I'm having trouble finding any ammo for my 6.5 Creedmoor that exceeds (or even equals) the performance of my old 260 Remington. With bullet weights in the common 120 - 140 grain range, the performance of the two cartridges seems to be about equal, with maybe even a slight edge to the Remington. When I first read up on the Creedmoor, I was impressed enough to buy one, looking forward to the heavier, longer, high BC bullets it would use to really reach out there for long shots while hunting whitetails. Are some of these long-range loads available from a manufacturer or are they only a handloading proposition? Can anybody give me the info on some loads actually on the shelf somewhere?
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6.5 Creedmoor Ammo
- Thread starter erikpolcrack
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DeplorabusUnum
Member
I reload for 260 Rem and 6.5 Creedmoor. The 260 Rem case has a higher capacity and I get higher velocity with the same bullet than the 6.5 Creedmoor when loaded at maximum suggested loads. I haven't shot commercially loaded ammo for ages, but I can tell you that since I started reloading, the accuracy in both rifles is now way better than it was before. I use H4350 for both.
DWalt
Member
If you don't absolutely need to have an AR, what is wrong with a .270 or .30-'06? Both of which are superior to a 6.5 Creedmoor. I just like old tried and true things that work.
OP
Thanks! Good to hear about your experience with handloads.
OP
My primary whitetail hunting rifle is a 270 Ruger American. My hunting buddy adult son uses my 270 Tikka. Got the 6.5 Creedmoor Savage for my teenage daughter to move up from the 243 she's been using. We have a lot of long shots up into a grain field behind our farmhouse. The field slopes uphill for 800 yards and is about 200 yards wide.
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Have a cup of coffee and a sandwich, maybe some cards,
until the deer get inside the 300 yard mark.
Deer don't have to be shot at 500 to 600 yards.
until the deer get inside the 300 yard mark.
Deer don't have to be shot at 500 to 600 yards.
Rogeronimo
Member
The Internet'''s Gun Store has your ammo on the shelf.
ArchAngelCD
Moderator, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
If you are thinking about trying to take deer at very long distances I have an opinion which I'm posting it below. If I'm incorrect and that isn't the intention, please ignore what I'm about to post...
Most hunters should not take long shots on game like deer. (or anything for that matter) IMO there is no reason to chance injuring an animal and have it die a slow and painful death or even live with pain for a very long time. It is unethical IMO. We have a responsibility to respect the creatures on this planet and take them cleanly and quickly.
As for 6.5 Creedmoor ammo on the shelf, I'm sorry I can't help you on that. I don't shoot that cartridge and wouldn't want to guess and give you bad information. Hopefully there is someone here who will give you first hand information on that front.
BTW, I know many hunters who use nothing but a .243 for deer and habe never had a problem. If your daughter likes her rifle and she shoots well.with it, why change?
Most hunters should not take long shots on game like deer. (or anything for that matter) IMO there is no reason to chance injuring an animal and have it die a slow and painful death or even live with pain for a very long time. It is unethical IMO. We have a responsibility to respect the creatures on this planet and take them cleanly and quickly.
As for 6.5 Creedmoor ammo on the shelf, I'm sorry I can't help you on that. I don't shoot that cartridge and wouldn't want to guess and give you bad information. Hopefully there is someone here who will give you first hand information on that front.
BTW, I know many hunters who use nothing but a .243 for deer and habe never had a problem. If your daughter likes her rifle and she shoots well.with it, why change?
Don't hunt but do shoot long distance out to 1000y with a 6.5cm. I also reload that cartridge and spent a great deal of time developing and comparing to the factory 140g ELD match round. Here is some data for you to consider. The rifle being used is a Ruger Precision Rifle with Nightforce glass.
Hornady Factory ELD match 140g product #26331:
Avg muzzle velocity - 2649fps
Extreme spread - 37
Standard deviation - 12
.028" Jump (bullet ogive to start of rifling in my RPR as measured)
.312" MOA (pic below)
Using that as my baseline for developing "my" reload I just wanted to equal that as it was fantastic for a factory round. That was my goal.
Hornady Hand Loads:
Case - Hornady
Bullet - Hornady 140g ELD Match
Powder - H4350
Primer - Federal 210M
Avg muzzle velocity - 2622
Extreme spread - 21
Standard deviation - 7
.015" Jump (bullet ogive to start of rifling in my RPR)
.250" MOA (pic below)
Well as you can see I ended up better than the factory round by a 1/16" MOA! What you don't see are all my trials to get there. Different powder charges (faster was not better), and different bullet jumps starting out with what the factory jump was.
To summarize; the factory rounds are awesome right out of the box and would not hesitate to use them. I have no 260 Remington experience to compare. Either round, factory or mine can hit golf balls at 300y, with the edge going to mine of course lol. It's crazy accurate. The RPR is to heavy for a hunting gun imho.
First pic is factory, 2nd is mine. That 5th shot on both was almost there lol. Breathing, heart rate, etc lol.
Hornady Factory ELD match 140g product #26331:
Avg muzzle velocity - 2649fps
Extreme spread - 37
Standard deviation - 12
.028" Jump (bullet ogive to start of rifling in my RPR as measured)
.312" MOA (pic below)
Using that as my baseline for developing "my" reload I just wanted to equal that as it was fantastic for a factory round. That was my goal.
Hornady Hand Loads:
Case - Hornady
Bullet - Hornady 140g ELD Match
Powder - H4350
Primer - Federal 210M
Avg muzzle velocity - 2622
Extreme spread - 21
Standard deviation - 7
.015" Jump (bullet ogive to start of rifling in my RPR)
.250" MOA (pic below)
Well as you can see I ended up better than the factory round by a 1/16" MOA! What you don't see are all my trials to get there. Different powder charges (faster was not better), and different bullet jumps starting out with what the factory jump was.
To summarize; the factory rounds are awesome right out of the box and would not hesitate to use them. I have no 260 Remington experience to compare. Either round, factory or mine can hit golf balls at 300y, with the edge going to mine of course lol. It's crazy accurate. The RPR is to heavy for a hunting gun imho.
First pic is factory, 2nd is mine. That 5th shot on both was almost there lol. Breathing, heart rate, etc lol.
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Rodan
SWCA Member
Also a big fan of the Hornady 140 ELD in 6.5CR. I'm not a hunter, I built my 6.5CR for long range shooting, and tinkering with handloads. 6.5CM is very pleasant to shoot, especially suppressed.
I still only have ~100rnds through the rifle, and haven't finished my load development, but the factory Hornady 140 ELD match shoots really well.
I haven't quite dialed mine in as well as Mike0251, but I have no doubt it will get there.
I still only have ~100rnds through the rifle, and haven't finished my load development, but the factory Hornady 140 ELD match shoots really well.
I haven't quite dialed mine in as well as Mike0251, but I have no doubt it will get there.
My wife's family members in Utah, do a lot of shooting in long yardage matches.
This custom rifle was built in 2019, for 1,000 yard matches.
They like the 6mm and 50 cal. , necked down, for their matches.
I got to shoot it and it was accurate but you did need to know your
wind drift data, well, past 500 yards if it got past 15 mph winds.
This custom rifle was built in 2019, for 1,000 yard matches.
They like the 6mm and 50 cal. , necked down, for their matches.
I got to shoot it and it was accurate but you did need to know your
wind drift data, well, past 500 yards if it got past 15 mph winds.
smithra_66
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Gotta reload in today's climate. You'll have much more accurate ammo and you can load them any way you like.
cmj8591
Member
Ethics is a sliding scale. I've seen some horribly wounded animals that were shot at 50 yards or less by people who had no business going into the woods with a gun. I'm thinking that if you put the work in to consistently hitting the vitals of your prey at 1000 yards, then you are probably going to be conscientious about when and how to take your shot. As far as the equipment, the bullet technology available these days is more than capable of a clean kill at that distance.
OP
Thanks! We've never just wounded or lost a whitetail we've fired at. Most of our shots are 400 yards or less. Our longest ever was 600 yards and that was a one shot kill. We always hunt at least in pairs and the partner shoots if the first (youngest) shooter does not at least knock the whitetail down with the first shot. We shoot from a blind in our spruce windbreak at the bottom of the field. We shoot sitting with shooting sticks.
uncleted327
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Long distance hunting is a very personal thing and is highly skill dependent, so I don't really comment on that to people. But if you bought a 6.5 Creed thinking you'll out-do older, existing cartridges for hunting I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. There are many, many, MANY cartridges that will outperform the 6.5 in just about any given statistic. The 6.5 was built to sling long, sleek high BC bullets into paper at long distance. It was not, and is not the end all be all of hunting cartridges. Though many people are trying to make it into that. There are lots of cartridges that shoot flatter, faster, heavier, harder hitting bullets. So I wouldn't worry about trying to outperform existing cartridge "X". Just find a good hunting round that your gun shoots well and make sure you can regularly hit targets at any distance you decide to hunt at...
Paul in Nevada
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The short answer is, the Creedmore case is designed to permit longer bullets. You can't seat some of these very long ogive VLD bullets deep enough in a 260 case to chamber properly. The 260 can stuff more powder but the higher BC's of the Creedmore will remain stable at longer distances. I am a little surprised you can't find ammo. For a long time this was the only hunting ammo we could reliably stock.
Now if you wanted longer legs on that 243 you could get the chamber reamed to one of the improved versions. A friend has one and it's a long range laser. I remember he told me there are a couple versions but I don't remember which one he said is best. Obviously it's a handload only cartridge.
Now if you wanted longer legs on that 243 you could get the chamber reamed to one of the improved versions. A friend has one and it's a long range laser. I remember he told me there are a couple versions but I don't remember which one he said is best. Obviously it's a handload only cartridge.
Norma Shooting had 6.5 Creedmoor on sale for Black Friday. IIRC one was specially designed for long distance white tail.
6.5 Creedmoor Ammo | SGAmmo.com
Can't comment on your comparison of 6.5 cm to 260 past what has already been said. If i was looking for large game 6.5 cm hunting loads, would consider Hdy's 143 ELD-X rds. Their 140 gn ELD match rounds are extremely accurate in the 2 6.5 cm's owned.
The 6.5 swede in modern rifles can also be very close to the 6.5 cm in terms of velocity.
Can't comment on your comparison of 6.5 cm to 260 past what has already been said. If i was looking for large game 6.5 cm hunting loads, would consider Hdy's 143 ELD-X rds. Their 140 gn ELD match rounds are extremely accurate in the 2 6.5 cm's owned.
The 6.5 swede in modern rifles can also be very close to the 6.5 cm in terms of velocity.
ArchAngelCD
Moderator, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
If deer are your primary game I see no advantage to using a 6.5mm Creedmoor over a .243 with a 115gr bullet. The ballistics are the same. If you want to use heavier bullets that's a different story.
