer-hunting round.
Background
My primary rifle for hunting deer-sized game is a Savage 110 Storm in 6.5 Creedmoor. It is accurate, weather-resistant, and produces less recoil than most of its .30 caliber cousins.
Since 1948, Nosler bullets have offered technologically advanced bullet designs which produce superior terminal ballistics. They are designed to expand reliably at lower velocities, while maintaining their structural integrity at higher velocities.
When I heard that Nosler was offering ammo with their premium bullets at a budget-friendly price, I was immediately interested. I contacted Nosler’s media rep to see if they could provide me with a sample for testing and evaluation. They were kind enough to agree. Not long afterward, a 8.25 x 8 x 4.75 inch shipping box arrived vi FedEx Ground from Nosler Inc., 107 SW Columbia St., Bend, OR 97702. The box contained two 20 round boxes of Nosler Whitetail Country 140 Grain SBSP in 6.5 Creedmoor. The box also contained three 50-round boxes of Nosler ASP (Assured Stopping Power) 115 Grain JHP in 9mm. I plan to review their 9mm ammo at a later date.
Description
The process of manufacturing an SBSP bullet begins with a solid copper slug that is drawn out to form a thick, heavily-tapered jacket. The jacket is then matched with a form-fitted, lead-alloy core to provide controlled expansion and weight retention. The boat tail of the solid base of the bullet provides enhanced aerodynamics, enabling better accuracy and a longer trajectory. The end result is premium performance at a budget-friendly price.
Range Session 1
I made my way to the 100 yard indoor range of the local rod and gun club. I had my Savage 110, a couple of boxes of G9 Defense Barrier Blind Hollow Point, and a couple of boxes of Nosler Whitetail Country 140 Grain SBSP. First, I fired several three-shot groups at 100 yards using the G9 ammo. The groups varied in size from 1.37 to 2.62 inches with an average of 1.87 inches and a median of 1.62 inches. That was fairly typical performance for this particular gun being fired by this particular shooter at this particular range.
Next, I fired several three-shot groups at 100 yards using the Nosler ammo. These groups varied in size from 0.74 to 1.62 inches with an average of 1.2 inches and a median of 1.24 inches. That was better than average performance for this particular gun being fired by this particular shooter at this particular range. I was very happy with the performance of the Nosler ammo.
Range Session 2
For the next range session, I broke out my secret weapon. With most ammo, my groups with the Savage 110 average larger than one inch and smaller than two inches at 100 yards. But the Savage 110 especially likes one particular type of ammo. With that load, my groups tend to average smaller than one inch at 100 yards. That ammo is Sellier & Bellot 140 Grain Soft Point.
I made my way back to the indoor range of the local rod and gun club with the Savage 110, the Nosler ammo, and the Sellier & Bellot ammo. The Sellier & Bellot ammo would give me a fixed point of reference. It would help me to discern if the performance of the Nosler ammo in my rifle was due to a better than average, worse than average, or typical range day.
I fired groups from the Savage using ammo selected according to an S N N S S N pattern, with the “S” representing groups produced utilizing the Sellier & Bellot ammo and the “N” representing groups produced utilized the Nosler ammo. This S N N S S N pattern would help to prevent factors like fatigue and barrel warming skewing the results of the testing in favor of one ammo or the other.
My results with the Sellier & Bellot ammo were typical of my previous experience. My three-shot groups ranged in size from 0.62 to 1.49 inches, with an average of 0.93 and a median of 0.68 inches.
Those results were good enough to edge out the Nosler ammo in terms of accuracy. The three-shot groups with the Nosler ammo ranged in size from 0.87 to 2.24 inches, with an average of 1.45 and a median of 1.24 inches. Those results were similar to the performance of the Nosler ammo during my previous range session.
This suggests that in terms of absolute accuracy, I may tend to have better results with the Sellier & Bellot ammo. But in terms of terminal ballistics, it is likely that the Nosler ammo would more consistently produce an effective wound channel. The difference in accuracy is small enough, that in most hunting applications the benefit of the more effective wound channel would probably outweigh the advantage in superior accuracy. So for hunting, the Nosler ammo would probably serve me better. For baseline accuracy testing, on the other hand, I would probably be better served by the Sellier & Bellot ammo.
Unfortunately, the Sellier & Bellot 140 Grain SP in 6.5 Creedmoor is currently out of stock at most of my usual ammo suppliers. I recently managed to purchase the last four 20-round boxes from Impact Guns of Ogden, Utah. I hope that additional supplies become available before I exhaust that supply. If any SurvivalBlog readers are aware of a good source for that particular load at a reasonable price, I would welcome that information at ThomasKChristianson at gmail dot com.
In the meantime, supplies of Nosler Whitetail Country 140 Grain SBSP in 6.5 Creedmoor were readily available from nosler.com at the time of this writing.
Some Nosler History
It was 1946. Thirty-three-year-old trucking-company-owner John A. Nosler was on a moose hunt in British Columbia. A magnificent bull moose came into range. Nosler took careful aim with his Winchester Model 70 chambered in .300 H&H Magnum. The shot was true, but the mud caked hide of the moose caused the bullet to fragment, hindering adequate penetration. Instead of a quick kill, the moose experienced a painful and lingering death.
The moose’s death haunted Nosler. There had to be a way to design a bullet for adequate expansion without compromising bullet integrity and penetration. After some thought, he came up with an idea for a bullet partitioned into two sections. The rearmost partition was encased completely in copper like a full metal jacket bullet. This would prevent fragmentation. The foremost partition was open at the front like a typical soft point bullet. This would allow expansion. As a result, the front of the bullet would expand reliably at lower impact velocities while the rear partition would preserve the integrity of the bullet at higher impact velocities. The Nosler partition bullet was born.
Nosler turned his new bullets by hand, and returned to Canada the next year to test them out. He and his companion were able to cleanly and humanely harvest two moose with a total of two shots.
Although the bullets were initially hand made for personal use, their reputation quickly spread. By 1948 demand was so great that Nosler began to manufacture the new bullets for commercial sale.
Nosler continued to pioneer advances in bullet design. Those advances included things like improved core bonding techniques to further reduce the risk of bullet fragmentation. They also included the introduction of a plastic ballistic tip to improve the aerodynamics of hollow point bullets.
Nosler died at his home in Bend, Oregon in 2010 at the age of 97. He left behind a rich heritage of improved bullet design.
Conclusions
Nosler Whitetail Country 140 Grain SBSP in 6.5 Creedmoor is an accurate load with a bullet that is well-designed for harvesting deer-sized game. It is reasonably priced for ammo that includes a premium bullet.
If you hunt deer with a rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, I recommend that you try out a box or two of Nosler Whitetail Country 140 Grain SBSP in 6.5 Creedmoor.
Disclaimer
Nosler provided me with two 20-round boxes of Whitetail Country 140 Grain SBSP ammo in 6.5 Creedmoor and three 50-round boxes of ASP 115 Grain JHP in 9mm for testing and evaluation. Savage loaned me a sample of their Model 110 Storm in 6.5 Creedmoor for a previous review. I liked the rifle so much that I subsequently purchased it. G9 Defense provided me with several boxes of their Barrier Blind Hollow Point in 6.5 Creedmoor for a previous review. I did not receive any other financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.
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