Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why the Infatuation with the 6.5 Creedmoor?

It works....

Didnt the same thing happen with the 280AI

The weatherby vangaurd in 6.5 creedmoor is an excellent rifle. The magazine length and throat were properly done, and the #3 contour barrel is extremely accurate. For the money, it's a very good value.

I've never killed anything with mine yet, but it performs like the .260rem, and I've killed a bunch of game with the .260rem.

I have two Creedmoors, a Browning Long Range Hunter that shot 1/2" groups at 100 yards with factory Hornady 120 Amax's. It's a little heavy but will make a great bean field rifle. The other is a Weatherby Vanguard that I just bought and haven't shot. I sold a Ruger SS Hawkeye, it also shot lights out, I wasn't in love with that 26" barrel. Can't beat great accuracy and light recoil.

Sounds like a cool little round, will it compete with the 6.5 Swede as far as ballistics are concerned?

6.5 Creedmoor, 256 Newton, 260, and 6.5x55 all have approximately the same velocity potential, if all other variables are the same.

The catch being that the other variables are seldom the same, particularly with the 6.5x55 where the throat specs are all over the place. I have one of the Swedish sniper rifles from the 1940s that has a shorter throat than any of the other dozen or so Swedish military and commercial Mausers that I've had around the house.

10-4 260, was kinda wondering if the Creedmoor was loaded to much higher pressures like many of the more modern rounds.

Its MAP is 62,000 psi.

Thanks Mathman, may have to schedule a Creedmoor build one of these days.

Every single 6.5 Creedmoor that I've been around has been stupid accurate! I think that is perhaps the biggest selling point. That, and it hardly recoils at all. To me at least, I can't tell the difference between it and a .243 Win. Yet, it has some pretty good wind bucking characteristics and flat trajectory.

I've been looking for one in an S2 Vanguard but can't seem to locate one, so maybe will give Savage a try. I just want one. Easy accuracy just makes me a happy camper.

I'm lovin' my creedmoor.
Rebarrelled kimber.
23" Lilja #2 profile.
All the smithy had to do was turn down the diameter of the shank a little to match the original. Plus moan some about the extractor slot haha. I opened up the barrel channel on the stock a smidge and all was good. I was going to go with .260 but the smith had a nice new creedmoor reamer, plenty of brass there and was pretty enthusiastic about the cartridge so went with that.
With Talleys, Z3 3-9x36 and Vero Vellini sling it's 3200 grams. Dunno what that is in lbs but it suits me fine.
Shot this buck with it this morning as he was heading to a scrape.
Shot stretched 10 metres.
Projectile was 130 sierra HPBT gameking. Didn't exit but did bust up the lower offside shoulder.
Have shot four fallow with the gamekings. Two exited and two stayed inside. From that small sample they look like a good mix of penetration and "come apartedness" for fallow/whitetail size game to me. They aren't the pointiest bullet around and don't really take advantage of the Creedmoor's chamber dimensions but was what the local shop had. Am giving some Scirroco 130s a fly tomorrow.

I think that the Vanguards were a Cabela's special order. I think that they still have a few in inventory, as they didn't sell nearly as well as they shoot. I would rather have the RAR Predator than any of the Savages. I think that Howa is going to sell 1500s in 6.5 Creedmoor starting this year.

I keep looking at the RAR. I have a friend who now has 4 of them and loves them.

The only thing that has kept me away from them is that plastic stock. I just can't get used to the feel of it. I know that Boyds now makes an aftermarket stock for the RAR but once you start doing the 'add-on' thing, the economics of the RAR are kinda ruined. BUT, it still may be the way to go.

In the 6.5 Creedmoor column, I find myself with 2 Vanguards, a Marlin XS7 with a Savage barrel, and the RAR Predator. The Vanguards were $500 each, the Marlin was about $450, and the RAR-P was about $400. I prefer the Vanguards, but the RAR-P in 204 that I have is amazingly accurate and although it weighs in at 8 lbs., it is well balanced and doesn't feel (to me) at heavy as it is. The Vanguards have been restocked, one with a Boyds Prairie Hunter, heavier, and one with a McMillan McM Hunter, lighter. The swap to the McM stock made a big difference in the ergs and more user friendly, at least for this user, but doing so doubled the investment. Worth it? To me, yes. To other, only they would know. I will say that the synthetic stocks on the Vanguard2s seem an improvement over the older Vanguard stocks.

I bought a finish reamer and headspace gauges, so I'll be putting together a Remington 700 in 6.5 Creedmoor, just not sure on the configuration and when I'll find the time to do it.

Boxer installed a Boyds Classic, what used to be called the JRS Classic, on a RAR-Ranch Rifle in 223 that he appears to like. I just this past week ordered a Boyds Heritage, but haven't received it yet. Mine was just under $200 in laminated wood and with fleur-de-lis style "checkering".

I believe that Howa is cataloging the 1500 in 6.5 Creedmoor this year and would expect other Manufacturers to follow suit. If you live near a Cabeal's, you might check to see if they have any more of the Vanguard2s somewhere in their warehouses, as I believe that the V2s in 6.5 Creedmoor were a special run for Cabela's.

Mule Deer (as usual) did a fairly fine job of explaining this........and his words exempt my custom 6.5 X 55 from the discussion as it won't fit in a short action receiver.....at least the ones I choose to use.

The competition mainly is the .260 Remington.....a cartridge that is far ahead of it's sales....it simply isn't a very popular round and it should be.

Like a lot of Remington introductions....the 6mm Rem, the .280 Rem, the 8mmRem Mag, the 6.5 Rem Mag, the .350 Rem mag, the list goes on....the .260 Rem is a very fine round that just wasn't accepted by the buying public.

As to the Creedmore, it's advantage over the .260 Rem IMO isn't at all justified as it's marginal at best. I'll take my 6.5 X 55 over either of them.....but that's not in the same family.

Maybe the real debate should be about standard length actions and short actions.....again...very marginal gains in the short action....,,and heaven forbid that we might compare the .260 Creedmore to the venerable old .270 Winchester!....that just wouldn't be fair would it!

Make no mistake about it.....I have nothing at all against the Creedmore. It's a very fine round. I'm just waiting for someone to introduce the .294 keepsemfromfloppin. Now there is a cartridge that will go over big time!

I have one creedmoor, and 3 260Remington's. It's all personal preference. The creedmoor with a 140 grain or larger bullet is "supposed" to be able to get alittle more powder in it than the 260 Rem cartridge, alot of that probably depends on individual 260 barrels and how they are cut. Frankly, I really don't care because I run 120's most of the time anyway.

And the magazine box.

If I were building a 6.5 Creedmoor,it would have a short action, but a .260 would be built on a long action to seat the bullets way out. The whole appeal of the 6.5 CM, besides being scary accurate, is that the bullet does not intrude into powder space.

260's are scary accurate also, I do not think it is accurate to imply that the 6.5 Creedmoor is more accurate than a 260 Remington. They are both great cartridges.....

I have found that Hornady's 6.5 Creedmoor factory loads are much more accurate than any 260 factory loads that I've ever shot. I haven't shot much 260 factory ammo, as it wasn't on the shelves when I got my first 260, so I had to load my own. I've probably owned thirty 260s, still have 23, but the 6.5 Creedmoor fits into the Marlin, Remington, Ruger, and Savage short actions a little better than the 260 if you're using bullet heavier/longer than the 130 grain AB.

In a short action, I'd go with the Creed, in a long action my choice is the 256 Newton.