6.5 Creedmoor: Maximum Lethal Range for Whitetail

[hoffbill]

The effective range will vary with different hunting bullets. The 6.5 Creedmoor head stamp does not impart magical qualities of lethality to ordinary bullets that they do not have when fired from other rifles with 6.5mm bores. Keep in mind that the 6.5CM was designed to be a precision long range target round. There is a big difference between poking a hole in paper or cardboard and killing a large animal quickly and humanely. As many posts in this thread have pointed out, a 6.5mm bullet with adequate velocity will likely work very well at 500 yds or less. If I were intending to hunt a longer ranges, like 600 to 1000+ my 6.5CM and 260Rem would become target rifles and I would be carrying a rifle with larger bore (heavier bullet) and lots of oomph, probably a magnum. If I were intending to shoot at live animals over far distances, I would consider it an obligation to myself and the animal to use a rifle/cartridge/bullet capable of consistent lethal performance at those distances. The 6.5 bullets excel at a lot of things but they are still ruled by ballistics and gravity.

 

[Lnewton]

I have never had to take a shot at a deer much over 150 yards. I also have used much smaller bullets (.223) to take deer and if place correctly they will fall where they stand regardless of KE. Practice a lot and set up in the right place and you won't have to worry about a 600 yard shot with a small bullet.

 

[milo-2]

Ran some simulations courtesy of MERC - Maximum Effective Range Calculator. I'm biased of course, but highly recommend you try it out for yourself!

Simulations used 1MOA rifle, 10 ± 3 mph crosswind shifting ± 30°, ± 5 yards range uncertainty, and muzzle velocity SD of 10 fps. I used velocities from MidwayUSA's product pages for the trajectory inputs. The target size for the hit probabilities is 9" in diameter.

Federal Premium 130 Terminal Ascent @ 2825 fps
View attachment 212267

Nosler Trophy Grade 129 Accubond Long Range @ 2850 fps
View attachment 212268

Hornady Precision Hunter 143 ELD-X @ 2700 fps
View attachment 212269

Hope that helps. As mentioned, to really see what variables affect each load, download a copy of MERC for yourself and play around with target sizes, uncertainties, and ranges.

I like the charts, numbers in the 2nd column seem alarming. For the sake of conversation, what if it was a 1/4 moa rifle with the same bullets. I think this group takes some accurate rifles to the field for the most part. Just saying, any rifle I shoot does not drop off at 50% from 500 to 850 yards accuracy wise.

 

[TexasSportsman]

I've spent the past couple days browsing forums on this very topic. Based off what I read 500-600 yards is going to be the max distance many would feel the 6.5 Creedmoor with the proper bullet can reliably take down a whitetail.

I just got a Tikka T3x in 6.5 with a Leupold Mark5 HD 3.6-18X44 scope. I am going to try 3 different factory loads: Federal Terminal Ascent 130 grain, Nosler Accubond Long Range 129 grain and Hornady Precision Hunter 143 grain ELD-X. All three are softer construction designed to expand at long range.

With the proper bullet for long range terminal performance, what do you folks think the max lethal range a 6.5 Creedmoor could be on whitetail?

I called Hornady Tech Support...they said the ELD-X 6.5 CM 143gr requires a minimum of 2000 fps to expand. So this over the counter round is lethal out to 500 yards.

I found similar data for the Hornady American Whitetail .30-06 150gr SP is lethal out to 450 yards it requires a minimum of 1800fps to expand. Remington Core-Lokt and Federal Power Shock the same caliber and bullet weight also requires 1800fps to expand and at the same distance of 400 - 450 yards.

Most OTC ammo is good well beyond the 400-500 yard range if you're shooting steel plates because we don't care about expansion just a loud clang.

 

[browndcm]

I saw somewhere on the internet that a 6.5 Creedmore was good to 10 miles. Since it was on the internet, it must be true. Of course you could solve the problem by being a better hunter and getting closer to the game.

I agree, learn to stalk

 

[Barrelnut]

Where can I get a copy of Merc?

There is a link to it in the first sentence of Entoptic's post that you replied to. The link take you to another thread that has instructions too. MERC is an Excel macro and requires Excel to run.
Fantastic job these guys did!

 

[TXAoudadKlr]

I think too much thought is placed on KE. I killed a doe with a 9mm. 90gr CEB Raptor doing 1200fps so like 280ftlbs.

I firmly believe so long as you have enough weight/momentum to carry that bullet deep enough to get through the vitals with enough velocity to open up you'll be fine.

 

[greenejc]

Wow very cool^^^^

I do wonder with the softer long range bullets if they are able be sufficiently lethal below 1000 fps due to lower speed/energy expansion.

Some people here won't agree with what I'm going to say, but I don't want to see you lose deer or have to trail one for half a mile or more. I've already had to trail antelope on more than one occasion with the 6.5, with a perfect hit at under 200 yards(not from my rifle). Nearly all of the softer (cup and core) bullets lose the ability to mushroom effectively below about 1500fps. That's true for .243 cal up to 30 cal. The larger calibers have even heavier jackets, and will pencil through a Whitetail deer at speeds below around 1800fps(exceptions being some of the 180 and 200 grain .338 bullets and the Sierra 225 grain .358 bullet). But they start with larger entrance wounds and still make exit wounds that exceed .35cal just due to their original diameters. A .264 cal bullet at 400 yards won't create a large temporary or permanent wound channel because it has lost velocity and impact. Impact and broad wound channels are the result of hydrolic and Hydrostatic shock, and below around 2200fps, the smaller, lower massed bullets have lost most of their ability to create the shock wave in tissue needed to create this effect. A 30-06 at 300 yards with a 180 grain high-BC bullet launched at 2750 fps will have you blood-trailing a big Whitetail about 30% of the time, and it has much better penetration, impact and wounding capacity than any of the medium velocity 6.5mm cartridges. Bullet construction has a big effect on killing capacity, too. A bonded bullet is great if you're launching it at 2850 or above, and expect to have it hold together through heavy bone at around 40 to 150 yards. At 600 yards, nearly all bonded bullets and mono bullets will fail to open up due to their heavier construction. However, a standard bullet launched at around 2750fps will hold together at close range and at a distance, even through a Whitetail's shoulder if it is heavy enough. It will also mushroom at a lower velocity than any of the 'premium' bullets. I would limit my shots with the Creedmoor to around 400-450 yards, and use either Speer, Sierra GKs or Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets in their heaviest offerings. They all offer a 140 grain hunting bullet, and their BCs are all bove .5 or better. If you want to go farther, either up the bullet diameter or go with a higher velocity offering, or both. Killing doesn't come from speed only. It comes from a combination of speed, actual mass, diameter of the bullet, and matching the bullet construction to the game. Also, keep in mind that foot-pounds per Sq. in. is a little deceptive. for instance, and 22-250 launching a 50 grain bullet at standard velicities and a 45-70 launching a 405 grain factory round have about the same ftlb rating. No-one is going to argue that the 22-250 is going to be an effective bear round, while the 45-70 is decidedly so.

 

[entoptics]

I like the charts, numbers in the 2nd column seem alarming. For the sake of conversation, what if it was a 1/4 moa rifle with the same bullets. I think this group takes some accurate rifles to the field for the most part. Just saying, any rifle I shoot does not drop off at 50% from 500 to 850 yards accuracy wise.

In these simulations, MERC was used to simulate a first round shot's accuracy, and not "group" precision. Firing a group will generally have less uncertainty, as the environmental conditions aren't changing as much over a couple of minutes. I also used "average shooter" inputs for wind uncertainty. A real master could likely do better.

Here's the simulations comparing 1 MOA to 0.25 MOA for the rifle/shooter precision. All other uncertainties are the same as my first post, and the same across all simulations below. I tossed a hit plot in for the Terminal Ascent @ 500 yds, and you can see that the horizontal dispersion (wind uncertainty) is responsible for the misses. The other bullets show more or less the same pattern of course.

Federal Premium Terminal Ascent

Trophy Grade 129 Nosler Accubond Long Range

Hornady Precision Hunter 143 ELDX

 

[blkdog]

Get closer

 

[dougduey]

Interesting thanks, looking foreward to seeing what becomes of that bullet.

Total side note, but the rounds we've found to put the goats down quickest, hence from wondering off into space are year in and year out the good old Swift and 22/250.........aren't I the trouble maker

I love hearing real world info

 

[greenejc]

I love hearing real world info

Not really. Its shot placement and shooting within the capabilities of the round. Here in Colorado, the smallest diameter bullet you can use on big game is the .243, but that works most of the time on antelope and whitetail. I know a couple of guys who use the 243 and the 25-06 on elk, too. They're very successful with them. But they know the limitations of the round from long useage, and they stay inside that limit.

 

[central iowa guy]

I shoot a 6.5 cm also. But shoot game past 700 is kinda like yoga pants. Just because they make 4x yoga pants doesn't mean you should wear them

 

[vancewalker007]

I've spent the past couple days browsing forums on this very topic. Based off what I read 500-600 yards is going to be the max distance many would feel the 6.5 Creedmoor with the proper bullet can reliably take down a whitetail.

I just got a Tikka T3x in 6.5 with a Leupold Mark5 HD 3.6-18X44 scope. I am going to try 3 different factory loads: Federal Terminal Ascent 130 grain, Nosler Accubond Long Range 129 grain and Hornady Precision Hunter 143 grain ELD-X. All three are softer construction designed to expand at long range.

With the proper bullet for long range terminal performance, what do you folks think the max lethal range a 6.5 Creedmoor could be on whitetail?

Given a rifle that is accurate enough and a shooter practiced enough and a shooting situation that allows it most of what I refer to as the standard cartridges (traces their roots back the 30/06) can easily take a deer at 500 yards. Some will give a shooter a little more margin than others, like your 6.5 CM, high BC bullet a lot of inherent accouracy etc. With the right accurate ammo your 6.5 CM can do it for sure.

Now the real question is how much time have you spent shooting paper or steel at 500 yards using field rests? How many deer have you shot at 500 yards with another rifle? Have you studied how to call wind? How accurate and consistent is this new rifle at 500 yards? Is the area you're hunting even conducive to producing 500 yard shot opportunities? I'm saying these things not to attack you but to give you ideas on how to get your Tikka and your skills ready to shoot 500 yards when the time comes. If you don't have long range experience start watching videos on technique. Get out to the range or somewhere you can shoot farther and get some trigger time. Learn about wind and wind calls. This is the hardest part of longer range shooting.

I hope that Tikka is a shooter. Most of the ones I've seen have been very accurate.