Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Hunting the 6.5 Creedmoor

Like most people I started off with the Creedmoor as a strictly target rifle, and used it out to 1,000m with pretty good effect. After a while however, I got tired of punching paper, and returned to my first love; hunting. I figured the Creed would be a great cartridge for the Fallow deer we have here. First off I realised I didn't need the long high BC bullets I was using for the paper, and went down to 123gn SST's. When I sold the target rifle I had no lack of brass, in fact I doubt I'll need to buy any in my lifetime. With plenty of H4350 I was all set. The hunting rifle ended up being a Tikka Lite. Has anyone used the Creed on any deer roughly large whitetail size? I also have some 129gn SST's and some 130gn Accubonds. I zero to be on at 200m, which is as far as I care to shoot a deer at.

The last six or seven deer I've killed have been with the 6.5 CM. I'm hunting whitetails, and the bucks can sometimes field dress out at 200 pounds plus. I've used the 140 and 120 Nosler BT's, and the Sierra 120 grain soft points, the Prohunter, I believe. I've found the Sierra's to be my favorite bullet, but I also believe that any good hunting bullet would give similar results.

The 6.5CM is just the 6.5x55 or 260 in a modernized wrapper, so yeah, it’s a jam-up deer cartridge. If all my deer rifles were suddenly gone, I’d feel just fine starting over with a Tikka 6.5CM.

I’ll also add that a 130NAB at 2,800-ish MV works great with a zero of 200-220yds. Always performed well for me in the past.

we've had great results on deer and antelope with barnes 127LRX's.

120 Ballistic Tip, ot 120 ProHunter will work great at those distances.

No deer, only elk. Family won't eat Mulies.

Used 143 gr. ELD-X back when bonded bullets were unobtainium.

Now back to using various flavors of bonded bullets.

Couple of deer last fall did not complain about being shot with 125gr Winchester Deer Season XP. First deer I’ve taken with factory ammo in many moons!

Them 129 grain hornady interlock are pretty awesome, used some cause they were available. Used 120 BT, 143 eldx, 139 scenars, 140 bt all were killers

I recently posted this on "Ask the Gunwriters" in answer to a guy who asked about deer bullets for the 6.5x55. It applies to the Creedmoor as well:

According to my hunting notes I've taken a variety of "deer-sized animals" with the 6.5x55 and "moderate" 6.5 cartridges with similar velocities, including the .260 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5x57R Mauser. Many of the animals were actually deer, including whitetails, mule, fallow and axis, but there have been some pronghorns as well.

The bullets have ranged from 120 to 143 grains, and the makes include Barnes X-Bullets from the original to the LRX, Hornady Spire Point and ELD-X, Nosler ABLRs/Ballistic Tips/Partitions, and Sierra ProHunters. Muzzle velocities ranged from around 2700 to 2900, and there were only a couple of longish shots in the 300+ yard range. They all worked fine, whether the original Barnes X (a 120 that killed a pronghorn buck at 371 yards), or or a 143-grain Hornady ELD-X that broke both shoulders and the spine of a 300-pound mule deer buck at just about exactly 100 yards.

That's one of the great virtues of such rounds: Their moderate muzzle velocities result in consistent performance with just about any bullet. Recently, however, I've grown particularly fond of the 127-grain Barnes LRX, not so much for the "high" BC (which isn't all that high compared to 140+ grain bullets) but because it opens reliably and penetrates deeply, killing well but not ruining as much meat as lead-cores.

Some guys were having real good luck with the Horandy 147gr ELDM. Wonder if those guys can expound on the subject? beretzs was one of them, if I remember correctly. That bullet has been pretty impressive to me, at shooting out to 1,000 yards. Not that I'd shoot a deer out that far, but I'd have no qualms putting one in the boiler room at 600 yards.. There's enough weight and mass there, that it should even work well up close too.

129 grain interlocks have done well on whitetails from 10 yards to 270 yards for me.

Not the 6.5 Creedmoor, but my 6.5x55mm has done very well in the deer and hog fields w/ the lowly cup-n-core SPEER Grand Slam/140 gr.

Precision, and good exit wounds.

And inexpensive enough to use as a practice bullet.

No complaints.




GR

Cool, love to see some pictures of those 1000 yard groups.

Show yours first, so I can post up the ones that beat it.. Although, that's not what the OP was looking for. The last time I was using those 147's, I was shooting 600 yards. Hence the reason I said I'd have "no qualms" using it at that range:



Throw up a 600 yard target Mike.. Just 1. Thanks!!!

OR, how about a sub 1" group at 400 yards:


Again, the intent was to ask the guys that used this particular bullet on deer to "expound" on how well they worked. I'll wait for the pics buddy..

I load the 120 Barnes, hammers deer and pigs, killed one Aoudad too.

I have posted both 600 yard and 1000 yard targets within the past few months, feel free to check. I will note that they are shown on the proper sized target face. Not a 600 yard group on a 1000 yard face like you post above.

Regarding Hornady 6.5 ELDs on deer sized game, they work quite well on deer as I have posted in my hunt write ups in the past. What has been your actual experience with them? A rhetorical question of course...

I'm with Mule Deer, the 127 gr. LRX has worked very well for me this last year. Rio7

For larger game the 127gr LRX is a great choice. I have only killed one animal with that bullet, in a 6.5-06, but it was a 350" bull elk that crumpled with 1 shot quartering towards.

Another vote for the 127LRX. Took a big cow elk with one shot last year.

The older I get and with the limited experience a 'regular' hunter has, versus a guide or writer, the less difference I see in any rifle 6.5 up to 30 '06-ish. Stick a quality bullet in the lungs and it's all academic.

They're a great choice for smaller game too. Even from a short-barreled Creedmoor. And they look purty when dug out of the ground after going through a chest.