Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Thoughts on a 6.5 creedmoor for African plains game including eland

I thought Bell used a 7x57 mauser

You might want to ask your PH first. He may take a dim view of the CM for eland.

On the other hand, you draw blood, you pay for it!

Here are the rules for Namibia:

Firearms

As per the Nature Conservation Ordinance No 4 of 1975:

No person shall use a revolver, pistol or automatic firearm when hunting game or use a firearm of which the bullet has an energy at the muzzle of the barrel which is lower than the following when hunting a species of game indicated there under:

Small Game:
(e.g. Dik-Dik; Steenbok; Duiker; Springbok)
Minimum caliber: .243 (or equivalent caliber in mm)
Energy: 1350 Joule

Medium Game:
(e.g. Hartebeest; Oryx; Wildebeest; Kudu; Eland and all exotic species)
Minimum caliber: .270 (or equivalent caliber in mm)
Energy: 2700 Joule

Dangerous Game:
(e.g. Elephant; Hippo; Rhino; Buffalo; Lion)
Minimum caliber: .375 (or equivalent caliber in mm)
Energy: 5400 Joule

The Namibia PH Assoc recommends 9.3 x 62 as the minimum for eland.

405wcf

Bell used a 6.5x54 M-S in a beautiful little rifle on the same animals that he used the 7x57 and other cartridges on, including all the dangerous game.

Yep, and one of the others was the .318 Westley-Richards Nitro Express--with a .330" diameter, 250-grain bullet. He used the .318 when he absolutely needed the extra, straight-line penetration--which wasn't often.

One thing that gets discussed here in Australia is cartridges for sambar deer. They are a large deer from india that are running wild in the Victorian high country and up into NSW. They have a reputation for being tough and like to hang out in very thick bush. I guess they are used to living in thick jungle back home. Sambar have a reputation for running several hundred metres after a hit with cartridges like .303 and .30-06. A deer that runs 200 metres and then falls over in very thick mountian bush can take most of a day to find.

So experienced sambar hunters tend to pick cartridges that not just kill deer after a 200 metre dash but kills and drops them on the spot.

Slip a little bullet between the ribs and most cartridges will kill a large tough animal like eland. But how far will the eland run before it dies?

I know two blokes that have shot sambar with 7mm-08s and the deer have run off and were not recovered. No doubt they died somewhere out in the forest. I can personally attest that a .35 Whelen drops them on the spot if hit right. And I can also personally attest that a sambar, hit eight inches too far back with a .35 Whelen, will run 100 metres before falling over.

So personally, I think that when discussing cartridges for large, tough game, the question shouldn't be what cartridges will kill them, but rather what cartridges will kill and anchor them in the immediate vicinity.

If I was to use a 6.5 on Eland, which I would not do by choice. My preferred shot placement would be right behind the ear!

I obviously don't have a clue about sambar deer, but it appears a mature male weighs about 400lbs. No offense Elvis, but I would have a hard time believing they are any tougher than a bull elk, or a variety of African antelope which die rather easily when the right bullet is put in the right place, even with a 7mm08. I would bet most of them would likely do the same with the 6.5CM or PRC and good bullets.

I shot an eland with a .375 H&H using a 300 grain TSX (used the same load for everything to keep it simple). The eland went down pretty quickly. I like the 6.5 CM for a lot of medium game hunting but I think an eland might be stretching it. No doubt a 6.5 could work fine if everything goes right, but there's not much margin for error. Personally, I would probably opt for at least a .30 caliber. But that's just me.

In my experience very few game animals run 200 m/yds and then die without another shot.

If they don't hit the dirt in 100yds or so then it typically ain't over without further shooting.

Vast majority of the time this is a shot placement issue rather than a cartridge issue.

Tell your buddies with the 7-08s to shoot better as a sambar deer is much much smaller than an eland.

Just Sayin.

You don't realise how big Eland are till you stand next to them.
I shot mine with a 308 Norma using 200gr projectiles, if I were to do it again I'd take my 338WM.
6.5CM is marginal at best.

I used 35 Whelen with 250 gr. Northforks and, upon seeing the Eland was thinking I should have something bigger. The Whelen worked wonderfully, but the size of these beasts can give one pause.

I have shot several eland. Most with a .375 HH as I prefer to get them on the ground quickly. I have shot one with a .300WM, it died quickly. The PH's I have hunted with all prefer the hunter use a .375HH as it does the job with no apologies. A 6.5 Creedmore would be fine on everything up to wildebeest/kudu/eland/zebra. If you are spending your money on an African hunt, do what the PH suggests. He has the experience, you do not.

For heavier game many (if not most) 6.5CM Shooters are drinking the cool-aid and trying the wrong bullets. But with the correct bullet the 6.5CM is going to do anything the old 6.5X54M/S did in the 20s and do it a bit better. The focus today in the magazine articles is on long distance bullets. That's not a good way to go for what you are thinking about using it for.

Go with something tough and/or heavy. Maybe a round Nose shape and you also will do as well as the old shooters with their 6.5s did.
I'd look hard at the Norma and Woodleigh bullets of 156 to 160 grains as well as the Barnes 130 grain and the Nosler 140 grain Partitions.

I shot my one and only eland with a 6.5x55 using 156 grain Norma factory loads.

I had planned to shoot the eland with a 375 H&H, but we were stalking a herd of Springbuck when we jumped this guy out of his bed and he presented at a perfect angle to put the bullets into the heart and lung area without having to shoot through heavy leg and shoulder bones. I shot it 3 times, all 3 bullets hitting lungs or heart and would each have been fatal, but I kept shooting until the PH said to stop. The PH was skeptical of my choice of the 6.5x55 for my light rifle, so we went over the correct aim points and angles on the game that I was scheduled to shoot. I also shot a box of ammo on his range to show him that I could handle a rifle safely and shoot 4 MOA offhand and 2 MOA off the sticks. The outfitter recommended Norma factory loads for the 6.5x55 and Winchester factory loads for the 375 H&H as they were regularly stocked items in Maun. Also, as recommended by the outfitter, I brought 60 rounds of ammo for each rifle with me and, IIRC, had to pay some sort of import tax on each round of ammunition that I brought into the country, but don't recall getting a refund when I brought ammo back home with me. That was over 30 years ago, so things have almost certainly changed since then.

The pair of rifles that I put together for my next, final, trip to Africa are a pair of Interarms Mark X mannlichers in 7x57 and 9.3x62, with the plan to shoot the larger game with the 9.3x62 and a properly constructed bullet in the 250 to 300 grain range. Plan, plan, plan, but be prepared to adapt to the unexpected and overcome it with the resources at hand.

Gray fox,

When you shoot the Eland what margin of error are you comfortable with?

How do feel personally about your ability to kill the Eland with a 6.5 Creedmoor?

The fact that your asking, leads me to believe you know the answer.

First off, I do not have and have never shot game with a 6.5cr. But I have shot an eland and seen another shot. They have to be seen to believe how big they are. I shot mine with an 8mm Rem mag and 200Tsx. The other was shot with a 300wby and 180tsx. I almost shot one with a 308 and 168tsx and would have taken the shot had one presented itself. I would shoot an eland with a 6.5 IF I was shooting a very very good bullet like a 130tsx AND the range was not too great and I was presented a near perfect shot. But if I was going after eland specifically I personally would have a bigger rifle. Which come to think of it was why I had an 8 mag on the safari I shot the eland instead of my usual 308.

Good luck, ben.

I have taken either 4 or 5 eland (or is it elands) all with my 270 and 130 Barnes TSX or TTSX bullets. Those bullets will penetrate about 30” of eland. All went between 30 to 40 paces before falling over.

Incidentally all of the plains game I have taken hit the dirt in about 30 to 45 paces with good shot placement. Few fall over in their tracks. If they go over 50 or so then you just may have a rodeo to deal with. This applies to buffalo as well.

The last 2 or 3 trips I made I have found myself asking “would than darned 6.5 CM have worked”? The answer, “yes”. The shots are within 250 yards. And the 6.5 CM won’t cause your shooting to get worse and worse over the course of a trip. I have had that happen and it is very distressing. I don’t own one but would take it.

Rick,

I have seen that deterioration in shooting with a number of shooters, and not just on cull hunts where a dozen or more animals are shot. It happens even on the typical 10-day "plains game" safari, especially with hunters who buy the "African game is super-tough" myth and bring a rifle that kicks more than they're used to.

A good example was a guy on a two-week cull hunt in RSA, who brought a 7x57 and 9.3x62, thinking he could use the 7x57 on the "deer-sized" animals from springbok to hartebeest, and the 9.3x62 on the really tough gemsbok, zebra, blue wildebeest, etc. Turned out that after a few days he couldn't take the recoil of the 9.3x62, and started misplacing shots. He went to the 7x57 for all his shooting, and everything died quickly--including gemsbok, zebra and blue wildebeest.

Have seen the same thing with several hunters who brought one rifle from a .300 magnum on up. Have also seen some who handled the recoil fine, including a guy in his early 30s (on his very first big game hunt) who used a .338 Winchester Magnum very effectively on a dozen animals. But in my experience that is the exception more than the rule--and I have personally killed enough of the elk-sized plains game with cartridges from the .30-06 down to the 7x57 to know they work fine--IF the bullet is put in the right place, and penetrates sufficiently.

Then there's the story I've told before on the Campfire. The wife of one of my hunting buddies finally got interested in hunting in her late 30s. But instead of starting with whitetails in West Virginia, where they live, her first big game hunt took place in South Africa. He prepared her well, starting with a .22 rimfire and working up to a big-game suitable centerfire.

They went to Africa and she killed three big game animals with one shot. One was an impala (if I recall correctly the first), and the other two a mature gemsbok and blue wildebeest. The cartridge was the .243 Winchester and the bullet the 85-grain Nosler Partition.

Have been meaning to ask you a question. Have heard several PHs say that African plains game is harder to kill than North American game. But so far I cannot remember an African-born PH who has hunted in North America. However, do know a long-time PH who was born in America (in Florida, I believe) who was involved with an "industry" elk hunt several years ago. I ended up killing my biggest bull--one of several in a post-rut group--with a .30-06 at around 250 yards, using a "premium" bullet. The bull stood quartering away, and at the shot "locked up," standing there until the other bulls started running by him.

The bull then tried to follow them, only making a very slow few yards before stopping, broadside. Whereupon I put another bullet behind the shoulder, and the bull collapsed. It was the first time the ex-PH had ever seen an elk taken, and he said, "I had no idea elk were so tough!"

John,
I don’t know a single PH who has hunted in NA. All of them like to go fishing when there are no hunting clients. They all speak highly of tiger fish and fishing from the beach. Beer and bries (sp) are involved.

None think that African game is unusually tough but they all have much to say about poor shooting. They think a “two four three” with a partition will work just fine if the shooter can perform. Many, as kids, hunted with a two two two.

They universally dislike muzzle brakes and can’t understand why anybody would bring more than a 30/06 for plains game.
There you go.
Rick