Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 6.5 Creed & 147 ELD-M

Hey, diving into the bush, er weeds is completely fine.
This is a very interesting side topic and it’s got my attention.
I guess I should explain a little further. The primary use for this bullet is for long steel, such as the white buffalo at Whittington Center. The factory 147gr load worked better than the others I tried, and required much fewer mils dialed and less wind hold off.
So this is going to be primarily a target setup.

My primary hunting rifle is a Bergara Ridge in 450 Bushmaster due to where I live, but it’s always a good idea to be ready in cade I get the chance to hunt elsewhere.

Work up to around 41-41.5 gr of H4350 or IMR4451, and I’d be surprised if it didn’t shoot. The 147 is very seating-depth tolerant, but nearly always shoots extremely well 0.010” into the lands.

It’s still a bit of a mystery, and I remember going back and forth with you about your particular barrel. With 1000 rounds on it, I’m still leaning toward a rough throat. Remind me, is it a 3-groove barrel?

I love that bullet in the creedmoor. I've seen it outperform the 140 ELD-match bullet many times in the wind. I'm running H4350, as it is very stable throughout different temps.




To be honest, I've tried other powders with this bullet, but they all fall short, when compared to H4350. Also, I don't run the bullet into the lands. There is absolutely no need for it. I run the 147 at .020" off the lands and it works reliably. That is always key. It has to be reliable, function in the rifle 100% and be consistently accurate. The other day, I put this load into 3" at 1,000. So that is plenty good for what I do.

Agreed. Launching the 147 at ~2700 fps at a bunch of critters has resulted in about the same outcome for all, even when major bone was crushed along the wound channel. Moderate internal damage with ~1.25” exits is typical.

I am wanting to say 6 groove but can't recall. The rifle is at my place right now and I am back home at my Mom's place hunting so I can't check real quick.

I am pretty sure it is not a 3 groove though.

That’s some good info Jordan, thanks.
I see bsa has a different experience, not unusual I expect. I believe .010” into the lands would be a good start. I can always back them off if it doesn’t work well

If sub 1" groups at 400 and 3" groups at 1,000 is "unusual", count me in. That bullet is not finicky about seating depth. Something you'll find out when loading them. Why start it out where you will have issues? "Into the lands" creates problems that I don't like to deal with, but then again I like reliable ammo. It has to be reliable, number one. Consistent accuracy/precision is number 2. That comes from my hunting background, but I sure as hell don't want to have issues out on the line, when I'm competing either. To each their own..

That's the 147's stupid high B/C for ya...some people say high B/C has no advantage with today's rangefinders and such but I disagree.

my case 6.5 grendel 123eldm ,2400 fps whitetail 75 yard , entry hole much bigger then exit , lot of jacket /lead pieces around exit hole ... yeap dead dear but not the kind of wound I like to see.

I was gonna take my 22-250 8 twist later with 88gr eldm's but not now as fast as it shoots ..

Out of curiosity, where was the impact on the deer? Internal damage? Distance traveled?

was shot at about 75 yards. traveled maybe 10 or 15 yards. the lungs were definitely screwed like I said yes that deer but it's not the kind of wound channel that I like to see. what I seen was a bullet that's pretty fragmental upon impact if that had been in a higher speed cartridge I believe the bullet may have completely blew up shallow of the vitals..

everybody's Free to hunt with what they want that's my opinion..

So I’m assuming ribs were the only bone hit? No shoulders?

yes ribs only

I've never seen 0.010" into the lands create problems. A real "jam," in which the bullet engages the rifling hard enough to seat the bullet deeper or pull it out upon extraction, is typically far more than 0.010".

Indeed. That's typically my approach, too. Start 0.010" into the lands, and go deeper (thereby decreasing pressure) from there.

+1

Not all bullets, even within the same product line, have identical terminal performance. I can't speak to the 123 ELD-M, but the 147 works awesome when launched at ~2700 fps.

I don't have as large of a data set with the 7mm 180 ELD-M launched at 2950 fps, but it has also performed excellent (moderate wound channel, deep penetration, ~1.5" exit).

I wouldn't be afraid of the 88.

I have good performance using RL16 out of a 6.5CM with 20” barrel. With 41.8gr of RL16, it starts out in the 2650 fps range. I’m limited to 2.8” because of magazine and it’s a standard chamber, so it’s seated no where near the lands. Bare rifle weight is 5.1 lbs. With a VX-ll 2-7 it’s 6 lbs and with a LRHS 3-12 it’s 7 lbs.
It’s worked so far on WT, MD, wolf, Stone sheep and Caribou bulls. This is the accuracy I get with the combo.

https://imgur.com/a/cyjM9mw

I should have added the longest kills were about 410 yds on one caribou and about 390 yds on a Stone sheep. Everything else has been 12 yds to about 150 yds.