Every now and then a new cartridge comes along that turns my head and gets me itching to shoot it. There is no secret, I’ve never been a .243 Winchester fan, always preferring the much hotter 6mm Remington. However, with the virtual obsolescence of the 6mm Remmington in both firearms and factory ammo I was stoked to try the new 6mm Creedmoor with its Hornady Precision Hunter loads. Falling neatly between the above mentioned rounds in performance and ballistics put this new chambering on deck for both my Wyoming pronghorn and whitetail hunts.
But first, a bit of range time… I was not disappointed and found the 6 Creed to be equally effective at both short and long distances. In fact, fun is the exact word that comes to mind and I burned up the better part of a case of Hornady Precision Hunter just smacking steel with it. Extremely mild mannered yet carrying enough oomph out to around 500 yards to get the job done on medium game such as pronghorns. I was growing very impatient waiting for my chance to litmus test this new cartridge in the field.
Long story short, the 6mm Creedmoor and I were able to collect two wonderful animals; my best pronghorn to date and a great 5×5 whitetail. Coupled with the 103 grain ELD-X in Hornady’s Precision Hunter the middle six emphatically let the air out of both animals. Because of the light recoil of the round I was able to watch both bullet impacts through the scope and can say that each displayed the impressive energy transfer I expected.
The pronghorn was hit slightly quartering away at a hair over 200 yards and the bullet entered mid-chest angling into the muscles forward of the off shoulder where it came to rest having imparted all of its 1651 ft. lbs of KE into the buck. He snow plowed forward on his nose for about twenty yards and toppled over, stone dead.
My Wyoming whitetail was equally impressive. A broadside shot at a shade under 400 yards with a 15 mph crosswind was no match for the 6 Creed. Instead of taking the time to dial the turret I simply held on the buck’s spine, (remember all those practice rounds?) as I had the turret dialed to 300, used the first windage hash on my reticle, steadied my breathing, squeezed and sent that slippery little pill dowrange where it hit home, still cranking along at roughly 2400 feet per second. The buck lurched forward, smacking into the tree in front of him, bounced off and tumbled down the steep slope below him for about thirty yards. The 6mm ELD-X bullet left an incredible exit without damaging much meat and the blood trail was clearly visible, through binos, from 400 yards away in the snow.
I can honestly say that the day I have to give her back there will be a void in my safe that’s more than just an empty space where the 6mm Creedmoor used to live. In fact, I aim to purchase another rifle in this chambering and I am looking forward to the day when my daughters grow large enough to learn how to use it. Give the 6mm Creedmoor a very hard look if you are in the marker for a varmint/medium game rifle, you will not be disappointed.
3 comments
I’ve had poor luck with mine using the same ammo. I messed one up real bad shooting free handed it ran probably 50 yds on a qtr away heart through guts shot exit was quite nasty for such a small bullet. I’ve shot at two from my climber at 35-40 yds felt like both were great shots, so checked on the range . First deer likely missed was hitting three inches high at 50 yds . Took it down to .6 high at 50 and shot three touching holes . At around .6- .7 “ high . Had another opportunity at a nanny approximately same range from the same stand , felt like a great shot. Found no blood or fur and looked in sweeping circles out to about 300 yds with no sign of impact. Back to the range , perfect results right where I put it before .6 high @ 50 yds . Ps .6 is approximate to a 200 yd zero according to hornady ballistics . So, I’m not sure if the round is so fast at 30 40 yards that the bullet didn’t have time to transfer much energy or I jut flat missed due to the steep angle. Will say though that I was quite impressed with it on the one I did hit it’s a mean little missile. I won’t have a chance at anything over 250 until I do some plot reorganizing next year but I will definitely learn this gun and keep it around . It is fun to shoot . Oh, my gun is a ruger American predator and optics is a Nikon 3 9 40 prostaff . I wonder if I’m shooting over them because the vertical mil dots are set for so far out even then though the first one I think is 200 and should be 0 so I should have a little up and down wiggle room . I enjoyed your story and I think I saw your YouTube of the whitetail buck and the pronghorn as well . .
Alex,
Sorry to hear about your mixed results with the 6 Creed and thanks for your kind words. If I had to guess I’d say that you’re shooting right over those critters. Sight that Ruger so its dead on at 200, 1.5″ high at 100 should be darn close and shoot for what you want to hit at all your ranges. Unless your stands are hundreds of feet in the air the angle shouldn’t matter. It sounds to me like you’re overthinking it bud. Sighted +1.5″ at 100 will keep you minute of deer or antelope out to 300 with no issues as the drop at 300 is only 6″ so hold upper third on the chest and send it, simple. At closer ranges just hold where you want to hit and make sure you squeeze cleanly. Good Luck in 2019 and let us know how you do.
I shot 4 antelope with it last year. They all dropped right where they were hit.. all were 100 out to 370 yard’s.. all critters had some nasty blood shot.. all passed through except one that took a frontal at 100 yard’s.. i really like the rifle and the caliber! And was impressed with the 103 grn eldx’s