Judge my 6.5cm performance on bull elk

[Braaap]

I killed a mature 6pt bull on Sunday with my 6.5cm and I’m looking for opinions on its performance. Shot federal premium 140 grain accubond, hit him twice in the vitals from 250 yards and he fell over dead in seconds. So obviously it worked great! My question lies in whether or not I should use this caliber on future elk hunts. I recovered both bullets stuck in the hide in the opposite side from impact.

My worry is that if my shot was from further away it wouldn’t have been as effective possibly. I passed on a broadside shot at 400 yards on him earlier because I knew it would probably be pushing the limits of the 6.5cm.

 

[gelton]

Looks to me like the bullets did exactly as they were supposed to. Nice uniform mushroom and expended all of their energy inside the animal. While most of the CM crowd thinks they are effective at long range on large animals, which is a wrong assumption...I think they are more than capable 500 yards and in, and those bullets show that to be true.

 

[Braaap]

Yes the accubonds performed perfectly. I’m just wondering if they would at 400 or 500?

 

[gelton]

Yes the accubonds performed perfectly. I’m just wondering if they would at 400 or 500?

What is the velocity difference between 250 and 500? Shouldn't be much. Given that the shot placement is there I think they would do fine as long as you stay away from the shoulder.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

They could still expand well enough. The main difference will be a narrower wound channel so there is less room for error.

 

[Brendan]

Point of reference: Those bullets look, and performed, exactly like my one Nosler .308 Accubond shot on a bull at 40 yards - Broadside Ribs and lungs, recovered under the opposite side hide. Also had a shot last year on a 1.5 year old whitetail with the same gun/load that didn't exit and didn't hit more than rib.

 

[CorbLand]

I shot a cow with my 6.5CM at 410 a couple years ago with 143 ELDX. Punched her right behind the front shoulder and it came out the other side. Entrance was barely noticeable and the exit was about a golf ball sized. I was a little bummed with the overall performance but her lungs looked like mashed up jello and she was dead within 40 yards.

 

[ericwh]

... Given that the shot placement is there I think they would do fine as long as you stay away from the shoulder.

I was considering using a 127 LRX in my creedmoor for elk but was worried about what would happen if I hit a shoulder. If it can't make it through on a 250y rib shot I guess I'm more worried about that... Bullets look great though.

Way to be conservative with the shooting and congrats on your bull!

 

[Fatcamp]

I shot a cow with my 6.5CM at 410 a couple years ago with 143 ELDX. Punched her right behind the front shoulder and it came out the other side. Entrance was barely noticeable and the exit was about a golf ball sized. I was a little bummed with the overall performance but her lungs looked like mashed up jello and she was dead within 40 yards.

Wait. Was that sarcasm?

 

[CorbLand]

Wait. Was that sarcasm?

Its a combination of sharing my experience of shooting an elk 400+ with a 6.5CM and sarcasm. Mostly sarcasm because I have had a lot of people tell me that my bullet didn't "perform" that well if it only left a golf ball sized hole on the exit.

 

[Braaap]

According to Strelok the velocity at 250 is 2243 ft/s and 450 is 1991 ft/s. I imagine the bullet should be just as lethal at that speed but I’m no expert.

At first I was wondering if the lack of an exit was a problem but he dropped dead so quick that I guess it doesn’t matter. Obviously the wound channel was devastating.

 

[twall13]

I saw a similar thing in with my 6.5 creed in Africa last year. Bullet in the offside hide on at least 3 animals. My PH said that was fairly common as their thick hides will often "stretch" with the bullet in its expanded state and not allow it to break through. I'd love to see a slow motion video of that but who knows how true it is. It makes some sense to me though. Either way, the damage was done well before that point and all my animals fell pretty quickly, much as yours did.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Fatcamp]

Its a combination of sharing my experience of shooting an elk 400+ with a 6.5CM and sarcasm. Mostly sarcasm because I have had a lot of people tell me that my bullet didn't "perform" that well if it only left a golf ball sized hole on the exit.

Ha! I thought so.

Wonder how big of a hole people expect?

 

[TxxAgg]

Good results. Thanks for sharing.

 

[CorbLand]

Ha! I thought so.

Wonder how big of a hole people expect?

I think people forget that there are so many variables on what a bullet can look like or exit wound it leaves. Hitting bone can change everything drastically.

The only thing I wish is that I would have been able to find the bullet on mine just to see what it looked like but it was rocky behind her and I would bet it blew apart when it hit the hillside.

Either way, to OP. 6.5CM isnt what I would call a go to elk gun but its very capable. 400 yards with good shot placement has provided fantastic results for my study of 1 case. I wouldn't go trying to blow shoulders apart at 400 though. I cant say I would complain with the results of the bullets that you have there and dont think that you would have seen anything less at 400.

 

[Braaap]

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll continue using the 6.5 cm for elk, keeping shots under 400.

 

[longrangeduckhunter]

Nice!!

 

[Kiwihillclima]

I think the 6.5 Creedmoor is a bit over hyped ,mainly because on paper its very efficient and the target shooters are getting some amazing results and the marketing has over sold its capabilities a bit . But as we all know what happens on paper doesn't always go so well in the field .Shot placement is the critical factor as we all know but another is being honest with ourselves about our own abilities I wont use my Creedmoor past 450 as i feel it is getting to edge of its performance envelope to kill well beyond that. That being said i will go to 600 with my 6,5 prc because it has that bit more power and i know it will be well inside its performance envelope . I shoot mainly Red deer here and im not sure how they equate size wise to your other deer sizes i know elk are quite a bit larger. We have a small Elk herd here in NZ and to get to hunt them is for a lot hunters a once in a life time thing and i would using something with a bit more grunt like a 300 wsm or similar on such a large deer .Braaap well done on your success ,your Creedmoor worked well but i would be using something bigger on such a big animal and the next one might not be so close .

 

[Braaap]

I think the 6.5 Creedmoor is a bit over hyped ,mainly because on paper its very efficient and the target shooters are getting some amazing results and the marketing has over sold its capabilities a bit . But as we all know what happens on paper doesn't always go so well in the field .Shot placement is the critical factor as we all know but another is being honest with ourselves about our own abilities I wont use my Creedmoor past 450 as i feel it is getting to edge of its performance envelope to kill well beyond that. That being said i will go to 600 with my 6,5 prc because it has that bit more power and i know it will be well inside its performance envelope . I shoot mainly Red deer here and im not sure how they equate size wise to your other deer sizes i know elk are quite a bit larger. We have a small Elk herd here in NZ and to get to hunt them is for a lot hunters a once in a life time thing and i would using something with a bit more grunt like a 300 wsm or similar on such a large deer .Braaap well done on your success ,your Creedmoor worked well but i would be using something bigger on such a big animal and the next one might not be so close .

I hear you. It’s difficult to argue with its performance in this example but I know on paper there are better choices. I might look into getting another rifle with elk in mind. I really dislike shooting rifles with heavy recoil and I shoot my 6.5 very well and it’s incredibly accurate.

I might look at a 30-06, 300 wsm, 7 rm etc. My 6.5 is a Tikka and I’ll stick with that. Kinda thinking the 7rm with a limb saver might be tolerable.

 

[theleo91386]

Those bullets tell me you can stretch that load further than you did. If you were walking the line of not having enough energy/velocity the bullets wouldn't have expanded as much as they did. Hide is tough to get through with a blunt object that doesn't way much.