At the risk of public flagellation for a social faux pas nearly as bad as spreading VD at Sunday School, I took a 6.5 Creedmoor as part of a gun trade today. (embarrassing I know)
Now, I have no intention of using this thing for LR shooting. Should I need to shoot long I have a 7 RM and a .280AI that both fit the bill nicely.
My plan is to attack the Creedmoor with the following bent. Use it as sort of a modern incarnation of the .257 Roberts with bullets between 100 and no heavier than 120 grains for general purpose deer hunting.
Has anyone ever tried this approach? If so what was your experience, bullets, powder, etc.?
I've pondered shooting the 125 grain Partition and the 100 grain partition as well. Ran with the 130 grain Accubonds this season. They worked fine.
Nothing wrong with the Creedmoor. (Anyone shooting anything with modern powder has no room to complain about "new flavor" cartridges... they all were once and they all had/have obnoxious advocates.)
The 129 grain Hornady Interbond out of a 22" barrel is an absolute sledge hammer for deer. The factory rounds are discontinued but you can still buy the bullets, I believe. Almost total weight retention through bone and all. Major blood trails.
I know some folks have a distaste for it, but just considering bullet diameter/weight and case capacity/speed, I think the 6.5 CM may be the "perfect" whitetail round....even at short range. I've had excellent success with it the past 3 seasons, the current and last season using 129 grain bullets with most of the shots at short range. Forget about the headstamp, just use it and enjoy it.
The 120 gr Nosler BT works very well on deer from a 260 Rem. Can not see it being any different launched from a slightly different shaped case.
I think it's about as perfect a short range/woods cartridge for deer hunting there is.
I use 129gr Hornady Interlocks. Have some 125gr Partitions loaded but haven't used them to kill anything in the Creedmoor.
The 120 gr Nosler BT works very well on deer from a 260 Rem. Can not see it being any different launched from a slightly different shaped case.
I have used the 120 BT in the Swede and its a deer hammer. Need to see if I have any of them left over.
Thanks to everyone for their input.
As I've often stated here, my .257 Roberts is my favorite rifle and has been since I acquired it in January of 2004. If the 6.5CM had been available back then and I could have purchased it for the same deal, there would not have been a contest - the 6.5 would have won.
Now it is the end of 2019 and a couple weeks ago I purchased a Savage 12FV (26: heavy barrel, Accutrigger, black/synthetic) in 6.5CM. That purchase put my plans to rebarrel a Savage 111 action to something for long range on hold. Looking forward to load development and then some long range (over 600 yards) fun.
I shoot 100 and 120 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips in my 260. Both work great on deer, hogs, and coyotes. You might think the 120’s would be more effective, but in using them on the deer and hogs for a few years, I really can’t say that the 100’s are any less effective. Both work great.
My Hawkeye Predator loved 6.5 100 grain ballistic tips. I never shot a critter with that bullet, but it was accurate.
The 100 grain Barnes TTSX at 3080 - 3100 has proven very effective on pigs and whitetails from small to large in my .260. H414 or H4350 with a F210 are the go to choices. The bullet and powder should work just as well in the Creedmoor.
My plan is to attack the Creedmoor with the following bent. Use it as sort of a modern incarnation of the .257 Roberts with bullets between 100 and no heavier than 120 grains for general purpose deer hunting.
Once I began hunting Axis in 98, have not hunted Whitetail since. Always carry the 280 or 7 Wby for that. I consider my 308 my short range gun & that is 100% of my hunting of late.
What does public flatulence have to do with social acceptance......?😁
I agree with the 2 posters that the 129gr. Interlock is a hammer on Deer.
The 123 eld at Grendel velocities has performed admirably.
I guess we could say it’s the modern 250 savage.
I don't think you'll regret using the 6.5. Load your favorite chosen bullet, go forth and kill sheit...
Hardest thing about the Creedmoor is choosing a bullet. A lot of good ones out there.
My plan is to attack the Creedmoor with the following bent. Use it as sort of a modern incarnation of the .257 Roberts with bullets between 100 and no heavier than 120 grains for general purpose deer hunting.
Has anyone ever tried this approach? If so what was your experience, bullets, powder, etc.?
My experience with the 120 grain Ballistic Tip in the 260 Remington for that very purpose tells me your use of the 6.5 Creedmoor will be quite successful. At Creedmoor speeds I wouldn't hesitate to try the 120 grain Sierra either. I'll soon be loading some of those for my newly acquired 6.5 rifle.
Varget, RL15 and H4350 all work in the 260, so the 6.5 should be good with them. I'll be working up to Nosler's top load of IMR4895 with 120's in the 6.5, they have it as a most accurate load tested listing.
The 100 ballistic tip is a real deer and pig slayer
The 260, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5X55 swede are best suited IMO for hunting inside 300 yds; however, are an awesome duel purpose 1000 yd plinking round for those who love to shoot for fun! In my 6.5X55 swede I run the 147 eld-m at 2730 fps for play,and I mostly use a 130 accubond at 3000 fps for hunting elk, deer, and bear.
In hunting with cartridges between the 223 and 45/70 in the last 40 years my thoughts are the 6.5 40 ish grain cartridges kill surprisingly well for such a small amount of recoil!
I like my .257 Roberts with 100 gr Barnes TTSX at 3,000 fps using Mule Deer’s load with Ramshot Hunter. I see no reason why a similar TTSX wouldn’t be just fine in 6.5 CM. For the CM, almost everyone has a gay cousin or weird aunt cat lady so don’t be too ashamed! Happy Trails
Most of the discussions here focus on whether the Creed is better than similar, older rounds. I'd be satisfied with it just being as good while offering greater choice in factory rifles with optimal twists, abundant ammo selection, and enough mag to seat the bullets out.
How about some 160gr RNs?
Not shot my 6.5 Creed at anything but paper, but my 260 with 100 NBT's has killed several whitetail and yotes, with DRT results.
I would think the Creed would be no different. H414 is my powder of choice in the 260.
I settled on 129-130 grain bullets for the Swede and they work so well I have not tried the others yet. Seems like a sweet spot for velocity and BC and good for medium ranges. Recoil is almost nil with the lighter bullets too noticeably less than 140s and above which is still modest.