Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Which bullet for the Creed?

So after shooting a deer this year with a Creedmor and loving it I am inclined to hunt elk with this mild mannered cartridge. I know that Wayne van Zwoll killed an elk at 600+ yds with an SST but after reading other posts I am convinced this (SST) is not the answer. Since it isn't the fastest I am also thinking that monolithic bullets aren't necessairly the answer either. That leaves me with the Partition, Accubond, Scirroco, etc. What else would you suggest? Is the ballistic tip too soft? I'm all ears.

I helped with a coues hunt this past weekend and witnessed firsthand a coues taken at 698 yards with a 143 eld x from a 24" Creed. Bang flop. Bullet hit front shoulder, offside shoulder and passed through.

I was impressed.

I would take a look at the 140gr partition. It has worked well for me on a couple elk and several mule deer out of a 256 Newton. Longest shot was probably around 350 yards.

You might want to consider the 139gr Scenar.
I took a bull Elk with it this year at ~590 yards.
Bullet went through the chest and exited, and the animal only ran about 20 yards.

I wouldn't handicap the 6.5 creedmoor with low bc bullets. Hornady ELD or ELDX if you want a stouter bullet.

The Creed has me thinking real hard about one. But only if I can get a Tikka 3 Lite. If I do it will be fed Barnes LRX 127 grainers.

If you're getting a Tikka, you might as well get a .260. The Creedmoor is really for using VLD bullets in a short action. Since the Tikka isn't a short action you might as well get a .260 and have better brass options.

Another vote for the Hornady 143 ELD, my Browning Long Hunter shoots them into tiny groups.

My Vanguard shoots both the 130gr Scirocco II and the 127gr LRX really well. Killed my mule deer buck with the Scirocco this year and have no complaints.

Mine is currently shooting 140 ELD-Ms exceptionally well. Not sure about the bullet for hunting, would like to hear first hand experiences. I just shot some 125 Partitions and they shot well at just over 2900.

I'm curious about using the Creed on elk as well. My BIL watched a guy shoot a bull at 660 in WY with the Creed. He's not a Looney so the whole rifle/bullet/load thing was lost on him.

bwinters, did the 660 yard shot result in a dead bull, just wondering? The 6.5 is totally underrated except by those who use it.

Yes. One shot, stumble, stumble, down. According to my BIL it was impressive.

There seems to be an assumption that a big heavy animal needs a big heavy bullet, when most the evidence from professional hunters points to two other factors:
1. Bullet Placement
2. Penetration

Since any of the 6.5s with 140-class bullets can achieve both those things, it shouldn't be a surprise that they can kill Elk and large-bodied deer.

which shot was the money ahot, greg? grinnin'

Ha!

Partition

I believe Lapua is gonna start making Creedmore brass....

Lapua is making Creedmoor brass. Small rifle primer pockets of though. I don't know the consequences of that. Supposedly better for target shooting.

Link

"Which bullet for the Creed"

I used the new Federal Fusion 140 gr. on a big Roosevelt cow elk.
If your using off the shelf ammo, this is a good option.

Double lunged, complete pass through. She ran off with the rest and was found a short distance away. I'll use them again.

If you roll your own, any of the 140-ish gr. bullets should be fine.
Place them properly and get on with packing it out.

I would do what a lot of others are yammering about here on the 'fire lately--use the minumum C&C bullet that has the greatest risk of creating the most drama you can and proclaim it to be a "fine elk bullet".

What ever you do, don't use a Partition, TSX, TTSX, Northfork, or any other of those unnecessary bullets...........especially when using a smallish caliber........

Casey

Never ending quest for the lowest common denominator by people who don't know much of anything.

Remington Corlokt.

I've killed a dozen with the 140-142 smk/match burners from in your face to 742yds in 260ai. I'd worry more about accuracy and less about brands. If you can drive it there, the elk will flop.

Why not a 140gr Partition? I realize it doesn't have a super hot BC(just shy of 0.5 IIRC) but it is a heck of a good design-lots of elk and moose have fallen to it.

For me it boils down to velocity windows. I shoot medium speed chamberings, like the creed/260/×47 and feel that by not exceeding the useful velocity of the cup and core bullets I use, I get the best combination of expansion and high bc as a bonus.

If I were using a 257roy or an ultra, I'd be loading it with premiums for sure, but given that rounds that are middle of the road velocity tend to shoot middle of the road bullets (in terms of construction ) with great success.

270 win is one of my favorite examples, nearly every bullet made was designed to operate from 3k fps down. The middle pack 6.5's are very similar.

I had a horrible shoulder injury that left me parking all of my big magnums. I ended up killing a roosevelt elk with a 100gr tsx from a 257roy at range. It died where it stood. That was the beginning of the end of me using 70+ grains of powder to kill elk.

I see your point. Not sure what the low end expansion cutoff is for the Partition? 1800fps perhaps? So if a Creed starts it out at what,2700, that doesn't get you out as far as is desirable, I suppose?

Not that the partition would not work perfectly, but the bc is not even in the hunt, so you would have to rethink every shot or burn the parts on rocks and gongs all year. Half of the allure of the match bullets is the consistency, the other is price. You can afford to burn hundreds all year and doing so builds confidence which contributes to a proficient rifleman.

I've not used the Creedmoor on elk, but have certainly used similar cartridges. I've thought about building one, and if I did its first choice for elk would be the 140 Partition. If it didn't shoot that the 130 Accubond or 140 Ballistic Tip.

If it didn't shoot those it would get rebarreled.

The BC of the 140 Partition isn't great compared to the amazing BCs of some of the 6.5 bullets, but it's still not that bad. You'd have to be shooting pretty far to say the 140 Partition makes that much of a difference or that you would have to make sighting shots. For example, I get just over 2720 with 140gn bullets in the creed. Comparing the 143 ELD-X and 140 Partition, the difference in windage at 300yds (10mph x wind) is only 1.6". Elevation is only .7" off. At 500 it's still ~4" each way. Again that is compared to the exceptional 143 ELD-X. Clearly the 143 is the choice for going real far, but for the vast majority of shooting the 140 Partition would be a great choice and a 140 Partition out of a Creed would compare favorably to many other cartridge/bullet combos. I'm more surprised that the Partition and Accubond are so close. .490 vs. .509 as published. Since I only intend to shoot deer with the creed, I've been playing with the 125 Partition at just over 2900.

The 140 Partition is never a bad choice for killing in the 6.5s. And it will go from antelope to moose with no changes.

The current obsession with LR shooting and high BC bullets has reached the point of absurdity. Within reason, most properly constructed spitzers have a high enough BC for any shooting out to 500-600 yards. And frankly, I'm of the opinion that shooting BIG game past that is more about operator ego than anything else. It sure as hell isn't hunting.

For once I must agree completely with Brad.. It has been years since I shot at a big game animal at more than 400.. I have been tempted, and have the equipment for maybe 600.. No elk in recent years even caused me to pick up my rifle when beyond say 400.. But I always seem to see a huge mule buck when I don't have my best rifles with.. They are my holy grail.. Elk are meat, mulies are awesome..

like jackalopes...

I am hooked on my 270 Montana throwing 140 gr TSX's. With it and my M70 2375 H&H I can be well set dumping the other dozen.

This^^^

I had a 270Roy that loved the 140gr TSX. 3300fps. Though I never killed an elk with it, it sure did the number on a few Muleys!

Im not surprised at all.....


Not the 140 6.5, but I have shot many 160 AB's, and Nosler Partitions from the 7mm Mashburn Super and 7 Rem Mag and were is so little difference to 600 yards that......well....there is no practical difference 600 yards and in.

Anyone loaded that partition in a creed? It looks like it would be seated pretty deep in the case.

True. I also think that at reasonable ranges, a good 130-ish bullet will do just fine, too, and fit very well into the casing.

I really have a hard time wanting to use target bullets for hunting big animals. It just don't fit! Just my opinion, though.

I'd also take a look at Norma Oryx, which are heavy for caliber at 156 grains. It is the most accurate hunting bullet for my 7mm-08 out to 300 yards which is my personal limit for large game.

We had a lively discussion over the Creed being used on elk on the trip out. Fwiw, we concluded that other mid range calibers do the job very well out to our personal limit of about 400 yards. Because of that, the redundancy is not needed and neither is the Creed.

Partition would be perfect, used many in 264 win mags, kill cshit out of everything I shot with them, Creedmoor on the light side for elk in my opinion.

I smoked my cow elk at 725 yards last year (2015) with the 127 LRX. Love that bullet. I'm shooting it from a 260, but same same.

I've been mulling over the same question as the OP. I just ordered a 6.5 CM Montana and in addition to Muleys and Antelope, figured it might work pretty well cow elk if I drew another view tag next year. I've grown to really like the 140 AB in my .270, seems like the perfect all around bullet for the chambering. When considering the Creed, with elk in mind the 140 AB seems like a good option, but I kind of wonder whether the 130 AB might provide enough penetration and give a little better velocity/trajectory.

I think I'd be less confident using the CM if I draw a bull tag this year, on the other hand, I've got a friend at work that has killed a pile of elk over the last 40 years with 165gr factory Interlocks out of a .308.

For me this is NOT about shooting far, it is about using what is best. I confess to killing my only elk with a Core-Lokt but with reservations. Sounds like, from the responses, the Partition is the standard by which elk bullets are judged. Logical choice for me.