Is the 6.5 Creedmoor the Holy Grail of medium bores?
1,200 yards supersonic
140 grain bullets at 2,700 (Same as factory 260 Rem)
Able to kill Elk cleanly?
Good, accurate, fast twist commercially available rifles
Ample factory ammo
Plenty of bullet selection

http://www.range365.com/65-creedmoor-long-range-king

6.5 Creedmoor: The Long-Range King

It’s perhaps once in a generation that we see a new rifle cartridge come along and re-define the paradigm. New rifle cartridges are not that rare, but those that re-write the rules are, and the 6.5 Creedmoor changed the world of shooting.

The cartridge was very mission-specific in its design. Its stated purpose is for long range target shooting, and the cartridge was designed specifically for long, sleek, high-ballistic-coefficient, heavy-for-caliber bullets. The cartridge stays supersonic and maintains its accuracy to past 1,200 yards.

The cartridge also proved to be exceptionally accurate. For whatever reason—a perfect blend of dimensions, or just voodoo—the inherent accuracy of the 6.5 Creedmoor is astonishing. Savage Arms’ Bill Dermody told me that they test every rifle they build for accuracy. For years, the most accurate cartridge across the board was the .308 Winchester. Now it’s the 6.5 Creedmoor.

That’s why, when I decided to commission a new long-range, precision rifle in 2014, I wanted it chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, mostly because of its reputation for accuracy.

It is not uncommon for that rifle to shoot ¼ MOA or smaller 100-yard groups. The first time I shot it at long range, I shot a group at 200 yards that measured four-tenths of an inch. That translates to 0.2 MOA. That same day I shot a 5-shot group that measured 2.8 inches, at 500 yards, equivalent to 0.56 MOA. I shot another five-shot group at 300 yards that measured 1.2 inches. That is 0.4 MOA. All with factory loaded ammo! My handloads shoot even better. This is easily the most accurate rifle I have ever owned, and the 6.5 Creedmoor is a big part of the reason.

A Slow Start

Introduced in 2008 (more on its evolution later), the cartridge got off to a bit of a slow start. Long-range shooters recognized the cartridge’s potential right out of the gate, but their numbers were relatively few at the time. So the cartridge struggled along, doing great work but going virtually unrecognized for its accomplishments.

Then, all of a sudden, long-range shooting became the next big thing. Shooters flocked to Precision Rifle Shooting competitions, and many of them wanted a rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor.

Part of what’s fueling this trend is the availability of affordable rifles. True long-range target rifles were expensive and mostly custom-built until Ruger changed everything with their Ruger Precision Rifle, with a price shooters could afford ($1399-$1599).

Savage soon followed suit with the Model 10 BA Stealth, which, at $1207, is priced below the Ruger.

Now the 6.5 Creedmoor is a true phenomenon. Chris Hodgdon of Hodgdon Powder Company told me they are having trouble keeping H4350 powder in stock because of the huge demand fueled by reloaders of the 6.5 Creedmoor. “The entire shooting world has gone nuts over the 6.5 Creedmoor,” he said.

If that’s not enough, during the 2016 SHOT show a representative for E. R. Shaw, a company that makes both aftermarket barrels and new rifles told me that the 6.5 Creedmoor accounts for half of their production.

Creating the Creedmoor

The cartridge was conceived at the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s 2007 National Matches at Camp Perry, when Hornady engineer Dave Emary and High Power National Champion Dennis DeMille were talking about the 6mm wildcat cartridges that were popular in the sport.

The trouble with wildcat cartridges is too many shooters think they can come up with a formula that will beat the laws of physics, and problems start to happen. Emary and DeMille thought it would be great if there was a cartridge that followed current popular design, was accurate enough to win, and was available from a commercial ammo manufacturer using SAAMI (Sporting Arms and Ammunition Institute) guidelines and standards.

Emary and fellow Hornady engineer Joe Thielen put their heads together, and the result was the 6.5 Creedmoor. According to Emary, “People were having a lot of problems with functioning the 6mms. They were running these things at very high pressures to try to get the performance they need to compete. Our solution was to go to a 6.5, firing a lot higher BC bullet, and not have to push it as hard to get what they wanted.”

Emary and Thielen looked at other short-action .264 cartridges and made some changes to the chamber throat angle and other specifications to accommodate long-ogive, high-ballistic coefficient bullets. As a result, they were able to extract better performance than is commonly seen from other 6.5 mm short-action cartridges.

Lever-Action Descendent

The 6.5 Creedmoor they come up with has an odd parentage, with forebears in lever-action rifles.

The .307 Winchester was introduced in 1982 as round with ballistics nearly identical to the .308 Winchester. It was designed for the Winchester Big Bore Model 94 lever-action rifle, which is not exactly ready for 1,000-yard competitions. The .307 Winchester never achieved much success and is no longer chambered in any commercial rifle.

However, the .307 Winchester case was used to make the .30 TC, which was introduced in 2007. Thompson Center had commissioned Hornady to design a proprietary 30-caliber cartridge for the introduction of their bolt-action Icon rifle. Emary shortened the .307 Winchester case, thinned the thick case walls, and removed the rim. The result didn’t achieve success, and the .30 TC died a quick and merciful death. But when Emary and Thielen necked the .30 TC down to take a .264-inch bullet, it became the 6.5 Creedmoor.

Anatomy and Ability

The 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge has a .473-inch diameter case head, the same as the .30-06 family of cartridges. It has a 30-degree shoulder and the case length is 1.920 inches. The overall cartridge length is 2.825 inches. There is almost an inch of difference (.905) between the case length and the overall cartridge length. That allowed the long 6.5mm, 140-grain, high-ballistic coefficient, VLD and ELD style bullets to extend from the case rather than being seated deep inside, which eats up powder space.

The muzzle velocity for the 140-grain factory load is 2,710 fps. This matches almost exactly the muzzle velocity of the .260 Remington with the same weight bullet, even though the .260 Remington has a larger case. That’s due to less intrusion into the powder space from the long bullets, and because the SAAMI Mean Average Pressure for the 6.5 Creedmoor is 62,000 psi, while the .260 Remington’s MAP is 60,000 psi.

Factory-loaded ammo is available from Hornady, Nosler, Winchester, and most recently, Federal. They jumped into the arena with a new load from American Eagle. The new AE ammo features a 140-grain open-tip match bullet with a B.C. of .58. With a muzzle velocity of 2,700 feet per second, the bullet stays supersonic until 1,350 yards.

I tested this load in the new Savage Model 10 BA Stealth chassis rifle. The average for five, 5-shot groups at 100 yards was .96-inch. This was a very close second-best of all four of the ammo products tested in this gun.

I also shot a few groups in my custom 6.5 Creedmoor rifle, and the average for 5 shots was .60-inch. This puts the budget priced ammo right up there accuracy-wise with the most accurate factory loads.

Rolling Your Own

The 6.5 Creedmoor is a handloader’s dream cartridge. In addition to brass from afore-mentioned sources, Norma also makes wonderful 6.5 Creedmoor brass. High B.C. target bullets as well as a wide range of hunting bullets are offered by just about every bullet maker. While Hodgdon’s H4350 is the most popular propellant for this cartridge, it works well with a wide range of medium-burning rifle powders, including Alliant RL-17.

In terms of long-range performance, I shot the 6.5 Creedmoor out to 1,400 yards at the FTW ranch and shooting school in Barksdale, Texas. My rifle there was a Ruger FTW Predator Rifle. With one exception, I was able to make first-shot hits on one-MOA size targets from 300 yards out to 1,200 yards (I missed the 700-yard target with my first attempt). I owned that single miss free and clear, and hit the target with my second shot.

Bullet velocity of the 6.5 Creedmoor drops to sub-sonic somewhere between the 1,200-and 1,400-yard targets. Things became a bit less predictable and I was only able to hit the 1,400-yard target about 70 percent of the time. Considering that the closest rival in a short action cartridge, the .308 Winchester, drops to sub-sonic well shy of 1,000 yards, this is impressive performance. The truth is, when it comes to long-range rifle accuracy, this little cartridge is the current king.

Boomie-Boomie-Boomie...

NO!

1. It's a blown out 300 Savage necked down to 6.5mm. No magic.

2. The main reason (imho) it has any following is the fact that Hornady took three or four years to develop a good 1/2" 100yd load, and was then smart enough to post the load data on the back of the box.

3. Let me know when LAPUA starts making brass for it.

4. Bryce Towsley is second only to Terry Weigand as a gun whore. To read his stuff, one would think he is a multi-world champion in eight or nine different disciplines.
The facts are that he is sooooo busy writing articles about his prowess with various product review things that he does not have the time to actually compete very often.

If you are looking for data and results in the LR competition I would strongly suggest spending time at www.accurateshooter.com.

The url is full of wondrous things being done, rifles being built and competed with. Know what a tubegun is? How about a point up die?

There is an excellent in-depth article on the four most popular 6.5mm cartridges, and after thousands of rounds expended by hundreds of competitors who actually paid their own money for the rifles and components and shot registered matches with them. Their conclusion, based strictly on match results, there is not diddly difference; so just pick the one you like. Option B: put one casing of each of them in a Stetson Hat and draw one out.

They all shoot the same bullets within 100fps, excepting the 6.5-284. BC is the only thing that matters at the longer yardages. That's the one I have, Bartlein barreled it for me this summer on a standard Old Model 70 that started out life as a 30-06. The others are limited by the magazine OAL (2.800") of the SA 700 or its' many clones. My loads measure 3.228" oal.

As an aside, John Whidden won the US Nationals with a standard dimension .243 Winchester cartridge. That was the most highly contested match, in terms of shooters entered, in this country at a 1000 yards.

No magic but perhaps a magic combination of the right elements available to the blue collar crowd. You don't like Norma brass?

Seems it's the 307 Win that is the papa case according to the article.

quote:

However, the .307 Winchester case was used to make the .30 TC, which was introduced in 2007. Thompson Center had commissioned Hornady to design a proprietary 30-caliber cartridge for the introduction of their bolt-action Icon rifle. Emary shortened the .307 Winchester case, thinned the thick case walls, and removed the rim. The result didn’t achieve success, and the .30 TC died a quick and merciful death. But when Emary and Thielen necked the .30 TC down to take a .264-inch bullet, it became the 6.5 Creedmoor.

Sounds almost as good a the 65x55 loaded to adult pressure.

Sorry, Idaho, but there is more to the 6.5 CM than "Hornady developed a 1/2" load". It is becoming the number one choice for cross the course shooters because it is very accurate AND HAS VERY LOW RECOIL.

Regarding the case, as you put it "a .300 Savage blown out", that is part of what makes it so good although I think describing it as a .22-250 blown out would be better. The 6.5mm bullets are long. The Savage case is shorter than the .308 case and lets the long bullets rest where they should in the case neck while still working through magazines and actions made for .308 length cartridges.



Any of the cartridges above would be excellent choices for an all around, light recoiling cartridge. But the .260 has more recoil and requires long bullets to be seated further in the mouth. The 6mm cartridges are light for elk and bear. The 6XC, 6x47, and 6.5x47, good as they are, are a little esoteric. A serious match shooter with a custom rifle doesn't care. But shooters who want an off the shelf rifle that can fire readily available off the shelf ammunition do care.

The 6,5 Creedmoor is available in dozens of factory rifle models that run the gauntlet from serious match rifles to dedicated woods rifles. Ammunition is made by Federal, Winchester, Hornady, and Nosler.

The 6.5 Creedmoor is one of the best designed and thought out cartridges of the past few decades. It has been well received by shooters. It is giving top notch performance in matches. And it is being used for a variety of game.

No. It does nothing a 6.5x55 can't do and already has for more than 100 years.

Can you shoot the 6.5x55 in an AR-10 platform? Will it fit the detachable magazine of the Ruger Precision Rifle or any similar rifle? Can you build a short light rifle in 6.5x55 using a 98 Mauser Kurz action?

The 6.5x55 is a great old cartridge. But the 6.5 CM does offer some advantages.

I got me a Ruger RPR without actually thinking about it. Just one of those impulse buys and wow what a complete surprise !

Sweet shooting / no recoil and very very precise even with off the shelf ammo. I have not even started loading for it !

Now looking for a field rifle in the same, thinking of the Ruger Hawkeye predator.

It is not magic but it is a very good round. It was formed from a 30TC. It comes close to the 250 Savage case but is longer.

Lapua is working on brass for it and should be here by the shot show.

The 6mm's have done well at long range events as they have less recoil but the Creedmoor has it's place and has earned it well.

It's not everybody's cup o tea but it is none the less a good cartridge. It is our version of a good 6.5 cart. Not better than the Sweed but it is easier to get brass for and it is suited to a short action. The 260 and the 6.5x55 are better suited to long actions due to their length. The 6.5x55 also has a larger head size that is a detraction for some.

Joe

If Lapua and Norma end up producing a box of ammo for about $28-35, with match type bullets it will probably push it further ahead of the 6.5x47 and 260.

For me the 260 sucks, because the brass and ammo factory options suck. I don't have time to load thousands of rounds for a weekend match.

I spent the majority of my time with the 6.5x47 wishing I had a 243 and there was as source of 243 match ammo. Or something else?

I have owned both the 6.5 Creedmoor and the 6.5x47. I don't have a real preference, but it is nice that you can buy $20-28 creedmoor ammo when you need to. Even if it has shit hornady brass, it also shoots really well.

I have 3 kids under 5, and a wife that seems to be a huge time sucker. None of these things are condusive to me getting to allowcate a lot of time to reloading.

These calibers are much more alike than they are different. Take your pick and have fun. Differences are very minor.

Wyoming, Norma started offering the brass in 2014.

The "magic" is good factory support. That is what sets it apart from a variety of similar rounds.

6,5 Creedmore is a almost duplication of the 6,5 Lapua, wich came out a two years ahead of it. The very tiny miniscule increase in speed, is weighed up by superior brass from Lapua!

The ONLY thing the creedmore has on the Lapua, is more advertisment money in the US, and a larger production base. It can pump out more products (loaded ammunition/bras), then their Finnish competitors.

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
Wyoming, Norma started offering the brass in 2014.

Yes, but what pushes the Creedmoor ahead of everyone else is the availability of cheap match ammo.

If I don't factory in my time, I can save a lot by reloading. If I factor in my time (I pay myself my normal working wage), so it kills me.

If I was single, I'd shoot a long action 6.5-284 and handload. But I am married, and the 6.5-284 ends up costing more in barrels, more in powder, more in bullets and all that handloading time eats into my family time.

So the 6.5 Creedmoor in a factory Hornady works very well. I buy ammo when I can buy it on sale for $.80-1.60 around, depending on when I can get it. I buy cases at a time and spend time shooting not reloading.

Isn't "cheap" and "match ammo" an oxymoron?

I get 1/3rd to half inch groups out of the Hornady match stuff in the rifle I was shooting tactical rifle matches with.

Works well enough for F-Class and Sniper rifle matches where reading the wind is the great dividing line.

I bought 3 cases for $420 shipped last year.

Boomie,

the .307 is a rimmed version of the .308 Winchester. Designed for the M94, etc lever action rifles. Uses the same dies as the 308 Win. I have a box of the brass sitting here.

300 Savage, circa 1920, is 1.945", creedmoor is 1.920".

Your designers took a rimmed case, de-rimmed it, thinned the case walls, and did all that work to "create" a case they could have done by simply necking the 300 Savage down and improving it. Sounds like a lot of BS, instead of just saying we necked the 300/250 Savage or the 22-250, necked it down or up, and trimmed to length, then jam fireformed.

About 20 +/- years ago I built a 22 EargesplittenLoudenboomer. It's a 378 Wby necked down with a 35-degree sharp shoulder. That was a fun project, making and fireforming brass. It was not much more complicated than what they did.

Where did you read this?

NORMA brass is considered very soft, in comparison to LAPUA.

BWW,

I'm married and I don't even have a job. I sent a standard OM 70 that was a 30-06' to Bartlein and had them fit a medium Palma contour barrel to it and chamber in 6.5-284. You just have to have your priorities in better order.

This oal thing is just smoke and mirrors. The LR guys single load. Guys who choose it to hunt with don't use 140gr Bergers, etc, and every factory round meets SAAMI specs for oal and fits in the Rem SA 2.800" box.

I hear shooters say that the 6.5-284 is a (comparative) barrel burner, and costs more to feed. My Bartlein all done, was about $650. If I travel to a match (over 400 miles one way) and have to stay overnight, by time I pay match fees, and eat, I spend that much. So, I can skip one match a year, and have a new barrel fit to my rifle for the same $$$$.

6.5mm Creedmoor, .22-250, and 300 Savage all have the same rim diameter.
By specification, the 6.5mm CM, .22-250, and 300 Sav cartridge case lengths are 1.92", 1.91", and 1.87" respectively.

Here is that link to the article http://www.range365.com/65-creedmoor-long-range-king

If you are a Lapua slut, 6.5 CMoor cases can be made from 22-250.

Rich,

Even if money was no object, we are talking about shooting a load I can't buy over the counter of the same quality and price as I can the Creedmoor.

I just don't have time, we have 3 kids under 5, and they run me ragged, I am going to grad school, and working. I don't have time to spend 3 or 4 hours a week working on "perfectly perfect" loads, with perfect oal, perfect ogives, perfect powder, perfect concentricity, and perfect everthing else.

If our kids were in college or out of the house, and I had more time I'd do it in a heart beat. Eventually that will be the case.

I actually quit working for an outfit because they told me they were going to have me on the road 10% of the time and I was actually gone 70-80% of the time.

I was 37 when I got married, the priority of spending time with my kids is something I don't want to give up. Believe it or not 3 girls under 5 are not the best help in the reloading shed.

CISM is on my list of things to get into when I get to Europe next month. I can tell you I'll be shooting a 308 or 6.5x55 because I don't want to spend a ton of time on the reloading bench.

I will say this, I have zero regrets when it comes to paying more for ammo per round because I don't hand load every cartridge I shoot a lot. That time with the family is worth it.

I guess if its about platform maybe there is a preference. My 6.5x55 shooting 140 grain at 2750 doesn't feel threatened.

I actually enjoy the challenge of finding the accuracy my rifles promise, and enjoy casting bullets and reloading ammunition over the winter.

I cannot remember the last round of factory ammunition I shot, other than 22 rimfire.

I have trouble remembering (aside from DR's) the last factory rifle I bought. I like the planning and building process too much.

different strokes...

Is the 6.5 Creedmoor the Holy Grail of medium bores?

No, it is the king of small bores, for target shooters OR hunters.

Attention Alf:

I have bought and shot each of all the Ruger 6.5 Creedmoor rifles as they became available to me locally, at 10 % over wholesale.
The Ruger No. 1 even has pleasing wood.
I got good accuracy out of all of them, using Hornady Factory ammo, 2 cases of it to make brass with.
It is now time to handload, with H4350 as starter with 140-ish-grainers, and RL-17 and Varget for successively lighter bullets, if the need arises.

When the Ruger Hawkeye "FTW Hunter" became available locally in 6.5 Creedmoor, 30-06, and 300 WinMag, I had to go with the 30-06.

30-06 Springfield: There is the "Holy Grail" of medium bore cartridges for the hunter, and a nice rifle to shoot it in, 24" barrel and fairly light weight.

If you are still stuck on the 6.5 Creedmoor, the FTW might be considered as a slightly more aesthetic experience than the Hawkeye Predator, not to be oxymoronic to those Ruger haters.

The Ruger Hawkeye FTW Hunter 6.5 Creedmoor is claimed to be 7.6 lbs. with a 24" barrel.
The 30-06 with 24" barrel was claimed to be 8.2 lbs., but mine weighs 8.0 lbs with the brake, and only 7 # 14.5 oz. with the brake replaced by the muzzle cap thread protector.



Yes the muzzle brake is removable and both a thread protector muzzle cap PLUS a bigger muzzle weight are provided, even on the 6.5 Creedmoor.



http://www.ruger.com/products/...TWHunter/models.html

The 30-06 has stock crossbolts fore and aft of the magazine box, as do the heavier kickers.
No crossbolts on the 6.5 Creedmoor for the same price.



Hey! There is a selfie in the polished bolt knob:


The stock is laminated wood with a dipped coating of "Natural Gear" camo. The exposed crossbolt heads and nuts are camo-coated too, so aesthetic.
The FTW laminated/coated stocks are slimmed down a bit compared to some other Hawkeye laminates I have fondled.

(Calibers listed by Ruger: 30-06, 300 WinMag, 375 Ruger, 308 Win, 6.5 Cm, 7mm RemMag, 260 Rem)

Of course the best shooting for the buck is still the Ruger American Predator. It has the same muzzle diameter as the RPR 6.5 Cm,
and though it has standard 6-groove, 1:8" twist as opposed to the RPR's 5R-1:8",
it shoots just as accurately as the RPR for 1/3 the price. Aesthetics be damned.

I have been shilling for Ruger since 1978, hoping someday they will send me a ham or a turkey for Christmas.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
I actually enjoy the challenge of finding the accuracy my rifles promise, and enjoy casting bullets and reloading ammunition over the winter.

I cannot remember the last round of factory ammunition I shot, other than 22 rimfire.



different strokes...

+2

to me, whether I'm shooting targets or game, it's all part of the package.

Granted the 30-06 is better for large game but if I were hunting bear, I would use a different rig and cart. Just looking at the numbers IMHO it could be a minimum for Elk as well as target shooting. Who does not love the 06? I might get a 270 over an 06 because of bullet technology allowing you to get away with smaller diameters or lighter weight bullets than before. I can see that ugly but accurate Ruger being a good all around rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
... I can see that ugly but accurate Ruger being a good all around rifle.

The ugliness of the butt spacers is my only annoyance,
butt, the consolation is a factory stock I do not have to add a slipon pad to, to get my LOP.
I just use all the butt-ugly spacers supplied with the rifle and I am ready to rip.
Butt-ugly ripping.

Butt, maybe I could take off all the spacers and use a slipon pad as usual?

Did I mention the "L6" trigger pull weight was a crisp single-stage 4 pounds even, right out of the box?

I think I'll stay with my 6.5 R-Bar designed in the late 50s or very early 60s But didn't have Vapo Dog build it till six years ago. The intent was to use .243 or .308 brass with a steeper shoulder and a longer neck to use the longer (160gr) bullets, In appearance it looks a lot like a Carcano. roger

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
Can you shoot the 6.5x55 in an AR-10 platform? Will it fit the detachable magazine of the Ruger Precision Rifle or any similar rifle? Can you build a short light rifle in 6.5x55 using a 98 Mauser Kurz action?

The 6.5x55 is a great old cartridge. But the 6.5 CM does offer some advantages.

I knew that was going to store the pot a bit. question is why would I care to do any of the above? If you like the short action rifles or they're rounds, great. But to say they're better isn't very convincing. Me I'll take my old 6.5x55 and go have some fun in my mid length Mauser.

Every cartridge invented beginning with the 45-70, has had a tremendous upside, and no flaws.
It (45-70) won thousand hard matches, killed off the buffalo, and destroyed the plains tribes way of life. In less than twenty years.

Every significant advancement since then has just been reducing recoil, and making a flatter trajectory.

The past ten years the shooting fraternity has just gone nuts shooting thousand-yard matches.

The various 30 caliber cartridges owned the LR competition until about twenty years ago. People like Brian Litz have designed smaller calibers and cases to finally close out the 30 caliber era.

The various 6.5mm's ruled the roost until about 5-6 years ago.

John Whidden won the National Championship, against a couple hundred master class riflemen this year. He was shooting a standard .243 Winchester.

Last time I spoke with him, he was giving a .223 Rem with the 90gr Berger some thought.

What the Creedmoor has going for it, is the ability to fit in a Rem 700 SA or clone's 2.800" box magazine. That and the fact that Hornady was willing to spend four years and God know how much $$$$$ to develop a cartridge that is a whopping .080" shorter than a 308 Win. It's a pretty good copy of the 6.5x47, being a whole .020" longer.

I haven't talked to anybody that shot that match that was using factory ammunition.

As a matter of fact, there were more 6mm Dashers being shot than Creedmoors.

Read the match reports...

Idaho: Hornadys claiming to spend 4 years developing this cartridge.. I call BS.

They took a look a the 6,5x47 Lapua and said, lets ad ,02" just to "set it apart"..

The rest is Advertisment money beeing spent!


IF they actually did spend 4 years, just to basicly copy Lapuas design, they really need to fire the project leaders!

Rumor has it that 6.5 CM brass will be available very shortly from Lapua.

Actually the cartridge was developed for an AR platform and just happened to work great for long range precision in bolt actions.

Recoil does take a toll in shooting a lot of rounds in competition. Most competition guns are in the 17-22 pound range. Light recoiling rounds allow less fatigue. Every sport discipline has evolved since founded and continue to evolve. Look at bench rest.

The 6.5x47 Lapua is a great round but it is not readily available over here. All three 6.5mm cartridges do pretty much the same thing. The Creedmoor has earned it's place.

The 45-70 may have been the cartridge of choice in it's day but it's rainbow trajectory is a little pesky to work with as well as it's recoil. If it won matches I am sure it would be a lot more popular.

Joe

Actually the holy grail of medium bores is and always has been the 250-3000, just the newbies havn't figured that out yet!

I think this is much to do about nothing. So the Creedmore stays supersonic to somewhere between 1300-1400yds. Who shoots that far? Longest range I hear being shot in competation is still only 1000yds!

The gun Savage makes at a blue collar price of only $1500 is not a blue collar price. Wonder what would happen if the chambered it in the same rifle as they do the 260? Whats that, about $400? The fact that Savage put a lot more into the rifle shooting the Creedmore than they do in the 260, proves nothing except more accuracy cost's more money. The idea that you don't have to seat the bullet as deep in the Creedmore as in the 260 doesn't fly with me. A difference in .115" isn't much to talk about. To gain an advantage with the Creedmore, a real advantage, would take a new action length and throat. Then what could be done seating the bullet would be about the same for both! As for velocity with a 6.5 bullet with a BC of say .585, the extra 25fps claimed for the Creedmore with the 140gr match bullet doesn't amount to much of anything. The only real difference I can see is the Creedmore has more factory bullet weight's available! or so I'm told, I don't have either and reload all my ammo anyway. The first 260 Rem I believe was called the 263 express and came along long before the Creedmore or even the 260 Rem. Jim Carmichael seems to have got credit for the 260 Rem. His idea was a cartridge that could be shot longer in 1000 yds matches without recoil fatigue, I believe he based it on a 123gr bullet. The only real difference I see in the two is hype, other than that it's splitting hairs at best!

So, here is my question. What can a 6.5 Creedmoor do that a 270 can't? I've been itching for a 270 for a while but now I am thinking about the Creedmoor.

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
So, here is my question. What can a 6.5 Creedmoor do that a 270 can't?

Nothing as far as hunting rifles go. They will both make a wonderful, traditional 24-26" barreled bolt action hunting rifle that will be all but equal in killing ability.

But what type of action/platform will the rifle be built on? That may make the choice obvious. You can rebarrel an old Mauser for either but 6.5 CM requires no further alteration. The .270 may require altering the magazine and tweaking a few things. If you are looking for a short action cartridge then only one of your choices will work for that. If you have accuracy in mind, and have a rifle barreled and stocked with that as the priority, then the inherent accuracy of the 6.5 CM is an advantage.

The 6.5 CM has another advantage over the .270 if you live in California, a lead free state. If you compare overall lengths and case lengths of the cartridges you will find the 6.5 CM has 0.1" of extra room for a bullet. Lead free bullets are significantly longer than the same weight bullet made using lead. When you get into the heavier bullets for either caliber the difference becomes obvious. The advantage also applies to loading and shooting VLD type long boatail bullets.

In the picture below the 6.5 Creedmoor has the same OAL as the .308 to its right and allows seating of very long bullets with less infringement of powder space. The 30-06 shown on the right has the same OAL and a case 0.05" shorter than the .270 Winchester. Very long .270 bullets must be seated far back where they take up space that would otherwise be available for powder.