Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 6.5 creedmoor white tail hunting in the south

I hunt with a 6.5x284 Norma, the 129gr Hornady SST or interlock are hard to beat ( bang flop ) !!!!

I've been very pleased with the 140gr Sierra GameKings in my CM.

GameKings are good bullets, I use the 150’s in my 308.

How about terminal performance, best load...

DF

129 interlock,125 partition or 130 accubond or my personal fav at the moment in my 260 rem is the 120 ballistic tip. ALL will give you the results that you desire.
Big Ed

^^^^^ This. ^^^^^

I picked up several different boxes of factory ammo to shoot and get to know my rifle with when I first got my 6.5 Creedmoor. The Winchester Deer Season XP 125gr printed the first three shots the rifle ever took into a 0.74” group. I’ve actually had a couple more groups from that box that went a touch tighter than that.

I know four guys who have shot game with the Winchester Deer Season XP factory ammo: one with a 6.5 Creedmoor (two Mule Deer bucks), a 7-08 (one Mule Deer buck), a .270 Win (five whitetail does, a whitetail buck and a cow elk), and a .300 WSM (two Mule Deer bucks). At ranges from 35 yards to just under 400 yards, they all got DRTs. BTW, the cow elk was at a LRF 312 yards.

Lots of very good reports of this bullet’s performance on game other than these. In fact, I’m leaning toward using it on Deer next year, even the the 142 ABLR shoots a little bit better in my rifle.

That said, if you want to shoot factory ammo for deer at 6.5 Creedmoor speeds, I’d buy a box each of Winchester Deer Season XP 125s, a box of Hornady American Whitetail 129s and a box of Federal Fusion 140s and see what each of those rifles likes best. All three will be excellent on Deer.

Terminal performance has been excellent... great wound channels, full penetration. Most deer and pigs have been dead within a second or two, literally. Accuracy is excellent - sub 1/2MOA groups are pretty normal. 42.4gr H4350, Hornady brass, F210.

I hunt similar sized deer in Sc....once I started taking my girls with me I put down the 30/06 and started toting a Tiika 25/06 or a Howa 6.5 as they are close to be ready and have been practicing.

While the girls are not ready yet, I have gone through a lot of research on factory bullet performance at ranges from 50-200yrds...I also had to change where I shot the deer with these super fast smaller rounds.

Basically American whitetail 129 gr bullets and pin the front shoulders out of a 6.5 will drop them right there....behind the shoulders and they run 100 yards plus

I think the factories are still missing the boat a little with the 6.5CM. I think a good 100gr bullet going 3100-3200 would be great for deer.

There's a great 100gr. bullet Cutting Edge Bullets ESP Raptor.....https://cuttingedgebullets.com/264-6-5mm-100gr-esp-raptor

No problem getting 3200 fps

I think even a 85-90 gr. copper or brass bullet with be good....

Sorry, talking about factory ammo. I realize it wasn't obvious in my post.

The CEB Raptor is a very interesting bullet, sort of a mono rendition of the Partition. The petals spin off, the core bores on thru. And, they're very accurate.

Expensive, but how many do you actually shoot at game. Practice with cheaper bullets.

Different caliber, different round, but demonstrates CEB Raptor terminal performance. Young sow, chest shot on purpose to show what the bullet can do. Usually chest shot hogs run, but this one was DRT. Looks like the petals spun off and chewed up the spine, which was not in direct line of flight of the bullet.

Rifle, a Kimber Classic with Broughton 5C SS barrel. Amazing how those Kimbers shoot with a good barrel...

Check out the speed and low SD/ES with Varget. Fed 210 primer.

DF

There ya go.

Yeah, my 257R is a real WT killer, 100 TTSX at 3,250 fps over H-100V.

Not much difference with that load and your Creed load.

DF

Hammer bullets are designed to behave similarly, but there's not plastic tip. They make a 99gr and a 110gr offering.
https://hammerbullets.com/product-tag/264-6-5mm/

Switch to Barnes TTSX... great on game performance and penetration from the muzzle to 1800 FPS... no lead in your burgers next year either...

Most 6.5CM factory ammo using heavier bullets than you need and lack for speed. Nosler loads 120gr BTs. The 125gr Winchester load would be the other appropriate choice for Southern deer.

My brother killed a buck last week with his 6.5 creed shooting WInchester Deer Season. BangFLop at 70 yards

I'm shooting the 140 Sierra Gameking and have had nothing but great success with that bullet. Drop in their tracks and blood all over the place.

100gr TTSX 3000+ FPS, square in the shoulder. Done.