I don't have anything against the new cartridges. There's advantages to many, including the Creed.
When I was involved in competition, it seemed that whatever the first place winner shot the next match, many would abandon what they had and have to have what the "winner" shot. For pistol silhouette the 7mm TCU, the 7 mm International and the 7mm-08 seemed to be three of the cartridges that people had to have (fine cartridges). Then there was the 357 Maximum - hot potato for a while. Not just the cartridges though, the bullets were the same way.
In-door pistol shooting; it was the new sights, the new triggers, the new action jobs by bubba's cousin -- everyone wanted to have the best and they threw money at what they were shooting hoping that they could be a winner too. 500 meter paper, 500 meter silhouette, cowboy lever action -- no matter the game the story was the same. There was no way a fellow like me could afford to keep shooting if I had to keep up with the new winner's stuff.
Back to the advantages of the 6.5's. For one thing, I'll never be one to be moving the dials on my scopes, I'm too old for that. So for me if I were to be interested in shooting long range, velocity AND high ballistic coefficient bullets are issues. My long range rifle's are both 7mm's. But to me they are varmint rifles, not by the cartridges, but by the weight and the design of the rifles.
As far as the 260 vs. the 6.5 CM goes. The 260 is a fine cartridge, but it suffers the same fate as all the 308 based cartridges, I think. Short actions (at least the 700's) are often too short, in my opinion, for the cartridge if a shooter wants long high ballistic coefficient bullets. Further the 260 rate of twist is an issue.
Layne Simpson came out with his design of the 7mm - 250 Savage improved (if I recall right) -- I believe that it was a cartridge designed for a rifle. Quite similar in ways to the Creed.
The Creed seems to me to be optimized for a Remington short action 700 and for long range with it's fast twist and it's case over-all length.
I certainly do not dislike the Creed. I'm glad the cartridge designers are still at work. Hopefully, it will be a big advantage in the end, for me, I tend to shoot mainly older cartridges. But now and then something brand new like the 270.
. I like old rifles. I wish people would abandon their Model 71's, their model '86's, the '95's, the 92's, the 30s', their old Winchester 70's etc. and all switch to the Creed. (Do it now please! And let an old fart be able to afford more of these classics.)
