Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Help choosing new rifle caliber - 308 or 6.5creedmore

I have a tikka 308 im looking to sell as im just not fond of it. I handled one of the bergara b14 rifles the other day and plan to purchase one. Juet not sure if i wanna go 308 again or go with a 6.5 creedmore. Will the 6.5creed do pretty much all a 308 will do with less recoil? Or would the 308 be a more versatile choice? Used for primarily hunting

Personally, I'd go 308 although there is nothing wrong with the creedmoor except overhype.

If I was all set up to reload the 308, brass, bullets, dies etc. on hand, I'd probably lean that way, but if I was starting from scratch, it would be creed in a heartbeat.

Yes and yes.

One of the reasons people cite for .308 is availability of cheaper ammo. Thing is the cheap blasting stuff isn't very accurate, so that can defeat the purpose. If you want cheap, but usefully accurate, plinking ammo you have to load your own regardless of whether you have a 6.5 or .308.

The other thing is the cheaper, but good enough, hunting ammo can get hard to find. There have been times in the past several years when .308 150gr Cor Lokt ammo was nearly impossible to get. In that situation you're paying for premium ammo and it costs more either way. Sometimes the less popular rounds are easier to get when the more popular was bought up in a panic.

I'd go with the 6.5 this time to see if the cartridge will make for a rifle that suits you better. You have to try different ones until you find your preference. I've used a .260 and a .308, so I know what works best for me. If you haven't then you don't know and you're gonna have to try the 6.5 to find out.

What did you not like about the 308? If it was recoil,then you need to get the 6.5 Creedmoor. You can load a 308 down but there's no guarantee you will have as accurate of a load. In general you should be able to find an accurate load for the 6.5 with less recoil than the 308.

The 308 was fine. Just didnt care for the tikka. Im more of a 700 guy and after handling a B14 id much rather have it than the tikka. I took a few deer with the 308. No issues. Recoil wasnt bad but sure id like a little less

If only hunting deer sized game then I would go with a 6.5 creedmoore or the 260 rem. If going larger game than I would stick with the 308 win and get a good recoil pad/brake. I realize you can kill larger game with both but I tend to lean to the .308 bullet for bigger game.

I recently made the same decision, in favor of the .308, for reasons of versatility, component availability, larger diameter to augment expansion of the projectile. Recoil is not that much different, and a bit more weight in the .308 helps to reduce recoil(I went with a heavier barrel contour, which has other benefits as well).

Now that may be the silliest thing I've read all day.

Seriously, maybe NOT. Stock FIT for the individual can make a whale of a difference. The same rifle/cartridge shot by different people CAN have varied reactions.

Jerry

Everything else set aside, the .308 has been around since the 1950s and it's not going anywhere. You may want to ask yourself is the Creed here to stay or is it just the "big thing" until the next "big thing" gets here...just my $.02, your thinking may be different.

I guess some feel it is silly to calculate recoil energy, to consider the effects of different weights of components and of the rifle, stock fit, etc.

One could get into more variables like powder burning rate and gun weight affecting the recoil acceleration, the jet effect vs. powder charge and bore size (Mule Deer wrote an article on that effect some years ago).

Your use is "primarily hunting"??? What the heck does that mean? Are you hunting antelope or moose? Out west in wide open spaces or thick forest? The type of game hunted and the expected type of shots should always dictate your caliber selection.

It means purchasing a rifle more for the hunting aspect vs bench shooting. More specifically deer,antelope, possibly elk

If elk are included in possible usage, the .308 would be significantly better, imo.

I would agree. 6.5 would work fine for deer size animals and smaller. For anything 250 lb and up the 308 would make me more comfortable.

With elk in the equation, .308 all the way. I think the 6.5 would work on elk, but given a choice, 308.

How does a 308 kill elk better?

I think, both are great rounds. Should take animals the same.

IDK, not sure it makes a difference too much, but an elk shot in the exact same place with both calibers one is going to start out making a 35% larger hole right out of the gate and thus possible make a larger hole in the lungs to bleed it out faster?

Thats about the only reason one might argue that I suppose.

I think both are great options, but up here in Alaska I am partial to the .308 over the .260 I have. The 180s going 2700 fps or 140s doing 2800 likely isn't much difference other than a bit more mass with the .308.

If you plan to shoot a ways out there then the 6.5 is better, but I don't shoot much past 400 yards so the .308 does just fine for me even for grizzlies and brown bears I have seen shot with the .308.

Would a 140 grainer from a 6.5 do the same? Likely so, but I prefer the .308. I am sure you could argue that the the 6.5 is better in every aspect right?