Hunting & Fishing Hunting rounds for the 6.5

[sheepdog697]

Thinking about taking the 6.5creedmoor out this year for some whitetail hunting in indiana. Last year i used the 178gr .308 eld-x by hornady and had some good results. Im thinking of going with the 143gr eld-x for the 6.5. Has anyone had any good experiences with these? Would you recommend a different bullet? I will be shooting withing 400yds at the max. Most likely under 200 yards. Thanks in advance.

Sheepdog

 

[drglock]

6.5 Creedmoor 22” barrel 143 ELDX @ 90yds. Dropped him in his tracks.

 

[Alaska_Guy]

I have been using the SuperPerformance 120gr GMX bullets for 5 years now and get something every year. 1 shot, 1 kill every time. Those GMX bullets stay together... A few years ago I was hunting caribou, I was able to shoot through a shoulder, double lung, exit wound came out the other side and managed to hit the leg joint and completely shattered it. My brother in law was on the hunt with me and he switched to GMX after that hunt and wont use anything else. I am sold on the GMX bullets.

 

[Chalkeye]

ELD M

 

[Aaros143]

Last year was my first year hunting with a 6.5. Popped two deer with the 140 ELD-M.
Maybe try the 140 ELD-X this year. But since I'm gonna chop the barrel to 16 inches may try a lighter bullet. Deer ain't that big in Texas.

 

[NateVA]

I should a doe at 60 yards with a 143gr ELD-X last year and it performed very well. Fully passed through both shoulders and left a big hole.

 

[shields shtr]

I had some good results on a couple cow elk with the 140 ELD-M. One I shot, one I loaned my gun to a hunting companion. Both shots were about 600 yards and behind the shoulder. Pretty much identical reaction, they walked about 10 steps or so, got wobbly, and went right down. I recovered the bullet out of mine and it was a perfect mushroom that weighed about 115 grains if I remember right.

 

[sheepdog697]

Very cool. Nice looking typical 8 there drglock. Where are you located?

 

[alaskalanche]

Used the 143 eldx out of my 6.5 CM last year and it killed 16 big game animals last year including 9 deer, 6 Caribou, and a grizzly bear. I will keep using them but I am trying the 147s on kodiak deer next week to see how they compare.

 

[xdeano]

The swift scirocco 2 -130 grn work well. So do the 127grn barns lrx. I've also had great luck with the 130 jlk, even on moose. I've got some 143 eldx but haven't messed with them yet.

Xdeano

 

[lrgrendel]

6.5mm 140 gr LAPUA Naturalis.
This is a pure copper bullet. (No nasty lead pieces to pick from your meat!) It will retain almost 100% of its original weight. At 6.5mm Creedmoor velocities it will perform very well out to 400 yds.

The photo was shot with a 6.5mm Grendel, expect more expansion with the Creedmoor.
Hope this helps.

 

[sheepdog697]

6.5mm 140 gr LAPUA Naturalis.
This is a pure copper bullet. (No nasty lead pieces to pick from your meat!) It will retain almost 100% of its original weight. At 6.5mm Creedmoor velocities it will perform very well out to 400 yds.

The photo was shot with a 6.5mm Grendel, expect more expansion with the Creedmoor.
Hope this helps.

Very cool. Are you getting good accuracy out of these?

 

[Snipe260]

I've shot many deer with the Berger vld hunting. Out to 500 Yards and no problem! 6.5 is great cartridge for hunting!

 

[lrgrendel]

Well it depends your definition of good!!

I am hovering at just under an inch at 100 yds which is good enough for me. Will be hunting deer in November with this bullet. I am getting 2740 fps.

 

[sheepdog697]

Well it depends your definition of good!!

I am hovering at just under an inch at 100 yds which is good enough for me. Will be hunting deer in November with this bullet. I am getting 2740 fps.

What length barrel? And yes i would definitely consider sub moa good for hunting.

 

[sheepdog697]

I've shot many deer with the Berger vld hunting. Out to 500 Yards and no problem! 6.5 is great cartridge for hunting!

You are loading these yourself?

 

[Snipe260]

You are loading these yourself?

No. I shoot copper creek ammo! It's good Ammo!

 

[XLR308]

Some of the first deer I ever killed were with this bullet from a 6.5x55 SM , they perform really well even on the small Texas hill country whitetail I shot with them.
Definitely overkill for whitetail but effective, pretty sure they were originally geared for killing moose.

 

[lrgrendel]

What length barrel? And yes i would definitely consider sub moa good for hunting.

I own 2 6.5 Creedmoor’s, one is a 22” and the other a 24”, they both shoot that bullet about the same.

 

[sheepdog697]

No. I shoot copper creek ammo! It's good Ammo!

Haha its good ammo,....with a price to match

 

[drglock]

Very cool. Nice looking typical 8 there drglock. Where are you located?

Oklahoma

 

[Snipe260]

Haha its good ammo,....with a price to match

Yea but hunting with its cheap!

 

[lrgrendel]

Some of the first deer I ever killed were with this bullet from a 6.5x55 SM , they perform really well even on the small Texas hill country whitetail I shot with them.
Definitely overkill for whitetail but effective, pretty sure they were originally geared for killing moose.

These bullets are made in 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm, .30”, 8mm, .338” and 9.3mm. They were certainly designed around large game animals in Finland but I doubt very much the bullet of choice is a 6.5mm when 5 larger calibers are available....some might say a 30-06 is overkill but we all know how popular that round is.

 

[davsco]

Used the 143 eldx out of my 6.5 CM last year and it killed 16 big game animals last year including 9 deer, 6 Caribou, and a grizzly bear. I will keep using them but I am trying the 147s on kodiak deer next week to see how they compare.

wow that is some serious hunting!!

 

[sheepdog697]

Used the 143 eldx out of my 6.5 CM last year and it killed 16 big game animals last year including 9 deer, 6 Caribou, and a grizzly bear. I will keep using them but I am trying the 147s on kodiak deer next week to see how they compare.

Very good info. Looks like the 143 might be the way to go. Also,....Can we be friends?

 

[alaskalanche]

Very good info. Looks like the 143 might be the way to go. Also,....Can we be friends?

HAHA sorry I didn't shoot all those myself. I only shot 3 deer and a caribou off that list. But the rifle was used by a lot of folks from an 8 year old getting his first big game animal (a caribou at 338 yards), to my sister getting her first big game animal while 7 months pregnant (caribou at 330), to me running the scope and dope for my buddy to help him get a grizzly bear far enough away the 143 eldx did not expand at the estimated 1650 fps impact velocity despite the Hornady claim of 1600 fps or more for expansion.

Adjustable LOP and cheek piece on the chassis sure makes it nice to fit any hunter in just a couple minutes.

So no I didn't harvest all those critters myself. However, that was just the animals shot with that rifle last year. Add 10 more to the total of critters I had to honor of helping folks fill the freezer last year. Just fun helping people and seeing the smile they get when it all works out.

 

[alaskalanche]

Little guy was pretty excited and made a great one shot kill.

 

[WoobieJ]

Trying to contain my jealousy.

 

[WoobieJ]

Also, in addition to alaskalanche, reading everywhere the ELD-X is probably the top hunting bullet.
Barnes don't expand as low, but if you're maintaining good FPS and need to knock em dead the barnes is your bullet especially if your caliber would typically be considered "undergunned" for the game your after.
I plan to try the ELDX 143 out in my new 6.5 CM for whitetail when I receive it.

 

[WoobieJ]

I've also heard good things about the nosler accubond and accubond LR.

 

[Gtscotty]

I've used the 140gr 6.5mm Accubond on one cow elk, and have used 140gr .277 Accubonds on antelope, muley and cow elk. Good expansion and full penetration all around. In my opinion, for larger game, the Accubond is one of the best if not the best all around killing bullet out there. Accubonds don't have the highest BCs, but by the time I've finished putting a successful stalk on something, I'm pretty much always inside of 300 yds anyway, so that doesn't matter too much to me.

If you are sticking to deer and smaller, the demands on your bullet selection aren't as stringent, there are lots of good designs that will work well. A guy I know and his coworker dropped a bunch if muleys and antelope last year with 140gr SGKs and 143gr ELDX out of Creedmoors. If I was picking a deer specific bullet for my 6.5s, I'd probably lean towards something like the 143gr ELDX, 129gr or 142gr ABLR, softer designs with great BCs for quick kills on medium sized game.

 

[Crews]

Last year was my first year hunting with a 6.5. Popped two deer with the 140 ELD-M.
Maybe try the 140 ELD-X this year. But since I'm gonna chop the barrel to 16 inches may try a lighter bullet. Deer ain't that big in Texas.

i just went through this process. Was shooting the 140's out of a 21" barrel, then judy chopped it down to 16.5" Based on MV/down range energy analysis and some informal field observation, I made the decision to stick with the 140's.

 

[Aaros143]

Good to know Crews. My only concern is I'm running a factory Tikka barrel which are slower than usual

 

[Crews]

I wrote this in the 6.5 Shorty thread:
"Shot some thin steel plates this weekend at 600 and 800 yards with Hornady 140 ELD-M ammo. Didn't have any problems making the hits at either range. At 600 yards, the rounds poked holes in the plate and kept moving with authority. Calculator shows 1844FPS, 1057ft/lb of energy. Wouldn't have any problems shooting at a deer or hog at that range, anecdotal observations of energy on target confirms that.

At 800 yards, one bullet passed through with less authority. The other 2 made sizable dents, but did not pass through. Calculator shows 1,641 FPS, with 837 ft/lb of energy. This certainly comes close to coinciding with the traditional 800 ft/lb minimum rule of thumb for hunting. I believe I'll set my ethical hunting range threshold at ~600ish yards and call it a day.

Looking at the 120's indicates that even with the extra MV, they're running out of energy at 600 as compared to the 140's at 800. Might still be okay for target shooting, but I don't believe I'll invest much time in becoming proficient with them, as hunting is the primary use for this rifle"

 

[Aaros143]

Keeping to the 140s keeps it cheap for me. And 600 yards is way further than I can get in this state.

 

[WoobieJ]

Anyone besides nosler loading the 142 ABLRs?

 

[kepo]

Anyone have experience with the Americans Whitetail from Hornady? I believe their 129 gr. I have a box but haven’t used them. I also haven’t seen many people mention them when asking about 6.5 creed ammo.

 

[Raffica762]

Hmm maybe take my Creedmoor in the woods this year ..I like to run the lighter bullets myself

 

[huntsman22]

that's what my 9 twist 260 is for..... 120's

 

[Toney198]

Any thoughts on Hornady 147 TAP?

“
Hornady® TAP® Rifle loads offer reliable functioning, low muzzle signature and superior terminal performance. Hornady® precision loads provide a low risk of overpenetration due to their enhanced expansion characteristics. The polymer tipped variants have high ballistic coefficients, making them an excellent choice for SWAT precision marksmen.
This line of ammunition is intended for Law Enforcement sales ONLY.”

 

[Chalkeye]

That is using the 147 ELD Match.
I think it will be great for hunting (if it is more or less identical to the A MAX), but it's not recommended for it by Hornady. YMMV.

 

[Brian Foster]

143 ELD-X

 

[alaskalanche]

Well after having 6 weeks off work I got to witness the 143 ELDX and 147 ELDM combined to till 8 deer, a caribou, a grizzly bear, and a moose.

Of course another 2 other moose, 3 other caribou, and a dall sheep were all shot with other ELDX bullets in other caliber sizes so we won't at those to the talley.

Thus far the 143 ELDX and 147 ELDM I can't tell one lick of different in terminal damage but need more than 6 critters with the 147 as I am now up to 20 with the 143 ELDX so need to balance it out a bit before I make the full switch to the 147.

 

[Shadow knows]

Last year the 3 of us went out with 143 ELD-X for deer season.
I just got another buddies rifle dialed in for deer season on 143 ELD-X.
Now all 4 of us have 6:5CM with 143 ELD-X

 

[Bill223]

i have had great success with 143 gr ELDX. Shot a big antelope at 250 yards and he dropped in his tracks without taking a step. It would be great for deer and everything deer sized and below. I’m sure it will kill larger game with great shot placement, but I am taking my 300 win mag for elk next month

 

[Maxduty]

6 deer with 143 eld-x has left me wanting something more. I'm shooting eld-m this year. Last year I put my 6.5CM up and got out the .308. I was not amazed by the 6.5 performance in any way shape or form. Too many punch throughs. Hope this year turns out better. Going to be switching to Berger hunting rounds depending on how OCW works out this next week.

 

[alaskalanche]

Well after having 6 weeks off work I got to witness the 143 ELDX and 147 ELDM combined to till 8 deer, a caribou, a grizzly bear, and a moose.

Of course another 2 other moose, 3 other caribou, and a dall sheep were all shot with other ELDX bullets in other caliber sizes so we won't at those to the talley.

Thus far the 143 ELDX and 147 ELDM I can't tell one lick of different in terminal damage but need more than 6 critters with the 147 as I am now up to 20 with the 143 ELDX so need to balance it out a bit before I make the full switch to the 147.

Can add a mountain goat and another moose to the ELDX count now. Gonna be hard to want to switch to something else.

 

[shooter65]

https://www.targetsportsusa.com/bar...mmo-127-gr-barnes-lrx-btlf-28986-p-76956.aspx

 

[CJS-6.5]

Anyone have experience with the Americans Whitetail from Hornady? I believe their 129 gr. I have a box but haven’t used them. I also haven’t seen many people mention them when asking about 6.5 creed ammo.

They work well. It's their traditional Interlock bullet that has been around for quite a while. Doesn't have the BC of the newer tipped bullets but will work well out to 400 yards. That's where most deer are harvested anyway.