6.5 Creedmoor.......Love affair???

Umm no......the 243 isn't capable of pushing a 117-120 grain bullet.This range is where the 25-06 shines.
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Pretty sure he meant to type .264, and if that was the case, he would be absolutely correct.

6.5mm bore is a sweet spot, the Swedes figured that out in 1894. You can shoot varmint bullets as light at 85 grains well north of 3000 FPS, or very high B.C match bullets, that equal the big .30 magnums but are pleasant to shoot. The hunting bullets have about as high a sectional density as you can get, so they have great penetration. Good article on the subject here: http://www.chuckhawks.com/sd.htm

I have been shooting 6.5 long before the 6.5CM existed, in a Swede and a 6.5-06 LR rig. I liked the concept of the .260 Rem when it came out, but it has some shortcomings with heavy bullets and OAL, which were solved by the 6.5CM.

You get 90% of the performance of the 6.5-06, in a short action, with longer barrel life and end up with a rifle capable of hunting anything in the lower 48 except big bears.

What's not to like?
 
"crap like that, air guns" and "ruffling feathers"

You can't use phrases like that and not ruffle some feathers.

There are a whole world of serious rifle guys that crank out rounds at paper, that do not hunt. There are a whole lot of military and ex-military guys among them. They shoot (accurately) way past 400 yds (your stated hunt limit) and such things as less drop (for unknown distances) and less wind drift (always) matters. Referring to match/paper shooters interests as "crap" will not win you any fans here. Camp Perry is one of those places where that sort of crap is very popular. To use a phrase from Elmer Keith, "I'm for any sport that burns powder".

I too am mostly a hunter, but dabbled in regional match shooting F-T/R(.223/.308) just enough to know that there are some dang good shots at those matches. I also saw that the .308 scores at most any match I went to could not equal the scores being shot by those with wind slipping 6mm, 6.5 and 7mm F-class (open) rifles. In the wind ( and it doesn't take much ) the .308 was at a distinct disadvantage.

Regards air guns and recoil. Above rifleman may well shoot 100-125 or more rounds over the course of a match weekend. Every one of those trigger presses are hoped to be perfect. Less recoil is conducive to that no matter how much hair you have on your chest. There are also a whole lot of folks who hunt that have found that to cleanly kill a 150 lb whitetail, they don't need .30 caliber punch.

The 6.5CM fits in neatly above the .243, which is accepted as a good deer combo by many. Where the 6.5CM may come into its own as a hunting round is in the ultralight rifles like the Kimber Hunter. At 5.5 lbs naked, the Hunter and its like are very light, and the 6.5CM, with more punch than a .243, and more reach than it's bigger brothers (arguably), but less recoil, may be the ideal spot and stalk medium game rifle. I'd think it ideal for something like an antelope hunt, mule deer and the like, where you cover a lot of ground, and shots can be long (that's what they say anyhow, I'll likely never get the chance to find out).

I don't own a 6.5CM, or a Kimber Hunter, but I can see where the combo might be an ideal tool. I've not shot a whitetail past 225 yds, and for that, all my old standbys work fine, and there's likely not one that couldn't have been taken with a .243, and most could have fallen easily to a 30-30. I no longer shoot in the F-T/R matches, but in F-Class and the new PRS game, the 6.5CM may be the answer. It certainly seems popular afield on the firing line.

For a lot of reasons.
 
And on that note Gentleman I may just have to buy one and put it through the paces.That much love must come from somewhere.If I don't like it........appears it'd be an easy sale,as long as lefty's like them as well.

I've just tried so many over the years that just didn't make the cut for one reason or another........the 280,264 Winmag,7mm mag and a few others I've long forgotten.

I'll just have to add this to my summer budget.

Again thanks for the input.It is much appreciated.
 
I have a 6.5 Creedmoor, it's a custom rifle built on an M38 Turkish Mauser action.
I like the low recoil and ability to teach out if needed and mostly Handloading for it.
The 6.5 saum is a really fast 6.5 cartridge used mostly in PRS shooting competitions and hunters are using those to take game cleanly to distances way farther than I could ever dream of.
The new kid on the block is the 6.5 PRC, which is designed by Hornady as the Creedmoor was, and George Gardner. The idea behind the PRC is short action cartridge that has the high bc's of the 6.5 bullet. It's main feature is pushing 140 grn pills to 3150 which is the limit for PRC competitions, and I'm sure numerous game animals have been falling to this cartridge as well.

In the end I had this rifle barreled in the Creedmoor because it's plenty for coyotes, pigs, deer, antelope, with low powder consumption and low recoil, oh and it's superbly accurate and consistent....
 
My take on the PRC is that it incorporates the "slightly blown-out case to make a short action magnum" concept--sorta like the "revolutionary" 284 win did (and which never gained traction until reincarnated as the 6.5-284 norma). On the other hand, I don't underestimate Hornady's cartridge design prowess, so "looks great, you go first" is my take for the time being.:D
 
I don’t have a 6.5CM, but do have a 260, which is the ballistic twin. The only reason I bought it was because a buddy was willing to sell it real cheap, and the wife said she wanted a gun for hunting pigs. Well, she didn’t hunt pigs, so I started hunting with it and found that I liked it a lot. Sold it and got another one that fit me better, and that’s what I hunt with. My 270 rarely gets used now. In the varmint season (pigs and coyotes) I shoot 100 gr Nosler BTs, and move to 120s for deer. Very little recoil with the 100s and not much with the 120s. Very pleasant caliber to hunt with. I’ve shot a couple of pigs and coyotes out to 400 yards, but deer shooting is usually under 300 yards. All in all, I really like the caliber. It doesn’t match up to the 270 at hunting ranges, but that’s Ok. And I have no reason to shoot at 800 or 1000 yards, so I don’t see much need to shoot 140 gr bullets.
 
I used to hate the 6.5cm. I got tired of all the talk about it. I bought one a few months ago at a deal. I found it to be a fairly accurate round. With decent recoil. I liked it enough to buy another rifle in 6.5 cm a few weeks ago. It really is not any thing new. What it is a good very accurate round that is available in cheap rifles. And they shoot very well. I also don't shot any farther than 250 yards. I just wanted a cheap accurate rifle to use on paper and possibly deer. Very accurate ammo is easily available. And rather affordable. I agree it the hornady has did a good marketing job. So you can say I was changed. I used to hate the 1911 for the same reasons. I finally got one and now it gets shot quite often.
 
I am building two 6.5X55s now.
I think the CM has real merit because it comes very very close to the 121 year old Swede.

But it's ballistics are far from "new"

I for one would rather have a 6.5X55 or a 260 Remington in most bolt actions.

But if I were to buy a bolt action that takes a NATO length detachable magazine I'd like the Creedmoor just fine. It's effectively a 260 Rem with the shoulder and neck moved back to make room for the heavier longer bullets and still fit in the NATO mag. If you don't have the NATO mag, there is no reason to move the shoulder and neck back anyway.

I'd take any one of the 3 long before I'd take a 264 Win Mag or a 26 Nosler. Or any other throat burning uber-magnum.

There is a segment of the shooting world that believe faster is always better, and I don't believe that's true.

My way of thinking says if a 140 grain or 160 grain 26 caliber from a Swede is not enough I don't need to make it go faster. I need a bigger bullet!

So I'd jump up to a 308 or 30-06, or even a 375H&H or 9.3X62 if a Swede, a 260 or a CM were not enough. Faster is not the answer to that question.
 
I have 2 6.5 Creedmoors. I also have a 6.5x55. For all of what I do and 95% of what 95% of shooters do, the 6.5x55 is better (loaded to its full potential). When the 6.5 PRC hits the mainstream, it'll better the Creedmoor appreciably, and probably in every way. Oddly, it will be a near ballistic twin of the good old 6.5x284 but in a tad shorter package and without the rebated rim.

The 6.5 Creedmoor was a lot of minute details done exceptionally well, and the resultant cartridge is inarguably outstanding. It really shows up on paper at longer ranges by all accounts. Few, and I mean very few shooters, shoot in ways that take advantage of all those minute details though. For the average hunter or shooter looking for a 24-28 caliber rifle, there's no reason to avoid the mild mannered Creedmoor, nor is there any reason to flock to it. It's not like they throw in a pair of BDUs with each purchase.
 
After 15 years with a .260Rem, I am going to rebarrel it to .243Win and pick up a new 6.5CM this spring.

I prefer the .260Rem, but brass life and efficiency of the 6.5CM is pretty nice. But the main reason I am switching is my 14 year old got a 6.5CM late last year. He is shooting Precision matches and hunting with it and it is impressive. I'd just rather not support 2 6.5 cartridges that are so close to each other. If you look at energy out at distance, it beats the .308, .270, .30-06 shooting the 143 ELDx.
 
Any assessment that would be relevant needs to include barrel life as a factor.

If we didn't care about getting 600-1000 rounds out of a barrel before staking a tomato to it,, we'd all be shooting 6.5-300's.

Nearly as much velocity and energy at 500 yards as the 6.5 Creedmoor popping out of the muzzle.

So no, nothing at all "miraculous" about it. Just a solid "compromise" for optimizing barrel life and velocity for 6.5's in a short action.
 
After 15 years with a .260Rem, I am going to rebarrel it to .243Win and pick up a new 6.5CM this spring.

I prefer the .260Rem, but brass life and efficiency of the 6.5CM is pretty nice. But the main reason I am switching is my 14 year old got a 6.5CM late last year. He is shooting Precision matches and hunting with it and it is impressive. I'd just rather not support 2 6.5 cartridges that are so close to each other. If you look at energy out at distance, it beats the .308, .270, .30-06 shooting the 143 ELDx.
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Now that makes sense. I'm willing get out of my lounge chair to go to the kitchen to get a beer and some chips for you--what do you like?;):D
 
Dark beer.
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Now when you say "dark beer" do you mean a porter or stout? Personally, A stout is much better and I have no use for porters. Stouts deliver better taste and more alcohol at the head. I really don't think there is any need for porters.
 
emcon5 said:
Only if you stick to 50 yards. May want to run some wind drift numbers beyond that.
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It's the latest craze for now, can't wait till it ends though. It's a good cartridge but it's not the best for everything like the 6.5 Lemmings would have you believe.

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Q: What's the difference between a 6.5 CM fan and a Terrorist?
A: You can reason with a terrorist.
 
Although the 6.5 CM does interest me since I am looking to downsize calibers, I think I am going to wait and see what the 6.5 PRC has to offer.
 
This is my new wildcat; the "6.5 end-of-times" I've dropped deer at 6,000 miles with it--don't see much need for other fad cartridges.

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MarkCO said:
After 15 years with a .260Rem, I am going to rebarrel it to .243Win and pick up a new 6.5CM this spring.

I prefer the .260Rem, but brass life and efficiency of the 6.5CM is pretty nice. But the main reason I am switching is my 14 year old got a 6.5CM late last year. He is shooting Precision matches and hunting with it and it is impressive. I'd just rather not support 2 6.5 cartridges that are so close to each other. If you look at energy out at distance, it beats the .308, .270, .30-06 shooting the 143 ELDx.
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Energy out at a distance? What distance are you talking about?
 
Sometimes it's gun writers/internet. Sometimes it's not.

Look at .308. It was never going to supplant .30-06 till it started winning matches. All of a sudden everyone wanted a .308. This is the same thing.

Once CM started winning all the matches everyone wanted one.

Look no further than the Carcano and the Sweed to see the inspiration. What's old is new.
 
I’ve got a 260 and it has become my primary hunting rifle. But, it and the 6.5CM won’t push a 140 gr bullet to 3000 FPS, but my 270 will. Now, some may say that “at distance, the 6.5 has more energy” but at 400 yards and in, which is a reasonable max range for hunters, the 270 has more grunt.
 
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