Factory Bullet Recommendations for 6.5 Creedmoor

[RugerHawg413]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone had some good bullet recommendations for 6.5 creedmoor? I am going to start to use a rifle in that caliber to hunt with and don't have a ton of experience with that caliber. The main three options that I am looking at right now are:

Nosler Accubond 140 grain
Berger EOL Elite Hunter 156 grain
Hornady ELD-X Precision Hunter 143 grain

I have shot both the accubond's and ELD-X's in different calibers, though I have had more experience with accubonds and have been pleased with the results they have given me. I would be mainly hunting pronghorn, sheep/goats, and mule deer with this rifle. And maybe even elk at some point but the other species are the main targets for this rifle setup. Please let me know what you think and if you have a completely different choice of bullet, please share that as well. Any and all info is welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

 

[LongOdds]

Just purchased my first 6.5, would love to hear what factory loads others have found best.....

 

[snox801]

This is loaded ammo with the 124gr hammer hunter.

I do most my hunting with my 6.5 creedmore and shot a lot of game and a lot of bullets. The hammers are far and away the best one I've found in the 6.5 creedmore and distance you should be able to take game at with that caliber.

Pendleton Ammunition

pendletonammunition.com

 

[snox801]

I also used the eldx a fair amount before I made the switch. Those worked good for deer but left a lot to be desired when it came to larger tougher game like oryx and elk. Also check out cutting edge bullets. Think they load the maxima in 6.5 creedmore. They would be my second choice.

 

[snox801]

Obviously to break it in and zero I would use whatever is cheap. Then zero it and switch to the more expensive stuff for the hunts.

 

[ARlife4me]

An important question is, what would be max distance?

 

[FEENIX]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone had some good bullet recommendations for 6.5 creedmoor? I am going to start to use a rifle in that caliber to hunt with and don't have a ton of experience with that caliber. The main three options that I am looking at right now are:

Nosler Accubond 140 grain
Berger EOL Elite Hunter 156 grain
Hornady ELD-X Precision Hunter 143 grain

I have shot both the accubond's and ELD-X's in different calibers, though I have had more experience with accubonds and have been pleased with the results they have given me. I would be mainly hunting pronghorn, sheep/goats, and mule deer with this rifle. And maybe even elk at some point but the other species are the main targets for this rifle setup. Please let me know what you think and if you have a completely different choice of bullet, please share that as well. Any and all info is welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

Berger bullets are my go-to bullets, but the 156 might be too heavy to take full advantage of what it is designed for in 6.5 CM. I am not saying you cannot use it, but I would use the 130, 135, or 140 instead. Please understand that the Berger bullets are designed as fragmenting bullets.



Whichever bullet choice you choose, know its limitations at POI for the game you will hunt.

 

[dogz]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone had some good bullet recommendations for 6.5 creedmoor? I am going to start to use a rifle in that caliber to hunt with and don't have a ton of experience with that caliber. The main three options that I am looking at right now are:

Nosler Accubond 140 grain
Berger EOL Elite Hunter 156 grain
Hornady ELD-X Precision Hunter 143 grain

I have shot both the accubond's and ELD-X's in different calibers, though I have had more experience with accubonds and have been pleased with the results they have given me. I would be mainly hunting pronghorn, sheep/goats, and mule deer with this rifle. And maybe even elk at some point but the other species are the main targets for this rifle setup. Please let me know what you think and if you have a completely different choice of bullet, please share that as well. Any and all info is welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

Info needed......for what animals and to what ranges on a consistent basis?

 

[ARlife4me]

Info needed......for what animals and to what ranges on a consistent basis?

Animals were listed, just not range

 

[waveslayer]

Use whatever shoots we'll in your rifle. No need for a break in on barrels, that's BS! If it's a shooter it's a shooter. As for hunting ammo. I'm a Berger fan, if you want more speed out of the 6.5 Creedmoor, go with 130 class bullets. Most are 140-143 gr for hunting. I'm running 140 VLD's , it's a tack driver, I load my own though

 

[ARlife4me]

If I were suggesting Berger it would be 135 classic hunt.

 

[FEENIX]

Just purchased my first 6.5, would love to hear what factory loads others have found best.....

I have good luck with Winchester Deer Season XP 125g for the antelope and deer-size game.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Between those I'd use the ELD-X, they are very well made consistent bullets and I've yet to have a lot of that ammo that didn't shoot well or to have a 6.5 that didn't like it.

I'll second the deer season XP too for deee species, it's a great performing bullet and also has been very accurate ammo for me. I wouldn't use it on an elk though, it's pretty frangible. I probably also wouldn't use it for extended distances because it's not the absolute most consistent although it's ok for factory ammo, I've seen around 40fps ES on average. It's absolutely fine for shots out to 400 yards or so. I've shot it as far as 800 yards on steel and made hits but it was definitely opening up pretty significantly beyond 500 or so to the point I wouldn't trust it to make a clean shot on an animal. Really any of the standard core lokt, power shock, PowerPoint, etc will work fine out to 300-400 yards or so as long as it shoots 1MOAish in your rifle.

 

[terry 338rum]

the 140g berger elite hunter shoot very well in my Tikka T3 UPR and should be good deer size game.