Light bullets in the 6.5 Creedmoor

[flyingagg]

I have no experience with hammers, but my personal experience with one of the owners and watching how anything negative about them on LRH is shut down, personally I walked away. Just personal choice. Not advocating for or against as I have never tried.

 

[rjm158]

My family and I have used the 120 BTs in 260s and 6.5 CMs over the years on deer and have had nothing but good luck with them. They have been excellent both in accuracy and terminal performance.

Ron

 

[Charlie-NY]

I have no experience with hammers, but my personal experience with one of the owners and watching how anything negative about them on LRH is shut down, personally I walked away. Just personal choice. Not advocating for or against as I have never tried.

I've shot the 124 Hammers in my Creed and found them to be very accurate. Last year I shot a whitetail in the chest and had the bullet shank exit the rear hindquarter. For shooting whitetails, a much lighter bullet would have been fine. Reloaders have been shooting the 85 Hammers through everything lately. A reduced load would greatly reduce recoil and terminal performance should be good whenever the bullet remains above the expansion threshold, which is indicated as 1,800 ft/sec.

I'm sure the 120gr Nosler is a very effective whitetail bullet but where recoil is a concern, a lighter alternative may be just what the doctor ordered.

 

[AFG270]

I have no experience with hammers, but my personal experience with one of the owners and watching how anything negative about them on LRH is shut down, personally I walked away. Just personal choice. Not advocating for or against as I have never tried.

I'm shooting Hammers in 3 different rifles and have yet to find a negative, other than they are expensive, but for a good hunting bullet I expect that. They are easy to load and find an accurate load, they are very consistent in weight and length. On game performance has been excellent so far, although the 80gr 6mm bullet is the only one I have tested on game.

 

[flyingagg]

I'm shooting Hammers in 3 different rifles and have yet to find a negative, other than they are expensive, but for a good hunting bullet I expect that. They are easy to load and find an accurate load, they are very consistent in weight and length. On game performance has been excellent so far, although the 80gr 6mm bullet is the only one I have tested on game.

Always shoot what works for you!

 

[Cleveland48]

I used a lot of 120 BT in a 260 rem I owned years ago with excellent results on deer. I have ran the 120 TTSX in a 6.5 CM with great results too, and extremely accurate.

 

[Blkram]

Got out to the range today with the wife to try out the Federal Premium 130 gr Terminal Ascent in the 6.5 CM.
Average group size for me was .682" @ 100 yards, with most groups having 2 shots cutting the same hole. Looks like she is going to shoot in my rifle! Rang the gongs out to 500 yards...lots of fun!
With more trigger time, I am sure that I will be able to shrink these groups, as this was my first trip to the range in 8 months. The X Bolt's trigger sure is crisp and clean; sure helps with shooting groups!
The rifle is just plain fun to shoot!

Susan was happy with her 1.5" groups; her first time shooting since last summer, and first time shooting this rifle. And she was all smiles after being able to ring the gongs at 200 and 300 yards with each shot.
We then spent some time with her shooting of the Trigger Stick tripod. She was definitely happier sitting and using the sticks then standing.
She is confident that she will be able to place her shots on a fallow deer or arapawa ram out to 300 yards next week in New Zealand, with a good rest, or 200 off the sticks.

 

[RL338]

Susan was happy with her 1.5" groups; her first time shooting since last summer, and first time shooting this rifle. And she was all smiles after being able to ring the gongs at 200 and 300 yards with each shot.
We then spent some time with her shooting of the Trigger Stick tripod. She was definitely happier sitting and using the sticks then standing.
She is confident that she will be able to place her shots on a fallow deer or arapawa ram out to 300 yards next week in New Zealand, with a good rest, or 200 off the sticks.

Results like that will be a confidence booster for sure with a new rifle.

 

[Blkram]

Well, I can say that the 6.5 CM Federal Premium ammo with the 130 gr Terminal Ascent bullet worked very well on New Zealand game!
Complete pass through on double lung shot on a red stag at 296 yards. Stag whirled and went down within a couple of yards.
Complete pass through both shoulders and double lung shot on fallow buck at 267 yards. Buck lept bush in front of it and came to rest on the track 20' below where it was standing. Struggled to rise and expired.
Complete pass through on double lung shot of an Arapawa Ram and then through the pelvis of a second ram that wasn't seen slightly downhill behind first ram, by myself or the guide at 120 yards. 2 rams DRT. (My wife is continuing to live up to her Double Trouble reputation!)

 

[DrMike]

Excellent, Gil and Susan!

 

[flyingagg]

Impressive. I am so jealous
Congrats

 

[Joec7651]

Congratulations! I doesn’t get any better than that.

 

[JD338]

Gil,
WOW, what a hunt and what a trip. Congratulations to you and Susan on making your dream hunt come true. Enjoy your adventure!

JD338

 

[sako2]

Congrats to you and your wife. Good job.

 

[rmarshall]

If you can round up the 125 Partition it's a great bullet, I have used it a bunch whitetail and mule deer. It just flat works and has been very accurate in my 260 rem.
I've yet to recover one from close to far.. The 120 BT works awesome as well. SPS has the 120 E-tip in stock right now. Might be worth a look.

 

[gerry]

Very impressive Gil and Susan.

 

[TackDriver284]

Well, I can say that the 6.5 CM Federal Premium ammo with the 130 gr Terminal Ascent bullet worked very well on New Zealand game!
Complete pass through on double lung shot on a red stag at 296 yards. Stag whirled and went down within a couple of yards.View attachment 19837
Complete pass through both shoulders and double lung shot on fallow buck at 267 yards. Buck lept bush in front of it and came to rest on the track 20' below where it was standing. Struggled to rise and expired.View attachment 19838
Complete pass through on double lung shot of an Arapawa Ram and then through the pelvis of a second ram that wasn't seen slightly downhill behind first ram, by myself or the guide at 120 yards. 2 rams DRT. (My wife is continuing to live up to her Double Trouble reputation!)View attachment 19839

Wow, Look at those full curls. Congratulations to both of you. It must have been a great adventure for both of you.

 

[Blkram]

Wow, Look at those full curls. Congratulations to both of you. It must have been a great adventure for both of you.

Thanks!
It was a most memorable adventure!
The red stag was a bucket list animal and one of the highlights of the trip for sure. Hearing them roar was a very cool experience!
Susan really wanted a ram, and is absolutely tickled having got two (her first big game animals) and very happy with the two different variants in horn configuration.
The fallow buck was an unexpected challenge and I look forward to hunting this wily deer again! Unfortunately we missed the peak of their rut by a couple of weeks, so did not get to hear them croaking.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Congratulations to you both. Nice pictures and report of your hunting adventure. Thanks for sharing. Dan.

 

[FOTIS]

120 bt or any light weight hammer bullet