[Kody24]

Hey guys. I'm getting ready to work up some hunting loads. I'm heading to Alaska next year for moose and brown bear. The guide says that they are often spotted up to 2500 yards away. Which bullet/powder combination would be best for shots at that range in my 6.5 creedmoore?

Now that were all laughing, I should say hi to everyone since I haven't been on in quite a while. Then on to my real purpose.
I got my boy a 243 to start hunting with. I've been liking barnes bullets in the bigger rifles and figured I'd try them out in this gun as well. If they can be found. I've loaded a grand total of 20 rounds in this cartridge with some 100 grain Sierra's that came with a lot of gear I bought last summer. So I'm clueless about what this cartridge likes and doesn't like.

 

[sharps4590]

The cartridge is amenable by nature, it's the rifle that will be doing the talking to you. My wife has been using a 243 for almost 40 years and I load hers with 100 gr. Sierra Game Kings and IMR-4350 or IMR-4831 to 2700-2800 fps. Keeps recoil down a little because of her brain tumor 5 years ago. Hers is a Savage 110 and shoots both loads sub MOA at 100 yds. She's never had to shoot a deer twice.

 

[Kody24]

That's good to hear. Sounds like i'm on the right track. My starting load is federal brass with 39 grains of IMR 4831 and the same 100 grain sierra game king. The gun is a Ruger American youth model. We haven't shot it much yet, just enough to get the scope zeroed and get my son used to the gun. I'm really not impressed with it's accuracy with the federal factory loads, just with casual shooting, so hopefully with some hard work and tuning a load to it We can get him accurate enough to be comfortable on game.

 

[sharps4590]

I thought those rifles had a good reputation for accuracy. 'Course, handloads can make a world of difference. You'll get it and, it shouldn't take much.

 

[Kody24]

They do. That's why I picked that one. I haven't sat down and grouped it yet, just got it zeroed at 100 off of a lead sled style rest. It was grouping around 1.5 inches with that setup. Then I let the boy shoot it since that's what we were there for. I haven't set it on bags and gotten serious with it yet. I hate that rest, but it works well for locking a gun level while bore sighting it, and I just left it in the rest to zero the gun. Hopefully with a solid rest on bags it will settle down to 1 moa or better and I can shrink that with reloads. My boy did print a 1" group with the gun with coaching and a lot of praise afterwards using some rolled up coats, which if it isn't a fluke from a green shooter would indicate that the gun is capable of being very accurate.

 

[howlnmad]

Out to 2500 yards?

 

[ms6852]

Out to 2500 yards?

I’m thinking a .50 cal or Cheytac. Wouldn’t feel comfortable huntin brown bear or grizzly with a 6mm round.

 

[Kody24]

Out to 2500 yards?

Totally within the capabilities of the creedmoore, just ask the internet, they'll tell you. It probably leaves one heck of a bruise at that range.

 

[howlnmad]

Totally within the capabilities of the creedmoore, just ask the internet, they'll tell you. It probably leaves one heck of a bruise at that range.

I was just doing a little research and with a 142 grn bullet from a 24" barrel at 1,000 yards, energy is below 500 ft pds and the drop was around 300".

 

[sharps4590]

I was just doing a little research and with a 142 grn bullet from a 24" barrel at 1,000 yards, energy is below 500 ft pds and the drop was around 300".

Yes but, it's the 6.5 Creedmoor. It supersedes all ballistic, gravity and mathematical laws. The numbers they publish are meaningless......It could hit a T-Rex in the foot at that meager distance and kill it.... 🤗

 

[accident]

Out to 2500 yards?

Yea, I wondered that too. Got to be a misprint.

 

[tango1niner]

Misprint? I'm sure not. Tongue in cheek humor is how I read that you silly boys...

 

[Aspeck]

Kody, you should easily be able to take one of those animals up to 3560 yards blindfolded. I doubt you even need any bullets ... you can save yourself some money that way ... just say "6.5 Creedmore" and the animal will fall down, dead, on the spot.

 

[joe45c]

kody, look around for a better guide. One that can sneak you a little closer maybe to 2400 yds.

 

[gdmoody]

kody, look around for a better guide. One that can sneak you a little closer maybe to 2400 yds.

That is my thought also, if a guide can't get you any closer than that, he needs to turn in his guide license!!

 

[polishshooter]

Funny, but my last year in South Dakota, my two buddies had two identical Savage Long Range Precision rifles both with identical Nightforce 8x32 scopes, the same one Chris Kyle used in Iraq. One was in 6.5 Creedmore, the other in .243 that guy had reamed out to AI. (Yes both of them have more money than I do😉)

We spent a lot of time trying 500yd+ shots, since they owned the rifles I did a lot of spotting for them but I got to shoot them both. They were prone all the time but since I was the old guy and owned the RCBS 360 shooting bench all my shooting was from it.

I actually liked the .243 AI better than the Creedmore, my longest kill with it was 575, the owner of it got one just under 600, like 595+. The longest confirmed Creedmore kill was 560. (We had to confirm the kill, left one guy usually me😎with the spotting scope radio to direct them to it and rangefinder to shoot them when they found the “evidence, so no “guessing.”) Many ones we all saw blow up in the scopes or binocs we never found so didn’t count them as “confirmed,” like many guys do...

I’m not sure the .243 Ackley Improved is not as good as either the 6 or 6.5 Creedmore...😉.

And while 5-600 yd kills don’t sound impressive especially against 2500 yd Moose😉 unless you’ve tried dogging you don’t realize you are shooting at a squirrel size target, usually with less than half of that exposed😉. So you are talking basically a 2”x2” target, while calling the wind. There’s ALWAYS wind😉

 

[howlnmad]

Yea, I wondered that too. Got to be a misprint.

2,500 yards isn't impossible, but if using those 2 calibers for taking down an elk at that range, you'll just make the elk shiver.

 

[Kody24]

Misprint? I'm sure not. Tongue in cheek humor is how I read that you silly boys...

Humor for sure. It just blows me away what people think is ethical and appropriate to do with that tiny cartridge. For a few years now every fall there's guys on Facebook hunting groups who can't figure out how they lost their elk after shooting it at 6 or 7 or 800 yards with a creedmoore. Getting mad about it only goes so far so I take every opportunity to poke fun at them.

 

[sharps4590]

To quote Robert Ruark, who killed more game than most of us are likely to even hunt, let alone take, "Use Enough Gun."

 

[PRR1957]

The OP was clearly joking about 2500 yard shots on moose and brown bear with a 6.5 CM wonder cartridge. He was looking for bullet suggestions regarding his son’s 243 Winchester cartridge.