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

[Bc45]

6.5 CM 143eldx at 400 yards. Didn’t go more than 20 yards

 

[Jay Ell Gee]

One of my sons got a doe this past weekend.
6.5 cm. 130 TMK. 80 yard shot.

First critter we’ve gotten using the 130 TMK’s. I’m impressed.

I'm also impressed. Congrats to your son on his doe.

 

[JBradley500]

What loads would you start with with the below components? I'd like to comfortably hit 2800fps out stressing the brass if possible.

Tikka 6.5cm
130 TMK
H4350
Lapua SRP
CCI 450

I was thinking starting at 41, 42, 43, and maybe 44 and see if I find pressure.

 

[rabbithuntr]

6.5 PRC 143 eldx whitetail buck
Large chunks of bone fell out when skinned

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[ElPollo]

6.5 PRC 143 eldx whitetail buck
Large chunks of bone fell out when skinned

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That’s why you try to shoot them broadside in the ribs.

 

[rabbithuntr]

It was broadside but low broke both shoulders and some ribs


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[ElPollo]

It was broadside but low broke both shoulders and some ribs


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ELDMs, ELDXs, TMKs, and enjoying venison are all good reasons to avoid shoulder shots wherever possible, but sometimes life is fickle.

 

[ztc92]

What loads would you start with with the below components? I'd like to comfortably hit 2800fps out stressing the brass if possible.

Tikka 6.5cm
130 TMK
H4350
Lapua SRP
CCI 450

I was thinking starting at 41, 42, 43, and maybe 44 and see if I find pressure.

I had similar components but Starline brass and for both 130 ELD and 130 TMK I did 42.5, 43 and 43.5 and 44 grains of powder. I never had pressure with 44g using TMK’s but did have pressure on 3/5 rounds with 44g and ELD’s. I decided to use 43.5g for both loads and now about 200 rounds in I haven’t had any issues so far.

Edit to add this is a 20” Tikka CTR blued and I’m getting 2730 FPS with a suppressor attached.

 

[DangerRanger]

Whitetail doe
130tmk
~2500fps impact

Exit

Entrance

Inside entrance


Exit

 

[packgoatguy]

For anyone interested in more data points, factory Hornady Superperformance 120CX shoots submoa in my 20 inch (cut) tikka 6.5cm, at about 2875fps at 4800ft, 32 degrees. (Just 1MOA left of my 140eldm loads) On the other hand, it shoots like crap in my kimber 84m.

Factory federal terminal ascent 130gr shoots sub moa in my kimber 84m, but shoots terrible in my tikka. 2750fps in a 18 inch barrel. Seems to gain about 25fps above 55 degrees.

 

[General RE LEE]

I decided to stick with the plain ole vanilla 143 ELD-X/41.5 grains H4350 for my 6.5 Creedmoor hunting handloads this deer season. So accurate out of my Tikka UPR it’s like cheating.

 

[wind gypsy]

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[UpSideDown]

I’m starting with a magnum kill but we got both in a two day period and a lot of guys are interested in ELDM performance and how 6.5 creedmoor might compare to a magnum.

Kill #1: this is the elk in the brush
7mm PRC, 22” bbl
180gr ELD-M factory load
Suppressed
50yds, broadside, shot just behind the front quarter and 1/3 down.

He ran up to me while I was turned around looking at other elk, and when I turned around at the sound of hooves he stopped with his head behind a tree but looking my direction. I could see everything of him but his head, and he couldn’t see me. I shot him and he was surprised and started walking a few feet, I shot again and missed shot 2. He jogged down a steep hill and died at the edge of the brush.

Total run was about 100yds.

The ENTRANCE wound is shown as the giant hole through the ribs. Both lungs had a torn up section about 1.5-2” diameter in them. Zero meat loss beyond a rib on each side.

The bullet was recovered under the off-side hide, not intact but shockingly all of the pieces were in the same 3/4” hole. I’d say the bullet held together better than expected and the less inside I did far more separation/dispersion. We found no lead/copper in meat and the heart was untouched.







Kill #2: this is the elk in the open field
6.5 creedmoor, 20” Tikka bbl
147gr ELD-M factory ammo.
Suppressed
130yds broadside, shot just behind the front quarter, 1/2 way down the animal

We got to watch this group for about five minutes as they semi-circled around us. My buddy used my loaner rifle for this hunt and picked a great 6x6 at the back of the group. He shot it and the whole herd turned around and ran, with the shot bull only running about 10yds before stopping, turning around and walking back to about where he was shot. His hind legs squatted down and he slowly started to drop down. My buddy fired a second shot and the bull dropped to the ground and flopped for a bit. We discovered the second round never hit, the bull dropped at the sound of the shot. It took him about 0:45-1:00 of standing before the second shot and about 2:00-2:30 minutes to die.

Terminal performance was similar to, but smaller scale, than the 7prc. The lungs both had a cylinder about 1” diameter that was shredded, and the bullet was recovered under the far side hide, with all the pieces of the bullet together except some lead and a few copper fragments that made it into the flap meat and backstrap. The heart was untouched and zero meat was lost.



Overall, the end effect is what we expected, but how we got there was a surprise. For how fragmentary these rounds are supposed to be I did not expect the entire jacket to be together in the far side. I’ll keep trying these and see how more samples perform.

 

[Nine Banger]

The white-tailed deer hunting is good in the southeast.

I had does in and out of my stand tonight with a 10 point charging out of cover busting up the field, grunting and harassing does for 20 minutes or so. A few minutes later I had a big 6 point with antlers outside the ears checking out the ladies but with no noise or aggression.

I shot these 3 with 143gr ELD-X. One quartering towards shot turned around and ran about 50 yards back to bedding and was recovered 25 yards into the brush, that's the big one. The medium animal was shot broadside which resulted in a confused circling run, perhaps 50 yards as well. The small doe was DRT with massive blood volume in the cavity.

 

[MT-nuffgun]

Anybody ever try the 123 ELDm at 2900 to 3000 fps on a deer yet?

 

[Mike D Texas]

Anybody ever try the 123 ELDm at 2900 to 3000 fps on a deer yet?

No but I’m thinking they will come apart quick as they expand pretty violently at Grendel velocities in the 2500fps range.


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[Castle Rock]

Yep, violent expansion and dead right there with behind the shoulder shots, as expected limited penetration
Dont try to drive one through the hams on a running away shot, put it just above the date though and it anchors them on the spot with massive spinal damage

 

[CC55]

140 ELDM at 2500fps. Downhill shot with low exit. Ran about 30 yards

 

[Ozarkansas]

6.5x55 140 grain Gold Dot going 2700 FPS at the muzzle, impact at 75 yards. Clean pass-through with a 1” exit wound. Entire chest cavity was one big blood clot. Deer ran 40 yards with an excellent blood trail
This is the view once I took the shoulder blade off

 

[Knightstormz]

6.5 cm 120 ballistic tip hand load @ 100 yards.
Top of the lungs were liquified, broke a rib on entry, the spine, then a rib on exit.
The bullet did not fragment .
The deer was DRT upon impact .