Guys, I bought a 6.5 CM. I have no history with this round. The rifle is a Remington 700 MTN with 22" barrel with 1:8 twist. My preference is to try and find ammo in bulk due to the shortage and cost.

I realize each rifle is unique. However, is there a grain that works well for your 6.5CM with a 1:8 twist? I've seen ammo available in 120gr, 125gr, 140gr and 142gr. I intend to use this rifle on whitetail.

I like the Hornady 140gr HP....

The Hornady Whitetail load in 129 Interlock would be a very reliable place to start.
I’ve used them on several big blacktail bucks and even on two cow elk (.260 Rem ).
Your going to enjoy shooting that little cartridge 👍

129 interbond if loading it yourself. 129 interlock if not.

Never owned a Remington CM but have had several Ruger Predator CM's and they all shot Horn. 129 very well

I load 120 Barnes for mine. They shoot really well

My guns love Nosler 120 Ballistic Tips loaded on top of Varget.

Thanks guys.

The beauty of the creedmoor is it isn't typically finicky. Grab a box of ammo and go and you might be surprised how accurate it is. Works that way, more times than not, with the cm.

Sounds like you're looking for factory ammo? 143 gr. ELD-X offered by both Hornady and Black Hills Gold, and 143 gr. Norma BondStrike all shoot an inch or better in my rifle.

When I had my match gun put together, my son had given me some of the Hornady American Gunner. I shot three consecutive five shot groups that all grouped < .5” at 100 yards. It shot so well that I wondered if I would be able to produce a hand load that would shoot any better. I’ve made some that shot marginally better, but none that shot significantly better. I was with my son when he used the American Gunner on a decent Caribou and it worked well. I have no doubt it will work on whitetails too if you put the bullet in the right place.

Thanks being said, all of the Hornady ammo I have tried in my Creedmoors, 140gr American Gunner, 140gr ELD Match, 143gr ELD-X, and 147gr ELD Match, have all shot well, usually putting five into .6” or less.

If it were me, I’d buy one box of everything and let the rifle tell you what it likes and stock up on that.

John

my daughter shoots hornady 120 gmx into small holes with her 700.

Barnes 127 LRX over a stiff load of RL26 . Oops you asked about factory ammo. Prime 130 .

Not the CM, but the Speer 140 gr. GS is workin' out grand from the 24" Bbl'ed 6.5x55mm.

...at ~ $0.22/pop.




GR

Just me perhaps, but there is NO boxed ammo available here lately.

I’m new to the 6.5CM as well (T3x SL) and have chosen 129gr Hornady Interlock in a hand load as my chosen bullet for exactly the purpose you describe. Hornady sells this bullet in their Whitetail Classic ammo I believe - if you can find any.

I’d trust other opinions first but after my first 75 rounds downrange between 100 & 300 yards I’m shooting well under MOA with a super old school (but really great) bullet.

I like Barnes vor-tx 127gr lrx.

If its doing that well, I wouldn't change a thing. I have about 5 boxes of the 129gr Hornady BTSP interlock, but I mainly use them in my old military rifle (6.5 swede).

i have a tikka t3x and a christensen arms mesa . both shoot the walmart blue box 140 sp, fed fusion 140, and the hornady whitetail 129 equally well, all 3 are common to find ans inexpensive.

125 Winchester Extreme Point shoots amazingly well for me...

Federal blue box 140.

A dumb anti gun Biden supporter wondering why there is no ammo?

143eldx, 127lrx.

The Hornady American whitetail ammo shot well in my 6.5

Haven't shot it at anything living but hits paper well.. we have used Hornady American whitetail on deer in 7mm08 and 2506. No issues and great performance for 20$ a box before covid.

I just bought that same rifle, how is yours doing?

The theme here is that almost any factory ammo you can find will likely shoot well in your CM. I have yet to load for mine due to the accuracy of Hornady's Precision Hunter ammo and the 143 ELD-X bullet.

Before I got around to handloading 140's and 143's I bought some Win white box 125's that really sucked with groups approaching 1.75". Horrors!

Now I just use them for off-hand practice and collect the brass...

The sad thing is that winchester brass sucks as bad as those "1.75"" groups. One of the best bangs for the buck used to be the 200 round box of Hornady American gunner and you got good reloadable brass. Another good one was the S&B 140gr ammo (not the fmj crap) that was $14/box around here.

About any 6.5 bullet will work... certainly ANY bullets works on my 260 Remingtons....the NeedMoor is just the same package in a different box.

125 Winchester Deer Season is more accurate than the Hornady Precison Hunter in my rifle...

I tried a bunch with my tikka. It shot them all pretty well but really preferred the 130 g Sierra game changer tipped game king. If I remember right pushes 2900 with the 130 not too shabby.

Bought the mounts / rings and then found 100 rounds of Winchester Deer Season 125 grain Extreme point. It's not possible without spending a lot money for 1 or 2 boxes of ammo plus shipping to buy different brands or weights at this time. Will have the scope in bound this week.

I'll follow up in a couple weeks when the scope is mounted and have gone through a break in procedure.

Barnes 120 TTSX if you can find it.