6.5 Creedmoor for Moose

if it was a 6.5cm or nothing larger, sure. It for sure will get the job done, with a decent bullet and shot placement.
I'd still prefer more bullet mass, but that's me.

Lets put aside the chambering for a moment and ask, is a 140 grain bonded or partition bullet at 2700 FPS adequate for hunting moose? I personally would use it without hesitation if that what I had to take and assuming I'm taking broadside shots and hunting at responsible ranges.

LoonWulf said:

if it was a 6.5cm or nothing larger, sure. It for sure will get the job done, with a decent bullet and shot placement.
I'd still prefer more bullet mass, but that's me.

Click to expand...

Kinda my thought process. Could it work? Sure. However, there are other options that would be a better fit for your quarry (300 Win Mag would probably be what I'd buy if I was lucky enough to be able to hunt moose).

Shoot it in the heart and a 22 Long rifle’s big enough. Anything will kill anything but why not bring enough gun? The more marginal bowl the caliber the greater the risk of wounded animals. That’s an undeniable fact no matter how good of a shot we are. Understand I’m not saying that the 6.5 Creedmoor is not sufficient for moose.
I’ve hunted elk for years with a 300 WinMag. A few years ago I switched to a 308 because I wanted to try it and it was a much lighter rifle. I have taken 4 elk with the 308 and it does the job. But the 300 WinMag did the job better. You just can’t get around the extra performance of a heavy larger caliber bullet. It tends to break through bones that a lighter bullet will be deflected from its intended trajectory.
Go shoot 10 moose with a 6.5. One of those moose won’t go down but the other nine did. We could say the 6.5 did fine.

I reread your post. If all you have is 6.5 I would say go for it. Use the largest best expanding bullet you can find.

I think it would be, under the following situation: 100 yard shot, quartering, and make sure you "slip it" behind the shoulder blade.

I take my 6.5 swede out often, havent plugged a moose with it ever, but I wouldnt hesitate. I load 140 accubonds. Ive seen alot of moose shot, they die easy, not like a brown bear.

The 6.5X55 shoots the same bullets to the same speeds. It has been one of the most popular moose rifles in Europe since the 1890's. It has been to Africa and taken everything there including elephant. No reason the 6.5 CM won't do the same thing. FWIW a 140gr 6.5 bullet will match a 180 gr 30 caliber bullet for penetration assuming you're using the same bullet and with the same shot placement.

JeeperCreeper said:

Well I do have a 6.5 Creedmoor. And I sold my 300 winmag.

Probably going lots of moose hunting this year as I live in Alaska now. Might buy an -06 for cheap. Might build a 450 AR upper depending on geography.

I don't have alot of my hunting gear up here, so I'm playing with different ideas of how to go about it.

Click to expand...

Can you shoot them in the head?
I'm sure it would work. If I lived in Alaska, I would trade it in for an 06 and never look back.

I honestly would say no you probably shouldn't, but that's just because it is just an ok killer on that sized game. And if you can safely knock the moose over where you want him, what about big bears around. If no other dangerous situations other than shooting a one ton animal with a bad attitude, sure. But I probably would want a bigger hole per shot than the 6.5 would deliver.

They are making some great bullets for the 6.5 Creedmoor... The 140gr 6.5 bullet has great SD .. .. Should drive deep ... But I never hunted Moose ... But I have heard many have been taken with the 270 Win useing 130gr bullets .. .
Im sure a 300 Win Mag is more powerful... The 338 Winchester is even better... It could go on ...

The 6.5x55 Sporterized Swedish mauser I owned , had a 18inch barrel
and with 140gr cup& core bullets pentrated straight through every deer I shot with it ... big deer, quartering shots .. didn't matter ... 6.5 hole in bigger out ... .. But thats not a moose.

There is no magic bullet .. But long bullets seem to do well .. .244 100gr , 6.5 140-160gr & 9.3 286gr

Also well constructed 7mm & .308 bullets the 7mm, 175gr bullets ,,, .308 165gr -200gr ...

Im a Levergun guy ... But Im looking at getting a boltgun .... Over the years I have had alot of different calibers
243 - 375 H&H ... The 6.5x55 and
9.3x62 stand out in my memory...

But the 6.5 Creedmoor is on my short list .. I would have zero problems using it for large 300lb bear after seeing the performance of the 6.5x55 ...

The 6.5s passed the million moose mark long ago. There's zero question it works well. Load the 160 PP Weldcore and go to it.

6.5 CM has worked well for me on a few elk. Moose are much bigger, it probably wouldn't be my first choice, but it also wouldn't be my last. Around here moose tags take decades to draw, I'd use my .30-06, up there it's different and I'd probably give the 6.5 a try at some point, using top bullets like Accubonds, Weldcores, LRX, etc.

I talked to a guy at the range one time who had used a 303 Lee Enfield with 150gr Interlocks to dispatch a few moose. I think I'd take a 6.5 CM stoked with premium bullets and warm loads over that.

Have you ever seen a moose, in person?

I was ground hunting deer in VT years ago, sitting at the base of a tree watching a trail. A brook ran perpendicular to the trail, about 35 yards from me. I was hunting with a Swede Sporter.

Up the side of the brook came a moose cow and calf. The cow interposed herself between me and the calf. The first thing I thought before making myself very small against the tree was “I’m gonna need a bigger gun”.

30 cal, 200 grs is the minimum. 35 cal and 250 grs would be better. 6.5 isn’t enough.

I've never hunted moose or alg so I can't post anything from personal experience. As others have noted 6.5mm well constructed bullets / ammo manufactured by Norma and Lapua Mega have quite a track record hunting alg (Scandinavian moose) and African plains game. So there's certainly precedent for a similar cartridge with similar muzzle velocity with the same diameter bullets being adequate for the task. I've read on hunting style for alg sometimes at least being a group hunt and maybe employing dogs has points to consider as either points of similarity or difference than the OP's hunting plan. Here's what the 2014 Norma catalog has for notes on the Alaska bullet.

"The Norma Alaska is the result of a century of evolution of Paul Mauser’s original expanding bullet designs. Given the level of technology in the 1880’s when Mauser first introduced modern style ammunition with smokeless powder and jacketed bullets, production tolerances were decidedly ‘sloppy’ by current standards. Mauser and his team needed a bullet that would shoot just as well in a rifle with an oversized throat or a worn bore as in a new rifle made to minimum tolerances. The final step was to get the expansion rate appropriate for Scandinavian game- It needed to open reliably and not over-penetrate on moose to endanger the dog or other hunters in the line in the typical Scandinavian hunting style. At the same time, most hunters were actually hunting for food, and minimising meat damage was a real consideration. The thickness of the jacket walls has changed slowly over time to cope with higher modern velocities but one of the key points has been the use of pure lead for the core so that it doesn’t fragment and contaminate the surrounding meat. In standard velocity cartridges like the 6,5x55, 308 Win., 30-06 and 9,3x62 with muzzle velocities below 2700fps the Alaska delivers outstanding accuracy and dependable performance with retained weights in the region of 70-85% depending on impact velocity."

People kill them with .243s so it depends on your methods, personal opinions and preferences for opportunities and margins of error.

I’ve never shot a moose. I’m a .264 caliber fan and have owned a 6.5x55 in a modern action for longer than the 6.5 Creedmoor has been around.

A couple of years ago I was curious about European moose hunting and did a little research. I found one study out of Sweden which stated the .308 is the most popular cartridge for moose and the 6.5x55 isn’t used that much anymore. I’m pretty sure I’ve got my facts straight but not 100%.

Even though I’m a fan of the .264 caliber and do not suffer from magnumitis, I’d want something more powerful for moose than a 6.5 Creedmoor. For me 30-06 sounds right. On the other hand if 6.5 Creedmoor were all I had I wouldn’t hesitate to use it for moose.

The guy who sold me this pre 64 in 300 H&H Mag had taken it Moose hunting









and said that it worked fine on Moose. Moose range between 700 and 1600 lbs, so they are a massive animal, big boned, and Bud told me, "DON'T SHOOT THEM IN THE WATER!". These larger 30 caliber rounds can easily push 200 or 220 grain bullets, and of course that includes the 30-06. In terms of bullet weight, an 8mm Mauser throws a heavier bullet than a 30 caliber. I think based on the size of the animal, heavier bullets are the way to go, more likely to break bone, if the bullet expands, make a larger crush space which will enhance blood loss. If you can find a well used 30-06, I think that would be the better caliber on Moose. Or better yet, what about a nice 35 Whelen?



take a look at the damage a 35 Whelen did in the post the Perfect Elk Rifle https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/the-perfect-elk-rifle.855650/page-3#post-11230107 by @35 Whelen. This round tosses a 250 grain bullet at 2500 fps, and that is a lot of lead.

The 6.5 creed is plenty for the task, and if I were local, I wouldn’t hesitate to use one. I would not even consider a 6.5 creed to be a “minimum”.

But for most folks in the lower 48, a moose hunt is a very expensive, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, such bets are typically heavily hedged. If I were spending ~$20,000 for tags, guide, airfare, etc, and even more for gear for the trip, I would take something larger, even if it meant spending money on something new. What I would do in my backyard at near zero cost is different than what I would do when paying extreme prices going out of state.

In your shoes, I’d drop moose with my 6.5 creed with a smile on my face.

I’ve seen moose, never hunted them. I’d look at the difference between adequate and optimum

As noted above, you’re putting a ton of money into a moose hunt for the average guy. I’d err to the side of caution. I guess just maybe for a confidence factor. I missed the opportunity at an absolute monster white tail because I had cheap equipment

You don’t need a ton of money for a moose hunt if you’re a resident. Time off work is harder to come by, as all of your coworkers will want time off work to hunt also. You really just want a high dollar spotting scope/binoculars, as counting brow tines or guessing 50” is very difficult.

Varminterror said:

In your shoes, I’d drop moose with my 6.5 creed with a smile on my face.

Click to expand...

Well, first get your own shoes.

Secondly, Canadian Indians have been killing the larger moose there with a .30-30 forever.
So, no reason why a 6.5 Swedish or the 6.5 Swedish short would not work.