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

[WormSportsman]

Red stag shot up high above the bushline last month during our rut here in NZ. 6.5cm 20” barrel, Hornady 140gr ELD-M factory ammo. 2600fps hitting at 2150fps (372yds)

Wind blew the bullet just forward of the shoulder and hit the spine, saw him go straight down ass first. I struggled to work out where I hit him to begin with, as there was no obvious entry wound (the mane gets very long and thick during the rut) and there was no exit as the bullet had disintegrated along with the spinal column. The offside skin kept everything in.

No necropsy photos sorry, I was solo with a heap of work to do!

Damn that is some cool looking country! Congrats on the Stag too nice work!

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Red stag shot up high above the bushline last month during our rut here in NZ. 6.5cm 20” barrel, Hornady 140gr ELD-M factory ammo. 2600fps hitting at 2150fps (372yds)

Wind blew the bullet just forward of the shoulder and hit the spine, saw him go straight down ass first. I struggled to work out where I hit him to begin with, as there was no obvious entry wound (the mane gets very long and thick during the rut) and there was no exit as the bullet had disintegrated along with the spinal column. The offside skin kept everything in.

No necropsy photos sorry, I was solo with a heap of work to do!

Looks like a dream hunt, congrats and good shooting!

 

[Toomuchon]

Thanks! This is my ‘backyard’ - it ended up just being a three day trip as I got the stag on the second day. We have no season and no limits here so the opportunities are almost endless…. Plus great track networks and public hut access makes for great outdoor adventures! Nothing poisonous to bite you, and no predators either

 

[General RE LEE]

Thanks! This is my ‘backyard’ - it ended up just being a three day trip as I got the stag on the second day. We have no season and no limits here so the opportunities are almost endless…. Plus great track networks and public hut access makes for great outdoor adventures! Nothing poisonous to bite you, and no predators either

You Kiwis are good marksmen too. Nathan Forester comes to mind. I watch a lot of You Tube videos of guys dropping feral goats at obscene distances.

 

[Osprey87]

143 eld-x factory ammo, 147 yard down hill shot. Double lunged him and he slowly walked 15 yards and died. Over 6.5ft and north of 350lbs

 

[Dbevans]

8’8 grizz, factory hornady 140 eld-murder


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[yeti12]

8’8 grizz, factory hornady 140 eld-murder


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What was the impact velocity or shot distance and muzzle velocity?

 

[Ozarkansas]

8’8 grizz, factory hornady 140 eld-murder


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Ayyyyyy I saw this on Reddit! It was not well received by some people

 

[DangerRanger]

Ayyyyyy I saw this on Reddit! It was not well received by some people

Reddit /hunting is the most bizarre mix of idiots and fudds that are brand new to hunting

 

[Ozarkansas]

Reddit /hunting is the most bizarre mix of idiots and fudds that are brand new to hunting

Plus the random non-hunters who somehow stumble into the community

Is that photo of the rib cage showing damage on the entry side or the exit side?

 

[Dbevans]

What was the impact velocity or shot distance and muzzle velocity?

To be honest I’m not sure but it was under 200 yards


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[pattimusprime22]

This may have been answered somewhere else in this thread but I didn't find it. Anyone have experience with the hornady 140 bthp on game?

 

[diverc18]

Average sized axis deer doe shot at 50 yards quartering to. First time using the 143 eldx on an animal. Entrance was in the middle of shoulder and exit was right behind the offside shoulder. Found very little blood but it ran 30 yards and piled up. Decent exit hole and good trauma behind the first shoulder. In my opinion, not quite as devastating as the eldms that I normally use but definitely still good. Second pic is the exit and the third pic is the entrance side

 

[TX_Diver]

What's everyone's opinion on starting a 143 ELD-X at 2500fps.

For some data points I get 2608fps with 42.2gr of H4350 from a 19" tikka barrel in mild weather. Today I loaded one at 41 and 42 and 42.5 gr with CCI and Win primers and left them in the sun for a bit since it's warm (most of my reloading is in winter). The magazine temp was 100 and the loaded rounds were about 90 based on the IR thermometer.

With the CCI At 41gr I got 2535fps, I didn't pay attention to bolt lift but it may have been a hair heavy, no ejector marks, at 42 gr I got 2585fps but a mild ejector mark and a heavier bolt lift. I didn't shoot 42.5gr.

With win primers at 41gr I got 2576fps and I had a solid ejector mark and heavy bolt lift. I didn't shoot 42 or 42.5gr.

I have 400 cases to prime and load before an upcoming move. Originally I'd planned to load at 42gr but moving to TX where temps are regularly 100+ I'm thinking that'd probably be an unsafe load.

Would you guys load some summer rounds at 40.5 or 41 and some hunting rounds at 42? The slight wind benefit would be nice but that seems overly complicated. I can load them all at 41 but starting in the low 2500s just seems slow?

L to R - Win 41gr - CCI 41gr - CCI 42gr

 

[Ozarkansas]

What's everyone's opinion on starting a 143 ELD-X at 2500fps.

For some data points I get 2608fps with 42.2gr of H4350 from a 19" tikka barrel in mild weather. Today I loaded one at 41 and 42 and 42.5 gr with CCI and Win primers and left them in the sun for a bit since it's warm (most of my reloading is in winter). The magazine temp was 100 and the loaded rounds were about 90 based on the IR thermometer.

With the CCI At 41gr I got 2535fps, I didn't pay attention to bolt lift but it may have been a hair heavy, no ejector marks, at 42 gr I got 2585fps but a mild ejector mark and a heavier bolt lift. I didn't shoot 42.5gr.

With win primers at 41gr I got 2576fps and I had a solid ejector mark and heavy bolt lift. I didn't shoot 42 or 42.5gr.

I have 400 cases to prime and load before an upcoming move. Originally I'd planned to load at 42gr but moving to TX where temps are regularly 100+ I'm thinking that'd probably be an unsafe load.

Would you guys load some summer rounds at 40.5 or 41 and some hunting rounds at 42? The slight wind benefit would be nice but that seems overly complicated. I can load them all at 41 but starting in the low 2500s just seems slow?

L to R - Win 41gr - CCI 41gr - CCI 42gr

I’d be totally fine running them at 2500 FPS for the hunting I do, I’d rather have better brass life and not risk extraction issues on a hunt. Guys running 6.5 Grendels kill plenty of stuff with 120 grain bullets running slower than that.

 

[TX_Diver]

I’d be totally fine running them at 2500 FPS for the hunting I do, I’d rather have better brass life and not risk extraction issues on a hunt. Guys running 6.5 Grendels kill plenty of stuff with 120 grain bullets running slower than that.

On my western deer hunt I don’t expect very hot weather, but my concern is while shooting through summer in TX when it is HOT!

Starting at 2500ish I hit 1800fps around 625-650 yards above 7k which is plenty far so the velocity isn’t limiting my terminal range. The increased effects of wind are probably the biggest downside but not the end of the world.

 

[TX_Diver]

Going back through my notes I have one other option I could consider.

In my testing I actually got higher velocities with 147 ELD-Ms than 143 ELD-X.

H4350

6.5 CM

Charge

36​

37​

38​

39​

40​

40.5​

41​

41.5​

42​

42.5​

43​

CCI

147 ELD-M

Book Velocity

2400​

2500​

2550​

2600​

Hornady

34-40.3

Chrono Velocity

2252​

2291​

2321​

2455​

2495​

2491​

2548​

2553​

2583​

2616​

2629​

1800fps at:

Yards

575​

600​

625​

650​

H4350

6.5 CM

Charge

36​

37​

38​

39​

40​

40.5​

41​

41.5​

42​

42.5​

43​

143 ELD-X

Book Velocity

2400​

2500​

2600​

2650​

2700​

Hornady

Chrono Velocity

2344​

2405​

2444​

2511​

2503​

2557​

2563​

2629​

2651​

1800fps at:

Yards

525​

550​

600​

I could load the ELD-M at 41gr H4350 and I think they'd be in the 2525fps neighborhood.

Ultimately this is all probably ballistic mental gymnastics though I think. I should probably just hunt with my .223 lol.

 

[gulfofmexicoflyfishing]

Going back through my notes I have one other option I could consider.

In my testing I actually got higher velocities with 147 ELD-Ms than 143 ELD-X.

H4350

6.5 CM

Charge

36​

37​

38​

39​

40​

40.5​

41​

41.5​

42​

42.5​

43​

CCI

147 ELD-M

Book Velocity

2400​

2500​

2550​

2600​

Hornady

34-40.3

Chrono Velocity

2252​

2291​

2321​

2455​

2495​

2491​

2548​

2553​

2583​

2616​

2629​

1800fps at:

Yards

575​

600​

625​

650​

H4350

6.5 CM

Charge

36​

37​

38​

39​

40​

40.5​

41​

41.5​

42​

42.5​

43​

143 ELD-X

Book Velocity

2400​

2500​

2600​

2650​

2700​

Hornady

Chrono Velocity

2344​

2405​

2444​

2511​

2503​

2557​

2563​

2629​

2651​

1800fps at:

Yards

525​

550​

600​

I could load the ELD-M at 41gr H4350 and I think they'd be in the 2525fps neighborhood.

Ultimately this is all probably ballistic mental gymnastics though I think. I should probably just hunt with my .223 l

Going back through my notes I have one other option I could consider.

In my testing I actually got higher velocities with 147 ELD-Ms than 143 ELD-X.

H4350

6.5 CM

Charge

36​

37​

38​

39​

40​

40.5​

41​

41.5​

42​

42.5​

43​

CCI

147 ELD-M

Book Velocity

2400​

2500​

2550​

2600​

Hornady

34-40.3

Chrono Velocity

2252​

2291​

2321​

2455​

2495​

2491​

2548​

2553​

2583​

2616​

2629​

1800fps at:

Yards

575​

600​

625​

650​

H4350

6.5 CM

Charge

36​

37​

38​

39​

40​

40.5​

41​

41.5​

42​

42.5​

43​

143 ELD-X

Book Velocity

2400​

2500​

2600​

2650​

2700​

Hornady

Chrono Velocity

2344​

2405​

2444​

2511​

2503​

2557​

2563​

2629​

2651​

1800fps at:

Yards

525​

550​

600​

I could load the ELD-M at 41gr H4350 and I think they'd be in the 2525fps neighborhood.

Ultimately this is all probably ballistic mental gymnastics though I think. I should probably just hunt with my .223 lol.

I am loading the 147eldm in Lapua brass with cci 450’s. 41.5gr h4350 at 2.850” coal gives me 2605fps at sea level from my 20” tikka CTR. That was my first educated guess at a load and it shoots lights out so I am not changing a thing.

 

[TX_Diver]

I am loading the 147eldm in Lapua brass with cci 450’s. 41.5gr h4350 at 2.850” coal gives me 2605fps at sea level from my 20” tikka CTR. That was my first educated guess at a load and it shoots lights out so I am not changing a thing.

I loaded up 20 with ELDx and 20 with ELDm. Will shoot 10 of each across the chrono and a group of 10 with each.

If I still get a higher velocity with the ELD-M I'll load the rest with that and roll on. Whatever I choose I'm still at the stage where shooting more and practicing is going to make a bigger difference than 2400fps vs 2700fps lol.

 

[TX_Diver]

Got 10 of the 147s across the chrono. No pressure signs. ~75 degrees or so. I'm in the shade of a large tree. Whenever wife's friends who came over leave I'll shoot the 143s and update.