6.5 Creedmoor/260 for Deer, Elk, and whatever else.....

The Guide said:
Has anyone tried the AAC 140 grain Saber Black Tipped 6.5 Creedmoor ammo? Done several searches on here looking for any information. For $1.00/round, it might be some great target and hunting ammo if the bullet is worth a dang. Nothing up in the northern states open to test them on right now.

Thanks,

Jay
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Did anyone ever put one of these in an animal? I'm a little surprised at the price per round that there's not more info on them. Seeing varying descriptions of them being like a V-Max, or an ELD-M, or a TMK, or an SST. I've got a couple hundred on the way - assuming they shoot good enough, I'll poke something with them myself and report back. But if someone has done it and it turned out to be a shit show, that'd be great to know before I proceed.
 
Having a tough time deciding between 6 creed and 6.5 for my next “do all” gun. Whitetail blind gun all the way through back country elk gun.

I know the RS easy button is tikka chopped down to 16-18” and thread it.

What other options for stock guns do you recommend? What about the ruger ranch gen 2 with its 16” barrel?

But then I get to thinking of going that short, the 6 creed tends to maybe get the nod when I look at ballistics?

I know both cut down short will be a 350-450 yard gun for elk. I’m good with that.

I’ve had a 6.5 creed before 24” Bergara b14 HMR. Sold it because of the weight. Kinda miss it though!

Bullets would be 130 TMK in 6.5 or 140 ELDM.

Then 108 ELDM in 6 creed.

I don’t necessary want to build a custom rig but a chassis with a folding stock sure looks sweet lol. Decisions decisions


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jadkins223 said:
Having a tough time deciding between 6 creed and 6.5 for my next “do all” gun. Whitetail blind gun all the way through back country elk gun.

I know the RS easy button is tikka chopped down to 16-18” and thread it.

What other options for stock guns do you recommend? What about the ruger ranch gen 2 with its 16” barrel?

But then I get to thinking of going that short, the 6 creed tends to maybe get the nod when I look at ballistics?

I know both cut down short will be a 350-450 yard gun for elk. I’m good with that.

I’ve had a 6.5 creed before 24” Bergara b14 HMR. Sold it because of the weight. Kinda miss it though!

Bullets would be 130 TMK in 6.5 or 140 ELDM.

Then 108 ELDM in 6 creed.

I don’t necessary want to build a custom rig but a chassis with a folding stock sure looks sweet lol. Decisions decisions


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I hunt box blinds for deer here in TN. Tikka CTR in 6.5 CM with a 20" barrel is a hammer.
 
Black bear at 465 yards with a Kimber 6.5 CM. Bullet was a 147 ELD M, impact was 2150 fps. Shot was a little low and forward of ideal. The bear made it 55 yards downhill before expiring. Blood was just specs here and there for the first 25 yards, good blood after that. The thick spring fur soaked up a lot of blood. Because of the 18 degree angle, the exit was even lower. Last picture is the exit, just over 1" diameter. Almost all of the bullet exited.
This is a good example of a shot that would probably not have worked out with a hard bullet.
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jadkins223 said:
Having a tough time deciding between 6 creed and 6.5 for my next “do all” gun. Whitetail blind gun all the way through back country elk gun.

I know the RS easy button is tikka chopped down to 16-18” and thread it.

What other options for stock guns do you recommend? What about the ruger ranch gen 2 with its 16” barrel?

But then I get to thinking of going that short, the 6 creed tends to maybe get the nod when I look at ballistics?

I know both cut down short will be a 350-450 yard gun for elk. I’m good with that.

I’ve had a 6.5 creed before 24” Bergara b14 HMR. Sold it because of the weight. Kinda miss it though!

Bullets would be 130 TMK in 6.5 or 140 ELDM.

Then 108 ELDM in 6 creed.

I don’t necessary want to build a custom rig but a chassis with a folding stock sure looks sweet lol. Decisions decisions


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Click to expand...
I want a 6 creed, but tikka doesn’t make a factory option in that caliber, so you would have to build one.
 
I went a little bigger, but I can say that after shooting this cow at 220 yards with a 130grn TTSX, I'd have no issues hunting bulls with my .270Wby Mag. Rifle is a MkV Hunter
 

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JLH3 said:
I went a little bigger, but I can say that after shooting this cow at 220 yards with a 130grn TTSX, I'd have no issues hunting bulls with my .270Wby Mag. Rifle is a MkV Hunter
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How do you like the Hunter model and how much does it weigh if you don't mind me asking? Seems like a lot of gun for the money.

Been thinking of starting a 270/6.8 success thread. Should do that today.
 
jadkins223 said:
Having a tough time deciding between 6 creed and 6.5 for my next “do all” gun. Whitetail blind gun all the way through back country elk gun.

I know the RS easy button is tikka chopped down to 16-18” and thread it.

What other options for stock guns do you recommend? What about the ruger ranch gen 2 with its 16” barrel?

But then I get to thinking of going that short, the 6 creed tends to maybe get the nod when I look at ballistics?

I know both cut down short will be a 350-450 yard gun for elk. I’m good with that.

I’ve had a 6.5 creed before 24” Bergara b14 HMR. Sold it because of the weight. Kinda miss it though!

Bullets would be 130 TMK in 6.5 or 140 ELDM.

Then 108 ELDM in 6 creed.

I don’t necessary want to build a custom rig but a chassis with a folding stock sure looks sweet lol. Decisions decisions


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I shoot the 108eld in my 4.25lb 6mmCM. With the 18 inch barrel, I get just under 2900fps with N555. That gets me to beyond 650 yards before it drops below 2000fps. If you only figure a max range of 350-450, you might even consider a 6ARC with the same bullet, but then you could build it as a lightweight AR15.

While mine is a custom barrel on a MacBros Element action, I've heard that rechambering a tikka 243win into a 6creed is a viable option.

For stocks, I prefer a drop in chassis like a MDT LSS that I can get a vertical grip and my choice of buffertube-stocks for. I've got two tikkas set up this way, and they shoot lights out. Pics below of the 75 inch bear my son took with the 6creed setup this spring (he has also taken another bear, a nice whitetail buck, and a cow elk with it, longest shot was 550 yards).
 

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packgoatguy said:
I shoot the 108eld in my 4.25lb 6mmCM. With the 18 inch barrel, I get just under 2900fps with N555. That gets me to beyond 650 yards before it drops below 2000fps. If you only figure a max range of 350-450, you might even consider a 6ARC with the same bullet, but then you could build it as a lightweight AR15.

While mine is a custom barrel on a MacBros Element action, I've heard that rechambering a tikka 243win into a 6creed is a viable option.

For stocks, I prefer a drop in chassis like a MDT LSS that I can get a vertical grip and my choice of buffertube-stocks for. I've got two tikkas set up this way, and they shoot lights out. Pics below of the 75 inch bear my son took with the 6creed setup this spring (he has also taken another bear, a nice whitetail buck, and a cow elk with it, longest shot was 550 yards).
Click to expand...

Those are some impressive numbers. I would be way happy with a 500 yard gun. That chassis setup is nice too.

What about dropping a ruger ranch gen 2 into a mdt chassis. Is the 16” too short?


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jadkins223 said:
Those are some impressive numbers. I would be way happy with a 500 yard gun. That chassis setup is nice too.

What about dropping a ruger ranch gen 2 into a mdt chassis. Is the 16” too short?


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The chassis in the pic is the mdt hnt26 with my own ultralight buffertube stock I made for it. But the hnt26 is pricey. The lss is all aluminum and heavier, but is way cheaper. If you are willing to cut it down, you can get it into about the same weight as a factory tikka poly stock. See pic below of the cut down lss stock on my tikka 6.5prc.

I will add the caveat to all of this... my gear choices are primarily centered around getting the lightest weight for the maximum performance. The 6mmCM bests the 6.5CM in this regard, because all else being equal, a 6mmCM can be 1 pound lighter than a 6.5cm and have the same recoil. Depending on bullet choice, you can get a similar range between the two (I like the 140eld) but the 6mmCM seems to be just a tad easier to get a bit more velocity.

So, if you aren't chasing ounces and grams, and if a rifle that weighs a pound or two more doesn't bother you... then the 6.5cm is cheaper to find factory ammo for, and has more bullet options imo. And is cheaper to build (can just buy a factory tikka and have it cut down)

I have a factory tikka superlite 6.5cm that I had the barrel cut to 16 inches and threaded for a suppressor. It shoots 140eld at 2650fps with RL16. It doesn't drop below 2000fps until after 600 yards. The rifle has taken numerous elk and deer in the last couple years. Longest shot was 450 yards (one shot), a friend of mine turned 70 and due to health reasons wanted a chance to hunt an elk one more time. We were blessed to be able to get him on a nice 6 point bull elk.
 

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packgoatguy said:
The chassis in the pic is the mdt hnt26 with my own ultralight buffertube stock I made for it. But the hnt26 is pricey. The lss is all aluminum and heavier, but is way cheaper. If you are willing to cut it down, you can get it into about the same weight as a factory tikka poly stock. See pic below of the cut down lss stock on my tikka 6.5prc.

I will add the caveat to all of this... my gear choices are primarily centered around getting the lightest weight for the maximum performance. The 6mmCM bests the 6.5CM in this regard, because all else being equal, a 6mmCM can be 1 pound lighter than a 6.5cm and have the same recoil. Depending on bullet choice, you can get a similar range between the two (I like the 140eld) but the 6mmCM seems to be just a tad easier to get a bit more velocity.

So, if you aren't chasing ounces and grams, and if a rifle that weighs a pound or two more doesn't bother you... then the 6.5cm is cheaper to find factory ammo for, and has more bullet options imo. And is cheaper to build (can just buy a factory tikka and have it cut down)

I have a factory tikka superlite 6.5cm that I had the barrel cut to 16 inches and threaded for a suppressor. It shoots 140eld at 2650fps with RL16. It doesn't drop below 2000fps until after 600 yards. The rifle has taken numerous elk and deer in the last couple years. Longest shot was 450 yards (one shot), a friend of mine turned 70 and due to health reasons wanted a chance to hunt an elk one more time. We were blessed to be able to get him on a nice 6 point bull elk.
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Man this is exactly the post I needed. Thank you. This locks in the 6.5 creed for me. Ammo and Reloading components availability play a role there for sure.

Those 6.5 velocities are way good for what I would like. Sounds like you’ve got a sweet setup!


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jadkins223 said:
Having a tough time deciding between 6 creed and 6.5 for my next “do all” gun. Whitetail blind gun all the way through back country elk gun.

I know the RS easy button is tikka chopped down to 16-18” and thread it.

What other options for stock guns do you recommend? What about the ruger ranch gen 2 with its 16” barrel?

But then I get to thinking of going that short, the 6 creed tends to maybe get the nod when I look at ballistics?

I know both cut down short will be a 350-450 yard gun for elk. I’m good with that.

I’ve had a 6.5 creed before 24” Bergara b14 HMR. Sold it because of the weight. Kinda miss it though!

Bullets would be 130 TMK in 6.5 or 140 ELDM.

Then 108 ELDM in 6 creed.

I don’t necessary want to build a custom rig but a chassis with a folding stock sure looks sweet lol. Decisions decisions


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Easy button is the a factory 6.5 creed tikka. If you get a new stainless threaded version and get a UM OG suppressor- you’re at the length most guys are with a traditional suppressor and barrel cut to 18-20”.

You could hit up @hereinaz for a factory tikka action and a PBB 6 creed swapped in for a little more money. But 6.5 creed is plentiful selection wise and kills.

If you never shoot past 500 - no sense sweating which is better. Just know your gun and go enjoy. A 6.5 creed tikka and Swfa are responsible for a lot of dead critters.
 
jadkins223 said:
Thank you all for the great recommendations.

A guy locally is selling a b14 SP 6.5 Creedmoor. It’s a stock 18” rifle. Has anyone had any dealings with them?



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I bought this one: https://www.eurooptic.com/bergara-b...ecial-purpose-short-bbl-65-creedmoor-syntheti

Passed it down to my son but I really like it. Feels a little front heavy but shoots well.
Factory 147 M's averaged 2544 fps and factory Superformance 129 SST averaged 2821.
 
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