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

TeaGull

FNG
Joined
Sep 15, 2015
Messages
24
Does your GW bipod not immediately walk on the RS rail when you shoot? Is this just a me problem?

-J
I have experienced the same. I made some adjustments but did not shoot extensively prior to the hunt post adjustment. Did not use the bipod on the elk due to tall brush. Shot seated off tripod. Will shoot more and follow up.

Like the bipod quite a bit sans the clamp and the tension adjustment that hasn't "broken in" per their user manual.
 

Ajsomp

WKR
Classified Approved
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Feb 12, 2021
Messages
465
white tail doe shot at 280 yards
Hornady 6.5 prc 147 eld-m
Tikka t3x lite stainless 6.5 prc chopped to 20”
Mv 2729 fps

DRT. I could hear the smack from where I was sitting and she dropped just out of sight (was shooting slightly down hill into a cutover/ravine). When I found her she had a baseball sized hole on her left side. Front right shoulder was not salvageable.

Overall I am really pleased that on its performance on southeastern white tail. Yes, it’s likely a bit much. But watching animals drop quickly really makes a difference. I take this rifle in three weeks to go after a mule deer buck in Colorado, hoping for continued performance. I also need to do a better job of taking field photos like I do with my notes and conditions.
 

djsam

FNG
Joined
Oct 8, 2021
Messages
40
Location
Luling, LA
130 TMK
~2480 MV
90 yards

My first whitetail with a 6.5 cm. Slight quarter away, pass through, piled up <40 yards from impact.

Literally no identifiable piece of the heart. Most of the lungs in pieces. The liver shredded. Some fragments damaged a bit of the offside front shoulder.

My fellow lease members went from making fun of me shooting a creeder to claiming this was too much damage.
 

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OP
woods89

woods89

WKR
Joined
Sep 3, 2014
Messages
1,819
Location
Southern MO Ozarks
130 TMK
~2480 MV
90 yards

My first whitetail with a 6.5 cm. Slight quarter away, pass through, piled up <40 yards from impact.

Literally no identifiable piece of the heart. Most of the lungs in pieces. The liver shredded. Some fragments damaged a bit of the offside front shoulder.

My fellow lease members went from making fun of me shooting a creeder to claiming this was too much damage.
Pretty drastic, aren't they!
 

sclb745

FNG
Joined
Oct 24, 2022
Messages
12
Maybe I can contribute some photos soon. I’ve never been into taking carnage pics, but I really like the 140 eldm out of my creedmoor. I’ve never had an exit, but I’ve also never had a deer take more than three steps.
 

ztc92

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2022
Messages
347
130 TMK
~2480 MV
90 yards

My first whitetail with a 6.5 cm. Slight quarter away, pass through, piled up <40 yards from impact.

Literally no identifiable piece of the heart. Most of the lungs in pieces. The liver shredded. Some fragments damaged a bit of the offside front shoulder.

My fellow lease members went from making fun of me shooting a creeder to claiming this was too much damage.

My dad asked why I brought my 223 for deer hunting this year, knowing I recently shot a mule deer with the 6.5 and it worked well. I showed him the damage photos I posted earlier from the 130 TMK and he goes, “Yeah, that seems excessive, probably good you brought the 223 if that’s what your 6.5 does”.
 

AZ_Hunter

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Classified Approved
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May 1, 2024
Messages
331
16” 6.5CM, Suppressed. 130gr TMK handload with Staball 6.5, 2750 fps muzzle.

Cow elk at 302 yards. Shot prone off Spartan bipod, bino harness as rear bag.

Impact velocity of 2417.

First shot slightly quartering away, high lung. Back legs dropped and she slid down a hill. Put a second shot in boiler room. Head was still up and front legs kicking a bit, 3rd shot in neck. Done. Whole thing was only a couple of seconds. I shoot elk until they don’t move.

Stayed in scope at 10x the entire time and saw impacts. First shot fully penetrated. Second shot caught in off side skin, 3rd (neck) full penetration.

Didn’t get detailed pics cause night was coming soon and I was cold and in a hurry. Lungs were nothing but grape jelly. Heart was fine and didn’t see direct damage to spine, but either the temporary cavity or some frag must’ve hit spine with the instant back leg drop.

Recovered bullet with some meat on it is 78gr. First kill with this rifle/cartridge/bullet. Very impressed.
 

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waldo9190

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Joined
Jul 10, 2018
Messages
309
Location
Minnesota
Finally I can contribute to this thread.

6.5 CM, 130 TMK, 2700-ish impact velocity.

Tennis ball sized entrance and quarter-ish sized exit. Buck ran 40 yards and died. Not much blood for the first 10 yards and then he opened up pretty good. Top of heart and bottom of lungs were shredded.
 

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Unckebob

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Joined
Aug 21, 2022
Messages
1,044
Finally I can contribute to this thread.

6.5 CM, 130 TMK, 2700-ish impact velocity.

Tennis ball sized entrance and quarter-ish sized exit. Buck ran 40 yards and died. Not much blood for the first 10 yards and then he opened up pretty good. Top of heart and bottom of lungs were shredded.

Are you sure that the entrance wound was bigger than the exit wound? Usually it is the other was around.
 

waldo9190

WKR
Joined
Jul 10, 2018
Messages
309
Location
Minnesota
Unless he spun like a ballerina while that bullet was in flight then I am 100% sure that was the case. Not going to burn too many brain cells worrying about it.

Edited to add: I should have added above that the bullet did just BARELY clip the rear 1/2" of the scapula so that would be why that entrance is bigger than expected.
 
Last edited:

chamois

FNG
Joined
Mar 1, 2021
Messages
71
Are you sure that the entrance wound was bigger than the exit wound? Usually it is the other was around.
It depends whether it hits a rib or two on its way in, or if it slides in between two, but on the carcass, not on the skin, I have found the entry wound to be usually larger than exit wound, the reason being the higher speed the bullet is carrying at that point.
 

Unckebob

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Joined
Aug 21, 2022
Messages
1,044
It depends whether it hits a rib or two on its way in, or if it slides in between two, but on the carcass, not on the skin, I have found the entry wound to be usually larger than exit wound, the reason being the higher speed the bullet is carrying at that point.
Thank you for the explanation.

When I have used my 6.5CM (143g Eldx or 140g TGK), I have always gotten a small entrance wounds with much larger exits.

@Waldo320 glad you got a nice deer.
 

texag10

WKR
Joined
Jul 15, 2015
Messages
415
140gr eldm, 2880fps out of a 6.5x284 on a cow elk.

Less than 100yds, more than 50, head shot on a cow elk from seated with trekking poles. Not my first choice of shots, but the only one I had and wobble zone was smaller than the eye socket. Not a great test of terminal effectiveness, but if course it worked.
 

tyep13

FNG
Joined
Jun 24, 2023
Messages
10
Mule deer killed at 430 running the eld-m 147 from 6.5 creedmoor. He hunched up on impact, went 20 yards and tipped over within 5 seconds, shot was in the boiler room, looked like lower lungs/top of heart, didn’t check though. I’m a believer in the match ammo.
 

sclb745

FNG
Joined
Oct 24, 2022
Messages
12
Mule deer killed at 430 running the eld-m 147 from 6.5 creedmoor. He hunched up on impact, went 20 yards and tipped over within 5 seconds, shot was in the boiler room, looked like lower lungs/top of heart, didn’t check though. I’m a believer in the match ammo.
I'm a firm believer in the ELDM bullet. Of the two deer I've shot with this rifle since changing from the X, neither went more than 15 yards. That deer plowed the ground with his left beam for that short run and just fell over. The other did the big kick and acted like he wanted to run, but never took a step and fell over after wobbling for two seconds. I'm not a shoulder shooter and aim double-lung at the top of the heart as if I was shooting a bow. Neither bullet made a pass through but the vitals were destroyed.
 
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