Deer rifle..

All of my rifles are military variants which I could technically use to hunt with but I am now looking in to a bolt rifle for that purpose. Going to be using it for deer/pronghorn, maybe elk some day if I give up on getting one with my bow.

Think I pretty much decided on a Howa 1500 HS, just need to decide between .308 and 6.5 Creedmore.. or maybe even 6.5 PRC. From what I can tell these are all pretty close in performance within 400yds with the 6.5 performing better at a little longer distance but honestly I?m not sure I would be taking shots that far anyway. The other issue is ammo availability for any of these, I imagine .308 will have a wider variety of options available by the time Sept hits.

What does the ar-15 community think?

I switched from .308 to 6.5 Creedmoor and had some of the same concerns. I switched last summer and haven't been able to find another box of 6.5, BUT I almost never go looking for ammo, and all the times I did look, I couldn't find .308, .300blk, .223, or .22 either, so my experience doesn't tell you much. The suppressed 6.5 Creedmoor is much more more pleasant to shoot than my unsuppressed .308 with a heavy wood stock, but no muzzle device of any kind. I've shot both only out to 400 yards with equal ease, and missed animals at closer ranges with both. Many comments made online make me question the ability of the 6.5 to put down an elk, but then friends with way more experience and understanding of ballistics tell me I shouldn't be worried at all.

That probably wasn't that helpful except to let you know that I was basically in the same boat but made the switch anyway.
The deciding factors for me were:
- that I have the ability to shoot longer distances if I ever want to and figured that the 6.5 would do that better.
- I bought a can to put onto my .308 and found out it would cost me the cost of my rifle to get it threaded.
- I wanted a cool new gun and could afford it at the time.

6.5CM, for sure. Overall better performance and more capable for LR.

I wouldn't count on .308 being as obtainable, and I'd certainly not wait til September to look for it. You should make the caliber decision and be buying anything you can find regardless of the decision you make.

6.5PRC is a very LR capable round, but I would think it a bit ridiculous for deer and pronghorn at the ranges you are talking about.

6.5 CM wasn't yet introduced when I bought my hunting rifle. I likely would be hunting with a 6.5 instead of a .308 if it were. Nothing wrong with the .308, but the 6.5 is a good cartridge. Neither one will be in stock or readily available before hunting season 2021. You could flip a coin and be fine either way though, assuming you can find ammo or loading supplies.

I had a Howa 6.5 CM and sold it. It was a good shooter, but a little heavy for my taste. It was for my daughter and it was way too heavy for her.

I hunt mulies with a Tikka 6.5 CM. I love the Tikka. The 6.5 is plenty capable and it is a joy to shoot compared to my Tikka in 300 WSM.

I shoot Berger hunting VLDs. I could probably squeeze a little more velocity out of it, but this load shoots really nice.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b4a6b7a54e.jpg

I?m not a great shooter, but 1? at 200 yards made me pretty happy.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e2713545c3.jpg

I'm under the impression that 6.5 Creedmoor has been around long enough that it is an established, common round at this point.

For mules, whitetail and pronghorn, either will work just fine. If you hunt elk, it is going to take a good bullet and shot placement.
I hand load for hunting, using premium bullets. I have hunted the last 20 or so years with a .25-06 for deer elk and bear and it has worked fairly well. I use Nosler Accubonds for everything, because that is what the rifle likes. I did take a deer with a trophy bonded bear claw, which worked perfectly.

If elk is potentially in the plan, I would go with .308. Just a personal recommendation.

Looking at the Hornady 6.5 ELD-X 143gr and using their balistics calculator at 9000ft elevation it will deliver 1500ft lbs of energy at 500yds, the 6.5 should theoretically be fine based on the general consensus that 1500ft lbs is needed for elk. their .308 ELD-X 178gr delivers 1500ft lbs out to 600yds so not a whole lot of difference. The 6.5 should theoretically be fine for elk within that range. How often are people really shooting at elk over 500yds?

I use 308 as it predated the 6.5 CM rage. Either cartridge will be fine for anything in CO.

30 caliber bullets used to have some of the largest selection when reloading, but the 6.5 is now popular enough and the selection has really grown.

I am not sure on 6.5 loaded ammo if they have plenty of hunting style bullets, but I?m sure you could find something.

As others have mentioned start looking now. As things come into stock others will grab them - either because it?s the only thing on the shelf or they want something for the hunting season as well. Normally closer to hunting season, people buy the hunting ammo and the stores seems to run out. Maybe the mfrs switch to something else or stores don?t want to order a bunch of stuff they sell during hunting season only.


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