Accurate 6.5 Creedmoor Factory Target Ammo?

[Swifty Morgan]

I'm full of questions today. I'm spending my life savings getting geared up to shoot 6.5 Creedmoor at long distances.

The current topic: ammo. I would like to get some decent match-grade factory ammo for a Ruger RPR, but it doesn't have to be something made by NASA and priced accordingly. I just want nice sub-MOA ammo.

I see that Hornady 120-grain Match ammo is not too expensive. Is this a good choice for getting started? I would like something that can hit a steel silhouette at 1000 yards from a decent rifle.

 

[troy fairweather]

Don't know until you try it in the gun, there all different. Should see about learning to reload.

 

[LoonWulf]

Ive had very good to spectacular results with all the factory ammo ive shot from my 6.5s.

The federal blue box and hornady whitetail shot well from my new 6.5 saturday. Before that the Hornady Black shot very well in my previous 6.5s.

 

[jmr40]

The 120 gr bullets won't get you to 1000, you need to be looking at the 139-147 gr loads. I don't know how well this will do at 1000 yards, it doesn't have the greatest BC's, but for the money it is pretty darn accurate. I've tried a couple of boxes at 100-200 yards and it was pretty accurate. My nieces husband does not handload and he bought several hundred rounds he likes it so well. I watched him shoot a 4" group at 600 with this. I can get it locally for a slightly better price and this is the least expensive stuff I've tried that is accurate in my rifle.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1020605499?pid=865833

The Hornady Match ammo is reasonably priced for what it is. Much better BC's for longer ranges.


https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1016934715?pid=644515
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018230658?pid=700107

But like LoonWulf said, Everything I've fired in my Ruger Predator has been exceptionally accurate. Both factory and handloads.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Thanks for the help. It looks like Hornady Match will get me started, and I can save the brass in case I decide to get 6.5mm dies.

This caliber is very strange. I've noticed that people are shooting sub-MOA with total bargain-basement ammunition at 100 yards.

 

[LoonWulf]

Thanks for the help. It looks like Hornady Match will get me started, and I can save the brass in case I decide to get 6.5mm dies.

This caliber is very strange. I've noticed that people are shooting sub-MOA with total bargain-basement ammunition at 100 yards.

Im of the opinion that the bar was set unusually high for the 6.5 Creedmoor right from the get go. Unlike most factory cartridges before it, the CM was marketed as an over the counter, factory, match option.

 

[Varminterror]

The 120 gr bullets won't get you to 1000

Patently false.

 

[marksman13]

Patently false.

Won’t get you to 1000 as well as some of the other options available for the 6.5 CM is probably the better way to word that.

 

[Howland937]

Mine is just a cheap Savage Axis that Walmart had clearanced out for like $195. It doesn't care for the Cor-Lokt 140 grain but shot respectably with the Hornady 143gr Precision Hunter.

 

[Varminterror]

Won’t get you to 1000 as well as some of the other options available for the 6.5 CM is probably the better way to word that.

But that wasn’t what was said.

I’ll also point out, the 120grn Hornady load has roughly the same ballistic coefficient and HIGHER velocity than the Federal Gold Medal Match loads for 308win which are often touted as “tough to beat” by many old-worlders. The 120grn Hornady load, or handloads using that bullet, have as good or better ballistics than many, many cartridges which have been proven successful at finding targets at 1,000yrds. Certainly better than the 150grn 30-06 loads I was recommended over 20yrs ago the first time I was exploring long range shooting - but I still managed to find the target more often than not.

“Not the best, but better than most,” might be a fair statement, but it certainly wasn’t what was said.

 

[marksman13]

But that wasn’t what was said.

I’ll also point out, the 120grn Hornady load has roughly the same ballistic coefficient and HIGHER velocity than the Federal Gold Medal Match loads for 308win which are often touted as “tough to beat” by many old-worlders. The 120grn Hornady load, or handloads using that bullet, have as good or better ballistics than many, many cartridges which have been proven successful at finding targets at 1,000yrds. Certainly better than the 150grn 30-06 loads I was recommended over 20yrs ago the first time I was exploring long range shooting - but I still managed to find the target more often than not.

“Not the best, but better than most,” might be a fair statement, but it certainly wasn’t what was said.

I’m not arguing with you. Bottom line is that yes, the 120s will get out to 1000 yards, but no, they are not the best choice for that particular job.

 

[C-grunt]

I've shot Hornady 140 and 147 ELD-M out to a mile. Very accurate but from my experience had a higher than wantex variation in muzzle velocity which creates challenges out past about 900 yards.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

The farthest I can hope to shoot near here is 900 yards, so I can't put that to the test right away.

 

[C-grunt]

The farthest I can hope to shoot near here is 900 yards, so I can't put that to the test right away.

Even at 900 (and closer really) you'll notice the vertical stringing. But past 900 is when i started seeing misses because of the vertical stringing. My club has a steel target just under 1400 yards and the variation was bigger than the target. I could literally hold center target and have one round fall short and the next go over the target.

 

[mondocomputerman]

The first time I shot my TC Compass I got dime sized groups with Hornady Eld-x 143 grain. I had a Vortex 4-16 scope. The 140 grain Eld have a better bc so should do a little better at long range. I just wanted the option for hunting.

 

[C-grunt]

The first time I shot my TC Compass I got dime sized groups with Hornady Eld-x 143 grain. I had a Vortex 4-16 scope. The 140 grain Eld have a better bc so should do a little better at long range. I just wanted the option for hunting.

I got a couple friends that shoof PRS competition with the 143 ELD-X. It's a pretty decent target bullet. I Akzo know some people that have had good success hunting elk with that bullet.

 

[mshootnit]

I dont know how good this stuff is but I am intrigued by it:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1021675891?pid=418794

 

[Swifty Morgan]

There are videos about shooting that Sellier & Bellot ammo on Youtube. Guy hitting 6" gongs over and over from 656 yards.

 

[FL-NC]

You MAY not have to spend a bundle on "match grade" ammunition. I have a stock Ruger American Predator (a $400 rifle) with a Vortex 4-12 on it. I shoot sub MOA groups through it (did it again last week, in fact through a friend's magneto looking for MV's and SD's) using Federal 140 grain nontypical white tail This is a soft point round designed for hunting. I buy it for about $17 a box at Academy sports. I'm not aware of any other factory 6.5 CM round that is this cheap. It performs on paper suspiciously like a "match" round, and showed amazing terminal performance on the last deer I killed last season. It may be worth your time and $ to gamble less than $20 on a box and see what happens. The only other thing I have fired through it was a Remington core-lock. It was in the neighborhood of 1 MOA. It was priced at wal mart the same as the Federal round, but I don't see a point in trying anything else at this point, at least not for my purposes.

 

[C-grunt]

You MAY not have to spend a bundle on "match grade" ammunition. I have a stock Ruger American Predator (a $400 rifle) with a Vortex 4-12 on it. I shoot sub MOA groups through it (did it again last week, in fact through a friend's magneto looking for MV's and SD's) using Federal 140 grain nontypical white tail This is a soft point round designed for hunting. I buy it for about $17 a box at Academy sports. I'm not aware of any other factory 6.5 CM round that is this cheap. It performs on paper suspiciously like a "match" round, and showed amazing terminal performance on the last deer I killed last season. It may be worth your time and $ to gamble less than $20 on a box and see what happens. The only other thing I have fired through it was a Remington core-lock. It was in the neighborhood of 1 MOA. It was priced at wal mart the same as the Federal round, but I don't see a point in trying anything else at this point, at least not for my purposes.

Look for the S&B 140 FMJ. It's cheaper and while Ive not shot it for groups, I have taken it to 1200 on IPSC steel with my AI, a Colt 901, and a Bergara.

 

[Nuclear]

I've had good experiences with Hornady Match in 140 & 147 grain, Norma Match in 130 grain, but the Hornady Full Boar 120 grain I shot had a much wider dispersion than anything else from my Browning X-bolt. There are so many variables that you just have to start testing ammo until you find the best for your rifle. It may be "match" ammo, or it may be something relatively inexpensive.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I already have S&B on the way. It looks like a real bargain.

 

[bfoosh006]

https://www.laxammo.com/hornady-6-5-creedmoor-140-gr-bthp-200-round-cans-81586-detail

Considerably better BC bullet than the S&B.

The S&B is plenty accurate... but I don't know if it is "good" enough to learn with at 500yds.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

One of the amazing things about the S&B is the price, which is much lower than the Hornady you linked to.

S&B gave one shooter consistent sub-MOA shooting from 656 yards, so unless it's much worse from my gun, it pretty much has to be very good for practice. I'm planning to shoot fairly large targets, at least at first. If this ammo will hit a small gong, it will be perfect for me.

Do you trust Hornady's published BC?