It sure is Bobo. I used my new Garmin twice, then I couldn't get my Magnetospeed sold fast enough. The Garmin is superb, easy, accurate, so easy a caveman can do it.

Couldn't agree more with this short and very accurate summary. Well said.

Yes they are doing a good job.

But, as most know with mass production ammo and rifles, there are larger tolerances.

In September a THF member was out for a shooting day. An Alamo Precison rifle and Hornady Precison Hunter 143 gr ELD-X. He had 5 boxes. We got zeroed and ran out to 800 yard, with no issue. I asked if the ammo was all the same lot number. Turns out, he bought two boxes one day, and 3 more boxes a couple of weeks later. So two lot numbers. He asked "what do we do?" I said let's check zero on the second lot number then run it down range. 100 yard zero needed to only shift .1 Mil right.

We went straight to 500 yards from there. The DOPE on the previous lot number was 3.0 Mil. Dialed that in, and his bullet sailed right over the target. Come down to 2.6 Mil and hit center. Working off DOPE from 500 to 800 yards, in a Kestrel ballistic calculator, the second lot number was 100 fps faster at the muzzle.

He left the rifle with me. The hand loads I came up with were safely running 2780 fps, ES of 9. It's rare for me to see Hornady's ammo running more than 2700 fps. But for most people it doest matter very much.

As far as effectively putting animals down. As has been said, it's the Indian more than the arrow. There's thousands of cartridges that will do it, and many use a 6.5mm bullet. 6.5X55 being an old hand, and .260 Remington that could have been what the 6.5 Creedmoor has become. But Remington screwed the pooch, as usual.

Now we’re talking!!!!!!

5 pages of this. What a waste of internet.

Welp deer season is over, fish ain’t biting yet, here we are

Not a waste - shows you lots.

Fish are always biting homie.

A lot about people but not much about a cartridge.

I fish from the bank. I did catch my biggest blue from the bank in freezing conditions, at night. But my up all night in freezing weather for catfish days ended when i quit drinking!

Figured that’s what he meant

I definitely learned a few things, not just about people. And even if I was getting drunk while trying to catch catfish, or fishing for catfish while trying to get drunk, I’d still check in. Just telling the truth!

I’ve seen the creedmoor work just fine, and also had to track 400 yards for a clients deer.
With only guiding experience, I believe it’s the same as a .223 or .243, all depends on the gun and the shooter. The round is plenty capable for Texas WT deer.

Another thing, you can load 6.5 creedmoor with a small rifle primer. That is a huge advantage these days.

Or I can buy some white box match and kill everything I shoot with ease

Dang, this started off as a simple question. Man did I open a can. Lol. The one thing I will say is that everything I have shot with my 6.5 Creedmoore has dropped in its tracks. The only reason I asked the original question is: I have noticed that on a couple of animals the bullet did not pass though at 100 yrds.

I was told a story by a client an hour ago.

300 Remington Ultra Mag
165 gr Nosler solid base
260 yards on a Nilgai

Good shot placement and the animal went 80 yards then piled up. No exit wound. Bullet found on the offside hide.

No exit wound, but did the bullet work? Him telling me the lungs were destroyed says to me the bullet and shot placement worked.

There is only one way to make them dead before they hit the ground. Sever the brain stem. If you're shooting heart/lungs, they may run off a bit. I've seen a ton of animals hit by a good bullet, shot by a skilled hunter, and we still had to blood trail. It's just the way it is.

I think the original post was about killing bucks with a 6.5 Creedmore. It’s plenty of gun. Whitetail aren’t that hard to kill. Both of my sons took their first 5 deer each with an old Sako 22 Hornet. All but one dropped in their tracks because they had a rest on the blind window and hit them in the neck at 125 yards or less. The only one that ran off was 150 and shot behind the shoulder. That one ran about 100 yards. Years later they now shoot a 7-08 and still haven’t lost a deer.There is no reason to need anything bigger than the Creedmore or 243 unless you are shooting running game where you don’t have time to take a rest and make a controlled shot. Learn how to shoot, where to shoot, and keep it under 300 yards and you can kill animals with anything you have.

Yes, and use good bullets. Which brings to mind another huge 6.5CM attribute.......at velocities generated by this cartridge, it's really hard to pic a bad bullet that won't kill deer sized game. We all have our biases, but a whole slew of 6.5 bullets are efficient killers.

I can assure you that shot placement is not and never has been an issue. The reason for the trophy buck being included is that one would not do a head shot on a animal he intended on shoulder mounting. I for one as most ethical hunters want an animal to die as soon as possible and not suffer unnecessary. So far every animal I have shot with my 6.5 Creedmoore has dropped where it was. That being said, I too have seen deer shot through the hart run a 100yrds before dieing. I also know that if the bullet passes though the animal it will leave a better blood trail than a single hole. That is why the grain of the bullet was asked in the question.

high shoulder(mid shoulder in reality) and qtr’ing to neck/shoulder crease are definitive nerve system termination. Why I said in first post doesnt matter on the bullet. Id stay away from monolithic in 6.5 CM, as I feel the velocity is marginal for a good wound channel with them in a 6.5 CM but all the Cup and Core bullets work well. With that said monolthics still work just C &C tend to work better

I have used 120-143grs in a-tips, Bergers, AB, ABLR, SST, ELDX, Interbound, Bondstrike and lupa Screnar’s, And Im sure missed a few

my two favorite are ABLR and Scenar’s, but none of any of the bullets I have failed to deliver.

Dallas Reloads, Cooper Creek Ammo and Unknown munitions offer a large array of different premium bullets and fine tuned consistent ammo. . They also offer load work up packs if you really want to dial it in.

IMO, Bobo is right on the money here. If you shoot a deer through the heart and it runs 100 yards, it is not going to matter whether it was a 120gr at 3000fps, a 143 gr at 2800fps, or a super whiz bang 30 caliber magnum 180 gr zipping at 3100fps. The deer ran on that shot because she had full O2 in her blood and the CNS was not affected. So she or he is going to run until the O2 has been used up.

If you shoot a whitetail through the heart with a 200 grain or heavier bullet, with enough power to initiate what many would call “bullet failure”, then what happens? Or let’s say 180 grains?

I bet it doesn’t run very far.

I am not trying to take away from the 6.5 Swedemoor but I just wanted to point out, the CNS/brain stem shot isn’t necessarily the only way to DRT a deer.

I killed my first buck DRT with a .243 through the shoulder/spine. Nowhere near to the brain stem and yet it did not touch the heart or lungs. But it is a sample of one deer, i have only ever killed two. Second was with a bow and she went ten yards tops, and was on high alert when i shot her. Only bone it hit was ribs/scap. Liver, lung, diaphragm, stomach.

But I have killed a whole lot of squirrels and everything zips through. The more rapid and explosive your expansion and fragmentation is the better. The more trauma the better.

Within your acceptable limits of damaged meat, of course.

Heart shots are typically one of the longest recovery from both bullets and arrows, second being argumentivily high lung. biggest difference is speed of blood trail

Caliber size means very little in this case. The brain is telling muscle areas to fire and they are using the oxygen and adrenaline thats already present.

only one way to be DRT, sever the Central nervous system so the muscles have no directive. The pressure from the bullet wound cavity can also sever the nervous system connection. any shoulder hit you are very close to the spine. Why people like cup and core for lower velocities impacts

Sometimes you get lucky too, or just have bad luck. I have dropped squirrels on the spot with only 2 or 3 hits from a shotgun, that didn’t seem to hit anything major. And have lost some i though i hit good, nearly lost some i hit through both lungs.

One time i shot one through the liver and lungs with a .22 pellet gun that dropped on the spot but came “back to life” in my bag!

Not big game but i think its relevant, for argument’s sake.

I like this thread 😃

Edit- posted before BOBO’s explanation. I have no doubt that .243 completely rocked that buck’s CNS. If a .243 can do it then the Swedemoor is more and better