Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 6.5 Creedmoor on Elk

While pondering this notion of using a 6.5 whatever I thought back to the dozen plus elk I've harvested. Most died instantly from a 210 Nosler Partition out of a 338-06 improved, but three succumbed to lead poisoning from 160 7mm bullets either in the 7mm RSAM, 280 or 280AI. Now that I have a 6.5/284 I'm pondering using it with 142 LRAB this fall on a guided elk hunt in Idaho's Salmon River breaks. Lessons from previous hunts however have taught me more is better for elk, even though something smaller in diameter might work just fine. I'm not inclined to the suffer the painful agony of losing an elk just because I wanted to try something new and different. Yeah, the 6.5 something will get it done. Somehow I feel more comfortable with the old axiom mass x speed equals more certainty.

As much as I would love to kill an elk with my .260, I really have a hard time justifying it, with a pair of 7 mags sitting in the safe. I have seen too many good results with 160 Partitions, to experiment with a light caliber. I drew a cow elk permit this year for just south of my house here in Nebraska. The permits are too hard to come by, to not use all of the horsepower that I have at my disposal. I really like my .260 and it HAMMERS deer at whatever range, but I think the 7 mag is going to get the nod.

Like LAS, I used to think a .308 Win with a 165 gr Speer Grand Slam was all that and a bag of chips until a couple of big brown furry clawed critter encounters. Upped the ante to my .35 Whelen and never looked back. Now I hunt the open brush country in NW Colorado with it or a 7mm Weatherby or .300 Weatherby. Also killed my lifetime best 182 mule deer at 38 yards with the .300 Roy. Certainly in range for any legal cartridge! But how often does that happen? I prefer to bring more than just adequate to the hunt, especially for a 5 day 4th season hunt. That way, no regrets later. Good luck out there this fall! Happy Trails

+1

As long as the hunter can handle that round with proficiency,,,

DF

Although I've hunted with less powerful cartridges than the 7mm RM, and may do so again, I tend to agree -- The .44 Mag got hunted because Dad gave it to me, the .30-30 because I wanted to and the .257 Roberts got stoked with 120 A-Frames at 2947fps. In every case I knew I was limiting the range at which I could take shots (less so with the Roberts) and I was OK with that. Biggest bull I've ever had my sights on was at 100 yards with the .44 Mag. Let it go because my buddy had just put one down with my 7mm RM and I figured we had enough work ahead of us. A couple days later we saw the same (we think) bull at 100-125 yards and I let it go because it was end of the last day and I decided not to ruin a perfectly good hunt with a lot of back-breaking work. That time I had the 7mm RM in hand.

To anyone intent on putting elk meat in the freezer, I recommend staying away from the smaller cartridges if they have and can shoot larger. For Daughter #1 I recommended a .308/130TTSX because she is petite and hates recoil. She doesn't even like the 150's in the .308, but she shoots the 130's' great. Would have preferred a more capable combination for her but bowed to known limits of the shooter.

AFAIC, my 'elk' rifles start with my .280 Rem.

Best load with the NPT?

DF

While I don't own a 6.5 Creedmore, I do own a 6.5x55 in a CZ 550 American w/ a single stage trigger. Since I am confident in my marksmanship, I would not hesitate to use it on Elk or Moose, provided I used a quality 156-160 gr. pill, i.e. the Norma Oryx, the Hornady SST, or Swift A-Frame or Scirocco. Sectional density of the 6.5x55 with 156-160 grain bullets is around .328, which is more than adequate for Elk and you can be assured of deep, straight-line penetration. Of course, shot placement is key and a larger, faster caliber will not make up for poor shot placement.

There are, of course, many other suitable calibers for Elk. Since I prefer to avoid heavy recoil, and I also prefer the old classic calibers, other calibers I would consider would be the .270, 7x57, .30-06 and the .35 Whelen, depending on the terrain and distances I'd expect to encounter.

Some things just need to be quoted!

Looks to be 43-43.3 RL16. Shoots .5" at 2770-2778.

Remind me never to make you mad

I checked my notes. My CM is throated for VLD's to fit the 2.8" box with minimal jump.

The COAL with 140 NPT's is pretty short, bullet seated down in the case.

So, I'll use higher ogive bullets, lots of great choices.

Thanks for the data.

DF

I didn't hesitate, and have killed a couple of nice bulls with this bullet. Complete penetration at 250 yds.

In my opinion, still the best 6.5 bullet for bull elk.

Maybe the way to go for my Wife's Elk hunt, likely between the 140NPT and the 120TTSX I asked about earlier, I will start loading to see how these 2 shoot in her rifle in about a week, so far that RAP likes almost everything I have tried. It is noteworthy that the 140NPT is praised the most here & I did see her kill one Elk with her 6.5x55 with that bullet & it did well.

Lady shot a nice 6x6 last elk season using the 6.5 CM. Shot it twice. Sounded like the first shot was a poor hit?

Use good bullets, put'em in the boiler room, Eat Elk!!

I had a young man considering his first rifle purchase ask what about the 6.5 creedmor for an elk rifle as that is his goal in a few years. I told him it was maybe the best cartridge going for targets, a good deer killer and an unnecessary handicap when hunting elk. I like the 300's with good 180 grain bullets to maximize my chances both near and far.

I suggest the 30-06 with stout 165-180 grain bullets is a really nice starting point for elk guns. We hunt black timber less than 20% of the time and sage oak brush or similar the rest so 11-550 yards has been what my experience with extremes has been. The 6.5 can certainly do most of that job but why go with less rifle than optimum. I do understand that many members of the younger generation don't like discomfort but half a second of recoil a few dozen times doesn't seem too bad to shoot a good elk load.

I'm a 300 mag, 180 gr. NPT elk hunter, myself.

Overkill? They can't be too dead...

Makes me feel better, not that a smaller round won't kill'em.

IMO.

DF

Elk just aren't that hard to kill. Bigger rounds make a more immediate impression, and can put them down a few seconds faster (sometimes), but dead is dead. The smarter way is to use a round you can shoot well, year in and year out, because shot placement trumps sheer horesepower, and shot placement is directly tied to shootability. It's all well and good to talk about a nano-second of recoil a few dozen times a year, but that's not the way to good marksmanship. Yanking a trigger is a good way to create a merry chase. I'll take a guy who is familiar and comfortable with his rifle over the guy that shoots a couple dozen rounds a year any day.

Shot Placement is no.1
Bullet quality is no.2
Cartridge is a far distant no.3... cartridges are more alike than different.

And on an elk mountain I'll always take a lighter rifle than a heavier one...

I have run a local long range shooting competition for a couple years. Not a big event, probably had about 45 total participants. We shoot heavy barrel and sporter class. 3 shots at 100, 300 and 500 yards from a bench. Here is my observation. Most guys have no business shooting at animals past 200 yards. The ones that do practice ALOT. The guy who shoots a few hundred rounds a year down rAnge a year with a given rifle ( let's say 6.5 creed) has a lot better chance of putting an Elk down quickly at 300 yards than the guy shooting the 300 win mag who has fired it a couple dozen times. Longe range isn't easy, and caliber selection makes much less difference in ethically killing an animal than does practice. Bullet selection is also important, but again practice trumps all.

MM

fixt