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Posted: 8/13/2018 6:11:53 PM EDT

I have a friend who is going hunting for elk and possibly mule deer. Our argument is over whether or not A 6.5 x 284 Norma is an appropriate cartridge for elk or mule deer sub 600 yards. Assume 24 or 26" barrel using a 129 or 140 grain bullet. Barnes all copper stuff looks promising to me but I've never shot an elk. Is the 284 Norma enough gun for elk hunting? I use it for deer in the northeast, and i'm a big fan of it, but i've never shot anything big so i'm hoping for some real world experience. Thanks

Posted: 8/13/2018 6:27:17 PM EDT

[#1]

Look at the 6.5 X 55 Swede cartridge and how many deer/elk size animals its taken for decades. I prefer a .280 Rem for elk, but I have lots of friends who have taken elk with a .270, and one has repeatedly taken them with .25-06 and never wounded and lost one. It's all about bullet construction and shot placement.

Posted: 8/13/2018 6:42:33 PM EDT

[#2]

It is absolutely enough gun, permitting you can make a good shot. Also, use a heavy bullet. I have been loading 143gr eld x this year in hopes of testing it out, but it seems to be well reviewed.

Here's a bull taken at 750yds with a 24" Creedmoor using a 140gr berger bullet.

Attached File

Another bull with a 20 or 22" Creedmoor, I think around 350-450 yards.

Attached File

Posted: 8/13/2018 7:54:35 PM EDT

[#3]

Quote History

Quoted:
Look at the 6.5 X 55 Swede cartridge and how many deer/elk size animals its taken for decades. I prefer a .280 Rem for elk, but I have lots of friends who have taken elk with a .270, and one has repeatedly taken them with .25-06 and never wounded and lost one. It's all about bullet construction and shot placement.

View Quote

To follow up my first reply, the .280 Rem I mentioned is a 700 Remington bolt action that I've hunted with for decades, harvesting dozens and dozens of whitetails and mulies, a few antelope, and a few elk. Recently, I've put an AA upper in 6.5 Grendel on a home built lower that I hope to do some hunting with, once I do a little more range work to get familiar with it.

Posted: 8/13/2018 9:00:01 PM EDT

[#4]

Those pictures are amazing, and proof of some very nice shooting. Well done boxofrox

Posted: 8/13/2018 9:05:05 PM EDT

[#5]

Wideglide, your advice is very logical. My friend wants a slightly more exotic cartridge, he has a 270. I have a 6.5 grendel Larue 18" ar and with a hornady sst 123 grain it performed fantastically on deer last season.

Posted: 8/16/2018 12:34:46 AM EDT

[#6]

It is plenty of gun for elk, as long as the bullet is placed in the right spot.

I have seen how well the 143 eldx penetrates and I would not hesitate to use any comparable round.

I am putting together a 6.5 g LaRue that I will use for some future hunts. I really like the 6.5 bullets.

Posted: 8/16/2018 11:19:10 PM EDT

[#7]

Your asking for trouble with wounding a elk if you use anything less then a 338 lapua. Anything under a 200 grain bullet is blatantly unethical.

Posted: 8/18/2018 12:05:11 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
I have a friend who is going hunting for elk and possibly mule deer. Our argument is over whether or not A 6.5 x 284 Norma is an appropriate cartridge for elk or mule deer sub 600 yards. Assume 24 or 26" barrel using a 129 or 140 grain bullet. Barnes all copper stuff looks promising to me but I've never shot an elk. Is the 284 Norma enough gun for elk hunting? I use it for deer in the northeast, and i'm a big fan of it, but i've never shot anything big so i'm hoping for some real world experience. Thanks

View Quote

As previously stated its more about shot placement and knowing your limitations in a given situation. If you practice with that gun and know when you can hit the target where you need to and when you can't then the rest is semantics. Heck if you kept all you shots under 100yds and only stuffed the bullets in the ear canal then a 223 would be ethical. It is not the gun or the round that matters nearly as much as whether you can put the round where it needs to be when you pull the trigger.

Posted: 8/21/2018 6:48:53 PM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
Your asking for trouble with wounding a elk if you use anything less then a 338 lapua. Anything under a 200 grain bullet is blatantly unethical.

View Quote

Everyone knows that a 338 Lapua doesn't have what it takes to kill anything larger than 200 pounds.

As to the OP, yes the 6.5x284 will kill an Elk assuming the bullet is put through the vitals. The ballistics are similar enough to the .264 Win Mag which has accounted for more than a few Elk.

My first Elk was killed with a 100gr Rem Cor lokt shot from my 243Win. A single shot and it walked less than 10yds on wobbly legs and tipped over. I've also used 25-06, 7Rem mag and a 300 Win mag. They are not armor plated and as long as the bullet takes out the vitals you will have a dead animal.

Posted: 8/22/2018 12:18:16 AM EDT

[#10]

I killed a large cow elk at 725 yards with a 127 LRX from my 260Rem a couple years ago. The 6.5-284 will be fine, though I’d suggest the 6.5 PRC instead these days.

...eta.... She made it about three steps then fell over dead. The LRX passed through perfectly. I’ve also shot a bunch of deer to 510+ yards and had equally excellent performance.

Posted: 8/22/2018 12:25:49 AM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:
I killed a large cow elk at 725 yards with a 127 LRX from my 260Rem a couple years ago. The 6.5-284 will be fine, though I’d suggest the 6.5 PRC instead these days.

...eta.... She made it about three steps then fell over dead. The LRX passed through perfectly. I’ve also shot a bunch of deer to 510+ yards and had equally excellent performance.

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I'm super interested in the best cartridge between 6.5 Creedoor and 264 rem mag or 26 nosler.

6.5 GAP 4S, 6.5-284, and now 6.5 PRC are all really interesting to me. I'd love to end up with one of those one day.

Posted: 8/23/2018 12:09:55 PM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:

I'm super interested in the best cartridge between 6.5 Creedoor and 264 rem mag or 26 nosler.

6.5 GAP 4S, 6.5-284, and now 6.5 PRC are all really interesting to me. I'd love to end up with one of those one day.

View Quote

the 26 is the perfect 6.5mm magnum IMO . i was going to build one but went with the 28 nolser instead. better all around cartridge but if you're looking just in the 6.5 category then i would chose the nosler.

Posted: 8/23/2018 12:44:02 PM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:
the 26 is the perfect 6.5mm magnum IMO . i was going to build one but went with the 28 nolser instead. better all around cartridge but if you're looking just in the 6.5 category then i would chose the nosler.

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Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:

I'm super interested in the best cartridge between 6.5 Creedoor and 264 rem mag or 26 nosler.

6.5 GAP 4S, 6.5-284, and now 6.5 PRC are all really interesting to me. I'd love to end up with one of those one day.

the 26 is the perfect 6.5mm magnum IMO . i was going to build one but went with the 28 nolser instead. better all around cartridge but if you're looking just in the 6.5 category then i would chose the nosler.

Whenever I look into 26 Nosler I can't bring myself to think it's better than 28 Nosler in any way. If I'm going to burn that much powder I want to be slinging the most efficient lead down range that I can, and the 28 seems to outperform the 26 overall.

The more I look into the 6.5 PRC, the more I like it. 26 Nosler is on another level.

Posted: 8/25/2018 10:53:41 PM EDT

[#14]

28 Nosler is the perfect sub .33 cal magnum IMO

Posted: 9/3/2018 1:00:09 PM EDT

[#15]

If you're looking for way overbore 6.5 calibers then the 6.5-300 Weatherby is another option. You can find rifles fairly cheap as well.

Posted: 9/3/2018 8:17:30 PM EDT

[#16]

For my own use I will just stick with the tried and proven 5.5x55 Swede which I used exclusively on my last safari and took both a Black Wildebeast and a Nyala with a 130 TSX pushed as fast as I could.

Or I would just move up to a 264 Win Mag with the heaviest premium bullet (I am partial to Barnes) and call it good.

The animal can’t tell the difference in a couple of hundred FPS. As long as the rifle is accurate it’s the shooter that makes the difference.

Posted: 9/4/2018 5:10:30 PM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:

Whenever I look into 26 Nosler I can't bring myself to think it's better than 28 Nosler in any way. If I'm going to burn that much powder I want to be slinging the most efficient lead down range that I can, and the 28 seems to outperform the 26 overall.

The more I look into the 6.5 PRC, the more I like it. 26 Nosler is on another level.

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the 28 is a beast. go with the 7mm for sure.