Best 6.5 CM Hunting Bullet for Moderate Long Range Distances

[Tom Moran]

You guys can't read. OP never said he wanted lead free - in fact he stated he was looking for a lead option for longer ranges where lead free was not required.

I covered both...my 54 cal percussion muzzleloader shooting a soft lead Buffalo bullet on top of 100 grains of 2f went clean thru under the opposite hide of a 5x5 bull elk and mushroomed to a 50 cent piece

 

[OldElkHunter1961]

There's some questionable alchemy going on here. Thinking There's much performance difference in the BC's offered between 140-147's under 500 yards may be an interesting intellectual discussion but it means little to a broadside cud-chewer. We're kinda picking the pepper out of the fly crap. The fear of failure to expand reliably isn't really the portion of the race to first consider. What if your target animal is at 6 or 16 yards vice 600? Will your selected $4 apiece super bullet remain in one piece hitting a shoulder blade or rib-top? Most North American medium and big game is killed under 100 yards. Do you intend to pass on a chip shot at a 7X7 bull so you can try when it's much further away? A whole lot of game for a whole lot of decades has dropped from 5 to 500 yards to core-lokt, silver tip, hot-core and game king bullets. Practice. A lot. Put the bullet where it belongs and all will be well. No sleep lost. Those who would argue otherwise are likely wearing spiderman onesie jammies sipping diet caffeine free vegan Pepsi in their parents basement and have never been elbow deep in an elks digestive tract field dressing the year's red meat. My 2 cents.

 

[WildRose]

There's some questionable alchemy going on here. Thinking There's much performance difference in the BC's offered between 140-147's under 500 yards may be an interesting intellectual discussion but it means little to a broadside cud-chewer. We're kinda picking the pepper out of the fly crap. The fear of failure to expand reliably isn't really the portion of the race to first consider. What if your target animal is at 6 or 16 yards vice 600? Will your selected $4 apiece super bullet remain in one piece hitting a shoulder blade or rib-top? Most North American medium and big game is killed under 100 yards. Do you intend to pass on a chip shot at a 7X7 bull so you can try when it's much further away? A whole lot of game for a whole lot of decades has dropped from 5 to 500 yards to core-lokt, silver tip, hot-core and game king bullets. Practice. A lot. Put the bullet where it belongs and all will be well. No sleep lost. Those who would argue otherwise are likely wearing spiderman onesie jammies sipping diet caffeine free vegan Pepsi in their parents basement and have never been elbow deep in an elks digestive tract field dressing the year's red meat. My 2 cents.

Does your .02c include shooting a lot of game beyond 400yds with a 6.5CM shooting mono's?

 

[JAYgs8163]

There's some questionable alchemy going on here. Thinking There's much performance difference in the BC's offered between 140-147's under 500 yards may be an interesting intellectual discussion but it means little to a broadside cud-chewer. We're kinda picking the pepper out of the fly crap. The fear of failure to expand reliably isn't really the portion of the race to first consider. What if your target animal is at 6 or 16 yards vice 600? Will your selected $4 apiece super bullet remain in one piece hitting a shoulder blade or rib-top? Most North American medium and big game is killed under 100 yards. Do you intend to pass on a chip shot at a 7X7 bull so you can try when it's much further away? A whole lot of game for a whole lot of decades has dropped from 5 to 500 yards to core-lokt, silver tip, hot-core and game king bullets. Practice. A lot. Put the bullet where it belongs and all will be well. No sleep lost. Those who would argue otherwise are likely wearing spiderman onesie jammies sipping diet caffeine free vegan Pepsi in their parents basement and have never been elbow deep in an elks digestive tract field dressing the year's red meat. My 2 cents.

I didn't know fly's eat pepper. I learned something from your post. Lol, all in fun.

 

[Methow Packer]

Real world testing on game shows that not to be accurate. In fact, they perform better beyond 250yds consistently as enough energy has bled off to keep them from shelling out inside or blowing up shallow.

They have the crimped in "ring" that is supposed to reduce or prevent bullet separation at high velocity on impact but it is nowhere near as reliable as bonding the core to the jacket as with the Accubond and Accubond LR

I've realized those very same results. I shot a bull @550 in the crease. Had to shoot again same place. Booth Eld-X bullets came apart like shrapnel with not much of a wound cavity. I'm now using Accubond LR these days. Bonded core keeps the bullet together. Good wound channel.Exit holes half the time.

 

[Kimber7man]

My creed likes this ammo so I stocked up before it went OOS:

 

[snox801]

I only own 6.5 Creedmoor's. Five different platforms to be exact. I hunt all over the country and the 147 gr ELD-X is by far hands down the best there is. I hunt from 0 foot elevation on the coasts and as high as just under 13,000 in colorado. I've killed ground squirrels to moose with the exact same reload. Point blank to just over 1000 yards. Granted not all barrels are the same but I have yet to find one that doesn't love the ELD-X in 6.5 Creedmoor. With that being said, my son owns a 6.5 PRC with an extremely expensive Bergara barrel that barely shoots sub MOA at a 100.

Nope, great bullet but it is not the best.
Wildrose had it right it's good at distance but up close it very soft. Hit the shoulder of an elk good luck. I take lots and lots of game every year and my main bolt rifle is my creedmore. I've shoot both hornady 143,147. Hammers are simply much better at everything but paper and steel.
Each bullet has a min FPS they open at. If you take that number and run them through your app you find that the bc means nothing.
In fact both my 124gr hammer hunter and my 123gr absolute have a farther functioning distance when using lowest FPS for bullet. I think that's a far way to judge the effective range. 143 has more energy at the max range but that means nothing if the bullet doesn't open.

 

[snox801]

My creed likes this ammo so I stocked up before it went OOS:

View attachment 340506View attachment 340505

Well worth played sir. I think that weight range is ideal in the creed for hunting. I would love to try those on some deer. Not my preferred bullet for large trophy but Berger's are amazing when everything goes well.

 

[ElCidAviator]

I'd take a look at Hornady SST bullets. I have taken a lot of hogs with that in my 6.5 Grendel (up to 153lbs) and have taken a fair bit in my Creedmore. The Grendel is only pushing 2400ft/s so we are in the ballpark of velocities you are discussing. I've had a pass through on every shot with nice golf ball size exit wounds, and I've never lost a hog with them.

On the flip side, I shot a hog with a 143 gn ELDX out of a 6.5 PRC. It was a 40lb hog and the bullet was caught in the far side hide. The bullet weighed 78.7 gn. I won't call that a failure because it killed the hog, but I won't be shooting ELDXs at anything other than white tail from here on out.

 

[snox801]

863 with a Creedmoor at what elevation?

Can be done for sure. I've seen shots like that with a .243. Problem is we have all shot at distance and if that shot slide a few inches the wrong way into a should or socket of the leg and shoulder good luck finding that elk.
And here I felt 600 was max and very questionable for my self imposed elk distance on my creed. Honestly if elk is on the menu and a chance for a longer shot I bring more stank.

 

[floyd kittrell]

Custon Cartridge Inc. is supposed to be commercially loading Hammer Bullets, I also want to think GunWerks might also be tasting and potentially loading them . I have the following data on a few 6.5 factory loads. out of my Savage 10 BA Stealth 24 " factory barrel

143 grain ELDX Hornady Precision Hunter ammo 2641FPS ( LAB RADAR) 5 shot average, 1792 plus or minus at 700 yards Shoots 3/8" solid group , bedded, blueprinted, 1 pound trigger .

127 grain Barnes LRX Vortx ammo 2813 FPS (LAB RADAR) 4 shot average . Shot a 3shot -1/2" but I pulled 4th shot and went to 3/4". will reshoot this load but would think it will get you to 600 without any expansion issues . Call Barnes and they will give you the min speed need for full expansion.

120 grain Hornady GMX Superformance 3012 average FPS (LAB RADAR) 9/16" group . Call Hornady and they can give you the max speed needed for full expansion . I

All the load developement for hand loads is for a target bullet RDF so no good for you in the future if you decide to load hunting bullets .
I probably have more info on other ammo but think these will cover your questions. If you can find any ammo right now it would be a blessing !

Floyd

 

[brianr21]

Hammers come in factory ammo? Stated requirement by the OP!

Yes they do

 

[brianr21]

Yep. Depends on what you consider factory. Custom reloads of Dallas, Suprior ammo, custom cartridge. Pretty good list of places that load high end ammo. Just takes a minute to look.

Pendleton ammo also sells hammers

 

[FEENIX]

Perhaps the OP needs to clarify/re-define his actual requirements as he also said ...

I'd like it to be something with good weight retention, and definitely not anything prone to fragmentation (I like my meat without lead).

My hunting buddy sent these pictures below. It was found on his venison steak (shot by his wife last year) dinner a couple of nights ago. The bullet is CT, a non-fragmenting bullet. The game processor missed it.