6.5Cm 140 vs 147 bullets?

[MK20]

I have a rifle that I will be reloading for. It is a 24 inch Tikka. The main purpose of the rifle will be hunting or practicing for hunting. I have the opportunity to shoot big animals such as elk and bear.

Which bullet weight would you use? I am going to be sticking to Hornady bullets with this since I can get them at a good price in bulk.

Thanks

 

[Fatherdeath]

Watching the thread I love the 140s out of my 22inch but I always like heavy rounds and need to try some 147s

 

[Kadams1563]

140’s.

The 6.5 creed is a little slow for the 147’s and they seem to have some problems with coming apart according to the internet.

I have a box of them sitting in the bench I never load.

 

[MK20]

thanks for feedback so far.

 

[spife7980]

If hunting is on the menu then why not split the difference with a 143 ELD-X?

 

[MK20]

It is more expensive to practice with.

 

[isofahunter]

I would use neither for bigger animals you mention but it a free country, pick your shot carefully.

 

[MK20]

Thank you. That is not the question here.
Kyle Lamb is dropping them with a 6mm Creed. When you have killed as many things as he has, please come back and give your unsolicited advice.

 

[isofahunter]

Thank you. That is not the question here.
Kyle Lamb is dropping them with a 6mm Creed. When you have killed as many things as he has, please come back and give your unsolicited advice.

Lol my point is based on experience not what Kyle or anyone else has done. You are welcome.

 

[BallisticPrimate]

I get 2650fps out of my Tikka 20' barrel with the 147gr ELDM. Shot a doe in the neck and the bullet did not exit. Shot was at around 70m. They are a fragile projectile but kill well if you avoid bone.

 

[stello1001]

I get 2650fps out of my Tikka 20' barrel with the 147gr ELDM. Shot a doe in the neck and the bullet did not exit. Shot was at around 70m. They are a fragile projectile but kill well if you avoid bone.

Bullet not exiting actually means it delivered all its energy onto the target. Not necessarily a bad thing...

 

[Backcountryguy]

I used the 140 eld-m on a big bodied whitetail buck last year. Dropped him in his tracks at 400 yards with a double lung shot. Bullet exited, didn’t find any trace of it during skinning/butchering. About a 1.5” diameter exit hole.

That said, I don’t know if I’d use it on Elk but that’s just my opinion and I’m not gonna tell you how to hunt or what to use.

 

[10000yards]

Worked a load in my cousins 6 CM with 147's and RL26, Savage 12FV.
Fastest usable node was from 45.4 to 45.9 gr RL26, settled on 45.6 gr at 2670 fps. Lapua brass, CCI 400, 147 ELD M's, seated .020 off, .0025 tension.
This was with virgin brass and while the barrel was still speeding up. He's just about got all 200 fire formed now and the barrel should be settled. I need to rework this and I'm confident it will shoot in a higher node.

 

[Tokay444]

My high node with 147s and RL-16 is 2825 from a 24” barrel.
My low node is 2705.
Both are very accurate.

 

[MtnCreek]

Sons last two deer. Year before last, 140 amax at around 2500 from 20" ctr, double lung, no exist, little blood trail, deer went about 50 yds. Last year, 140 eldm factory unknown velocity, quarting shot, blew up one lung, no exit, little blood trail, deer went a little over 100 Yds. Just more unsolicited info.

This he'll either use 178 amax (works very well on deer) or Speer hotcore in the tika.

 

[isofahunter]

Thank you. That is not the question here.
Kyle Lamb is dropping them with a 6mm Creed. When you have killed as many things as he has, please come back and give your unsolicited advice.

Here is a sample of my experience.

 

[Conaso]

140/147 ELD-M - MATCH
143 ELD-X - eXpanding

Just saying the manufacturer must know something about their product.

 

[beetroot]

I had from a very reliable source that the 140gr ELD Ms do not work as well on game as the 140 Amax did.

Was recommended too me to use the 147 Match due to having a thicker jacket at less explody on impact.

 

[spearknives]

Take all the hype away and don't expect it to drop bull elk DRT at 1000 yards...the 6.5 Creedmoor is a useful and easy-to-work-with cartridge in my experience. I like to stalk, get relatively close, and make a surgical killing shot. The 6.5 CM works great for me in this regard. That being said, it doesn't do a thing that my 6.5x55 doesn't.

 

[Tokay444]

I had from a very reliable source that the 140gr ELD Ms do not work as well on game as the 140 Amax did.

Was recommended too me to use the 147 Match due to having a thicker jacket at less explody on impact.

Lead weighs more than copper. The 147s are heavier because they have more lead in the core, making the jackets thinner.
In fact, 147s have been exploding in air lately, before 200 yards for a lot of shooters using 3 and 4 groove barrels, because the rifling is cutting through the thin jacket. Hornady has acknowledged this and narrowed it down to a specific lot or group of lots starting with 218.
This all of course has nothing to do with how they react on game.

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

Yup. Was just gonna say I have developed my hand loads with RL-26 and Hornady ELD-M 147 gr. bullets and shot a few hundred this Summer so far looking for my best load. Not one has exploded/fragmented and I'm running them pretty hot now.

Maybe Hornady got it under control? Or has this fragmenting bullet thing been with bullets produced recently?

VooDoo

 

[918v]

Lead weighs more than copper. The 147s are heavier because they have more lead in the core, making the jackets thinner.

So the 7 extra grains of lead displace jacket thickness in an otherwise dimensionally identical bullet?

 

[spife7980]

So the 7 extra grains of lead displace jacket thickness in an otherwise dimensionally identical bullet?

That’s the word on the street at least. The 140 and the 147 share the same jacket so the 147 just gets made that smidgen thinner.

Not sure I believe it but it sort of makes sense? At least I can see how that could be the case, telling for sure is a no go without much better info imo.

 

[918v]

I did a search on the internet and learned the 147eld-m is .050” longer than the 140, which explains the extra lead, but puts a hole in the thin jacket theory.

I don’t think jacket thickness has anything to do with it. They are not flying fast enough. It’s prolly defective jacket material, hardness, stress cracks, etc.

 

[Tokay444]

So the 7 extra grains of lead displace jacket thickness in an otherwise dimensionally identical bullet?

Same jacket, stretched longer.
The working theory is that 3 and 4 groove barrls, having wider grooves, and thus wider lands, and that supposedly distorts the jacket more. I have read of one 5R barrel having issues with the 218 lot of projectiles though.

 

[Nimothy]

I run 147 eld m in my 6.5 Alamo Precision rifle. Easiest load developed yet. H4350 2700 FPS sd5 es 11 .040 off the lands (wsm mags with lips tuned and a notched trued remmy action) they had a easy to find node .6gr!!! I didn’t even have to do a depth test it stacked shots on top of each other at 100 and murders a 10” plate at 800. So accurate and consistent it’s almost not fun.

 

[Nimothy]

Also blue collar reloading has 500 packs can’t find them anywhere else!

 

[MK20]

Thanks for the info. It seems that there is a wide range of experiences with using the ELDM for hunting. I just want to work up a load that I can shoot with if it is all I have with me at the moment or if i need to loan the gun out to a friend. I have a .308 that I load the 178 ELDX bullets for if i really need to hammer something.