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

[The Guide]

@The Guide

I would be curious what you think of the Black Tips.

I put a few boxes through my new Tikka 6.5CM and didn't think they grouped as well as other ammo I have shot. I basically used them for break-in and most of my other flavors were shot through a different gun, so definitely some variables in there. I also seemed to notice some heavier bolt lift as compared to Hornady, but was not able to chrono the AAC.

I ordered 200 of them to try out. I'll report back once they are delivered.

Jay

 

[Castle Rock]

Why? We went to the Glendive range again today. He hit the 500 yard target 5 for 5 and the 1k target 3 out of 5 times in switching 15 mph winds with the 6.5 Creedmoor Howa. Gun is pretty easy to shoot. Not that there's anything wrong with his Tikka other than not being threaded and being ammo picky. The only thing we've found it really likes is the 120 Barnes TTSX. I might just get the 6.5 Creedmoor Superlite barrel I have threaded and put it on his action for him and buy him a couple of cases of the AAC 140gr Sabre Blade Black Tips ammo to practice and hunt with.

Jay

A sense of humor is a rare commodity around here.

 

[The Guide]

A sense of humor is a rare commodity around here.

Skme Fudd once said, Only accurate rifles are interesting...

Jay

 

[dirtshooter]

A little over 3 weeks ago, Sportsmans Warehouse had a sale on the Howa 1500 "Randy Newberg 2" Carbon Stalker in 6.5 Creedmoor that put them out the door at under $500. I'd been wanting another 6.5 Creedmoor to shoot up all the random ammo I bought when I was setting up rifles for friends and family. I have 2 Tikkas in the safe but one is my wife's and one is my daughter's. I bought a Tikka take off barrel but haven't gotten it threaded yet and this gun came with a carbon fiber stock, threaded, and had a rail so it was an easy choice to give it a try. The website said they had one in Bozeman so I ordered it from the the Bozeman store. They must have sold that one as they had to order me one in from another store.

View attachment 919389

I picked it up on Wednesday evening and got it cleaned up and degreaseed on Thursday. Swapped the scope from my 22 ARC on to it and shot it. I picked up a couple of boxes of ammo to try since I was at my Butte house and not where the other ammo is. Shot the Hornady Gunner 140 BTHP and the Hornady 140 ELDM into pretty decent groups. Took the 140 BTHP and guessed a velocity of 2630 fps (chrono was at home) and made hits on 2 mil rocks at 575 and 590 pretty easily. I was consistent left to right but just a little low (less than .2 mil) so I called it good.

View attachment 919400
Shots 3 to 7 through the new rifle.

View attachment 919401
Shots 8 to 12 through the new barrel. The shot under the #2 on the right edge is the first shot after bore sighting with the other ammo.


Anyway we finished up in Butte on Saturday and headed back across the state to Sidney. Stopped at the public range in Glendive and shot the 500 yard and 1k yard steel. The 500 yard steel was easy so I move out to 1k yards and couldn’t make a hit nor see a splash due to the lighting (last 30 minutes of light) and the fact we had gotten a bunch of rain.

Went out this evening and shot it more at 510 using my guessed velocity while getting chrono data. I guessed 2630 fps from box data of 2690 fps. I clocked 2597 fps from the ammo so my guess was 33 fps faster. I used the new data and the guessed data and made some comparisons to the change in dope. At 500 yards the difference between 2597 and 2630 fps was only 0.1 mils or 1.8 inches. However, at 1k yards the difference was 0.5 mils or 18 inches. This was probably a pretty good reason why the 1k steel eluded me with guessed velocity.

I need to revisit the 140 ELDM now that I've got a few more rounds down the pipe along with the rest of the ammo I need to shoot up. After I get the barrel good and broken in I'll see if my son wants to trade me for his 7mm-08 Tikka...

Jay

Is there a consensus on this rifle here? Good? Bad? Is the OG Howa Alpine better?

 

[dirtshooter]

Found 15 boxes of 140gr AMAX Hornady match ammo for $30cad per box. Obviously bought it. Anyone hunting or has hunted with an AMAX?

So in an interesting coincidence I was shooting these for the first time yesterday and found that they zerod perfectly at 100 yards while keeping the barnes lrx 127gr 200 yard zero I was shooting before. 2820fps average muzzle velocity for the AMAX and now I have two rounds I can confidently hunt with. I ran the data through the hornady app and was ringing the gong at 500 with both rounds and their respective elevation dials.

 

[The Guide]

Is there a consensus on this rifle here? Good? Bad? Is the OG Howa Alpine better?

I've had it for a week. Shoots pretty good so far. Hit steel at 1k with it pretty easily. Hit steel at 500 on command. Only have about 70 rounds through it. Works and functions like a Howa. Stock is stiffer and lighter than a Houge over-molded stock. Came threaded and had a 20 MOA rail on it. I've never shot an Alpine so no way to compare.

Jay