Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why/How does the Creedmoor out run the 260 & 6.5x55?

Dogshooter,

So the kid behind the counter is FOS. What does that prove, other than he's FOS--and like many older shooters (who have obviously influenced him) believes muzzle velocity is the one and only relevant virtue of any smokeless rifle cartridge.

Look at LeonHitchcox's post: It's the same sort of muzzle-velocity (changed to "veracity" by auto-spell-check) worship shown by 99% of 6.5 Creedmoor critics. THE CARTRIDGE IS NOT ABOUT MUZZLE VELOCITY, except to approximate the same velocities as the .260 and 6.5x55 in a case designed for one of the major realities of modern centerfire rifles--short-action magazines. If velocity was the ONLY criteria for 6.5mm cartridges even the 6.5x55 wouldn't exist, because we'd all be shooting 26 Noslers and 6.5-300 Weatherbys.

As I have pointed out many times before on these stupid threads, the powder capacities of the 6.5 CM, .260 and 6.5x55 are so similar (50 grains, give or take a couple) that the potential muzzle velocity in the same barrel length is within 50 fps of each other, which has zero meaning in the real world. If somebody wants to "build" a .260 on a long action yeah, it will get more velocity/veracity than the 6.5 Creedmoor ever "dreamed about," but it will be mostly due to handloading the .260 hotter, not any meaningful gain in powder room from seating bullets out a little longer. The same thing could be done with the 6.5 Creedmoor, and the same velocities would result, because the powder capacity is just about identical. That was one of the major points in designing the 6.5 Creedmoor: Constructing a .260 that would fit better in a short-action magazine.

I know all this not because of theory, but (as I have also pointed out many times before) I have owned a bunch of .260's and 6.5x55's, and right now own one of each, both very accurate rifles. The .260 is a Tikka T3 with a 1-8 twist 22" barrel, and the 6.5x55 a custom rifle with a Lilja 1-8 twist 21" barrel on an FN Mauser commercial action. Both will get just about the same muzzle as a 22" barreled 6.5 Creedmoor before showing definite pressure problems, even with new Wonder Powders. Yes, I could get more velocity out of either of them with 24-26" barrels, but so would a 6.5 Creedmoor. I know this from once owning a 26" barreled Creedmoor, my very first.

However, I had to lengthen the magazine on the .260 to get the finest accuracy, because the standard 2.85" magazine wouldn't even allow Nosler Ballistic Tips to be seated out to the lands and still fit in the magazine. I lengthened the magazine to 3" and now it shoots about as well as the average out-of-the-box 6.5 Creedmoor factory rifle.

The 6.5x55 is great cartridge, and I've rarely been without one or more for many years. (Actually, aside from the custom FN Mauser, which cost a hell of a lot more than the Tikka .260, I also have a Norwegian Krag.) I've taken a lot of big game with the 6.5x55 out to 400 yards, but it has one major fault in modern rifles: The throat dimensions are all over the place, one major reason factory 6.5x55 ammo varies considerably in both velocity and accuracy in different rifles. Which is exactly why it's primarily a rifle loony round: No matter the rifle, it has to be handloaded to match factory 6.5 Creedmoor ammo in either velocity or accuracy.

All of which is why the 6.5 Creedmoor has become by far the fastest-selling, mid-size 6.5mm round ever. It's being chambered in a lot of factory rifles not just in the U.S. but Europe, and a South African PH friend who owns a big sporting goods store in Kimberley reports that the majority of new rifles he sells these days are 6.5 Creedmoors.

Obviously this makes many shooters angry, given the evidence from this thread and others, but there's not a damn thing any of you can do about it--except not buy a 6.5 Creedmoor. Your ranting has not turned the tide,and neither has constantly pointing out how the .260 and 6.5x55 (especially your personal .260's or 6.5x55's) will do anything the Creedmoor will do. This is especially true of claiming another 50 or whatever fps from your personal anti-Creedmoor rifles.

The same is true of the super-loonies who split hairs over whether the 6.5x47 Lapua, or whatever, is slightly "better" than the 6.5 Creedmoor. That's equally irrelevant, because the 6.5x47 has always been a relatively expensive proposition, both in brass and rifles. The 6.5 Creedmoor is essentially a cheaper version, bringing the advantages to average folks.

But apparently you simply HAVE to keep ranting, just as many people rant about other stuff that won't be changed in the least by their rants. So what if you don't "need" a 6.5 Creedmoor? Nobody ever insisted you buy one. But tens of thousands of other shooters have, and are quite happy with them, because right out of the box they do basically the same things as the 6.5x55, .260 Remington and 6.5x47 Lapua. They got them by going to the nearest store and buying a rifle and and a few boxes of ammo, whether in any of the United States, Europe or Kimberley, South Africa.

Now that I've had my little rant, you can go back to attempting to convince 6.5 Creedmoor buyers they're incredibly stupid and gullible.