Hate And Love For The 6.5 Creedmoor
BY Herschel Smith
4 years, 9 months ago
1. It’s certainly not the only target cartridge in existence.
2. It’s not old enough to be your grandfather’s cartridge.
3. It’s trendy, and trendy sucks.
4. It’s going to take over the hunting industry.
5. It works.
Amusing, as intended. As for effectiveness, you might want to check out this piece entitled 6.5 Creedmoor Proven: How Does It Actually Perform On Big Game?
Prior: 6.5 Creedmoor Ammo Prices
On July 23, 2019 at 7:34 am, ragman said:
To quote Col Townsend Whelan “A 30.06 is always a good idea”. Nuff said.
On July 23, 2019 at 9:37 am, TRX said:
The 6.5’s ballistic coefficient is what attracted me to that caliber. I went with a “semi-wildcat”; .303 British run through 6.5 Mannlicher dies to make a 6.5×303.
As for the .30-06… I like mine just fine.
On July 23, 2019 at 12:14 pm, MTHead said:
I love my 30-06! Used it for years. I use it to make 6.5 creedmoor brass now. The Creedmoor just works. And quite honestly it does my heart good to see a non-magnum cartridge take the field so well.
Long for caliber bullets have always been known for their effectiveness. The big wait was for bullet tech to catch up. The 6.5 Creedmoor is the ballistic match to the 6.5×55 swiss. With the bullet technology thrown in.
All cartridges are a system of compromises. Weight, speed, accuracy, barrel life, recoil. on and on. The Creedmoor shines in a bunch of those areas. I like it, And I can’t thank Hornady enough.
On July 23, 2019 at 12:20 pm, John said:
Every generation creates its own favorites be they “new” fashions, cultural variations
such as tastes in foods and beverages and yes, firearms and the feeding thereof.
Some are worthy of close attention while most are just variations on a theme and while
briefly of interest they soon fade into the footnotes. Looking at its predecessors in
comparison, to me the 6.5 Creedmoor is clearly in the latter column.
On July 23, 2019 at 12:22 pm, Herschel Smith said:
@John,
I think the 224 Valkyrie was a “flash in a pan.” I think the 6.5 is here to stay.
On July 23, 2019 at 1:40 pm, Harshy said:
The 6.5 Creedmore is a lot of fun to shoot. I have take two long range shooting classes at Gunwerks in Cody WY. The school guns are 6.5s. It is extremely accurate. We were able to shoot accurately out to 1300 yards with it. The low recoil allows you to shoot it all day. The problem comes in when people confuse accuracy with power. I would use the Creedmore on deer size game under 300 yards. For elk I use .308 win or 7mm Rem. Magnum depending on my mood.
On July 23, 2019 at 1:50 pm, Herschel Smith said:
@Harshy,
You should go back and read the linked article on big game. The 6.5 bullets are nearly as weighty as the .308 (within a few gr.). If you need anything bigger than the 6.5, it might pay to choose the 300 Win Mag. The folks cited in the article are taking big game WAY beyond 300 yards with 6.5 Creedmoor.
On July 23, 2019 at 3:47 pm, MTHead said:
Watched Wayne Van Zwoll put a 129gr. SST right through a bull elk at 600yrds. the bull ran in a 75 yrd. circle. then piled up! Its right there on youtube.
On July 23, 2019 at 9:28 pm, Ned said:
Wow. This thing sounds better than a 6.5 x 55.
On July 23, 2019 at 11:00 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Ned
Re: “This thing sounds better than a 6.5 x 55.”
The rationale for 6.5 Creedmoor, according to Hornady, was to develop a new 6.5mm (.264) short-action cartridge from the ground up, which would sidestep the drawbacks of older traditional designs such as the 6.5×55 Swedish, or .260 Remington, i.e. lack of neck length in which to seat long-for-caliber bullets further out, and internal magazines too-short to accommodate the new heavier and longer high-BC 6.5 bullets, which have greater COAL than traditional designs.
Another benefit of the new 6.5 CM design is that the case is similar-enough to a .308 Winchester to permit it to be used from .308 magazines, such as those offered by Magpul and Accuracy International – an important issue for many AR-pattern rifle users shooting .308 who wish to convert or swap in a 6.5 CM upper or otherwise make use of the new cartridge. Further, a bolt-gun loading from a box magazine does not require a custom magazine, and can use common-pattern .308 box mags already in the marketplace.
6.5 Creedmoor has slightly less propellant capacity than the older 6.5×55 Swedish, which is a long-action cartridge versus the short-action 6.5CM. This is made up somewhat by the generous neck, which permits seating to longer-than-standard OAL. The old Swede really isn’t bad; it also surpasses .260 Remington in this regard.
Most of the new reloading manuals (it is probably their legal staff and attorneys talking, so to speak) are downgrading their 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser loads by as much as 20-30% below theoretical maximum charges (pressures), in case the reader owns a vintage 70- or more year old Swedish Mauser military-surplus rifle, and not a modern bolt-action chambered in 6.5×55.
Loaded to its modern potential, with a high BG projectile and used in a firearm which can handle the pressure of modern loads, the 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser can be stretched out quite a bit. It s certainly capable of performance on par with the 6.5 CM and .260 Remington, even surpassing it in some cases. It may be old, but it is still a darned good cartridge – as legions of satisfied Scandinavian and other European hunters can attest.
On July 23, 2019 at 11:05 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
Re: “Loaded to its modern potential, with a high BG projectile and used in a firearm which can handle the pressure of modern loads, the 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser can be stretched out quite a bit. It s certainly capable of performance on par with the 6.5 CM and .260 Remington, even surpassing it in some cases. It may be old, but it is still a darned good cartridge – as legions of satisfied Scandinavian and other European hunters can attest.”
One other comment, that being that the 6.5×55 is in some ways a European equivalent to the .270, which may be why it didn’t catch on here the way it did in Europe. Loaded to its potential, the 6.5×55 overlaps considerably in performance with the traditional favorite .270 loads. If you already have a .270 bolt-gun for deer hunting, then the charms of the 6.5×55 may not seem quite so appealing.
On July 24, 2019 at 7:55 am, Ned2 said:
I’ll stick with my 300 win mag, thanks.
Most of our big game hunting here in WY is at 250 yds or more.
.308 doesn’t cut it over distances like that, and from what I hear from the locals around here, the 6.5 performs about the same.
On July 24, 2019 at 9:11 am, Drake said:
I don’t reload (maybe someday) but I’m in the market for a very accurate target rifle that might be used to hunt occasionally. And it can’t break the bank for the rifle or the ammo.
6.5 CM seems the obvious choice given my criteria.
On July 24, 2019 at 10:16 am, WalkingHorse said:
I have a Swede, manufactured in 1921, with barrel shortened to 24″, mounted on a composite stock. It is a tack driver, but the inability to load the 6.5×55 to its potential is an issue. I have a hunting buddy who has a 6.5 CM, AR-10 pattern. It is extremely accurate, but finds his finicky and case life is about what he gets with 7mm Rem. mag – at fourth reload, case splitting ensues. I would not want to generalize from his experience. He assembled his AR-10 himself, which might cause some to raise an eyebrow; however, he is a retired jeweler, very experienced reloader, and his attention to detail is .. formidable. I know he used primo components in his build.
On July 24, 2019 at 10:42 am, Bret said:
I know I’ve been guilty of writing off the Creedmor as nothing but a fad like stupid haircuts and too small clothes. After doing bit more study on the external ballistics I have come to the conclusion that compared to the.308 it’s the real deal. I have several friends who have made the dive and the results are no less than impressive. Am I going to sell off everything else? Oh hell no! As a craftsman I understand why they make fifty kajillion types of chisels and planes and every other class of tools. This particular tool is amazing inside of its intended purpose. Yeah it has its use, it’s not universal but it definitely is a solid little galaxy.
On July 24, 2019 at 11:33 am, Dave smith said:
I can’t find much use for cartridges with bullets that are seated so far forward of the neck. I k n o w I went to all of these calibers in my youth.but in my real youth when I hunted human beings as well as meat for the table I always wanted a cartridge that could be shot through both a semi-automatic and bolt action. Have Fun Creedmoor Shooters I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of it all the things that have gone before you.
On July 24, 2019 at 11:49 am, Herschel Smith said:
@Dave Smith,
As you wish, to every man his own. But there are plenty of rifles in both semi- and bolt for 6.5. It’s a short-action cartridge, meaning that it can be fired from an AR-pattern gun too.
On July 24, 2019 at 1:04 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Ned
If you live in Wyoming and hunt over distances greater than 250 yards, then you’ve absolutely made the right choice in something like 300 Win-Mag. The popular 7mm Rem-Mag would also do well in that circumstance, and for those who really can’t or won’t jump off the 6.5/.264-bandwagon, there’s always .264 Win-Mag, provided it is enough rifle/cartridge for the species being hunted. 7mm-08 has its adherents, too, and without the stout recoil of its larger magnum brother. Short-action, very good accuracy, modest recoil, and excellent ballistic coefficients/SDs of .284-caliber projectiles.
On July 24, 2019 at 1:30 pm, SWRichmond said:
The popularity of the cartridge can be attributed to its designers. By designing a new cartridge from the ground up, and ammunition for it, they are able to carefully specify chamber dimensions, leade and throat dimensions, etc to take advantage of newer, high-BC bullets which are known to be finicky when it comes to seating depth / bullet jump.
This enables fine accuracy out of the box with factory ammo, initially also from Hornady. The 6.5mm bullet maxes at about 140gr so recoil is lighter than traditional American .30 cals. The ballistic superiority of the newer high BC bullets makes longer shots possible for amateurs and children, greatly boosting adoption by newcomers. The cartridge was introduced at the ideal time, during a rapid increase in interest in long range shooting, especially sports such as PRS. Advances in muzzle brake design can nearly eliminate recoil for this cartridge. Advances in powder design allow generation of higher velocities.
Kudos to Hornady.
I do not own a 6.5 Creedmore. I am able to accomplish everything I want to do with other cartridges I already own.
On July 24, 2019 at 5:41 pm, Aelius Rex said:
Its accurate. Accurate never sucks.
On July 25, 2019 at 5:02 am, the Old Guide said:
“Only accurate rifles are interesting.”
Col. Townsend Whelan
On July 26, 2019 at 1:00 pm, NOG said:
6.5? Here’s the thing. Most people don’t need it. Most of the people I see shooting are not up to the rounds capability. Or even need that capability. I would rather have someone buy a 243-270-7mm08-308 Savage Axis and a bunch of ammo and shoot it a bunch than buy a 6.5 and not shoot it as much because the ammo to too pricey. For the top end shooters, yes it is a great round. For the rest of us, just not necessary and I think it makes some shooters over confident in their abilities. However, shooting is a choice of the person, so shoot what you want. Me, I’ll keep the 48 year old Rem 788 (bought new) in 243 and my 1909 Argentine Mauser in 7mm08. They have not let me down yet.
On July 26, 2019 at 1:03 pm, Herschel Smith said:
@NOG,
To each his own. Whatever he’s good at.
But as for ammo prices, you can get 6.5 for the same thing or less than .270. I’ve seen it.