6mm Creedmoor performance on deer

The Howa 6mm creedmoor has connected on 4 deer ranging from 45 yards to 301 yards with a 90gr Sierra Gamechanger.

Complete pass throughs on all except the huge doe at 45 yards on an extreme quartering to shot. Bullet entered at neck/shoulder intersection and penetrated at least 20” and came to rest just under hide on off-side as shown in pic below. The bullet retained 53% of its weight, expanded to 0.5” and the deer never even twitched. I was extremely impressed with the performance of a non-bonded bullet on such a close shot hitting bone.

None of the other three deer ran more than 45 yards and all had good blood trails. The 301 yard shot deer made it less than 20 yards and the shot was just a double lung hit behind the shoulder.

I wanted to shoot the Barnes 95gr LRX but the rifle much prefers the HSM 90gr Gamechangers.

I know four deer is a small sample size but so far the 6 CM is proving to be more than just a paper punching varmint gun as some have suggested.

45 yards




301 yards

120 yards

That’s almost as good as a .243!

Impressive, but is it really that much more effective than a 243?

Depends on the intended application. For the average deer hunter inside of 250 yards that might shoot a box of ammo a year....no different than a 243.

That’s a slick setup right there buddy, I can dig it! Hard to argue with the results. Mighty fine buck too, that thing is a stud.

Agreed, good buck.

How are you liking that SWFA 3-9x42? You know how much I like the SS 6x42 but I haven’t tried any of their variable power models. That model really interests me though. It checks a lot of boxes on paper.

So far it’s really impressed me. I was concerned with glass quality and reticle usability in low light. Both have proven to be a non-issue.

Glass quality is better than I expected and reticle is plenty bold during legal shooting hours.

Haven’t done any extensive comparison but the resolution is as good as a swaro Z3 in good light spotting bullet holes at 100 yards.

Tracking is dead nuts on.

Bang flop on a nanny at 360 yards. Quarter sized exit hole.

Starting to think Goatkiller was wrong about it being too small to effectively kill pine goats😉.

What made you decide to go all in on the 6 CM?

You reckon...

It’s flat as a 270 and bucks the wind like a 6.5 CM. So it’s essentially the best of both worlds with even less recoil, which allows you to stay on target and observe the animals reaction to the shot (very useful information).

My only concern was potential lack of blood trails and exits but that hasn’t been a problem thus far.

Plus I simply enjoy shooting and experimenting with different cartridges that don’t kill on both ends.

Cool ... I was just curious!

With only 1/2 the killing power of either.

What's not to like, right?

Just think about how effective that varmint rifle would be on a coyote.

Oh come on now...I realize it’s Monday but your math skills aren’t that bad!

I'll I know about a creedmoor is that if you ask your buddy if that's what he has and he really shoots a 300-378 Weatherby he feels insulted.

Also sitting here wondering how a 6mm Creedless would do on a ground skwerl.

Probably better shoot a Barnes. That's the only definitive conclusion I've come to so far regarding this cartridge and what I've lernt off ALDeer about bullet performance in general.