Hunting bullet for 6.5 Creedmoor

M

mcseal2

Handloader
Nov 1, 2010
725
13
I traded a rifle in and brought home a Browning Hells Canyon Speed rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. I should have Talley Rings in the next couple days, and plan to steal the SWFA 3-15x42mm scope off my 25-06 for now. I'll end up with a 4-16x42 Huskemaw on it down the road I think.

I will use this rifle primarily on mountain muleys. I have been taking my Rifles Inc 300 win mag on deer hunts when I want a lighter rifle than my custom M70 264 win mag. I think this rifle might get that job. For low land hunts this or the 264 will work. I will likely go back to E tips in my 300 win mag and use it for AK hunts and elk. This 6.5 Creedmoor will be my back-up rifle on hunts where one of the others is my primary. As the kids get older I bet they end up shooting this rifle also.

What bullet would you recommend for deer size game? I will say that I'm used to not having to be terribly picky on shot angle using the 2 rifles mentioned above. I like being able to break a shoulder or take a quartering away shot when needed. I'd prefer to use factory ammo in this rifle. I'm thinking of the 143gr ELD-X, hoping it will be tough enough at the speeds generated by a 22" 6.5 Creed. Any others you would recommend? I want a high BC bullet, I plan to do a lot of practice shooting out to 700 yards. I don't look for long shots hunting, but I do enjoy practicing them. Part of the reason I wanted to get a 6.5 Creedmoor was to enjoy my long range practice while saving the barrels on my magnums. I wanted a light rifle to practice with to make me do my part in accuracy. I need to keep myself sharp to shoot well with the light 300 win mag when I use it.

Thanks for your help.
 
I like the 143gr ELDX for open country shooting quite a bit. I think the bullet is really too soft for under 100 yards, but performance between 200 and 300 is really pretty good and very good past that. The bullet is matched really well to the kinds of mild velocities the 6.5CM generates. In my circle acquaintances, we've taken something on the order of 30-40 animals with it, mostly caribou, with good results so a mule deer or whitetail is well within the envelope.

In the "high BC hunting bullet" category would be the ELDX and the ABLR, and they're really more alike than not on terminal performance.

I personally don't see a lot of point in the lighter and tougher bullets at higher speeds. You don't gain much near or far over the 140ish bullets. I developed a good load for the 130 AccuBond, but after I ran out never really saw any improvement of the 143 ELDX and 142 ABLR so I never bothered to continue with it. The good news is that at typical 6.5 speeds, there just aren't many bad bullets out there.
 
129 gr ABLR works well for my wife in her Kimber Hunter.

JD338
 
So far the 143 gr ELD-X shoot very well in my rifle and the 140 gr AccuBond ammo shoots well too.
I am hoping to work up good load with the 130 and 140 gr AccuBonds in my rifle, with Re-26. We'll see which the rifle prefers in the end.

Hodgeman, would be interested in hearing what your load for the 130 gr AB is.
 
I for the most part agree with what's been said so far, not many "bad" bullets out there at 6.5 Creedmoor speeds, have tried a whole pile of them from 120-156 gr and been very happy. In my 260 and wife's 6.5x55 we have had great results with the 129 gr ABLR, 130 gr AccuBond and 140 gr Ballistic Tip, the latter two are my favourite bullets for deer sized game. I like the 130 gr class myself since it seems they shoot flatter on average than 140's. Haven't tried the Hornady ELD-X or M so can't comment on them but lot's of guys love them. Really like the reports on how the 130 gr Sierra TGK is doing, have a good load but need to shoot something with them myself. I think Sierra has a winner with them.
 
I use 147 ELD M’s in my bolt gun and 139 Scenars in my AR10. The 147 ELD has worked excellent on deer for me a few times now. They do expand quickly but no problem with blow up at 2775 start speed.

The 129 or 142 ABLR should be excellent but I’ve not tried them in my rifle since the Hornady has worked excellent.
 
Thanks everyone. I'll give the ELD-X a shot and see how it shoots, go from there. The 140 AccuBond I know is a great bullet from using it in my 264 win mag, I'm just hoping to use a more reasonably priced factory load for now. If I need to I will handload Accubonds or try the ELD-M or a 130r Sierra, Sirocco, or AccuBond. Hopefully the ELD-X works and I can just use it. It's the only option that looked appealing at the local store. The others are all economy softpoints with lower BC's or non-hunting bullets.
 
JD338":772yijin said:
129 gr ABLR works well for my wife in her Kimber Hunter.

JD338
Click to expand...

Although Nosler loaded ammo, the 129 ABLR out of a 6.5 Creedmoor performed great on my girlfriend's first cow elk last year. The shot was 320 yds (yeah, she got a bit lucky).
 
The rifle likes the ELD-X pretty well. Groups are all sub MOA so far even with cleaning every shot to every 3 shots. The best are around a half, probably average right about 3/4". The chronograph was a little disappointing, 2525fps was the average for the 3 shots with it attached (Magnetospeed). The SD between the shot was only 10.6fps though.

I guess I shouldn't have to worry about it blowing up at that speed, but I was hoping for a bit more from the 22" barrel. The box shows 2700fps. Heading to the gong now to shoot it at 300, 400, and 500 yards.
 
I’ve put this out there a couple of times on this site. Since I like to repeat myself I’ll do it again[emoji1].

I shoot the 140 Nosler Custom Competition thats billed at a .529 BC and a 140 Nosler Partition that’s a .490 BC (using factory numbers). With the 6.5 Creedmoor, at 600 yards, with the same powder charge, both rounds strike my 10” plate with zero elevation dial up in the scope. There might be an inch or two difference, but I’m not a good enough marksman in field conditions to tell it. I’m not sure where the higher BC becomes a factor, but for me it’s not at 600.

I’ll take the Partition any day of the week for a hunting bullet. It’s near perfect.
 
gbflyer":3r4dz5a2 said:
I’ve put this out there a couple of times on this site. Since I like to repeat myself I’ll do it again[emoji1].

I shoot the 140 Nosler Custom Competition thats billed at a .529 BC and a 140 Nosler Partition that’s a .490 BC (using factory numbers). With the 6.5 Creedmoor, at 600 yards, with the same powder charge, both rounds strike my 10” plate with zero elevation dial up in the scope. There might be an inch or two difference, but I’m not a good enough marksman in field conditions to tell it. I’m not sure where the higher BC becomes a factor, but for me it’s not at 600.

I’ll take the Partition any day of the week for a hunting bullet. It’s near perfect.
Click to expand...

You aren't wrong there, and the 140 AccuBond doesn't leave much goodness on the table either.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies.

Well the Creed has a coyote under it's belt now, and I finished a wounded buck for another hunter at 330 yards. I'm going to do a little more experimenting with bullets after deer season is over. I loaned it to a buddy whose 7 mag has a 30 year old Tasco that's not usable at last light when his target buck is coming out. My scope will be much better in low light.

The gong shooting went well. The ELD-X hit right where the Hornady app said it should as I dialed the scope and shot from 300 to 600 yards. It's a fun rifle to shoot.

I ordered a few other boxes of ammo to try. I want to see if I can keep a decent BC and get more speed. I got Fiocchi loaded ammo with a 130gr Scirocco and HSM with the 130gr Sierra Gamechanger. I'll see how they do and decide from there. See if I get good accuracy and increased velocity with some of the tougher 130's.
 
Well I tried some other factory ammo. Accuracy was excellent, speeds are still slow. I checked my chronograph with another rifle I know the velocity on to verify it is accurate. It was reading right.

Fiocchi factory 130gr Swift Scirocco ammunition
Avg 2622fps for 3 shots, 4.7fps SD. Shot 3 groups of 3 shots each that were under .5"

130gr HSM loaded Sierra Gamechanger ammunition
2645, 2632fps. Avg 2638. Didn't shoot more, the shots were .7" apart but not faster than the above load that shot even better.

Hornady 129gr Superformance SST ammo
3 shots avg 2820fps. 31fps SD. First 3 shot group went 1 MOA but they were the first shots fired after a thorough cleaning. Second group went into a ragged hole.

The rifle is beyond my expectations for accuracy, but it seems to be a slow barrel. I think the Swift bullet looks the best for my needs at this time. Accuracy and SD are excellent. The BC is enough better than the faster Hornady load that the 500 yard drop is only 4" different with both zeroed at 225 yards according to Hornady's ballistic calculator. Swift's website shows expansion down to 1750fps on the Scirocco, and that gets me to 600 yards.

A buddy borrowed my Creed to shoot his buck with and used the 143gr ELD-X Precision Hunter ammo. He took out the near side shoulder blade at 200 yards and what was left of the bullet ended up in the offside shoulder blade. There were fragments scattered through the area. The bullet killed the buck in it's tracks, it wasn't a bullet failure, but it also isn't quite what I want from a bullet. With a 2253fps impact velocity I'd have hoped for a bit less fragmentation.

Anyway that's my thoughts as of now. I will shoot some more later, ran out of light tonight.
 
The 130 gr Scirocco was my go to bullet in my old 264 WM and it is a tough bullet so you won't have to worry about fragmentation especially at 6.5 Creedmoor speeds. Sounds like the rifle is going to shoot for you
 
Thats awswome. I've really gotten to like the 6.5 Creedmoor, accurate, light kicking, and its not super expensive to shoot, which means more practice for me.

Corey
 
Thats awswome. I've really gotten to like the 6.5 Creedmoor, accurate, light kicking, and its not super expensive to shoot, which means more practice for me.

Corey
 
The Hornady 143 ELD-X has proven very accurate in my 6.5 creedmoor. I’m looking forward to trying them out on a caribou this fall.


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