6x45 SATISFIES
Over the past three decades, I have received many letters from highly satisfied 6x45 owners, most making the point that this little cartridge ‘punches way above its weight class’ and doesn’t waste meat. Its secret, of course, is its modest velocity which allows the .243 bullets to hold together and retain optimum weight for astonishing penetration (I used mine to shoot well over 100 animals in the impala/blesbuck weight class and I recall recovering only about three bullets – all the rest went clean through). But hunters also love it because it operates on .223 sized actions which lend themselves to such trim, dainty little lightweight sporters which don’t recoil.
The 6x45 became a factory cartridge in 1999 when Senwes started producing the ammunition and making rifles chambered for it. Around 2002, PMP were producing the ammo under their own label and headstamped PMP 6x45. Sadly, cutbacks at PMP later saw manufacture of this calibre and the .300H&H dropped, but the many 6x45 owners were quite happy to handload for it. Here is the text of a letter from a long-standing reader who prefers to remain anonymous.
