Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 6.5 Creedmoor on Plains Game

With the bandwagon filling with 6.5 Creedmoor owners/shooters, has it been used on or taken any plains game?

I'll follow this one as I've been wondering the same thing!

Check plains game with the Swede. It's been around long enough to have a track record.

Creed/Swede, pretty close.

DF

Here's a Swede/plains game link.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11047251/1

DF

Thanks DF. I'd read the thread you referenced. Kinda hoping that someone with firsthand experiece with the 6.5 Creed will chime in. Maybe even include some references to the bullet/load that they used in the 6.5 Creed, game taken, and other thoughts.

Isn't there a .270 minimum on plains game larger then impala in some countries?

Good point. Namibia has a minimum caliber allowance of 7mm, and Joule/Ft-Lb requirement otherwise based on what I read here:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ns-for-hunting-african-countries.604175/

If not mentioned, the 6.5x54 has been used a bit long ago, seems a famous person dropped many elephants, not ideal, but did the job. Think long heavy high SD bullets which penetrated deep thru vitals shot placement via low recoil.

A properly loaded 7/08 - 7x57 might be the lighter end of recoil, and meet regulations.

Years ago I asked Greg Rodriguez about the .260 for plains game as I was looking at a rifle for my son. His son shot a .260 (ballistic twin of the .260) and he wrote the below:


John,

Thanks for your kind words about the show. I look forward to meeting you in Reno, and I'd love a shot at your hunting business.

How big is your son and how old is he? The 7mm-08 is a great cartridge, but its killing power is not much different than a .260, while it has quite a bit more recoil. My son is tiny so I keep him on a .260. He's taken 6 wildebeest, 4 gemsbok, kudu, zebra, giraffe, black bear, leopard, nyala and a whole bunch of other stuff with it - all clean, one-shot kills.

If your son is over 100 pounds and not recoil sensitive, you can go with a 7mm-08 if you like, but it isn't necessary. Shot placement and bullet construction trump are the keys.

Thanks.
_________________________
Greg Rodriguez
Global Adventure Outfitters, Inc.

Zim regs:

3,000 Joules/7mm min for Class 3. 3,000 Joules converts to 2,213 ft. pounds. 7x57/7-08 would work.

Ammo for the 7-08 runs 2,400-2,700 ft. pounds, heavier bullets on the upper end. 7x57 in the same ball park.

IME, the 7mm-08 and 7x57 do kick a bit more than the 6.5x55 and 6.5 Creedmoor.

The 6.5's are closer to the edge on ft. pounds, the Creed from 2,250-2,450 ft. pounds, heavier bullets on the high end. Swede close with full powered loads.

DF

The minimum caliber "requirement" of 7mm is only the suggestion of the guides association and not actual law in Namibia.

All I know is that one Hornady American Whitetail 129gr Interlock in the lungs of a small bull moose put it down, with less than a hundred yard run.

I'd reckon any plain old game, even the ones goin falutin.

Yeah, but Bell carried a ladder around with him so he could get a clean shot at the ear-hole of tuskers, or so I was told.

Maybe not ideal for others, but It was ideal for him. The only reason he stopped using it for DG was because the Austrian ammunition
proved faulty as did his WR .318 ammunition, but the performance of the .256 bore 160 RN full jacket itself was to Bells satisfaction.




Yes he used on occasion a stand to shoot over 14ft grass..but a good read of Bells books
will tell a person that he used his MS .256 bore in ALL kinds of country on ALL kinds of game.
and that he expressed that it was his most favorite rifle/calibre of all...but for some reason
most people remain so fixated on his use of 7mm Mauser.

When it came to resistance to grit and muck contaminating a rifle action while following bulls close-up
for distances through dry or wet mud impacted onto surrounding tight foliage, Bell actually favored his
sporterised Lee Enfield over the Mauser for reliability. Once again its something that most people don't
know and I think the reason is, many people don't read his books much or at all, and tend to just rely on
what incomplete snippets they read about Bell in other peoples posts or publications.

Bells first .256 bore purchase was a long-barrelled George Gibbs of Bristol, from which he fired
soft-points and became his workhorse meat gun.
The second was the 5lb Daniel Frazer .256 bore carbine which became one of his primary DG guns.
He purchased the weapon around the same time as his first Rigby Mauser .275 bore.

end note: Bell himself didn't recommend a specific calibre/rifle another person should use, what he simply
did say is that one should decide for themselves to use the one they have the most confidence in.

Use a good bullet and shoot 'me good....

The 160gr 6.5's as many know have a high SD. The cup/core combined with modest speeds and low recoil to aid precise placement thru vitals is surprisingly effective
Bell is reported to have taken over 300 elephants with the 256 M-S.

https://huntforever.org/2013/05/06/the-red-man/

Also, worth noting:

"Ammunition for light rifles was cheaper, too, which appealed to Bell the businessman and canny Scot. In 1913 he ordered two .416s from Rigby; it’s easy to imagine that he was curious about this new big-game cartridge that John Rigby had invented for the Mauser. He found that it was no more deadly than his .275s, but heavier, harder-kicking and noisier, and the ammunition cost more than twice as much."

Speaks to my first line....

One more note. Poor bullet choice can get one killed in Africa.

Case in point. High vel + soft bullet....

http://www.chuckhawks.com/ross_rifle.htm

Yep Ive heard numerous times over the yrs on forums that Bell was a tight with money Scot,
alleging he chose cartridges like 7x57 so he could skimp on the price of ammunition...but IMO
people have conveniently cherry picked from his writings and then exaggerated it.

Lets put it into perspective and listen to what Bell has to say in his complete statement:

" Again, the smallest bore rifles with cartridges of a modern military description, such as the -256, -275, •303 or -318,
are quite sufficiently powerful for the brain shot. The advantages of these I need hardly enumerate, such as their cheap-
ness, reliability, handiness, lightness, freedom from recoil, etc. " - (The brain shot on elephant) -Wanderings Of An elephant Hunter.

A person that purchased a long list of rifles from Rigby and other companies, doesn't at all sound like the kind of person that was
tight with money or that would be too concerned about the price of ammunition. But as an astute businessman, he noted that the
smaller calibres which he found did what he required of them, just so happen to also offer the financial benefit of less costly ammunition,
among other numerous advantages.

Bell at 21, despite his families wealthy didnt start out with lots of money on his first African ivory safari, rather, As he made money he
then attained new rifles like the two .256 bore Mannlichers and his first Mauser .275 bore. At that time he likely didnt have loads of
money to throw around on anything willy nilly. So certainly, greatly effective smaller calibre rifles that consume less expensive ammunition
formed a sensible choice....
but not because he was a scrooge.- The fact that as his financial success grew he then purchased various Rigby magnum mausers in
proprietary .350 Rigby and .416 Rigby and the corresponding supply of ammunition, shows he certainly didn't mind spending his money
when he had the financial means to do so.