SO .. I landed on getting an X bolt speed SR in 6.5 Creedmoor as a lightweight whitetail rifle here in the Carolinas … for a lot of reasons. I wanted a lighter ( 6lb ish) rifle with a shorter OAL and relatively mildly recoiling cartridge; that was good out to 200-300 yards without too much question. I’ve owned and hunted with a .243 as well as a .30-30 -wanted something with a bit more authority than either of those past 100 yards .
Somehow I ended up ordering the X bolt and researching the round while remaining wholly ignorant of the popularity- and contention- surrounding the 6.5. But now I’m skeered!
I’ve seen a lot of posts/ comments about a lack of blood trail with the 6.5 CM- as well as many ( many) comparisons to rounds that just don’t make sense to me, as a hunter to compare. I’ve watched a few videos of 6.5 CM destroying ballistic gel ( which tastes like crap btw.. jello it ain’t’t .. lol) . And I’ve narrowed it down to two factory rounds as a deer round. I’ve got a few boxes of each coming in- so I’ll see which ones she likes better , BUT …
It would help my confidence greatly if anyone had any real world - Carolina distances experience with either the Nosler partition gold OR the Black Hills dual performance ( Lehigh Defense fillets) 130 gr controlled chaos rounds on whitetail, and is willing to share?
I did watch a video on a gentleman’s controlled chaos “ failures” - where the round fails to expand on small coyotes at 110 yards, and then doesn’t offer a clean kill with a bad shot at a hog at the same distance … but I watched those and thought that for me - I’d have been too embarrassed to post the vids.
My concerns are easy game recovery and a good blood trail.. and my understanding is that anchoring them with a shoulder shot is a non starter with the 6.5.
Input? Real world knowledge?? Thanks!
Somehow I ended up ordering the X bolt and researching the round while remaining wholly ignorant of the popularity- and contention- surrounding the 6.5. But now I’m skeered!
I’ve seen a lot of posts/ comments about a lack of blood trail with the 6.5 CM- as well as many ( many) comparisons to rounds that just don’t make sense to me, as a hunter to compare. I’ve watched a few videos of 6.5 CM destroying ballistic gel ( which tastes like crap btw.. jello it ain’t’t .. lol) . And I’ve narrowed it down to two factory rounds as a deer round. I’ve got a few boxes of each coming in- so I’ll see which ones she likes better , BUT …
It would help my confidence greatly if anyone had any real world - Carolina distances experience with either the Nosler partition gold OR the Black Hills dual performance ( Lehigh Defense fillets) 130 gr controlled chaos rounds on whitetail, and is willing to share?
I did watch a video on a gentleman’s controlled chaos “ failures” - where the round fails to expand on small coyotes at 110 yards, and then doesn’t offer a clean kill with a bad shot at a hog at the same distance … but I watched those and thought that for me - I’d have been too embarrassed to post the vids.
My concerns are easy game recovery and a good blood trail.. and my understanding is that anchoring them with a shoulder shot is a non starter with the 6.5.
Input? Real world knowledge?? Thanks!
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