6.5 for elk

[huntsman22]

kid kilt a cow with the creed saturday.... using 140 Amax's(gasp!)

 

[forestpaper223]

Took a 6x5 bull with one last year. First shot broke the front shoulder and second through the lungs. I'm always amazed how far elk can go with those type of injuries (another 200 yards for this elk) but I'm certain that would have been the case with any other caliber. Shot a 6x6 the year before with a 325 through the lungs with an exit hole about the size of a baseball. That one also ran for about 100 yards.

 

[prm]

Saturday I shot a 5x5 with a 140 Berger out of a 6.5 Creed. Bull made it a few feet perhaps.

 

[wyosam]

Took a 6x5 bull with one last year. First shot broke the front shoulder and second through the lungs. I'm always amazed how far elk can go with those type of injuries (another 200 yards for this elk) but I'm certain that would have been the case with any other caliber. Shot a 6x6 the year before with a 325 through the lungs with an exit hole about the size of a baseball. That one also ran for about 100 yards.

One thing I have learned about elk in my lifetime, is that they don't read hunting magazines or research ballistics and bullet performance on the internet. They just do whatever they want. Particularly on perfect double lung shots, I've seen them barely react at the shot, even with the giant elk howitzer magnums. I've also seem some of the most authoritative bang-flops happen with the same shot placement from a .243 or 25-06. Rest assured, a quality modern bullet through the lungs WILL put them down, but some elk just wont agree to those terms immediately. They can be stubborn.

 

[mncoolbeans]

Yes it is, Took my first Elk ever a Bull in CO-Unit-4 with my 6.5 CM using the Hornady Precision Hunter 143gr ELDX at 275 yards, Double Lung, Complete Passthrough, he only went 40-yards.

 

[roadrunner]

It kills them, I can think of other rounds and calibers that do better all around though.

 

[Short Track]

I'm a big fan of .243 & 6.5 CM. My 6.5 bear was bang flop. .243 deer was bang flop.

My other bear, 7mm ran 100 yards with no heart. Literally, the heart was destroyed, but he ran 100 yards.
My .243 Accubond Hog took 4 shots. Go figure... He was charging us, so I kept shooting. Probably didn't have too.

 

[Deadfall]

I've been wondering same thing. It piles up wolves though. I love the round myself

 

[dirt_diver]

kid kilt a cow with the creed saturday.... using 140 Amax's(gasp!)

What, if any, FPS is lost by the suppressor?

 

[Ryan Avery]

How many of you guys claiming a 6.5 is enough have actually shot/witnessed more than one or two elk getting shot with them? Will it kill them... absolutely! But as the range grows the margin of error shrinks drastically.




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[Sled]

How many of you guys claiming a 6.5 is enough have actually shot/witnessed more than one or two elk getting shot with them? Will it kill them... absolutely! But as the range grows the margin of error shrinks drastically.




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i shoot several 6.5's with great accuracy. i have not shot elk with them yet but do have confidence in a well placed shot at under 500 yards with one. so far, the 277 and 284 have done great for my elk, even though the 300 and 340 wby sit in the safe. i'll take accuracy over brute force in those situations where i can setup a shot. for woods walking i prefer more thump. it's just easier to have that "margin or error" when it comes to snap shots and possible brush strikes. 40-75 govt would be a fun lever gun for that. but i'd take a 30-30 and do the same if it's all i had.

 

[Ryan Avery]

i shoot several 6.5's with great accuracy. i have not shot elk with them yet but do have confidence in a well placed shot at under 500 yards with one. so far, the 277 and 284 have done great for my elk, even though the 300 and 340 wby sit in the safe. i'll take accuracy over brute force in those situations where i can setup a shot. for woods walking i prefer more thump. it's just easier to have that "margin or error" when it comes to snap shots and possible brush strikes. 40-75 govt would be a fun lever gun for that. but i'd take a 30-30 and do the same if it's all i had.

Everyone wants accuracy! But the truth is shit happens and when it does I want bigger bullets.

Here is my wife putting rounds on target with a 6.5 PRC.

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[Overkill375]

it works

 

[mt100gr.]

Everyone wants accuracy! But the truth is shit happens and when it does I want bigger bullets.

Here is my wife putting rounds on target with a 6.5 PRC.

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I've watched that a couple times before, Ryan. Love it. What was the distance and approximate impact velocity? 147 eldm, right?

 

[huntsman22]

What, if any, FPS is lost by the suppressor?

No loss. Across 4 different rifles, the can actually boosts velocity, albeit slight.....

 

[Short Track]

Tell us more about hunting with the suppressor. We can't use them... so I would have travel... which I'm thinking of.

 

[wyosam]

The “margin of error” always comes up with these questions, be it the 6.5s, the 270, 25-06, or whatever. In practice, I wonder how much that margin actually helps. It no doubt helps with longer range, we’ll placed shots. Also might help with marginal angles as well, though it doesn’t necessarily make them a good idea for everyone. In practice, I’ve seen no great difference between the big elk howitzers and the smaller calibers with poor shot placement. An elk shot in the leg with a 338 runs just as far and fast as one turned tripod with a 243. Got shot elk are gut shot elk- a bigger hole through the guts doesn’t change the course much. I have seen far more bullet failures (over expand and not penetrate/pencil through etc) than cartridge failures. No real reason to have those failures with the many great options available now. Bigger bullets don’t replace shot placement. Shoot what you can shoot well, and be aware of it’s limitations- they all have them, they are just in different places.


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[huntsman22]

The nice thing about the suppressor is, the elk can not tell where the noise comes from and the sound signature doesn't put them in full flight immediately, like a normal CF rifle report. The bull two years ago was bedded on a narrow ridgetop with about 30 head of cows. I had to wait for him to stand, to make the shot from 458 yards across a little canyon. At the report, the bull dropped and maybe half of the bedded elk stood. I went back to the tent to dump rifle and gear and get a packframe, bags and kill kit. When I finally got down to the bull about half hour later, the other elk had bedded back down and didn't leave until I topped the ridge 30 yards from the close ones. I've kilt elk from this same spot before, and one shot ALWAYS makes them leave the drainage. The cow my boy got last week was with one other cow (with several back behind outta sight), and when she dropped at the first shot, her buddy came right back to her to see what the thrashing around was about. She milled right there for several minutes before boogering off. Like I said, a regular rifle report would have put her in high gear flight, immediately...

 

[Ryan Avery]

The “margin of error” always comes up with these questions, be it the 6.5s, the 270, 25-06, or whatever. In practice, I wonder how much that margin actually helps. It no doubt helps with longer range, we’ll placed shots. Also might help with marginal angles as well, though it doesn’t necessarily make them a good idea for everyone. In practice, I’ve seen no great difference between the big elk howitzers and the smaller calibers with poor shot placement. An elk shot in the leg with a 338 runs just as far and fast as one turned tripod with a 243. Got shot elk are gut shot elk- a bigger hole through the guts doesn’t change the course much. I have seen far more bullet failures (over expand and not penetrate/pencil through etc) than cartridge failures. No real reason to have those failures with the many great options available now. Bigger bullets don’t replace shot placement. Shoot what you can shoot well, and be aware of it’s limitations- they all have them, they are just in different places.


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I totally disagree on gut shots. Witnessed this first had this year on the same herd of elk. 300 Rum(225 ELDM) to the guts the cow could not physically leave. 6.5 PRC(147 ELDM) to the guts and we had to kill her 1.5 miles away.

 

[wyosam]

Sounds like some solid shooting that day! Of course every shot on every elk is different, but I wouldn’t count on gut shots going well regardless. If she couldn’t leave, I’d bet there was damage somewhere other than guts (fragment up to the spine, or happened to get a large vessel).


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