34 years ago I decided on a 7mm-08 when I was thinking I wanted a 308 to start with and have never regretted that choice. Of the 6.5 Creedmoor or 308 and since I saw possibly elk in the mix in one thread, in that case of using on elk I would go 7-08 or 308 for the larger bullets available otherwise 6.5 Creedmoor is a great choice. Just to say a 6.5 Creedmoor will kill an elk but I want a little more bullet, coming from someone that has killed elk with 257, 6.5, 7mm, 308 and 358 bullets. For those bigger critters I like a little more bullet weight than the 257 and 6.5 provide though they got the job done.

KMON1 ...... the 7mm-08 is a wonderful cartridge. We own one and it is my son's go-to rifle. Much better ballistics than the 308.

I have a 6.5 CM for a dedicated long range gun and am putting together a 17" 7mm08 for hunting and getting a 20" Tikka CTR 6.5 CM in for review as well. Working on building back up some bolt actions with threaded barrels, pretty much got rid of all of them with the exception of my dad's 1966 Sako 22-250 custom rifle that I will not mess with for sentimental reasons. Have the ARs in 6.8 and 308 for hunting and 556 for other stuff.

I don't really think it matters what cartridge you use inside of say 300 yards.. just use a decent hunting bullet and put it where it needs to go.

Pick the rifle you like that feels good and you can get ammo for easily if you don't reload.

You do not read real well do you. I said I recovered bent High BC 6.5 bullets. You seem to lack real word experience. Clearly you are personally not a good source of information. I feel sorry for you. You should go read some more articles because clearly that is your level of expertise.

I never said that you cannot kill animals with a 6.5 in fact I have witnessed many people harvest animals with the 6.5. I have more than likely seen more animals harvested than you. I simply pointed out that I have seen guys who are professional shooters; shoot animals in the right spot with 6.5s with high BC bullets and they have had issues. These were pointed out earlier. These guys were LEO snipers in a couple of cases. If you want to dispute my experience provide yours. Trying to mock someones experience is foolish.

The 6.5 is a good hunting round. Match the 6.5 with a good hunting bullet and you have no issues, most good hunting rounds are marginal to good BC but not great. If I went to Academy I could find 1 maybe 2 good hunting rounds in 6.5. I could find 5-6 good target rounds. At the same Academy I can find 10 plus good hunting rounds in 308 and 10 plus good target rounds. The 6.5 Creedmoor is a good round a very good target round, it however is not as good of a hunting or utilitarian round as the 308 is.

This is comical.

By the way my frame of reference is supported by guiding or hosting more than 600 LEO, Military or Fire Fighters on hunts over the last 8 years. Lots of those hunts are documented here...

I read just fine. You said "bent high BC 6.5 bullets".

And you think that I'm not a good source of information?

Guess I'm not as experienced as you. Because I still think that bent high BC bullets is hilarious.

I guess when I move to Texas next year I'll have to sell this piece of junk and get me a 308 so my high BC bullets won't bend. I wonder if the difference in climate or gravitational pull from Texas being farther south causes that phenomenon?

It's BEYOND comical. And actually useless.

The Creedmoor is also good hunting round. Animals don't care about brass headstamps and the Creedmoor mimics the ballistics of the 6.5x55 which has been killing game for over a 100 years.

I have read a lot of your posts and most are very good. I think you provide good information about shooting targets at a long range. I can find maybe 2-3 post where you talk about harvesting animals. Never once have you wrote about recovered bullets from animals. If I missed them I apologize.

I stated very clearly that I have recovered High BC bullets that have bent and simply did not have a strait path. What is funny about that?

I am not bashing you, I am not bashing the 6.5, in fact I have stated it is an extremely good target gun. In fact I think it is more than likely about as good as it gets right now in a factory gun with factory ammo.

6.5 hunting ammo compared to 308 hunting ammo at a range of 250 yards or less the 308 preforms better.

308 ammo is easier to find.

308 is a more utilitarian round.

I am out on this post. This is my experience.

I can provide a long string of photos of dead animals if you'd like. Annually prairie dogs, coyotes, hogs, and whitetail. I've got a mule deer buck, and a bulk elk on the list as well. I do go mule deer hunting every December. Last year I had several opportunities on bucks, but let them go to grow more. And that is in the large open canyons of Terrel county. In that country a guy had better know how to connect at distance.

Simple fact is I shoot more rifle rounds than a good bit of any ten guys you can one up with, combined. But those rounds are on steel in preparation of hide.

Any of the 6.5 mm rounds do a fine job on any animal in Texas. I always enjoy people wanting to throw out BC. But none have ever come out and tried to hit a 4" plate at 200 yards or a 6" at 300 yards, trying to tell me BC and wind doesn't matter.

Short action, I like my 7mm-08. I like it because for me, it works. YMMV.

Can you talk about a hog or deer you shot with a 6.5?

Specifically did you use a hunting bullet or a high BC Target Bullet?

If you used a High BC Bullet what was the bullet path through the harvested animal?

Because it has NOTHING to do with the BC of the bullet! It was either a poor angle, a poorly placed shot, or possibly a target bullet not meant for shooting meat.

Listen carefully Nate: High BC doesn't mean TARGET. There are numerous high BC bullets out there that are not target bullets!

Jeesh. I give up.

I think both 6.5 and 308 have there place

6.5-
Pro
flatter, less impact by wind
Con
Ammo tends to be more expensive, less ammo availability, lower barrel life

308
Pro
Been around forever, ammo in abundance, more mass on bullet
Con
More drop over distance, more impacted by wind

Both bullets can put enough energy on target to do damage. Bullet construction, type, and impact will drive differences for both

If hunting inside 200 there is minimal difference. Then it becomes cost of ammo/barrel versus better ballistics if you shoot long range

There are no bad choice. It just depends on what you want it for

If you wanted a gun you were going to shoot at a feeder at 150 and wanted to pass it to your son in 20 years... I think 308 it is the winner

If you wanted a gun you were going to shoot at a feeder at 150 and wanted to go find some longer ranges to shoot... I think creedmoor wins

Look I am not saying they were not the wrong bullets. I am saying I have guided guys that are professional shooters; that have shot animals and have had problems with 6.5 bullets. I personally think they were using their target rounds. Angles are hard in a hunting situations because the shoulder itself has 10+ different angles in its geometry. That is one of the reason as a semi guide; that I like the 308. I will have 308 hunting bullets in my kit. I can look at a 308 and tell the guys hey "lets try these hunting bullets". I do not carry although I should 6.5. The 6.5 is really the first crossover round that is becoming popular enough to see. I carry 308 and 223 because those are the most common rounds I see. You would be surprised how many people come to hunt with FMJs or Target rounds.

Yes, I've shot both hogs and deer with a 6.5 variant. Very large boar with a 260 Rem at 300 yards. Hornady A-Max is labeled as a target bullet, but also does a fine job on animals. It did on that one particular boar. Several other hogs killed with a 6.5 Creedmoor both with Hornady A-Maxes and Berger VLD Hunting bullets. All died very quickly. Whitetail does in vitals and brain stem using the same bullets, no problems what-so-ever.

Simple ballistic explanation pertaining to BC: BC is the ability to maintain velocity. So the higher BC retains more velocity down range than a bullet of equal weight but with a lower BC. The faster the bullet is still moving down range, the more energy it delivers, and the less it drifts in the wind. If I were to throw a bullet, by hand at an animal it won't hurt the animal, but if I fire it from a rifle, the animal dies. That's the extreme end of the spectrum, but it illustrates how velocity and BC work in concert.

However I'm not bashing a .308 They are very capable to farther than most people are comfortable hunting. I have one in service again (shooting a decent BC bullet) and it too has done a great job on hogs and coyotes. But it's hard for me to accept bad press on a 6.5 cartridge, they do work well, and have been for many decades, back to the 6.5 X 55, taking very large animals.

My suspicion with your experience of unsuccessful kills with 6.5 mm were the fault of the shooter, not the bullet. And PD Snipers does not automatically mean they are expert riflemen, I've shot with many.

FMJs are not something I'd take to hunt anything but hogs, so yes a good bullet does matter.

But if a guy hands me some ammo to try, I'm going to look at him with a funny look. Every one of my rifles have a hand load tuned to that particular rifle. Therefore they can zero on a dime at 100 yards. Every PD sniper I've shot with ran Federal Gold Metal Match in their service rifle. And the lion's share are shooting a .308 loaded with 168 gr. Sierra Match Kings. Capable bullet, but the jury is still out as to weather its good for whitetail in the vitals. There are plenty of reports of no expansion, as well as explosion on impact. I have no judgement to those that prefer to use them if they have worked for that person, every time.

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Because it has NOTHING to do with the BC of the bullet! It was either a poor angle, a poorly placed shot, or possibly a target bullet not meant for shooting meat.

Listen carefully Nate: High BC doesn't mean TARGET. There are numerous high BC bullets out there that are not target bullets!

Jeesh. I give up. [/quote]

So, I called one of my LEO guys that had failure with the 6.5 and he told me that the bullet was a Target Hybrid Bullet that had a BC of .604 and was 140 grains. I ask him to find the pictures of the Nilgai he had failure on. The first shot was on the point of the shoulder. The bullet was recovered in the hide under the brisket. The bullet did not travel into the vitals. It traveled down and around the shoulder and by the base of the ribs. His second shot was at the base of the neck between the shoulder blades as the bull ran away, that shot resulted in DRT. The second bullet was not recovered. If I get the pictures I will post. This bullet is high BC and had the bent failure.

But it was a target bullet not a hunting bullet


A 6.5 hunting bullet should yield different results

Never has a LEO with a 308 brought target ammo but, some Military guys have. Also, note that zero was confirmed before hunting.

I agree...

BC is never the problem.

Case in point is what is loaded in my 7 Rem Mag, a 180 gr. VLD hunting. It has a G1 BC of .673, and is making 3030 fps MV. It hits so hard, and destroys so much that I don't even take it whitetail hunting, I don't want to ruin that much meat.

Also, because I am responsible for paying for the Animal to be hunted, I normally check the ammo and will not allow Target or FMJ. So if they do not want to use my ammo, I have taken guys to the store to buy something they prefer. Either way Zero is always checked. Does not matter who it is. I made a General change his ammo and he was not happy about it.

That doesn't surprise me but Nilgai is not whitetail or hogs. There is no tougher animal in Texas. I would expect a 6.5 Berger to fail on a Nilgai shoulder. If Nilgai are on the menu, I'd want more than a Creedmoor or a 308 and I would want premium bullets.