Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Creed vs Deer

Just bought a Kimber Adirondack 6.5 Creedmoor. Some good loads factory/reloads for deer (150-190 lbs) out of an 18" barrel? Mountain hunting shots to 300 yards.

I've only shot two fallow does with mine using the Sierra 130gn Gamechanger with 43.5gn H4350. Both bullets exited the deer.

The best groups I've shot have been with factory Hornady Whitetail 129gn SP. My handloads with the same Hornady 129gn bullet have been just a tad larger, about 1/2 inch. The Gamechangers group into about 3/4 inch but I haven't bothered to adjust seating depth to try to better it.

H4350 and 140gr accubonds shoot well and kill deer very dead out of both my creeds and 6.5x284.

Ditto on the Hornady Whitetail factory ammo. It shoots very well in my Tikka T-3 Lite Creedmoor. The same bullet in a handload would be a good choice.

If 300 yards is the topside, then nearly any of the hunting-style factory loads should work well. I'd start with the Hornady American Whitetail ammo mentioned above. If you handload, I've had great results with the 130gr NAB at Creedmoor speeds.

Neither are Kimbers, but two different 6.5 Creedmoor rifles I’ve used factory ammo in pretty much liked all of it enough to fall within more than acceptable hunting accuracy.

Hornady 143 ELD-X and Winchester’s 142 Nosler ABLR loadings have been very accurate on the heavy end and the Nosler 120 NBT, Winchester Deer Season XP 125 and Browning BXR 129 were most accurate on the light end.

All of those would be fantastic at 300 yards or less, although I’d probably lean toward that Browning BXR 129 load for that specific application, as it has good BC and good velocity for those distances. Knocks the chit out of deer, too.

I picked the rifle up Saturday; had some Talley lightweight Ex-Lows handy and slapped on a VX3 2.5-8. I had three different factory loads to try. Federal Premium 135 grain Berger Hybrid Hunter chroned 2590 fps out of the 18" barrel. Hornady Full Boar 120 grain GMX 2855 fps. Hornady Superperformance 129 grain SST 2825 fps. All three just under 1 moa. The 120/129 shot to the same points of impact. The 135 grain Bergers were nearly an inch lower at 100 yards. The recoil felt comparable to a Rem 7 .308 150 grain loads.

SST sounds good. I haven’t bought a box of those yet but I want to see how they shoot.

I don’t even think I’ll bother loading for the Creedmoor as they’ve both been sob-MOA with a few different factory loads. While I do dearly love the 120 NBT, I feel that the 130ish range is about right for the 6.5 Creedmoor out to 400 yards on deer, and the SST is on helluva killer. Should make a nice combo.

We've used that Hornady American Whitetail 129IL bullet to shoot a smallish Canada moose. One to the lungs put it on the ground in less than 100yds and then a finisher.

Everybody likes heavy bullets but me. In my 260 I shoot 100 gr Nosler BTs (over imr4064) and 120 gr Nosler BTs (over R17). Both are deadly on deer. I thought the 120’s would be more effective on deer and pigs, but after sufficient testing I can’t say one is better than the other.

Get some Hornady Precision Hunter ammo with the 143 ELDX bullet. I don't know if hand loaded ammo can be as accurate as this stuff.

Agreed.

My cheap-azz rifle drops three into 1/2 MOA.

In Hoc

The 129 ABLR has performed great on game in the 6.5 CM for me.

143 ELDx has shot excellent. Limited use on two deer a couple of years ago but I wasn't impressed with the performance. Lot's of other folks report well of it so my limited use may not be representative.

JCMCUBIC,

It might help this conversation if you described why you weren't impressed with the performance. This is partly due to the fact that I've been impressed with the 143 ELX's deer performance.

I have the same rifle and it is important to chronograph loads out of the short barrel as velocity can really fall of with some loads. I like the Hornady Superformance 120 grain GMX load that chronys at over 2900 fps in my Adirondack and over 3000 fps in my 22 inch barrel KImber Hunter . I have killed a couple of nice bucks with this load,one at about 50 yards,another at over 250. Both were dead right there.

Reports on the 2 deer can be found at different places in the link below.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/12425391/eld-x-reports

OK, it would seem fair for me to relate my own experiences on two big-bodied mule deer.

The first buck, the bigger-bodied of the two, was shot by my hunting companion at 311 yards using the Hornady 143 ELD-X factory load. The buck was standing quartering away somewhat, and at the shot did the typical heart-lung shot hop, then trotted 25-30 yards, going slower and slowed until it fell over dead. The bullet entered the middle of the left ribs and was found under the hide of the far shoulder, retaining 74.7% of its weight.

Mine was shot at 101 yards as it stood broadside in some Gambel oak brush. Because of intervening brush, the practical placement was through the shoulders, and at the shot the buck dropped and never moved. The bullet was recovered from under the hide on the far side, after having broken both shoulders, retaining 60.2% of its weight. That buck's boned-out meat weighed exactly 100 pounds, indicating a live weight of at least 250. The other buck was noticeably bigger.

Two comments on your incidents: I have seen all sorts of reactions from frontal shots, and even frontal shots that did the amount of damage you describe. I don't think the buck going far despite LOTS of internal damage such as you decribed can be blamed on the bullet.

The second instance involved a first shot that only hit one lung. I also don't think the need for the follow-up shot can be blamed on the bullet.

You are correct. Which is why I note that my experience is limited and my impression is only my own...it just didn't leave a positive impression on me. I still have several boxes of the 143 bullets...perhaps I'll give it another chance this year.

Yeah, I've had the same reaction to some other bullets! In each case the bullet did it's job, but either the angle or the operator wasn't ideal. Plus, have just seen occasional weird stuff over the years....

I suppose I could add that I've used the 143 grain ELDX out of the 6.5 Creedmoor to kill a couple of large wild sows at about 200 yards. Two quick shots both dead right there with exits on broadside hits.

I also used the 143 grain ELDX in my 6.5 PRC to dispatch a large wild boar in a trap at less than 5 yards. I was careful to place the bullet square into the onside shoulder which required that it penetrate the cartlilage shield as well as bone before making it to the vitals. Impact velocity was right at 3000 fps. The Boar was killed instantly.

Based on my experience,I think the 143 grain ELDX is a dandy bullet for most anything we could use it for. I do not use it in my Kimber Adirondack because it is only going around 2500 fps and I like more muzzle velocity out of that rifle.