Wifes new 6.5 Creedmore mule deer rifle ammo choice?

[aaron600rr]

I just bought the wife a Tikka t3x 6.5 creedmore( specific for mule deer) because her 30-06 was giving her a pretty bad flinch. I'm curious what ammo you recommend for this gun. Shots will be 0-300 yards and punching through shoulder bone might be a situation we sometimes encounter.

Locally I can find Barnes Ttsx BT 120 grain(I feel like this might be a bit on the low end for punching through bone)

- Federal fusion 140 grain

- Hornady Precision 143gr eldx(ai've read that this might not do well against bone)

 

[camelcluch]

Have you read much? There are plenty of threads that should give you plenty of confidence with the ELD X or M. The caliber is fine and the X or M is a no brainer.

 

[Seeknelk]

Hornady 140 or 147 eld match or 143 eld x. Went thru the leg bone at 350 on my son's first buck, quartering to, thru the heart.
And my daughter put one thru the ribs at 475 on hers. Both died in sight. There is zero issue with paper thin scapulas or heavier leg bone. Both had exits.

 

[sndmn11]

The eldx and the fusion tipped will probably do the exact same thing and are fine choices.

 

[nobody]

Hornady Factory 140 ELDM is all I’ll feed my creeds, whether it’s coyotes or rutting bull elk. That combo is capable waaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond the 300 yard cap you’ve placed on her on any 4 legged animal, let alone a mule deer.

The “shoulder” bone on a deer is thinner than shoebox cardboard, and extremely flexible. Lots of necropsy photos on Rokslide show scapulas skinned off with the meat removed behind held up to the sun and you can literally see through it. The shoulder bone thing is dead in the water and is of no concern. It’s just fuddlore perpetuated by gun writers and gun counter cowboys for the last 100 years.

Put a 140/147 ELDM, 130 TMK, or 143 ELDX in front of the diaphragm and enjoy backstrap for dinner. Maybe spend some time reading up on these threads to get an idea of what I’m referencing. Good luck!

.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ 176 PAGES? HERE'S THE CHEAT SHEET. “Bullets matter more than headstamps.” “Spent primers offer the supreme tutorial”. I’ve read it here and elsewhere online. It got my attention. I started digging and asking questions and listened. The 77gr TMK delivered by a .223...

rokslide.com

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

Seeing that the 223 thread is such a success, I thought maybe I would start one for the Creedmoor/260. Seems like people are asking a lot about using them and various bullets, especially for elk. I've used mine for the last few years almost exclusively. I have some pics of bullet damage, albeit...

rokslide.com

 

[LongWayAround]

"Punching through" is pretty easily accomplished. The other shoulder was easily penetrated by a 147 ELD-M.

 

[LongWayAround]

@nobody looks like we were thinking the same thing at the same time.

 

[nobody]

@nobody looks like we were thinking the same thing at the same time.

I love that pic! That’s the one I was thinking of when I wrote my response

 

[LongWayAround]

Same shoulder as above versus a 90gr eld-x at 300 yards. I used a 2.5 gallon bag of jello as my soft tissue simulation.

 

[mtnbound]

I just bought the wife a Tikka t3x 6.5 creedmore( specific for mule deer) because her 30-06 was giving her a pretty bad flinch. I'm curious what ammo you recommend for this gun. Shots will be 0-300 yards and punching through shoulder bone might be a situation we sometimes encounter.

Locally I can find Barnes Ttsx BT 120 grain(I feel like this might be a bit on the low end for punching through bone)

- Federal fusion 140 grain

- Hornady Precision 143gr eldx(ai've read that this might not do well against bone)

Barnes is a copper bullet so bone is not gonna be an issue.
Federal Fusion is a bonded bullet so again bone is not going to be an issue.
ELDX will not have any problems with bone either. Buy a box of all three and see what the gun and your wife shoots best.

 

[KenLee]

TTSX at 300 yards is iffy on expansion at creedmoor speeds.

 

[OKHunter84]

Hornady 143 eld x will work fine

 

[JGRaider]

At 6.5CM velocities, it's hard to pick a bad deer bullet. Use which one your rifle shoots best.

 

[WhatToHunt]

Hornady SST 129gr worked well on my Wyoming buck this year. Did not hit any significant bone though.

 

[nmarchr]

my kids have stacked up the elk, antelope, mule deer, whitetails, coues, and even a couple gemsbok and aoudad with the creedmoor and ELD-X. Never had any issues.

 

[WyoBC_99]

I don't have the velocity for that Barnes ammo out to 300yd right in front of me but it seems that at that range you would be good to go with that bullet. I've shot copper in 270win and it can hammer through some bone and get good expansion as long as velocity is above 2000-2200 fps depending on your personal judgement call.

 

[bayou0509]

143 ELD-X is grouping very good in my 6.5 creed that I put together earlier this year. I am yet to shoot an animal with it but I would expect the performance to be similar to the millions of other ELDX threads

 

[SDHNTR]

Locally I can find Barnes Ttsx BT 120 grain(I feel like this might be a bit on the low end for punching through bone)

That bullet will blow through a deer lengthwise, and no bone will stop it.

Shoot what the rifle shoots best. End of story.

 

[SloppyJ]

TTSX at 300 yards is iffy on expansion at creedmoor speeds.

At first I thought "no way" to what you posted so I looked it up. Barnes own chart has it at 2266fps at 300yds with a 2910 muzzle velocity.

I don't shoot copper bullets typically but I do love to tinker with loads. From what I've read around the forums, I'd want 2200 to 2000 for reliable expansion. So you're dead nuts.

For S&Gs I loaded up some 80gr ttsxs for my 6 creed. If I can get them to even remotely group, I'm going to see what sort of short range damage they do on whitetail this year. That's one of 4 bullets I'm trying out this season in my 6 creed. The velocity minimum will not apply to my situation.