Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 6.5 Creedmoor vs .270 Winchester

Mostly deer at 10-450 yards.

Maybe a Pronghorn hunt or three, perhaps even an elk or two, right at the same ranges.

Lots of practice to 600 yards at the range and to unlimited distance on public land.

Old guy, bad shooting shoulder and neck.

I realize no animal will ever know the difference, but Looneys do. :-) What do you choose and why?

What about the .270 WSM or .25-'06?

Never shot a 6.5 Creedmoor, but I hear it kicks less than a .270 which should make it easier to shoot accurately. And it's a short action, so possibly lighter and handier rifle.
But the .270 should have more energy on target at most hunting distances.

If factory ammo was more readily available, I'd likely choose the 7-08. Because I believe somehow it's more efficient in the shorter barrelled rifles that I tend to prefer.

I used to think a 25-06 would be cool, and it still would if I don't have to carry it very far or maneuver that long barrel around any obstacles.

I have both. haven't killed any thing but a coon with my 6.5 CM, but I've killed a truckload of deer over the years with the 270. I am of the opinion that there is no better cartridge for deer than the 270. The OP says he wants something to kill deer between 10-450 yards, and that's the ranges at which I have used the 270 to kill deer with. I have a bunch of different cartridges that would qualify as being good for deer, and if I ever start to get rid of any, the 270 would be last one standing, mostly because of nostalgia.

BUT......this year, I will deer hunt with the 6.5 CM, and a 243. As much as I love the 270, I find it easier to shoot rifles that don't kick as much as the 270, and in a light rifle with a case full of H4831, I feel the recoil from the 270 much more than I like. I'm shooting 120 grain bullets from a Howa 6.5 CM, and it's not a very light rifle, and not only does it shoot as accurately as anything I have, but it has practically no recoil. I figure a Nosler BT will do as good a job on a whitetail as will the 270 will.......and be a lot easier on my bad shoulder.

It's strictly a matter of choice. There are a lot of nice rifles available in either caliber, and it's really a case of whatever trips your trigger.

I'm a pretty hard-core .270 guy, but your list of uses shouts 6.5.

Leave out elk, and I'd say 6mm CM, although rifle choice is pretty limited so far.

Thats easy...6.5 Creed....

The .270 is gay..

The .270 WSM is Uber-gay...

The .25-06 is long action and usually long barreled...forget it.

I have come to prefer the .280Rem., own three very choice ones and especially my KMA, in .280AI. I would always choose the .270Win. over a 6.5CM, but, I am a grumpy old BC mountain man, so, what can I say.......

This, to me, is the spot where the 6.5 Creedmoor shines.

I have wrote about this before on here, but I bought a 6.5 Creedmoor when Whitakers ran their special on the Howa Lightnings. $300 rifle, right out of the box, was as accurate as anything I've ever fired. Part of that is the rifle and the load I was using, but part of it is also the fact that there is very little recoil, and that allows one to shoot better. As I get older, I find myself shunning those guns that I have that kick more than I like. I have a Benelli SBE2 that hasn't been fired in 3 years because it kicks too darn much. A 20 gauge kills a turkey just as dead, with a lot less kick. Same way with the 243 and the 6.5 CM, when compared with the deer rifles I used to hunt with.

It would depend on what type of scope you intend to use


Trystan

Amen!

6.5 CM since I have neither. .257 Roberts and .280 Rem since I have them.

I've always used variables with "normal" magnification ranges like 2-7, 2.5-8 and 3-9. If I remember correctly, I have only taken two heads of game with my scope set on anything less than 4X, and both times it was a 2-7 Leupy set on 2X while still hunting elk in the woods. Both shots could have been made at 4X with no problem ... one an 80-yard shot on a bull elk in fairly sparse timber with Browning BLR in 7mm-08 and the other a 50-yard shot with another Browning BLR in .284 Win, also in timber. I usually set my scope at 4x in sparse timber and 6X in open country. I dial up if time permits, and it usually does.

That being said, my two longest shots on game, a 400-yard Pronghorn and 435-yard bull elk, were made at 24X and 20X, respectively, with a Leupy 6-24X sitting atop a pet 6.5x284. The extra magnification was nice to have, and both animals were taken from a position where the rifle didn't have to be carried far .... perhaps half a mile, or so. I knew the shooting was going to be at fairly long range on both hunts, so that rifle made the trip.

My eyes are getting older so I have been looking at some of the newer scopes with a 5X magnication range, and I think the 3-15s look promising for this rifle. There are even a couple of 4-20s that look good, but most of those go to 50mm objective lenses, which I don't particularly care for on a hunting rifle. But hey, I never would have considered 15X magnification on a scope just a few short years ago, so maybe I could be talked into it.

Turrets are OK but not terribly important for this rifle. At my quarter-mile range limit, a holdover reticle is fine, and the turrets will mostly get used at the range practicing to 600 yards and in the field practicing a bit further distances.

Some thoughts, at the $400 - 600 range, as this is going to do double duty as a truck gun:

Burris Veracity 3-15x50mm
Burris Veracity 4-20x50mm
Tract Toric Ultra HD 3-15x50mm
Nikon Monarch 5 3-15x42
Minox ZA 5 HD 3-15x42mm
SWFA SS Tactical 3-15x42mm

The Burris scopes are out of my price range and I don't really like the 50mm objective. The Tract is too new to have a track record, and it also has a 50mm objective. That leaves the last three. I don't care for the protruding turrets on the SS all that much. That leaves the Nikon and the Minox, both of which I have had good luck with in the past. I could probably find a host of lower-priced scopes with good glass quality if I drop down to a 3-12X or a 4-16X, and I might do that if I don't find something I like.

I am not brand-loyal with scopes or rifles, for that matter.

I have both, both are great!

Anyone that thinks the 270 is gay might be gay themselves...

Angels dancing on the head of a pin. If the thought of a new 6.5CM fills you with joy and makes your nostrils flare, by all means get one. But don’t kid yourself that there’s any significant difference for the conditions you describe.

Me? Like others have said here, I’ve seen no reason to switch horses from the .270. Modern bullets and powders have made it even more effective.

Yeppers, I knew an older guy in my hometown, who shot one rifle, a std. P-64-70 in .270Win. He shot a whack of BC game with it, elk, moose and Grizzly and never had a problem.

Another old phart, some 50+ years ago, whacked a big Grizzly in the Flathead and now that I am the age he was then, I totally agree with you, the .270Win. is among THE best hunting rounds EVER developed, IMHO.

Seattlesetters,

If keeping your rifle more toward the lite side is a consideration I've had great results with the Zeiss Terra 3 with the RZ6 reticle. Its calibrated for either 270 or 6.5 creed and paralax on that scope is set at 300 yds so its very condusive to 400-500 yd shooting and still works good up close. One consideration however is eye relief is closer to 3.5" rather than 4" but on a 6.5 creed I think that's a non issue.



Trystan

I never had a 6.5 Creed, doubt I ever do.. But the .25-06 is a winner.. Never shot anything bigger with it than mule deer.. May try it on elk this winter, but on everything else I really like it.. One of my favorite 3 calibers..

Exactly... kind of like Jimmy Swaggert preaching against adultery. Thou protesteth too much...

I'm a big 270 Win fan but recently shot a Bergara B-14 HMR in 6.5 Creedmoor out to 600 yards at our local range and was VERY impressed with both that gun and cartridge. If I were just starting out and planned on more range time than hunting, I'd probably go that route but, as it stands, we'll keep whacking deer with our 270s......