Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 6.5C hunting in the south woods.

of course as I am considering a new rifle, the 6.5 creedmore being new and popular one has to consider it. I am sure it will kill deer just fine, and I reload for my rifles. Just cannot think of a big advantage to the cartridge over a 308Win for blue collar sub 100 yard deer hunting. I expect it might have a bit less recoil with the 130 grain bullet, and it might be a tad more accurate I don't know for sure. I am compelled by practicality so sometimes I miss the next great thing. Any compelling reason to try a 6.5C other than its new?

"want to" is, and will likely always remain, a compelling reason....

I think "want to" is the overriding reason for trying something different; we all rationalize our choices.
Will the results of the 6.5 C be any different than the 308 WCF under the conditions you state in the OP? Probably not.
I've been using a 6.5 Swede since 2004, and I'm pretty sure it's like two peas in pod w/ the 6.5 C. But when I saw Whittaker's offer the T3X SS in 6.5C I wanted to get in on that deal and did.
I'm not sure what's the official definition of "Rifle Looney" but we spend hours splitting hairs and quoting "ballistic gak" on our favorites.
When you buy the 6.5C, welcome to the club (if you're not already a member in good standing).

StarchedCover

This seems like an odd question for a guy with over 15K posts on this site, but here's my take.

If you're happy with whatever you're shooting "blue collar sub-100 yard deer" with today, there isn't any reason other than curiosity to buy any sort of new rifle chamber for any deer capable cartridge.

Buying a redundant rifle chambered for a redundant cartridge is nearly 100% "want to" and nearly 0% "need to". If you have the discretionary income and want to spend some of it on a rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, there are lots of opportunities in the market. I doubt that the 6.5 Creedmoor will provide a meaningful advantage over dozens of other cartridges for "blue collar sub-100 yard deer hunting", but it is the current darling of shooters far and wide, some of whom will try it, become disillusioned when they discover that it isn't magic, and move on to something else. I currently have 7 rifles chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor and have shot a couple of deer with the cartridge, but I like to shoot deer with lots of different rifles and cartridges, not because I'm seeking perfection, but because I like rifles, reloading, and shooting both paper and game.

The perfect deer hunting cartridge might be the nearly 100 year old 270, but it is so plebeian, so uncool, that many people dismiss it and look elsewhere for their perception of perfection in a deer hunting cartridge.

Or so it seems to me.

Jimmy, get the rifle and find somewhere to hunt where long shots are available.

I did so and it led me to kill three deer from 200-350 yards w my CTR .260 in early '16.

And you could prolly do it w your .308...

Coldcase, and all thank you for the enabling and co-dependent posts! I think I just want to and will do so! I believe the Tikka T3 CTR in SS will surely be "the very last gun I will ever purchase"

At reasonable ranges in the South, you can't do any better than a .308 WIN.

sub 100... geez I've got hard zero's on my 308 to about 750 that I'm comfortable with and have taken deer just the other side of 600 with it so far.

Doesn't bother me at all. The deer either really, they never knew what hit em...

I hunt mostly GA. I gave up the 30-06 and have been hunting with several 308's over the last 8-9 years. I can get Ruger Americans for under $350 out the door and the Predator under $390. At that price and with match grade ammo selling for about $30/box it was hard not to try the Creedmoor. I do load for it too. I was shooting it at the range this morning and posted 3 different 200 yard groups under 1 1/2". The rifle and ammo is probably capable of better, but that is about as good as I can shoot.

To be honest my best 308 with the best loads will match it for accuracy and at the ranges I shoot at game no animal will ever know the difference. In a hunting situation you'll never notice the difference in recoil, but you will after a few rounds at the range. There is just enough difference to be noticeable. If you hand load bullets are a little less expensive and it uses a little less powder so it is a little cheaper to feed.

I don't expect it to do anything my 308's won't do. But I don't regret buying it either. Now I wouldn't have gone out and spent $800-$1000 on one unless I planned on it being my primary hunting rifle. And who knows, I may come to like the round well enough to invest in a nicer rifle down the road. Probably won't be any more accurate than the one I have though.

As a deer rifle it will do nothing that a host of longstanding cartridges haven't been doing for decades. I bought a Creedmoor before they exploded in popularity and now I am growing to hate it because of the cult status surrounding it.

Why do you care what other people think or do?

You know that the Creedmoor craze is just that, a trendy craze that is likely to decline and fizzle out to the point that used gun racks are going to be full of slightly used Creedmoor chambered rifles that will languish under a layer of dust until a rifle loony comes along to make an offer to the guy behind the counter that he can't refuse.

Why do you care if I care? More than anything else I am disgusted with the fact that people haven't learned to spell it yet, despite the fact that there are thousands of threads on it.

Ya reckon right spelling is akin to the secret handshake...?

Those in the know, just know...

Others don't matter...

DF

A buddy who is a dedicated LR competitive shooter and graduated out of a 260 and into the CM as it exploded in popularity couple years ago...has already moved most of his comp rifles into 7-08's. He teaches LR shooting in his spare time and got hooked when he built a HB short barrel 7-08 with a suppresor to use as a rental for his students and luved it...I tease him about how do ya figger MPBR in a scope with all them little dots everywhere and too many dials. While CM is still going strong in DFW, I am hearing more chatter in the local forum about the 7-08 than I ever have.in the 12+ years I've been registered here and there.
Ron

Practically, no. It gives no advantage whatsoever for sub 100 yard deer hunting.

I could argue that it gives no advantage period. But the 6.5 fanboys would tear me up then.

The only possible advantage under your scenario is lower recoil.

-Jake

I don't care about your issues with the 6.5 Creedmoor or your disgust with people who misspell "Creedmoor", I just can't understand why anyone would care about trivial BS. I believe in living life and doing things on my terms while ignoring people and things that are of no consequence. The misspelling of "Creedmoor" is about as inconsequential as anything could possibly be.

Yet you care about my caring enough to post again. The misspelling of Creedmoor is inconsequential until you enter wrong spelling into a search engine in your quest for information. You may also be missing the tongue I have planted firmly in my cheek.

Its all inconsequential to me, since it has no negative impact on my life.

About the only reasons to go with the 6.5CM over the .308 if talking deer hunting at 100-150yds are lower recoil and the appeal of wanting to try something different. Of course a guy could also load down his .308 a notch and be right there with 130/140gr 6.5CM levels. A lot of very basic bullets from .25 to .30 caliber work well at moderate speeds inside 200yds. At that range, there's a big list of chamberings that overlap a good bit in "effect" on deer. But a new rifle also offers interesting opportunities to try new chamberings, new bullets, etc, all of which are fun and interesting, regardless of overlap.

For sub 100 yard deer hunting a wide variety of mild mannered cartridges will give excellent performance. Small differences in precision are moot in this application. My take is get the 6.5 if you like the rifle. If you want to stay with the 308 and moderate the recoil that's easy too. Pick nearly any 150 grain bullet and load to 300 Savage level with one of a number of mid burn rate extruded powders.

100 yd. WT hunting, it's hard to beat my .45-70 Marlin with 300 gr. Combined Technologies slugs at around 1,850 fps. It'll go faster, but can get pretty nasty around 2K, which isn't necessary.

It's nice to have a number of good choices.

DF

I don't think so. I believe the 6.5 Creedmoor is here for the long haul. As a big game round at close to moderate ranges it only offers some recoil reduction compared to 308. But as ranges increase, or for the guys who are target shooting the 6.5 starts to show some real advantages.

Gun and ammo makers aren't just selling to hunters right now. In fact the hunting rifle market is in decline as more and more shooters are buying guns to shoot at the range. It makes sense to offer guns and cartridges that fill that role. And there is a lot of interest to shoot at longer ranges than most hunters would normally shoot. To get close to the same long range performance as a 6.5 with a 140-147 gr bullet you have to start shooting 175-180 gr 308 bullets. When comparing those bullet weights there is a very noticeable difference in recoil. I own both, and while the 308 isn't a hard kicker, after 20-30 rounds through each the 6.5 is certainly more pleasant.

For guys buying a rifle to shoot lots of rounds down range at targets the 6.5 makes a lot of sense. That after all is what it was designed for. It just happens to also be a good choice for hunting too. It may well level off off as a hunting cartridge, but I think it will still be selling well for the target shooters and as a dual purpose hunting/target round.

Agree.

It's harder and harder, ever more expensive to hunt, not so with a trip to the range.

Target shooters may outnumber hunters following the current trend. More shooters the better.

Hunters do pay attention to advancing target shooting technology, I know I do.

So, what's not to like

DF

I know my family shoots a lot more these days for fun since we discovered AR500 gongs and cleared out a place to shoot to 400yds. It was mostly 100yd paper when I was growing up, so I generally only had one big-game rifle. All the fun shooting was with handguns and rimfires or maybe clay targets with shotguns.

I shoot more than I hunt, but we still deer hunt every year. I already reload for a Kimber Montana in 308. The CTR is a bit heavy and muzzle heavy the only thing I can see as an advantage is that it should shoot bug holes at the range, I believe I would remove the picatiny rail and mount a scope lower to the bore axis. The damn 6.5 would be easier to shoot if your shooting a bunch. But there we go more cases, bullets, and dies damn it.

6.5 should be great in the south.

I could be wrong. I saw Winchester/Olin 6.5 Creedmoor Deer Season XP ammo at Wal-Mart priced just under $19 per box of 20. If W-M is selling 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, it must be mainstream.

For 100 yds and closer you would be hard pressed to beat a Marlin or Winchester 30-30 or even a 44 Magnum. No practical advantage in using a 6.5 Creed or any other long range cartridge for deer at those ranges.

When did practicality become part of the rifle-loony deal?

Practicality? That word only rears it's ugly head when deciding which rifle to sell! On the other hand for sub 100 yard deer hunting the Creed will do fine as will the 30-30.

Good point.

If you expect the deer to notice you will be disappointed and I'll stretch that statement to ranges well over your 100 yds. Having said that I base it on my friend and I having used the 257 Roberts and the 6.5x55 for the past 25-30 years in the Kentucky deer woods and never had anything but excellent results and thus wouldn't expect anything less from the 6.5 CM. The only one that will notice or care is you and that's the only one that matters. If you want one and won't blow your rent check go for it.

I just last week built a 6.5 Creedmoor for one of my young friend using a Hart # 3 barrel and a New SS Remington 700 Action. I also used a New HS Precision Stock. He couldn't wait to get it, had it done in two days.

A 6.5 will work great up close or across the bean field.

and there it is, the truth.

I'm not much on "trendy" these days, keeping only a .270 Winchester and a .30/30 on hand for deer huntin'. For ratwhackin', I'm still kinda "trendy", with a .17 Hornet, a .221 Fireball, and a couple .204s, but the 6.5C just doesn't rock my world, and never has.

Deer are easy to kill, and those tools WORK. I appreciate what the 6.5 represents, but for my wants and needs, it doesn't fit in. I won't argue that it works like a champ, so does everything else, though.

If that's what you wanna use, it will work fine, at any reasonable distance, and with little recoil. If it makes you giggle, go for it.

I'm the old guy with his old, proven, hard-working tools, that will also work, AND they make me giggle. Cain't we all just git along???

If you just want something new, get it. But it isn't going to do anything the 308 won't for sub 100 yard shots. Could get by just fine with a 30-30

Jimmyp, you want a mild recoil deer zapper?

Load some 100 grain NBTs at 3,200 out of a 6.5C. In a CTR they'd nudge less than a .243 and kill well in woods or across a field.

For Deer, a lot of guys aren't familiar with the joys of a 6.5mm round shooting a 100 grain bullet...

Certainly is a sleeper of being a real deer killer...

That's the cool thing about a moderate-case 6.5mm. It can be a 243win+p/257Roberts with 100's when you want, or a 6.5x55 with 140gr hunting bullets, or a 270win+/- copy with 120's at 3,000fps, or a long range target rig with 130-147gr match bullets. My 22" 260 has been shooting 130gr NAB's at 2830fps to good effect, but I'm looking to try the 100gr TTSX at 3,200 with Big Game, just to see how it works. It's generally much cheaper to play with new loads than to buy a whole new rifle.

I put together a 6.5 swede several years ago, to use for deer hunting.
It doesn't do anything any other deer capable round won't do, but,--- I have the only one in every camp I've been in..

jimmyp-

My only suggestion would be to consider a rifle with a different "form factor" than what you're using now. No sense duplicating what you've got, just chambered for another cartridge with similar killing power under your hunting conditions. Go for something noticably lighter, or more suitible for long-range, whatever. You might find another facet of the game that appeals to your blue-collar nature.

Not long ago, I went outside the box, or my box anyway, and got one of Boxer/Stick's SWFA 6x42 MQs. Now I know what all the hoopla's about. Great scope at a great price.

If you want one, get it.