Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tired of the 6.5 Creedmore

Federal, Hornady, and Winchester/Olin have made great ammo for the 6.5 Creedmoor from day one, while, in 180-degree contrast, Remington didn't. I started shooting the 260 in 10/97, before factory ammo was widely available from Remington, and the first factory ammo available from Remington, the 140 grain PCL, wasn't known for its accuracy. There has been better 260 factory ammo made during the two decades since its introduction, but it is clear that Hornady cared enough to set the 6.5 Creedmoor up for success, while Remington's introduction of the 260 could be written up as a Harvard Business Review (HBR) case study on how not to launch a product.

Remington has a history of f'ing up cartridge introductions.

Unbelievably slow learners, IMHO.

This is a baffling subject... The 6.5 CM does exactly what it was designed to do, and it does it well. If you want it to be more then it is your expectation that is wrong, not the cartridge. If you want 'more' get more. There's nothing lacking about the cartridge.

Long live the 270 and factory loaded 130 Corlokts.......

Given the popularity of the 6.5 Creedmoor, you've got to wonder why neither Remington nor Winchester/FN chamber any rifles for it and only Winchester/Olin makes ammo for it. I'm looking forward to trying the Winchester/Olin 125 grain Deer Season XP load.

All the things you have stated to change the Creedmoor into something other than what it is are some of the major reasons it's so popular. Like all caliber debates we have on this forum, pick any cartridge on the entire continuum of cartridges. Each is both better and worse from the cartridge immediately in front of and behind said cartridge depending on your criteria.

I think you've about covered all the bases. The bit about big animals is spot-on, especially if one considers the history of the Swede and MS rounds, with the inferior bullets available in their heyday. The late Al Miller did a piece on the Swede years back where he told of visiting the cabin of a ship's captain. The cabin was decorated with the photos of numerous dead polar bears and the box-stock 96 he had taken them with. Not my first choice, but you can't argue with results.

I'd like to try a CM, but have so many other irons in the fire at this point, I don't know when I'd get around to messing with it without neglecting something else in the pipeline. Just as well, as if there's anything I've learned while farting around with this stuff, it's that for my use, just about any cartridge from .243 to .30/06 works very well; one reason I tend to be attracted to interesting rifles more than any particular round.

I've always wanted a 260. Very hard to find in factory rifle though. Tikka made them, and they were so rare that they fetched a $200 premium over like models. Then Tikka did something odd and introduced their tactical guns in 6.5 creed -and- the 260.

Ruger has done the same with the Hawkeye FTW, supposely due to the military's interest in the .260 in some role or other. It's properly twisted. I have the very similar Predator in .308, and like it very much, especially the 2-stage trigger, which the FTW lacks.

I like the Creedmoor. I can't think of a single reason to own the 260 over the Creedmoor and I like the 260 as well.

The Creedmoor is the latest/hottest fad on the market and I don't expect that to change in the next few months. Some guys are turned off by that, some guys don't care. I'm in the "don't care" category. It does everything I want it to do.

I love comparisons that are skewed to prove one is clearly inferior.

baldhunter could you please re-do your comparison using one of the wonderfully built Lapua 6.5 projectiles and report back your findings.

Anxiously awaiting a response...

^ or with a Hornady ELD.

And in the real world, the Creed 130gr AB vs 30-06 168gr BT is practically same/same. There's likely not 75fps of difference in the pair and BC's are nearly identical. Neither is a bad place to be in a hunting rifle, one just brings more power to the table and the other is softer-shooting. And I've seen them both bullets kill deer just fine, in fact, both are great. When we start getting tricky, with VLD/ELD stuff, things do start to get more interesting from a numbers standpoint, and it is more difficult for the 30-06 to keep up without needing some really hard-kicking loads.

Darrik,

Actually, I don't expect the 6.5 Creedmoor's popularity to drop much anytime in the foreseeable future. It took a decade for many "average" hunters to realize that it was the most commonly-available moderate 6.5, not only in rifles but ammo and brass, but now many do.

But for some reason it pisses other people off. Dunno why, as all it was designed to do was reproduce the ballistics of the 6.5x55 and .260 in a cartridge fitting easily into the modern "short" magazine. That sort of mechanical adaptation has been happening to smokeless rifle cartridges since they were first developed over 130 years ago. It's also happened to other products outside the shooting industry, and is simply the way mechanical stuff changes due to manufacturing trends. But apparently a bunch of shooters get so wrapped up in "their" cartridges that they see the 6.5 Creedmoor as a personal insult.

Personally, along with two 6.5 Creedmoors I also have a 6.5x55 and .260. Then there are a couple of other "rifles" chambered a couple of other moderate 6.5's, a classic Mannlicher-Schoenauer carbine for the 6.5x54 M-S, and a Sauer drilling with side-by-side 16-gauge barrels over a 6.5x57R rifle barrel. So far even the drilling hasn't gone into a snit over sharing safe-space with a pair of Creedmoors, but evidently some humans are far more sensitive.

My only gripe with the 6.5 Crudmoor is that it seems to be sucking up print space in every rag in print that might be devoted to something that interests me more, but that's just my self centered opinion! LOL! I find that I don't get enough trigger time with my quarter bores and light 7mm's to embark on a 6.5/.243 quest. Not a .243 or .270 fan either, but then again I don't like Irish Whisky or Lite beer either. If I don't feel that the .257 is enough gun, I step up to one of the 7mm cartridges, and if that ain't enough, her comes the .35 Whelen or .300 Roy! My bottom line is if the 6.5 C keeps one manufacturer in business, brings in one new hunter, or retains one old hunter in the sport, then it is all worthwhile. Happy Trails

I hunted with a 30'06 for 20 years, before buying my first 6.5. Now I'm a convert...sleek bullets, low recoil, and so far I've had impressive kills.

How does anyone look at the merits of what the 6.5 Creedmoor brings to the table and say they don't like it? When you look at what other cartridge designs have struggled with:

- Overall length to accommodate short-action magazines
- Brass availability from multiple vendors
- Chamber dimensions designed for what the cartridge was intended for
- Soft shooting platform which can entice youngsters to the sport
- Can work as both a predator cartridge and an elk cartridge given proper bullet selection

I latched onto the .260 Rem. scene 10 years ago. Had it not been for that, I'd be deep into 6.5 Creedmoor. However, I respect what it offers and I want one even if I am giving up 75 fps. Having seen what kind of groups I can get with the .260 at 1,000 yds, I believe the 6.5s are here to stay as opposed to years past where American hunters hated anything not .30 cal.

I think the 6.5CM is intriguing for slightly different reasons than the fad logic promoting it. It's more effective and efficient than a 243, recoils similar, can be had in good starter rifles, and shelf ammo doesn't REQUIRE me to roll my own for volume shooting. Since that's the case, it's a cool round to start a new shooter on, that can take them from initial marksmanship, through hunting, through long range training, AND be enjoyable to shoot. Maybe the 6CM will get into that same niche, over the 243, but I still think the 6.5 pills lend it to being a better all-around cartridge, where the 6CM might be better for everything if hunting versatility isn't an overriding priority. It's nice to have options for new/young/small shooters....or anyone tired of recoil involved with wanting to shoot all day. Sure....tacticool LR fads aside.

Agreed. The 6.5s have substantial advantages in BC, SD and recoil and the 6.5CM has enough right about the design that is wrong about the competitors that it's pretty much sweeping the field.

The 6.5 Creedmoor (or Creedmore for the idiots), is the best thing the factories have put out in my lifetime.

Apparently a 22/250 with a twist faster with 1-14" befuddles them.