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6.5's Finally Legal for PA Elk!!!

14K views 100 replies 25 participants last post by  Steeltrap 
#1 ·
Hopefully!!! My 6.5 Swede may finally have a future for a crack at a PA Elk ...if ever drawn!! I have voiced my support to the PGC so many times & appears finally appears they agree!!!!!!!

6.5 MM CREEDMOOR COULD BECOME LEGAL ROUND FOR ELK

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave preliminary approval to a measure that would permit the state’s elk hunters to use the 6.5 mm Creedmoor round and related .26 caliber firearms.

Existing regulations require elk hunters to use firearms that are .27 caliber or more, with bullets of at least 130 grains. But after a review, the Game Commission has determined that increasingly popular firearms in the .26 caliber range provide adequate and commonly accepted kinetic energies to efficiently and ethically harvest elk.

The change would allow use of .26 caliber firearms with bullets of 120 grains or more for elk hunting.

The measure will be brought back to the July meeting for a final vote.
 
#9 ·
So it was no issue that the 264wm couldn’t be used for elk, but along comes the Creedmoor and we gotta allow it?

Lol

I’m good with the change but the Creedmoor being the catalyst is lame.

And I’ve hit 2900 for a 140 in a swede with RL26 and no pressure symptoms.

That is safe ONLY in modern bolt rifles and NOT in any military 6.5x55 of any kind.

That rifle was a Win Model 70 fwt with a 22” barrel. I got to 2910 before hitting the upper limit.

That rifle settled in best at about 2830 and that’s where I wound up with the finished load.
 
#10 ·
So it was no issue that the 264wm couldn’t be used for elk, but along comes the Creedmoor and we gotta allow it?

Lol

I’m good with the change but the Creedmoor being the catalyst is lame.

And I’ve hit 2900 for a 140 in a swede with RL26 and no pressure symptoms.

That is safe ONLY in modern bolt rifles and NOT in any military 6.5x55 of any kind.

That rifle was a Win Model 70 fwt with a 22” barrel. I got to 2910 before hitting the upper limit.

That rifle settled in best at about 2830 and that’s where I wound up with the finished load.

Someone with a little influence bought one.
 
#12 ·
Eh....

Anyone serious about anything in the 264 bores already knew/knows how to shop intelligently for components and have a good supply on hand. If anything, the Creedmoor made bullets a bit shorter in supply because of increased demand.

I have a Swede and a 264WM and there’s been good hunting bullets (since that’s the context here, hunting) available for years in that bore. And available.

The guys who want to buy a box of 50 the day they need them probably got frustrated, but they weren’t suited to own a less common bore diameter anyway.

When I buy bullets of any kind, I buy several hundred.

Primers... several thousand.

Powder, multi-pound containers so you can actually use the same lot of powder for a time.

The Creedmoor coming on the scene hasn’t changed the landscape much for me from that perspective.

But I guess if that’s what it took to get 264’s legal for elk, ok. I won’t argue that.

Just shows a lack of understanding of cartridges and exterior ballistics if it truly was the creedmoor that was the impetus for the change in PA elk. But a win is a win I guess....
 
#13 ·
I have a 6,5X55 CZ 550FS and shoot Norma USA American PH Ammunition 156 Grain Oryx ammo. Norma loads their PH ammo line hotter than any American manufacturer to 2559 fps for this 156 grain bonded bullet w/gilding metal jacket & lead core. I'm confident this round is capable of taking a PA Elk with no problem. In Scandinavian countries it's a common 6.5 round for moose.
 
#18 ·
you're gonna make your trigger finger weary with all your pot stirring... lol

I have a 264WM that I love to death. It's just a cool round, even though from a truly functional standpoint, there's not a whole lot it does that a well-crafted 270 Winchester load can't.

As for the Creedmoor, a buddy of mine is a retired Marine Raider/MARSOC guy. He's all in on the Creedmoor, and he's one of the most talented reloaders I know in addition to his ninja experiences. And he's been to the middle east more times than I'm sure I'm aware, and he's pulled a lot of triggers in situations most of us can't even imagine. So if he says the Creedmoor has some merit, I'll buy it.

BUT....

The Creedmoor's "liability" if you want to call it that is the rabid fanboy presence on the 'net that is comprised of guys who do the round no favors. A buddy of mine in a facebook reloading group tagged me in a conversation where a 6.5CM fan was trying to explain how the BC "Creedmoor bullets" was superior to the bullets used in the 260 Remington.

Um.....say what?

I think the round suffers from its fan base, not from its relative merits.

And I still think it's laughable that no one thought any other 264-bore worthy of elk until the CM and it's lower case capacity came along...lol. But, I'll take the change, whatever the impetus for it. I question the 120gr threshold for the bullets....if that's ok, then 257's are too. But...whatever. I get it. A line has to be drawn and it has to be somewhere.
 
#21 ·
When 6.5 guys choose to denigrate the Creedmoor they forget that it is a fact the vast majority of shooters are not reloaders. The 6.5 Creedmoor gives the factory ammo purchaser outstanding options at reasonable prices.
None of the other 6.5's do that. Of course the Creedmoor is the success.
 
#29 ·
That's why I advised my buddy not to get one. He doesn't reload and says "The Creedmore is all over. Can get a box wherever I go." Yep, for now. Not saying it's going away or anything like that, but who knows in 10 years? There were a lot of WSM, WSSM, RUM etc available at Walmart before too. He's a guy that buys a box when he needs it.
 
#30 ·
Yep. I have a slew of chamberings, including two WSM’s, that are not super easy to buy on a whim.

But I also have a press and a good stock of components for everything I use.

I just got my daughter a rifle and I got her a 308.

When her old man isn’t running a press for her anymore, she will have a pile of factory options at her disposal.
 
#31 ·
Trigger Creep, my Dad's cousin used a .22-250 for years and I saw what happens when you have a less than perfect hit! Friend of my Dad's used a .222 but only took neck shots on standing deer. Didn't say they won't ever kill a deer just they are not the best suited.
 
#34 ·
Double lung a deer with a 6.5x55 Swede or a 6.5 CM with a 120 gr. Sierra Pro Hunter bullet and see what happens. First time I shot a big doe with my 6.5 CM it went down so fast I thought I missed and the deer ran off with the other deer that were standing around there.
 
#35 ·
The above buck was a large deer(for PA) and shot through both lungs with a Norma 156 Grain Oryx. It stood motionless for about 5 seconds then legs collapsed. Same here....thought I missed. I have also killed quite a few deer with the Hornady 140 grain Superformance ammo(Interlocks)....same type of results. Since bear runs concurrent with part of deer season...I opted to shoot the Norma 156 grain Oryx ammo. If ever drawn for Elk....it would be my fodder. Lots of reloading possibilities but I don't shoot enuff anymore plus the factory ammo I'm shooting would be difficult to beat. The Creedmoor does offer a better selection of hotter loads vs the Swede but I only need one.:smile2:
 
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