This might be a clue to the root of the problem. The only true bullet failure, I have ever experienced was with Winchester ammo. That is why I stopped using all of their ammo products.
If you are willing to consider input from others, I would offer my thoughts? First, I am not a fanboy of the 6.5cm. It is a little cartridge that is good for target shooting and deer hunting and sits in between the 243 and the 7mm/08, both of which are also considered good deer cartridges. No surprise that the 6.5 is also good. Your experience with the 30-30 on hogs is likely due to three common factors:
- 30-30 is usually used at closer ranges inside 100y on game since most are iron sights only.
- 30-30 is firing a larger caliber bullet with a heavier weight.
- The flat nosed cup n core bullets most common with 30-30 are very soft and very reactive which results in large expansion and rapid damage in the permanent and temporary wound cavity.
If you fire a heavy, reactive bullet with the 6.5cm you will likely see similar results but light frangible varmint bullets can fragment too fast and fail especially at close range. 6.5cm is perhaps not as good since it is smaller and lighter even with its largest bullets. If you shoot the pigs from under 100y, that too will help, but you need to choose a proper bullet. Try a Federal Fusion in your 6.5 or a Trophy Bonded Tip or Nosler AccuBond. They have a 140g Fusion bonded core that runs about 2725 muzzle velocity and at 100y will expand to about 2.4x in hog flesh. They do not fragment at close range and will often penetrate all the way thru the animal.
For what it is worth, the last hog I killed was shot with a 308 handload using a 165g Nosler ballistic tip at a range of 5 feet. The bullet impacted the pig's shoulder in a broadside stance as it was fighting with our dogs. Bullet damaged both lungs and many of the large blood vessels just above the heart and exited the opposite side. He flinched and ran off. But he was dead on his feed and dropped after running 30 paces in about 4 seconds. He weighed in at 325lbs live weight. We killed several others that day. One with a 30-06 that ran about 10ft, and another with a 45acp using a 230g HP which dropped in its tracks from a heart shot. Two more were killed with 44mag pistol and a 7mm Mag rifle both at close range and both DRT. None of those were CNS shots.
Another observation is that some claimed that CNS shots are the only way to produce a bang flop result on game. True that a good CNS shot is one way but it often only results in paralysis of the animal in many cases who then sits bleeding, terrified and may require a 2nd finisher in many cases. For me, I do not like to do that. A brain shot is fatal in nearly all cases even with a 22lr but if we are trophy hunting it is hard on the head. If we are varmint hunting hogs, coyotes, PD's it is a viable shot.
A heart shot with a proper caliber will often have the same DRT effect without the need for a 2nd shot. In my opinion the smaller the bullet, the more important it is to choose a good bullet that will both hold together and expand enough while also penetrating all the way thru the pig. A small deep wound is better than a larger surface would. A big deep wound is mo-betta, lol. Choose wisely.
