Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 243 win vs. 6.5 creed vs 7mm-08

I have all three, and for the life of me I don't know why.

The creed is scary accurate, but from a hunting prospective, which one offers the most advantages?

Where I hunt, you could take a 700 yard shot, but I never have taken one over 367 laser confirmed yards.

I hunt deer, elk, bears and in theory, mountain lions (as in I get the tag each year and never see a cat while hunting).

Goldilocks.

For me, it would be the Creedmoor. Light to heavyweight, great SD for long range, less recoil than the heavier 7mm loads, and scary accurate.

David,

Tough to choose a loser out of those 3 Which do you shoot best, in the field?

If you're serious about 700y, even for practice only, they have similar drift if using the higher BC bullet options for their respective caliber. But recoil is something I'd seriously consider if shooting out to 700 yards, even just for fun/practice/plinking.

And what make/model rifles?

Jason

Two are tikka t3 rifles. The other a Ruger American Predator.

For me if Elk are involved the .243 goes away.

A 140 Partition in 6.5 or 7mm-08 is skookem! Suppose the .284 puts more blood to track on the ground..

A bud recently bought a Predator in 6.5 Creed. The trigger feels heavy to me, even with the spring removed, but I was able to put 4 shots into one hole. Last time out he was making solid hits at 500 and 600 with decent wind. No missed shots. Then 875 and 1050. Its a good shooter with factory 140 AMAX.

Tough to argue with performance but I'm not a big fan of the RAR ejection with the S/A cartridges. If you're lazy with the bolt it'll drop the spent case into the action. Same thing happens with my 223 RAR. If shooting game, I bet that brass goes into orbit due to excitement but its not foolproof like the L/A versions. We can't get the L/A RAR to do anything other than chuck the spent brass far from the rifle.

Jason

I sure like the Creed.....

I would agree with Shag, only I doubt you or the animal would recognize the difference in 6.5 and 7mm-08.

I bought a RAR Predator in 6.5 Creed just for a beater and loaner.

This was shot number 6,7 and 8 using the 140gr A-Max with 42.4gr of H4350 with AOL at 2.800".

About to start on some 123gr Skinners using RL-17.

The only thing I have done is float the barrel. The fore end has the reinforced pattern in it. I just ordered a Timney set at 1.5# so that will take care of the trigger which wasn't horrible after I had adjusted it.

I can see this taking out some doe's on the hunting lease this year especially with the kids behind the trigger.

I'd say that the answer aligns with whichever bullet you like the most in whichever cartridge you prefer.

I recently purchased a 7-08 with the intention of 162 Amax for whitetail - knowing I could also go 120/140 TTSX if I determined that the 162 wasn't going to do it for me.

I can't imagine any one of those 3 choices not working for you in a similar situation.

I also shoot the 105 out of my son's 243 and that's been nice so far. Larry has a pic of a darn nice bear taken with the same from a 6mm BR - it gets the job done.

Long/longer - chose the bullet you like seems to be the answer - the cartridge is a wash after that.

4th_point - I've a RAR Predator in .243W and while accuracy is just 'so,so' right now I'm sure hand-loading will make it better. Same for a Savage SS Warrior in 7mm-08.
LGS availability for 6.5 Creed ammo/components is just hit/miss (hate waiting on the big brown truck). Good as the 6.5 Creed is it needs a bigger audience and user group. It is bucking the 6.5 Swede and .260 rem after all. Homesteader

For hunting it would be the 7-08 all day. Not much you could not accomplish with a 140-gr AB. No way I personally would shoot game to 700 with any of the 3, but your call.

I know the 6.5 has been killing moose over seas for a long time now, so no flies there either.

There's not a lot I'd worry about with a 7-08 and a good 140+ grainer launched out of it. BTW, I just found that Barnes has new data on it's site for this and some other cartridges, thanks to this thread.

Currently have 2 of the 243's and a 7mm-08. Sold my Creed a few years ago and have to agree - it was scary accurate!

Of the 3, I wouldn't hesitate to use either the Creed or the 7mm-08 on game up to elk. Though I would tend to hedge my bets and carry the '-08 more often. Most likely loaded with something heavier than the 140 but that's just me.

For bears and deer any of them should do the job but I'd feel better about making a clean kill with either the Creed or the 7mm-08 in a 140 gr pill.

David,

For me, it's all about the rifle. I don't believe that you'll come up short with any of the cartridges listed in a hunting situation.

I see what guys write about the heavy, high b.c. bullets and they're not wrong. It's just never mattered in any of my hunting.
I used a bullet that's often referred to as a ping pong ball to kill my first black bear with a .243. One shot, dead right there with some spinning and thrashing.

I see guys bad mouth the .243, but all I can do is refer to my own experience.
There have been times when I wondered if the .243 was enough rifle. Never let it stop a shot, and never been disappointed with any well placed shot.

I do think that the various 6.5s offer a lot, but my experience there is all with rifles owned by others.
I've been pretty impressed with the 7-08/150 ballistic tip.

FWIW - I can find ammo for all 3 in podunk places.

There's a store up the road from camp - it's maybe the size of a 2 stall garage. 6.5 Creedmoor in stock along with the rest.

This is in a town of 431 people and where the M1899 and Rem pumps are still considered new technology...

One of those for the game mentioned, 7-08. Though I wouldn't shoot at elk at 700 yards with any of them. Deer yes.

I just bought a 243, but only because I have a 280AI

Sometimes less is moor

I prefer my elk rifles be a min of 27 caliber, tho I'm sure a 65cm would be fine if that's all I had.