Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Hunting the 6.5 Creedmoor

I've thought about using them on Coues deer, just not sure they would open up quickly enough. That expansion looks pretty good!

6.5 123 AMAX found under offside hide of a 93" Coues buck shot at 350 yards per my notes. Pretty much the same construction as the ELD.

I've killed quite a few whitetails but I quit using it and went back to my .270 because I never had one just drop DRT after the shot. I was always having to go find them. The 270 on the other hand, drops them on the spot. I love my creedmoor for shooting paper and I've shot it out to 500 yards very successfully.

I've killed a couple of truck loads of deer with the 6.5 Creedmoor (and 130 Accubond). When I purposely took out the running gear or CNS, they dropped on the spot - when put in the boiler, they ran.......Prezact same performance when I've shot them with the .270. It's not the chambering.

In the minds of some folks, it is. And there ain't no changing that.

I've killed several mule deer and antelope with the 6.5 CM and 130 and 140 grain Accubonds. I've also seen a few more killed with the same loads. It seems like an ideal deer cartridge to me since it's accurate, low recoil and very effective. The 140's may be overkill for deer, but I really like the performance of the 130's and they shoot a little flatter with slightly less recoil.

My experience as well....

One of the most common misconceptions about big game bullets is that some open quicker than others. Instead, extensive testing both in media and on game has proven that almost all open completely by the time they penetrate their own length--which is almost never more than 2". (The exception is "target" bullets like the Berger VLD, which usually delay expansion for a couple inches before starting to open.)

Believe me, TSXs or LRXs start to expand when they hit skin....

Thanks for the info. Is the total amount of expansion
mostly or completely dependent on the impact velocity then?

I have not killed anything with my 6.5creed. But I load the 130 game changes for my son and I.
I’m pushing the 130 around 2900+/- out 24” tikka.

Poison shroom!

My hunting partner uses one and has had great performance on deer and antelope. I shot a cow elk with one. (About 300-350 yards). I think its a bit light for elk and I won't use it again but the elk did die. I think its a fine deer and antelope round.

I've had excellent performance with the 6.5CM on a Barren Ground caribou - one shot at 375 lasered yards using a 143 gr. ELDX. The bull went straight down and never moved. Yes I have a witness. The bullet weighed 107 grains found on the offside.
Next was a cow elk at 135 yards with another 143gr ELDX after a snowshoe stalk in 10* temperature. No recovered bullet. Last was a 5x5 bull elk with a Norma factory 140 gr round - cup and core bullet. One shot - a little wobbly, a few stutter steps and crashed down. An offside hide recovered bullet weighed 113 grains. I've taken 20 previous elk using a 338WM, 300WM, 300WSM, 30-06, 30Win. and a .270 Win.. Nearing the end of my hunting career, I can no longer manage the recoil of the "magnums". The persistent statement about bullet placement vs. headstamp is very true.
The list of well knowns from Sheldon et. al. using the 6.5x55 is a testament to the capability of the 6.5's.'The 6.5CM is easy to load for in a Kimber Montana and a Kimber Mt. Ascent. Oh and the Tikka T3x is no slouch either.

I should add if the 6.5CM didn't exist, I'd be carrying a Kimber Montana in 308 WIn..

Amen Kane! Same experience here.

Not in my experience with 100+ TTSX and LRX bullets. If the impact velocity is enough for them to expand, then they expand completely. Or at least that's what the exit holes have inidcated, along with the few recovered bullets.

Good to know. I'll need to try them out on deer this fall. I've seen pictures with little mushrooms only at the tips that made me concerned. I get great accuracy with them.

I bought a 6.5 creedmoor back in 2018 and had intentions of hunting it myself. My son started deer hunting the next year and started using that rifle. I bought one for myself in 2020 and have deer hunted with it a bit.

Between my son and I we've taken whitetails with an assortment of bullets including the 120 Hornady GMX (now CX), 123 SST, 129 Interlock, 130 Sierra Gamechanger, and the 143 ELD-X. Shots ranged from 25yds to 275yds. Every bullet has done a great job. There's been a few drop right there bang flop ordeals along the way. None of them required an additional shot, none ran more than 50ish yds. All of it resulted from good shot placement.

I see so many people rag on the creedmoor, and there's alot of idiots out there that believe the Creedmoor is a "magic" cartridge. It's not. What it is though, is an accurate updated version of some other proven established cartridges, and it does its intended purpose real well, and is arguably the most successful cartridge introduced this century and as a result there's likely ammo at every retailer in every corner of the world.

I carry one because it just plain works and I don't care about the nay sayers and contrary to what you'll read, you don't have to sport a man bun to shoot one. Good thing because I'm bald

All the deer I've killed with both calibers were shot in the same spot behind the shoulder. Difference is several hundred FPS faster with the 270 creates much more Hydrostatic Shock. There is definitely a difference between the two calibers. Speed and size of the projectile does matter, otherwise we would all shoot the same caliber. Not going to get in a pissing contest with you are anyone else just relating my experience. BTW I never lost a whitetail shot with either caliber.

Very few of you guys have ever walked a thousand yards to measure a target.


Good shooting bsr----hunter!

This is from nathan fosters site. Fyi the eld is the new amax.

For longer range hunting using the swede, no other bullet can compare to the performance produced by the Hornady 140 grain A-Max. This bullet is best suited to lighter bodied deer under 80kg (180lb) and gives optimum results at impact velocities below 2600fps (beyond 75 yards) which allows the A-Max to shear into large fragments rather than smaller, less lethal particles. Wounding caused by the A-max at ranges of between 300 and 400 yards is such that both exit wounds and bleeding from exit wounds can be easily observed through the hunter’s scope. The A-Max has a BC of .550 and produces wide wounding for clean, extremely fast killing out to 500 yards (2000fps), continuing to produce adequately wide wounding at 1800fps, out at the 600 yard mark.

https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/6.5x55.html