6.5 Creedmoor

[Mama Doe]

Better for distance or closer range? Closer range as in hunting the woods up to 75 yards. Trying to settle a debate here. I say as long as shot placement is good and you poke a hole in the deer, it’s gonna die

[MUP]

Either. It's a killer long-range caliber tho, I've shot out to 1000 so far with mine.

[clwg97]

I have shot one at 30 yards with it in the woods and it did just fine. Hit them in the important parts and they are going down.

[Lost Lake]

It’s gonna do fine. Most of the bullets for it are long for caliber and better suited to long range, but if you poke em in the vitals, they’re done.

[WG Taxidermist]

I don't have one so I'm not going to be much help but from everything I've heard they are good for both. I think that's going to be my next rifle I purchase.

[Jethro]

My opinion....there is nothing magical about the Creedmoor. It wont do anything the 260 Rem or 6.5 Swede cant do. That said, I doubt you will find anyone that says either aren't good deer medicine....both near and far..

[scat]

I bought one for the novelty of it but haven't even shot it yet. Got bullets and brass ready for when I get around to it.

[MUP]

I bought one for the novelty of it but haven't even shot it yet. Got bullets and brass ready for when I get around to it.

What powder are you planning to use buddy?

[Smokyrider]

Killed an elk last year with a 6.5 creedmoor at 90 yards with a Hornady eldx and the bullet fragmented and didn't exit. The creedmoor to me is a medium range rifle, 200-600 yards, especially if using a cup and core bullet. It should be fine at less then 200 yards with a hammer bullet, or something like it that will hold together a little better when velocity is still high.
Currently I hunt with a 6.5 grendel which is good medicine for deer at the ranges I typically encounter them around here, I use my 6.5 creedmoor and 6.5 prc out west.

That being said, if I wanted to pick one to cover short to long range hunting, it would probably be the 6.5 creedmoor.

[MUP]

That should settle it then! Took down an elk...should have no problem with any North American game animal, certainly not with a deer.

[Wiley]

Shot placement over caliber all day long.

[Smokyrider]

That should settle it then! Took down an elk...should have no problem with any North American game animal, certainly not with a deer.

Bullet was about 2600 fps at impact and turned it's organs to jelly, he dropped right where he stood, 6.5 creedmoor is plenty for deer.

20201013_184837.jpg (337.48 KiB) Viewed 414 times

[MUP]

That's a sweet setup Smokey! And congrats again on the elk!

[Tngrizzly_]

No help on this.

Congratulations on the Elk, how much pen did you get?

[Shane37110]

I had a 6.5 Swede a long time ago and really liked it. Was good on the only deer I got with it but it was about a 50 yard shot. I don't have a creedmoor but I like it on paper and it's available in a modern short action rifle.

[FLTENNHUNTER1]

Shot placement over caliber all day long.

This.

[FLTENNHUNTER1]

Shot placement over caliber all day long.

This.

And ammo availability.

[FLTENNHUNTER1]

Shot placement over caliber all day long.

This.

And ammo availability.

For example, I can reload 3 different rifles with the same .308 bullets; my .308, 30-06, and 300 win mag. I can kill anything that walks in the lower 48 comfortably.

[Smokyrider]

Bullet availability is nice, I use 147 eldm in my 6.5 creedmoor and 6.5 PRC and I bought them in bulk so that I am set for a very long time.

[Mama Doe]

That should settle it then! Took down an elk...should have no problem with any North American game animal, certainly not with a deer.

I agree!!!

[CrowT]

Shot placement is everything. I know some guys that used to be the biggest road poachers in this area. They've killed more deer than probably all of us on this page combined. Their caliber of choice was a 22 mag. Even though it's for sure capable of killing deer, I still wouldn't feel comfortable deer hunting with one. But that's just me. A lot of these other calibers are the same way with me. I bought my wife a .243 when she first started hunting because of recoil. I tried several different rounds on deer with it and I never liked the performance of any of them. From a blood trailing standpoint anyway. I've never mastered the flop/drop shot with a rifle so I just aim for behind the shoulder. I've seen deer hit perfect that ran a pretty long ways and only bleed internally. No blood to follow on the ground; just have to do semi circle walking and hope you walk up on a white belly. I know people that love the .243 but we had too many close calls with it so I bumped her to a .308. I've never shot a 6.5 but my understanding of the cartridge is that it was developed for longer range shooting and recoil management. I probably wouldn't be interested in it because in this area I hunt, we seldom have a shot over 200 yards. Most are within 100 yards. So you don't really see a benefit of a flat shooting cartridge here. That's why even during rifle season, I just use my 50 cal muzzleloader. It has the range and knock down I like.