Lemme see: I have owned rifles (often multiple rifles)chambered for the 6.5x54 Mannllicher-Schoenauer, 6.5x54 Mauser Kurz, 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Remington, 6.5x55, 6.5-06, 6.5 PRC, .264 Winchester Magnum, 26 Nosler and 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum. Or at least those are the 6.5 cartridges I can recall at the moment. Have killed big game with most of them, and by golly they all did the job, if I did mine.
Which do any of you think might kick the 6.5 Creedmoor's ass? If you define "kicking ass" as getting more muzzle velocity, then most of them. But if muzzle velocity is THE criteria for the value of centerfire cartridges, then ONLY the very fastest/biggest would exist. The others would have faded off into the marketing sunset.
I might also point out that the velocity advantage of the 6.5x55 over the 6.5 Creedmoor is about 2%--IF we load them both at the same pressure, in the same barrel length. This amounts to about 50 fps with 140-grain bullets, as much velocity as typically lost within 20 yards from the muzzle. Please explain how this kicks ass.
Of course, before most of us owned "personal" chronographs, 50 fps of muzzle velocity difference was theoretical--and often is even today, due to the cheap-ass chronographs most handloaders use. Back before such "affordable" chronographs, we'd base our arguments on the maximum velocities printed (on paper) in handloading manuals. Which turned out to be inaccurate when we finally got chronographs, because of variations in rifles, powders, bullets, etc.
The rating of cartridges by muzzle velocity has been going on since the development of practical smokeless rifle powder in the 1880's. but most shooters have never been able to prove it makes any difference when shooting big game, except possibly in their minds. Which is where the BS on this thread comes from.
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