6.5 Creedmoor

[kdenn]

The wife (Deadeye Dickless) and I used Bergara HMR 6.5CM in 1000yd shooting class. Incredibly accurate, low recoil and at that time relatively inexpensive to shoot. She has used in on Axis deer with great success using Hornady 143gr ELD-X. We've done some reloading using H4350 and Hornady match and hunting bullets.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

@Manny R I don't have a 6.5 CM, but I do have a 6.5 Swede. I have been shooting 140 gr Hornady SST and GMX bullets. I also know you really like the Hornady ELD-X bullet for your 300 WM, since I purchased from you 300+ once fired cases and most of the Choice Ammunition boxes said ELD-X. The ELD-X is an excellent bullet in my opinion and I have recently started reloading a few calibers with it. One of the benefits the CM has over the Swede (perhaps the only benefit) is the much wider choice of factory ammo.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I just bough a new barrel for my Sauer 404 Rifle in a 6.5 Creedmoor. I do not reload but wishing for opinions what factory ammo y'all recommend for hunting Mule Deer up to Kudu. Generally anything up to Kudu or larger I use my 300 win mag or my 404 Jeffrey for dangerous game.

My two hunting partners used factory 143 ELDx and 129 SSTs in their 6.5 CMs in RSA. Excellent results and no lost animals up to and including kudu at distances to 300 yards.

 

[Bullthrower338]

I trust my secret is safe here on an open forum and nobody will tell my mom or @tarbe that I have a 6.5 needsmore and a couple’06’s in the safe! Mom still thinks I’m a Piano player in a Nevada Whorehouse instead of a contractor, so let’s not make her high opinion of her son fade.
With that out of the and me out of the closet, I would definitely feel better with a 140 A-Frame or even a partition if shooting kudu. I would place the 6.5CM on the light side for such size game. I have shot elk with 7x57, 308 and even a Trudy-Turdy once, they all worked and put meat in the freezer. I have even witnessed the much despised.243 take many elk, is there much better choices? Absolutely there is but if you are going to hunt with a mouse gun, chose a bullet that will perform. Good Luck @Manny R and I expect most of the comments are just good nature ribbing! I love this place because of it.
Cheers,
Cody

 

[Manny R]

I truly enjoy this site because there is such a wealth of information from you guys. I feel I got 110% of the information of which factory ammo to try out on the range to see which ammo my Creedmoor enjoys the best. Now the hard part... trying to find and buy this ammo in todays times.

 

[Puddle]

I've used both Hornady Precision and Black Hills Gold factory 143 gr. ELD-X on mule deer. The load consistency of both factory rounds is stellar and I use this load out to 400 yards.
I use the Norma factory 156 gr. Oryx on elk. I limit the use of this round to a maximum of ~200 yards.

 

[YancyW]

.264 Cal-131gr Hammer Hunter™ - Hammer Bullets

Lots of folks building 6.5 PRC's with 1-7.5" twist barrels so we figured we better get a bullet out that matches the need. This Hammer Hunter™ will make a great normal to long range hunting bullet for the 1-7.5" twist barrels.

hammerbullets.com

I would use this hammer bullet and not even think twice about it, they shoot just fine a 8" twist for me, results may be different with your rifle. If you want load data, you really need to call the company and ask them for a starting point.

I had fantastic results with ELD-Xs on my last trip over, it was in a 300, so not really apples to apples, but the bullets preformed very well for me.

For factory, the Norma load with 156gr oryx would be a good choice. Followed by the ELD-X 140s.

 

[gillettehunter]

Steve of Steves Outdoor adventures has a series of videos on YouTube of him shooting bullets into ballistic gel blocks, Most are less than 3 minutes. Look at what the Scirocco II does. The ELDX isn't too bad either.
Bruce

 

[Manny R]

Jon Wemple who owns choice Ammunition in Montana is a great source for ammo. He is also an attendee at the DSC. Look at his website and I am sure he will peek your interest. I use his 300 Win Mag exclusive 178 grain ELD-X. I am not an owner but a customer and can say when I was in Africa last July I bagged 8 animals with my 300 Win Mag and very happy with his hand loading.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

 

[YancyW]

Jon Wemple who owns choice Ammunition in Montana is a great source for ammo. He is also an attendee at the DSC. Look at his website and I am sure he will peek your interest. I use his 300 Win Mag exclusive 178 grain ELD-X. I am not an owner but a customer and can say when I was in Africa last July I bagged 8 animals with my 300 Win Mag and very happy with his hand loading.

When I was in a hurry, he loaded some 30-06 with 180gr partitions for me. Very happy with them, as good as I could likely do on my own. If didn't have the ability to reload, I would use him for sure.

Buffalo Bore is also very good stuff, but I am sure he doesn't load 6.5CM.

 

[AZDAVE]

I took a 6.5 creed on my safari with @KMG Hunting Safaris this past april and it performed well, (Did have the scope shift but that is another story). It is a 6.5x55 ballistics in a different case. I would limit nyala on the large end of the animals I would look at hunting with. If you are dead set on using on Kudu size down I would look at the Lapua 156gr factory load or the peterson 160gr custom load and keep shots 200 yards max. If you stay with at Nyala and smaller most any of the 130-143 gr factory ammo is good. I like the 130gr swift scirocco Federal load.

 

[ActionBob]

I have a Ruger predator in 6.5 creedmoor. With the original magazines it’s not 100% reliable on feeding, but that wasn’t the question. With any small caliber, bullet selection is key when hunting big game. The following would be my bullet choices in order:
135 terminal ascent
127 Barnes LRX
140 Accubond
140 partition/ gold dot/ woodleigh

I have reloaded with 3 different 140 gr bullets to over 2800fps using RL26. With 130gr bullets RL16 is my choice and both powders are extremely accurate. For factory ammo most of these bullets can be found commercially loaded.

Is yours a Ruger American or a M77 Hawkeye?

Mines a M77 Hawkeye and feeds perfectly.

 

[gizmo]

I happen to be a fan of the little 6.5CM as well, I have two. I have a Sabatti Prototype rifle in that cal that is mine and absolutely is a tac driver as well as a Ruger in that cal that is for client use. That rifle is a stock ruger American and shoots sub MOA with my reloads. I shoot Barnes 127 LRX's out of both mine and it will drop the hammer on whitetail and mule deer. I've had 2 clients kill big Roosevelt Elk with us with that same bullet. As with anything shot placement is critical.

 

[gizmo]

at least it is not a 243

Whats wrong with a 243? I have several and one in particular that I have conservatively guesstimating killed around 300 deer and feral pigs with myself. Clients have shot probably twice that many animals ranging from feral pigs up to Red Deer. I actually killed my largest whitetail I have ever taken with that rifle. I also have a youth model that both my kids started on and I have used it for several youth shooters at the ranch. I know they arent everyone's cup of tea but I absolutely love the little caliber that could!

 

[gizmo]

Phil great point and in most instances I would whole heartedly agree. In fact I'm one of the first on this site to have taken the 6.5 Creedmoor Man Bun to Africa and am still a big fan of the cartridge. My Ruger Predator with stainless barrel and colorful laminated stock is still my go to truck gun. Largely because it shoots 1/2" groups and has a fantastic 3.5-18 Ballistic Turret Swarovski scope (truly twice the cost of the gun). But also because I don't mind it getting bumped around. And it is effective at any range on anything I come across on my farms from wood chucks to mule deer and I wouldn't worry a bit with it on black bear and pray i can use it on wolf at home someday soon

However in this case, I think it has largely been the Australian membership pushing the man bum idea and having met a few Aussies in person, I find i can appreciate their humor and am personally choosing to take this all in good humor and embrace it. Especially coming from @Bob Nelson 35Whelen I mean he's old and living upside down so we need to give him a break and let him enjoy bashing the Creedmore even if it is a marvel of ballistic engineering

I watched yoou shoot a pronghorn off a shitty monopod at like 420 yards with that rifle. You are the reason I bought my first one. As a matter of fact you are the reason I have obsessed and or bought a lot of shit. I guess this means you are a bad influence.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Berger Bullets markets 6.5 CM ammo. Pick your poison.

Rifle Ammunition Archives

Berger Bullets makes the most premium rifle ammunition in the game. We use only the highest quality copper and lead available to eliminate impurities.

bergerbullets.com

 

[nztimb]

Whats wrong with a 243? I have several and one in particular that I have conservatively guesstimating killed around 300 deer and feral pigs with myself. Clients have shot probably twice that many animals ranging from feral pigs up to Red Deer. I actually killed my largest whitetail I have ever taken with that rifle. I also have a youth model that both my kids started on and I have used it for several youth shooters at the ranch. I know they arent everyone's cup of tea but I absolutely love the little caliber that could!

My disdain for the 243 is from the deer culling days when the govt shooters went from the 303 as imports became more available and the 222 and the 243 became the rifles to use and they were successfull EXCEPT on the big west coast reds and wapiti in the winter where the wet hides (and they were very often wet in this high rainfall area) and when the animals were wallowing, were causesing penetration problems so there were wounding and loss stories. It seemed that if the shot was quartering away the bullet might travel in with the lay of the hair but for a quartering on and even sometimes a square on shot the bullet would sometimes blow up on the wet hide leaving a wound but no penetration sufficient to kill.
Many of the shooters went to the BSA in 7x57 or winchesters in 270 and 30-06 and the problems stopped happening.
I readily acknowledge that it may have been bullet problem (weight and or construction) but once those cartridge predudices are internalised through that type of evidence they are not easily let go of and I for one have not done so and for me deer cartridges start at the 6.5 x55/57 through the 7x57 and on up to the various 30 cals.
So while in dry conditions and with suitable bullets the 243 may well be a usefull cartridge in many areas, for me it will always be too small for deer and too big for rabbits making it useless to all intents and purposes although it may be ok to train youngsters at the range so they can graduate to a propper rifle for hunting

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Whats wrong with a 243?

Nothing when used in a proper application. Texas whitetails and on up to mule deer, it's great. Can it be used on elk and similar sized game? Certainly, but the line between "can I / should I" has been crossed.

My disdain for the 243 is from the deer culling days when the govt shooters went from the 303 as imports became more available and the 222 and the 243 became the rifles to use and they were successfull EXCEPT on the big west coast reds and wapiti in the winter where the wet hides (and they were very often wet in this high rainfall area) and when the animals were wallowing, were causesing penetration problems so there were wounding and loss stories. It seemed that if the shot was quartering away the bullet might travel in with the lay of the hair but for a quartering on and even sometimes a square on shot the bullet would sometimes blow up on the wet hide leaving a wound but no penetration sufficient to kill.
Many of the shooters went to the BSA in 7x57 or winchesters in 270 and 30-06 and the problems stopped happening.
I readily acknowledge that it may have been bullet problem (weight and or construction) but once those cartridge predudices are internalised through that type of evidence they are not easily let go of and I for one have not done so and for me deer cartridges start at the 6.5 x55/57 through the 7x57 and on up to the various 30 cals.
So while in dry conditions and with suitable bullets the 243 may well be a usefull cartridge in many areas, for me it will always be too small for deer and too big for rabbits making it useless to all intents and purposes although it may be ok to train youngsters at the range so they can graduate to a propper rifle for hunting

For those size of animals I'd say the caliber chosen was the wrong one. It's not that the caliber is bad, it's use in situations that it should be is where things went wrong.

You wouldn't use a .22LR in this application either. It doesn't make it a bad caliber anymore than using a .30-06 on an elephant makes it a bad caliber.

 

[Shootist43]

Since there seems to be a few 6.5 Creedmoor aficionados responding to this thread, I'd like to ask a serious question. That is, "what will your Creedmoor do, that my properly loaded 6.5 x 55 Swede won't?" For a fact there is a lot better factory ammo selection for the Creedmoor, but other than
that ? ? ? ? By properly loaded I mean a 140 gr. NP at 2775 FPS. Or for slightly larger game a NORMA Factory 156 Gr. Oryx.