Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 6.5 Creedmoor - Pick 3 Bullets

Couldn't pass up a deal on a Savage 12 FV so it looks like I finally stumbled into the 6.5 Creedmoor game. Rifle should arrive in a few weeks. Good time to stock up on bullets.

If you were after deer at extended ranges what 3 bullets would you test.

Ready, set, go!

140 A-max, 140 A-Max and......140 A-Max. until they're gone.

then maybe the 147 eld or 135 jlk.

I've apparently got the only Creedmoor that won't shoot 140s very well, so I'm going with the 120 ballistic tip, the 120 TTSX and the 125 Partition. Because my rifle likes them.

Old70

My pick is the
130gr Berger VLD is what I use in both my Creeds and it's a hammer on deer.
135 JLK
140gr Berger VLD
139gr Scenar

I shot the 140 A-Max until I had a doe run 375yds after a perfect lung shot at less than 100yds.
The holes through both lungs and exit was the size of a nickel and she didn't bleed for 300yds.

I was lucky it was in a open field and I could see where she crossed the fence line onto the neighbors property which was another field where I found her.

Hard to go wrong with any of them, but I have to say 129 Interlock and 147 ELD-M. They rock in my .260. The 129 Interlock smucks deer and is cheap to shoot. The 147 shoots lights out, but is a bit pricey, if you are burning lots of them (and it is hard not to burn lots of them, as well as they shoot).

How far?

143 ELD X, 129 Interlock and 100 TTSX.

For a 120-class bullet don't overlook the 123 grain scenar, it's a very accurate bullet with a decent BC.

143 Eld X is what I have settled on for the time being out of a 6.5 CM.

130VLD, 140 VLD, 143 ELD-X for deer.

If I was just punching paper, 140 ELD-M or 140 VMax/ELD-M. I have 3, 6.5Creeds. The 143 ELD-X shoots very well in each, as do the 140 AMax and 140 ELD-M. 140 Amax's are becoming un-obtanium. 143 ELD-X's are easier for me to come by locally, so I've pretty much settled on the 143 ELD-X across the board for my guns. YMMV

147 eld's is where I'd start and stop.

I'm new to the creedmoor, the only bullet I've tried is the 143 grain ELD-X, and might be the last.

for extended range shots on deer I'd look hard at the 139 scenar and the 147 eld

Pretty sound advocating there...

The question has few if any, wrong answers...

the shorter list, is what is a bad bullet in 6.5 mm from any manufacturer?

I'd have to start with the 95 grain V Max... but that isn't a deer bullet...

if the shooter can get the bullet where it needs to be at 600 yds...

most 6.5 bullets will drop the deer with no problem...

heck old school, 140 Rem SP or 140 grain Hornady SP....

I've sure used a lot of the 120 gr Ballistic tips in my 6.5 mms...

......and where would I find those?

Comfort zone ends right around 600 yards.

I’d add the 140 Ballistic Tip to the list.

130 gr, berger , 135gr JLK and 147 Hornady. I have had excellent accuracy with all and if you hit a deer with them at any range You can hit them ,they will be dead...........
For the price and all the 147 gr Hornady is impressive accuracywise... JMHO

Spent a while with a 6.5 CM today shooting 143 ELD-X's. Accuracy was excellent. Live testing in a couple of weeks..... If they perform well on game I'm sold. I ended up with the 143 because I couldn't find any 147's in stock, have no regrets now.

So far I’ve used the 140 hot cor, 140 Gameking, and the 129 interlock. All of them performed admirably. This year I’m trying the 120 TTSX.

I am up to 16 big game animals this year using 143 eldx out of a 6.5 Creedmoor. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Have you had a chance to shoot any Bergers for comparison? 140 ELD-Ms shoot fantastic so I'm sure the 143 Xs would as well, but I'd like to try a 130 Berger as a hunting load for the 6.5.

I read a report claiming the 147 ELD-M had better terminal performance than the 143 ELD-X, no personal observations.

The 147 ELD-M shoots very well in my 6.5 Creed.

DF

Sweet.

Berger 140 Elite Hunter

forget the other two

120 Barnes, 120 Barnes, 120 Barnes

Well I feel silly. I am still just fireforming factory Federal match loads. I bought 129 ABLRs and 127 LRX to begin to hand load.
Based the choices on 30 caliber past experience. 24" WBY MOA . I am usually on my own....

If that ABLR shoots well, it should perform well at Creed velocity. I have been shooting the 147 ELD in my .260 and it shoots well, but I have not killed anything with it. I will have a mini-test in a few days on antelope.

You'd run out of ammo pretty quick......

I have hundreds of 120 Barnes

Have you tried any eldm's? What other bullet do you find the eldx most comparable to, terminally speaking?

Yeah, but you can only pick 3.

My Sako Roughtech shoots 142 ABLR handloads into less than 1/2 MOA and does it at over 125fps faster then the Hornady factory 143 ELD-x.

120gr GMX

Out to 600, anything 120 and over with a boattail, with the exception of the hp Sierras.

Sierra Load data for the 6.5 Creedmoor including data for there new 150 Gr bullet

https://sierrabullets.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/6-5-creedmoor-load-data-101317.pdf

Thanks for sharing

That's 150 Sierra is a sleek looking bullet... 2700-2800 doable 24"

Powder Valley has them..

143 ELDX worked for us at 560 yards on a nice coues whitetail buck a couple of weeks ago. Bullet went thru him leaving a golf ball size exit hole. The buck didn't take but 2 or 3 steps and folded up. Hard to beat that result with a mild mannered rifle at that distance.

Tikka 260 Remington with a 22 inch factory barrel goes 2710 fps and shoots just under 1/2 inch 3 shot groups.

Since its a factory chamber and your going to want it to fit in a mag, your will probably be jumping the bullets a ways. For that reason I'd try the 130 Berger Ar Hybrids, 140 Hunting hybrids, and 140 Elite hunters. I shot a few whitetails last year with the Ar Hybrids and never had one take a step, but none exited. For that reason I'm trying the 140 Elite Hunters this year.

Where I hunt....

1. Nosler 100 grain Ballistic Tip

2. Nosler 120 grain Ballistic Tip

3. Hornady 129 grain SP.

My Howa shoots the Nosler 120 BT's very good. Not so good on the Hornady's. The Hornady's would work for deer if I hadn't tried the Noslers. But, I'm going with what shoots the best.

I have used the 129 Hornady Interlock in my .260 to kill several deer. The bullet performs very well on deer and is my go-to in the .260. I loaded some 147 ELDM to 2825 and it did well on a doe antelope and a white-tail doe and was extremely accurate. I now am testing loads in a rem 700 that I re-barreled to a 6.5 Creed. The 129 is shooting well and I have some 147s loaded for testing as soon as the weather allows.

I would also try the 143 ELDX. Some say they are too soft, but others love them. They are pretty accurate according to the small sample that I have shot and should do real well at Creed velocities.