Originally Posted by Jordan Smith
Originally Posted by Llama_Bob
Originally Posted by lapua6547

6.5 Creedmoor is undersized for 6.5 bullets.


For hunting for adult shooters, I would agree. 6.5WSM or similar is much better. For the original application, it's fine.

It’s funny, most everyone would agree that 2700 fps is plenty when considering the .30-06 firing a 180 gr bullet. The 6.5 CM get the same velocity from heavy-for-caliber bullets like the 147 gr ELD, but shoots flatter than the .30-06 (due to higher BC), drifts less in the wind, and recoils less. It works perfectly fine for hunting, IME, even for tough, adult male shooters. wink

One benefit to the 2700 fps MV range is that it doesn’t put too much strain on the bullet’s integrity, either in flight or upon impact, so most any heavy bullet fired from the 6.5 CM expands and penetrates well. High-BC bullets retain their speed very well, too, so there is no need for blazing MVs for good external ballistic performance and sufficient impact velocity.


To Jordan’s point I would say spot on. Too many folks still size up cartridges by MV, when impact velocity is all that matters. In fact that is what bullet designers most struggle with when trying to find something that works at 2,200 fps and at 2,800 fps impact velocity. Speed at the muzzle and at high impact velocity doesn’t always equate to success. This is why the 6.5 CM, 7-08 Rem and 308 Win work so well across a broad spectrum of impact velocities with various projectiles at field hunting distances as they provide optimum bullet behavior with a variety of bullet designs. They do not stress the projectile, expansion within 400 yards is predictable and all are accurate, easy to shoot cartridges.

LB, I’d have to disagree, the 6.5x55SE has piled up a multitude of game big and small for decades using inferior bullet technology for many of those decades. 6.5xx55SE, 260 Rem and 6.5 Creedmoor, given a 1-8 twist are ballistic triplets and all do the same thing at 300-400 yards on game. A faster 6.5 doesn’t equate to anything in the field unless you’re trying your hand at 800 yards plus and even then the cartridge doesn’t outweigh the shooters ability or the optics needed at extreme distances. Faster 6.5s mean more recoil, more throat erosion and more barrel replacement depending on how often you like to pull the trigger.