6.5 creedmoore for hunting

[Frankr]

anyone shooting the 6.5 creedmoore as a hunting cartridge?
Having any case problems with it ?
as a hunting cartridge velocity is very important.

 

[jamesh]

I use one for deer and hog hunting in a DPMS I shoot 140 A-maxes in it. no issues here. Don't recall the muzzle velocity exactly..... somewhere between 2700 and 2800.

 

[shanghi]

I use a Ruger VT 28" barrel for Long Range Goat hunting, using Berger 140 gr VDL Hunting Bullets with Fed 210 M primers, Hornady cases, .287" neck bush and AR 2209 [your equivalent H4350] 42.5 gr @ 2805 FPS OACL=2.888" for .050" off the lands.

I have been using this combination for about 3 years and have never had an issue with it. I find it extremely accurate I have it topped with a 8-32x56 BR Nightforce Scope. The modification I have made include a Rifle Basix Trigger, bed and floated the action and barrel and fitted it in a Boyd Thumbhole Stock. I all so prep all my brass.

Never had any problems with the Hornady brass and some would be on there 8th fireing, but I do anneal every 4th firing.
Hope this answers your question!!

shanghi

 

[Frankr]

Thanks. nice rifle shanghi.
Im shooting a savage 10 predator huntor, I like the rifle, Love the cartridge.
it is very accurate. But i have had case troubles with the hornady brass.
I made some cases from 22/250 lapua brass, did not like how they turned out.
I now have made 20 cases from lapua 308 win and will be shooting them this weekend. im running a 24" 8 twist barrel. shooting the 140 VLD's accuracry with 3 different powder's has all been good. ot seems i can run 2,700FPS but if i push at all i show no signs of pressure but loose the primer pockets.I understand that is a sign of pressure, but i had worked a load up on cases that were fired a few times and all was good. cases were tired, got some new cases and lost the primer pockets on the first fireing. im mean the primer fell out of the pocket.

 

[hogpatrol]

My hunting partner killed one black wildebeest, one impala, two blesboks, a springbok, and a gemsbok in Africa, all at 200 to 300 yds. He used Hornady Superformance 129 gr. SST. All but one dropped on one shot.

 

[Frankr]

hogpatrol yes . I hvae a box of superperformance 129gr IB . i also have loose 129 SST's to load. but the factory 129 IB is going threw the chrony out of my rifle at 2,950 FPS. thats a factory load. now it seems that brass will take a hotter load. seems to have a harder head. trust me the loads im shooting im sure are warm but no signs of pressure other than it takes the primer pockets right out on one fireing, soft heads.

 

[hogpatrol]

My hunting partner killed one black wildebeest, one impala, two blesboks, a springbok, and a gemsbok in Africa, all at 200 to 300 yds. He used Hornady Superformance 129 gr. SST. All but one dropped on one shot.

Forgot to add these were factory loads and not reloads using Superformance powder & SSTs. Sorry if there was any confusion. Hog

 

[DHD]

Thanks. nice rifle shanghi.
Im shooting a savage 10 predator huntor, I like the rifle, Love the cartridge.
it is very accurate. But i have had case troubles with the hornady brass.
I made some cases from 22/250 lapua brass, did not like how they turned out.
I now have made 20 cases from lapua 308 win and will be shooting them this weekend. im running a 24" 8 twist barrel. shooting the 140 VLD's accuracry with 3 different powder's has all been good. ot seems i can run 2,700FPS but if i push at all i show no signs of pressure but loose the primer pockets.I understand that is a sign of pressure, but i had worked a load up on cases that were fired a few times and all was good. cases were tired, got some new cases and lost the primer pockets on the first fireing. im mean the primer fell out of the pocket.

I've made Creedmoor cases from Remington URBR, Hornady 308 Match, and lastly with Lapua 308 Palma. FWIW, I only "made" 15 of the Palma cases and found that I need to turn the necks about .003". I have not turned any necks in years and no longer own the stuff to do it with. Luckily, both of my Creedmoors like Hornady brass. The Hornady 6.5 brass I have (200) have not shown any sort of loose primer pockets in over 5 reloads. I do not load mild either as both rifles like a stiff load.

Also, the reformed brass shoots the same as the factory 6.5 brass. I might just have to get a turner set as those Palma cases are haunting me. I just KNOW they have to be the best thing in the world....... ;D

As to your question, we use 130 Bergers and H4350 running about 2925ish fps. One rifle prefers BR2's and the new one loves 210M's. The deer do not like the Bergers at all. Not all bullets have exited, but good blood trail and deer only went yards anyway. These bullets are really something. I will use an Amax in a skinny minute if I did not have the Bergers. If you are not careful with shot placement, I do believe the Amax's might skin the deer out for you.

 

[Frankr]

well DHD my rifle is just a factory savage with a 24" 8 twist barrel but it has proved the cartridge is accurate and not finicky.
I made 20 Lapua 308 win palma case into 6.5CM it was quite a job and i had to turn the necks. I have 50 more 308 palma cases in process now. I worked up a load on the palma cases at 27 deg F. with RL17, very cold out. shot great. BIG 6.5 case
velocity. primer pockets as tight as new. went back out today and shot the same load at 52 deg F. shot good opened up the groups slightly. with about 50 FPS faster velocity today. as soon as i got home i deprimed and reprimed to see if i loosened them any, i did not tight as new. So the 308 lapua palma cases are the ticket to run HIGH velocity,highly accurate hunting loads. now with that said it does shoot in a hole around 2,710 to 2,750 ish FPS with the Berger 140 VLD. nice target load. BUT i can run 200 FPS faster on the lapua 308 palma case with 1/2 moa hunting loads.

The secret to RL17 is consistant heavy neck tension. it likes heavy neck tensoin and the ES are 20 to 30 FPS at worst. actually ran a lower ES at cold tempture , i was shocked to see a 10 shot string at 27 deg have a 5 FPS ES.

 

[Frankr]

WHY would one do all this. benchrest shooter?
makeing the 6.5CM from lapua 308 win palma case.
I lube the case up with sizeing die wax,run it into a 300 savage FL die expander ball removed. run it in till it gets hard do not push the base into the die. that necks it in enough and starts the 30 deg shoulder,then i run it into a full lenght hornady 6.5CM die expander ball removed,push the shoulder back enough to have heavy crush(headspace in your chamber). power trim the lenght to 1.920. then run on expander iron. trim to 1.915. neck turn to desired neck thickness. then they must be annealed or you will start spliting shoulders in 2 fireing. anneal cases. then FL size to where you have light crush on shoulder. trim to 1.910. and you are ready. it's alot of work. im still not sure i have the process down pat. but the resualts are great.
caution this is not for the novice reloader. i reccomend a starting load of 41.5 grs of RL17 and work up from there. behind a berger 140 VLD. do not try to push a 140 A-max with the same load. I have found 130 VLD to be just as hard to push as the 140 and the 140 has a .612BC so that is why.
the difference between 2,700 FPS and 2,900FPS is @ 4" at 500 yards. and better performance on game. I did not show any pressure till 44GR's at 52 deg F at 2,975 FPS. im backed off to 43.7Gr RL17. the 140 VLD is in to the base of the neck at @ 2.870 OAL. my rifle will hold a 2.995 OAL round so it is just great. yes i can push a Berger 140 VLD at 2,900FPS out of a 6.5CM.
DO NOT RUN OUT AND TRY THIS. I have 35 years handloading and shooting 6ppc.6BR 6 Dasher in competition(some) and many more with alot of different hunting cartridges big and small. I think the 6.5CM is the most exciting cartridge i have seen since i shot my first 6BR.
Now if we could only get lapua to make good brass cases then everyone could join in the fun.

useing the CCI 450 primer in all loads.

 

[jonbearman]

If the cartridge isnt used in europe they dont seem to care unless everyone is using one.Like the winchester wsm case's,6.5 creedmare,saum case's win mag etc etc !I think there is plenty of market for the american rounds for them to make lots of money selling it in the america's.

 

[BoilerUP]

I'm pretty certain any game animal getting hit with a Berger Hunting VLD isn't gonna notice a 200fps difference in velocity...

 

[Frankr]

I'm pretty certain any game animal getting hit with a Berger Hunting VLD isn't gonna notice a 200fps difference in velocity...

well. humm. 200PFS can extend your range 200 yards, and as i stated 4" less drop @ 500YRDS less wind drift. not sure how much with out looking at a chart but significantly less. 200FPS puts in a very high class as far as flat shoot wind bucking cartridge. significantly so.

dont even get me started on the new 123gr A-max with a .510BC. wow! do they shoot.

 

[ColdBore-0-]

I run a stock DPMS 1x8 24'' tube. The best is when I push the 140 VLD with 44gr of Win 760. Hornady brass all the way. I tried to make some from 308 but didn't want to fuss with neck turning. Primer pockets do open up after 4 or so. Mid 190's with a dozen X's at 600, even better at 400. 140 A-Max when I run out of the VLD's. I'm always on the look out for the 123 A-max. in fact, I loose sleep at night thinking of cooking those babies out there over 3000fps. All in all, there is no need to hotrod this cartridge, I'm getting the same velocities as my 6.5-284, also on a DPMS 24'' 1x8, with out burning the place down, but I am a throttle jockey! You will get better speeds out of 6.5-284 with a longer barrel. Only rifle I own that loathes Varget, I mean nothing I've tried will make it work. My coworker has the same rifle with a 1X8.5 ,witch is what DPMS runs now, peaks out on the stuff. I've heard lots of story's on game taken with the Creedmoor, but have not tried it myself.

 

[tdoyka]

120gr nosler ballistic tip using imr 4350, should do it. mine is an 16 1/4" encore, velocity don't mean much 8)