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

I’m very impressed with this Custom 6.5 Creed 147ELD-M from Hornady.
Now I want to develop a load using this bullet.
The powder locker has Varget, Rl-15,17,19,22 and 23
4350 in IMR, H, and XMR
4831 in IMR and H
Ramshot Hunter and probably a few more in there I forgot about.
What’s worked best for you in your Creedmoor?

I focus on H4350, RL17, and IMR 4451. With lighter bullets I sneak some H414 into the mix.

41.0 gr of RL17 in hornady brass gives me great accuracy and speed with the 147s.

Work up to that load

Reloader 16 when available, otherwise H4350.

4451 is one of the forgotten powders. I have enough of it to load the 500 147’s in the stash.

ELD-M I would not recommend as a hunting.... been there done that

41.4 worked awesome in my last rifle. As D270 said, work up. This was in Alpha brass.

It is serious deer fetching at 6.5 CM speeds. Never caught one in a bunch of deer.

I’d bet you’ll find a load that hammers with IMR4451 or H4350. Both have been excellent in several 6.5CMs I’ve owned.

IME, it performs great at Creedmoor speeds. I’ve taken a few elk and deer with the combo, and it has penetrated and killed well.

That has not been mine or several folks I hunt with experience at all. At least concerning the 147 6.5 bullet.

We have shot a bunch of deer with them out of 6.5 creedmoors. The only time I've kept one in a deer was by shoulder shooting a buck inside 200 yards with a 6.5 prc.

Take this for what it is worth.....and I know my experience with the 147s isn't what a lot of folks here have reported. These were from 2 separate lots and out of my 8 twist 6.5x284, so I am assuming they were going a touch bit faster than a 6.5 Creed.

I still wonder why they sucked so much for you T. That is a truly unstable bullet.

Same rifle that I have had very bad experiences with 140 Berger Hunting VLDs and elk shoulders---though I have never had one blow up like that at the muzzle. The rifle however does fine with the 135 Berger Classics.

I wonder if what it is? Maybe jacket thickness. Or a rough throat.

Either or, you’re hammering cool stuff with the 135’s so drive on Sarge

cut or button rifled barrel?

Never used the 147’s but the 140 eld-m has been stellar from a friend’s 6.5cm on deer and hogs.

Lilja barrel, so I believe button rifled.
This situation has been hashed out on this forum before...and a conclusion never really came up. Burns' is the one who initially made me think it may be my particular barrel, and it may very well be. It is just odd that it shoots the 135 Berger Classic just fine, as well as a few other bullets like the 140 AMAX. The rifle had about 1000 rounds through it when I tried those 147s, so I am assuming any rough spots would have been lapped out.

I dunno...

Ted, I know you have had issues with that rifle but I still believe there is something going on with your particular barrel.

There are just too many guys, myself included, that have had great performance out of the 140 bergers and the 147 elds.

I wonder how your rifle would do with 139 scenars. They are definitely stout.

Good morning!

I have 400 of those 139 Lapuas ready to roll once I am done with the 120 or so 135 Berger classics I have left. I hunt way more than I shoot though so it may be a while.

FWIW, the 135s blew clean through a big bull caribou and a mid sized grizzly this year. One even took out the far shoulder on the caribou and kept on sailing.

We’re kind of getting into the weeds with this though and away from the OP.

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.

Oh no, target bullets for hunting. Armchair quarterbacks speak up. Terrible.

Ha!

And tell Scenarshooter that Scenars won’t kill critters. After all they be target bullets.

Dead critters don’t lie, don’t complain, either. Common sense needs to rule. Every bullet has design parameters, strengths and weaknesses.

DF

Keep in mind it is discontinued along with all the other Enduron powders.


For me RL 26 works well and H4350.
Also rl 16.

I think they’ve changed the status from “discontinued” to “out of stock,” with the intent to produce them again when able.

I have 3lbs of 4451. That’s enough to load all 500 of the 147’s that I bought. When the 4451 is gone, these 147’s will be gone. By then I will switch to use up another powder.

That is great news. I liked those powders.

I have killed enough deer with the 147, to make the statement that it works well on deer to past 400 yards. I load it over Reloder 26, for 2745 fps and incredible accuracy from my Remington/Criterion setup. They shot well with other powders, but 26 wins the speed race. I pushed it to over 2800, but settled on this load to leave no doubt about using it in hot weather. This is from a 24-inch barrel.

I did the same with 26. The 147 is sound at those speeds for me.

Ya’ll comfortable shooting medium sized fur with the 147 match bullet?

Any no-go’s beyond a specific distance?

🦫

Yep, including large-sized fur like moose and elk.

Nope, they get better with distance.

I’ve caught some in decent sized pigs, but it really didn’t matter, as they were DRT.

John

Good thing the numerous elk that have been shot with my .264 Win Mag with the 147 at around 3100 didn’t know that.

The more I think about, the 147/143 ELD bullets (and some 140's I haven't hunted with yet) make the most sense for the 6.5 CM platform. If wanting to drive mono's, there's plenty of other options to drive them much harder where mono's excel at. For a lightweight, lower recoil rifle it's hard to beat the 6.5 CM/147 combo.

I agree. I’m under 3100 fps with the 147 in the .264 WM. It’s just where the most accurate load was.


500 yards

used the 123 gr ELD-M Grendel (factory ammo) exclusively for 6 seasons on Alberta big game, 20 animals, 7-species, 10-420 yards, average shot distance around 160-165, average recovery distance ~10 yards, you'll not burn 30 grains of powder better imo, a few black bears, young bull moose, bighorn sheep, mule deer, bunch of whitetails, antelope and wolf...this past season was 5 animals between me and the kids, every single one was a drt, (2)100 yards, 183, 200, 250, lost a ton of meat on the front ends from excessive damage lol, vicious little bastard, eld-m's with lots of sd for impact velocity ranges are as deadly as they come, I get longer recoveries from .270's and .270 wsm's with 140 gr accubonds...the magic formula is not well understood

now if the little 123 does that at 2400 fps launches then imagine the 147 can handle much greater launch speeds and dump quite a bit more work in critters while still going more than deep enough with all the tail end of that bullet still hanging on while the front end comes apart and does the good stuff

if I shot a 6.5 manbun, and it liked 140 gr eld-m match factory white box?...then that's all I'd shoot and think nothing of it, the 147 would be second choice but from a sleeper standpoint on price/availability and future proofness....the 140 white box eld-m match would be the hot ticket for everything, reloading became optional long ago if you choose wisely