Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 260 Rem vs 6.5 Creedmoor

One more general observation: Where were all you guys when the .300 WSM became the screaming rage after it was introduced in 2001?

I joined the Campfire in 2001, and hardly saw any rants about how all the .300 WSM did was duplicate the ballistics of the .300 H&H, which had been around almost as long as the 6.5x55. Why not? Were you only 50 then, so hadn't yet the old man's tendency to rant about anything new?

Might also note that while the .300 WSM is still around 18 years later, the big sales boom only lasted a few years., and I believe the .300 Winchester Magnum is outselling it now.

But 6.5 Creedmoor sales have been growing since it was introduced in 2007. Partly that's because it did NOT appear 2-3 years ago as many people seem to believe, and there was NOT a bunch of publicity surrounding its introduction, as there was with the .300 WSM, because it was introduced as a target round. It wasn't until hunters started trying it and began reporting how well it worked that rifles companies started introducing many hunting models, and the round really took off.

I bought the first hunting rifle chambered for the 6.5 Creedmoor that I ever laid eyes on, a new Ruger 77 Hawkeye with a (gasp!) walnut stock. It was in a local sportings goods store, and the guy who ran the gun department (whose idea of a new-fangled rifle cartridge is the .280 Remington) told me other folks were reporting great accuracy.

But I didn't just go ahead and buy it. Instead I phoned one of my magazine editors and asked if he would be interested in an article on the 6.5 Creedmoor. He was, so I bought it, and some factory ammo. The very first group it shot at 100 yards, with that ammo, was .6 inch--and that was FIVE shots, on three.

That editor eventually (like some of you guys) eventually grew sick of hearing about 6.5 Creedmoor, so decided not to run any more articles on it unless he absolutely had to. However, about a month ago he called me and ASKED me to include some 6.5 Creedmoor results in an upcominhg article on some new bullets. Why? Because readers had started complaining that they weren't getting enough 6.5 Creedmoor information in the magazine.

So no, the 6.5 Creedmoor's popularity wasn't due to an intense PR campaign to turn it into the latest fad. Instead the interest grew from people who started using it for hunting, and unlike many other rounds that did turn out to be fads or semi-fads, sales continue to grow 12 years after it appeared. This many not make you happy, but so far I haven't heard of anybody FORCING shooters to buy 6.5 Creedmoors.