Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5 vs 270 vs 7mm-08

With all due respect Jphn,
1. This is not Europe....and lets pray that we never will be.....
2. While I do live way out in the "sticks"....you almost ,can't get here from there....I've yet to see any ammo of any kind marked "Creedmoor" anywhere I've been

that sad, I'll keep my eye open for it and if I see any in the ensuing weeks, I'll post a retraction.

A couple years ago I searched Denver for some.35 Whelen ammo to no avail.....My party had a spare gun so merely continued to our elk hunt in New Mexico. I shall always contend that having ammo is far more important than not having "better" ammo.

The advantages of high BC bullets kick in the instant the bullet exits the barrel, not the 600 yard mark. Velocity retention and less wind drift right from the get-go.

Advantages are insignificant at short range. As in, it don't matter none.




P

I'd run with this plan, but think really hard about adding a .223, perhaps with a matching action, or a fast twist to shoot heavies. He would get a lot more shooting practice that way.

Rebarrel it with a 24" barrel chambered in the 6.5x284. Set it up to shoot the 120NBT/125PT all in a nice "adult sized" stock. Get a Timney trigger and a mid size scope. He will be set for about anything, still have the wind bucking ability of 6.5 cal and get him started in handloading. He will love it! OR...do the same thing "but in 7mm/08 Ackley Improved" and really open up his world!

vapodog,

I live out in the sticks, and the only "sporting goods" store in town (actually a gas station/ranch-supply store) has a good-sized stack of 6.5 Creedmoor ammo. The four sporting goods stores in the local "big" town (all of 25,000 people and an hour's drive away) have several brands of Creedmoor ammo.

Did my including European rifles in the list of companies chambering the Creedmoor (and producing ammo) make you think it STARTED in Europe? If so, no the cartridge did not originate there. It was designed and produced by Hornady, and first chambered in actual American-made rifles--and became popular over past decade (not a flash-in-the-pan) in the good old U.S.A. European companies have been starting to chamber it in the past few years partly because the U.S. is the largest market for sporting rifles and ammo in the world, but it is also becoming popular among European shooters.

I don't really care if you "retract" your opinion about the 6.5 Creedmoor. If you base your opinion of a cartridge on such limited criteria then your opinion is irrelevant.

Another great alternative. Different enough from the 7mm-08 to open up some interesting opportunities.

How about letting your son read a couple of loading manuals and books and giving him the choice? Let him choose his own rifle and cartridge. As already mentioned, all three cartridges will be fine so he can't make a bad choice. He might even come up with something else.

That would be my option, too.

1:8" twist .223 would give him everything from small game to Whitetail/Pronghorn if he so desired as well as some great varmint hunting and out around 600yd target shooting if he were to have a sporter length barrel.

Ed

at our rifle shoots some of the guys do very well with the 6.5 creedmoor, i still just use a 6 BR and can hang with them,as can a 7mm -08, generally the best shooter wins with a 6.5x 47. I ordered a 6.5 creedmoor for my gun business to sell,some will think I am foolish but i will see how it sell`s, but I wish Browning made a 6.5 creedmoor in a BLR that would be a fun lever rifle maybe to own ? Like it not the 6.5 creedmoor is here to stay for a long time.

I'm a 270 guy. That being said I'd go with some sort of 7-08. Change his stock, as some have said or whole new gun. Since you hand load for it already it seems a no brainer to me to go that route. The cartridge itself is a very good one also. Great ballistics.You give up very little to the 270 and may be able to find ammo in a pinch easier than the 6.5 if need be. The 7-08 will be my son's first rifle. Cheers.

Pharmseller,

On the other hand, there are no disadvantages to using the 6.5 Creedmoor at close ranges.

If I had a son who expressed continued interest in hunting and who wanted a new rifle, I would get the kid what he wanted, within reason. Let him choose. If he's old enough to decide to kill something, he's old enough to decide what to kill it with. And the deciding, as we know, is a lot of the fun.

I switched to the 7mm-08 for new shooters, both young and adult, about twenty years ago. It is a cartridge that is very easy to load for and that we have used successfully on game ranging from coyotes to elk. There are no flies on the 6.5 Creedmoor, but for new shooters I prefer the 7mm-08. YMMV.

The cool thing about keeping the old rifle and changing parts out is that it is “customized” and special, not another off the shelf rifle that everyone else owns.

A Mcmillan swirly or Edge stock, money put into a quality scope, eventually a new barrel (whether in the same chambering or perhaps rebarreled to a 6.5 Creedmoor). A personalized rifle, all with the soul of the rifle (the action) still there to maintain the memory of all the days in the hills and dead animals it has helped the son take to the ground.

My first rifle was a mouser 98 8mm. Dad rebarreled to 6mm cause varmints is what I mostly shot. Deer wasn’t commonly seen then.

I think that what you’re hunting might be a big consideration. Also, what ranges your son will be shooting. You say mostly deer and then possibly elk and antelope... I’ve hunted antelope with 7x57 and 270 both work fine. The 6.5 would too I suspect.

For elk I’d go with the 270 and 150 grain Partitions. But a 7mm with 150 PT’s would work too. The modified Savage case with a 6.5 bullet in it would probably work too - I think that’d be third choice though.

To me those options you mentioned here on the fire is similar to starting a discussion on what pickup is best while you and your co-workers just had a few at the bar.

I don’t care for short actions that much because of the inability of adjusting seating depth. But then the 300 Savage case length cartridges sort of bypass that issue.

I’m not one to fiddle with scope adjustments when out game hunting, maybe PD shooting though. That makes a difference to me. Shooting game at distance is not for me either. Actually, I look down upon that.

I have a couple 270’s and I do not find them wanting for any thing I’ve taken them out to do. I bought my wife a 7mm-08 and I have a 7x57 (similar). No issues with that cartridge either. The only 6.5 I’ve ever had was 50 years ago and bullets were slim pickings then.

Another part of the equation is money. Buying a stock for your Remington makes financial sense.

But whether you go with “A”, “B”, or “C”, I think you’ll by happy with your choice. Heck, if you go out west to shoot elk, you might want to buy a rifle just for that.

But I’ll have to add any cartridge that less than 100 or at least 75 years old is a “flash in the pan”.

I never thought I’d have AI cartridges and now I do. As soon as I run out of options, I still don’t have a 348, 358 Norma or a 38-55 or a.... maybe I’ll have a another flash in the pan like that 6mm Remington.

Don't know if any one thought of it, but I don't think the PGC will let anyone use a 6.5 mm anything on elk in PA. If I remember correctly, must use a 270 or larger.
Suggest keeping that thought in mind when choosing.

The reason the Creedmoor is so popular is it does so many things so well... were I starting my kids out today they’d be equipped with rifles so-chambered.

Positives:

Extremely accurate, affordable ammunition available everywhere and is loaded to the gills.
(270 ammunition - and even some 7-08 ammo - is incredibly anemic).

Makes best use of the commonly used 2.8” SA magazine.

Twisted correctly from the factory.

Recoil is minimal.

Varmints to elk capability.


Negatives:

Cranky old dudes don’t like it.
Cranky old dudes can’t spell it.

You would still be a apologetic kcunt no matter what rifle you and your kids shoot.

I normally don’t engage with passive-aggressive sociopath’s, but in this instance I’ll make an exception... about a year ago, unsolicited by me, you apparently felt the need to unburden your soul and sent me a PM explaining that, in so many words, you’re essentially a complete dick.

I’ve decided you’re correct.