608 Yard Colorado Bull 6.5 CM 123 Absolute Hammer

[HammerBullets]

Levi sent us a picture of his dad's successful Colorado Bull Elk Hunt. Shot at 608 yards with a 6.5 Creedmoor and the 123 Absolute Hammer Bullet. Shot placement was at the crease of the shoulder, the Bull stood for a few seconds, walked yards and tipped over. Congratulations on an incredible Elk.

 

[Fiftydriver]

Not sure what his exact velocity was but just guessing he was likely only clipping along at around 2200 fps on impact and less then 1400 ft/lbs of retained energy. Pretty risky shot in my opinion with that chambering. Obviously good shot placement is critical and good bullets to get the job done. I would not have taken that shot. Course, pretty sure i would never leave the house looking for a mature bull elk using anything with CM at the end of the name!! . Great bull and thankfully great results. Good test for your bullets. Obviously that worked very well!!

 

[Ucsdryder]

Not sure what his exact velocity was but just guessing he was likely only clipping along at around 2200 fps on impact and less then 1400 ft/lbs of retained energy. Pretty risky shot in my opinion with that chambering. Obviously good shot placement is critical and good bullets to get the job done. I would not have taken that shot. Course, pretty sure i would never leave the house looking for a mature bull elk using anything with CM at the end of the name!! . Great bull and thankfully great results. Good test for your bullets. Obviously that worked very well!!

I'd be curious at the POI velocity. Seems like that's really pushing it for a mono out of a 6.5 at 608 yards. Did he get a pass through? I assume so, if it was behind the shoulder. If not, let's see the bullet. That would tell us a lot.

 

[HammerBullets]

POI 1925-1975FPS. 1800FPS is minimal FPS for proper expansion. No bullet recovered.
Hunter/loader long term Hammer Customer and understands limitations of Hammer Bullets.
Continued Congrats to awesome Father and Son hunt.

 

[Ucsdryder]

POI 1925-1975FPS. 1800FPS is minimal FPS for proper expansion. No bullet recovered.
Hunter/loader long term Hammer Customer and understands limitations of Hammer Bullets.
Continued Congrats to awesome Father and Son hunt.

Full pass through? I don't have an issue with 600 yard shots or hammers at that range, but I don't see the trend of guys going with the BARE minimum bullet/caliber/cartridge for these ranges. A 7mm 143HH would be a much more reliable setup.

 

[Bob Wright]

Full pass through? I don't have an issue with 600 yard shots or hammers at that range, but I don't see the trend of guys going with the BARE minimum bullet/caliber/cartridge for these ranges. A 7mm 143HH would be a much more reliable setup.

That's what I thought was a bare minimum as well. Now with a little experience in a Hammer, there isn't an upper end for speed and driving them faster opens up possibilities.
7RM in my rig is running the 143HH at 3310 and is compressing Retumbo powder. I need to go to a different powder to get more speed.
I also have the 131HH for the 280AI and the 7RM to play with. I just don't have a lot of big game opportunity to say the 131HH is going to work better.

 

[Bob Wright]

Congrats to the shooter on a nice bull! That's a long poke!

 

[Ucsdryder]

That's what I thought was a bare minimum as well. Now with a little experience in a Hammer, there isn't an upper end for speed and driving them faster opens up possibilities.
7RM in my rig is running the 143HH at 3310 and is compressing Retumbo powder. I need to go to a different powder to get more speed.
I also have the 131HH for the 280AI and the 7RM to play with. I just don't have a lot of big game opportunity to say the 131HH is going to work better.

That is smoking. I couldn't get much better than 3000 with h4350 with 145 ceb and a little less with 143hh. I'm thinking Retumbo might be worth a shot.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

@snox801 and his father knew they were at the outer limit. Congrats on a great bull and great shooting.

 

[snox801]

So the plan never was to take it past 400.
This was my father very good friend that went with us for his first out west hunt. He had no decent rifle prior. He really liked the caliber and had Pierce engineering build him the exact rifle he wanted.
He never felt good past 200 yards. A few weeks before the hunt I did the load work and it shot a very tight group at 400 yards.
He spent a full day at the range getting used to his setup. He was holding a 1.5" group at 400 and that was his limit. He left a week early with my dad and was able to practice out past 600 at the camp before the hunt and was hitting the 6" gong at 600 every time.
I told him 600 would be max limit I would trust it.
He said he would not shoot that far.
Well as hunting goes bull ended up that far. Guide said better take him. He knew he could hit it and as luck had it zero wind. So he went right behind the shoulder and it zipped right through.
Kirby we all know you never go under gunned. Lol made a heck of a business out of over doing it.
After the hunt he has already planned a bug .30 cal.
Velocity showed around 2210fps min 1800 so he was well within the function of the bullet.

 

[snox801]

Not sure what his exact velocity was but just guessing he was likely only clipping along at around 2200 fps on impact and less then 1400 ft/lbs of retained energy. Pretty risky shot in my opinion with that chambering. Obviously good shot placement is critical and good bullets to get the job done. I would not have taken that shot. Course, pretty sure i would never leave the house looking for a mature bull elk using anything with CM at the end of the name!! . Great bull and thankfully great results. Good test for your bullets. Obviously that worked very well!!

That one heck of a guess at fps!
Pretty spot on actually.
I agree more gun would as always be better for sure. But that's what he had and never thought his outer limit was gonna be that going into his build.
Question? Why if the bullet is over the min FPS to open is it not an acceptable round?
I know it could always be better of course and widens the margin of error. But I don't see anyone ever saying this at the outer limits of say a .300 win mag at the lower FPS with a Berger or accubond?
I've always used the min FPS to function and find that distance as my max for any bullet or round. Now I have passed on shots as I couldn't know for sure I could hit the sweet spot behind the shoulder.
Of course I also keep an eye on energy and it was well over 1000 that seem to be most people's measure. I for one think of the bullet will function it's a good spot.
Not doubting you at all or saying your wrong just think good conversation especially with someone as knowledgeable as you is always a benefit to the whole forum.
Thanks

 

[Ucsdryder]

That one heck of a guess at fps!
Pretty spot on actually.
I agree more gun would as always be better for sure. But that's what he had and never thought his outer limit was gonna be that going into his build.
Question? Why if the bullet is over the min FPS to open is it not an acceptable round?
I know it could always be better of course and widens the margin of error. But I don't see anyone ever saying this at the outer limits of say a .300 win mag at the lower FPS with a Berger or accubond?
I've always used the min FPS to function and find that distance as my max for any bullet or round. Now I have passed on shots as I couldn't know for sure I could hit the sweet spot behind the shoulder.
Of course I also keep an eye on energy and it was well over 1000 that seem to be most people's measure. I for one think of the bullet will function it's a good spot.
Not doubting you at all or saying your wrong just think good conversation especially with someone as knowledgeable as you is always a benefit to the whole forum.
Thanks

I'd be more worried about a guy shooting 200 yards then trying 600 once on a gong and saying "I'm good at 600" than I would with the fact you guys decided to shoot a 6.5cm at 608 yards.

As far as your comment about being over minimum speed for minimum expansion, it's an issue because you have a Minimum caliber, minimum weight, minimum speed, minimum, minimum, minimum.

Oh and I don't know anybody that thinks 1000ft/lbs is the minimum for elk. Most say 1500, and many say closer to 1800.

 

[snox801]

First he didn't hit the gong once. He spent a good amount of time shooting once at the ranch also. He had a full week before his hunt. So he shot out past that but was able to consistently hit the 6" at 600 with no
Misses.
Second I know it's on the lower end but it seems that the min FPS is a pretty good judge based on This and several other times. He was able to place it exactly where it needed to be and it had a full pass. I'd say that it was fine. Best for situation no of course not but when that's all he had in that situation is take it.
Again he is the type of guy that if he didn't feel very confident he could keep off the shoulder he would not have taken it.
He will indeed have a 30 Sherman next year.
This wasn't to be snarky either I do agree big is better especially if any wind is present. Just wanted to make sure the fact where out. Because I 100 percent agree hitting a gong 1-2 times is not ok.
He left with a bunch of ammo just so he could practice and double check everything at given elevation and at farther distance

 

[Korhil78]

Congrats to him.