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

Who wants to bet Dogger has a Leupold on his 280..

Geez, I kind of want to go out and buy a 6.5 CM after reading this thread. But I do wonder how it would compare to my 270 Win. with 140 Accubonds at 3100 fps? Obviously recoil would be much less with the 6.5, but when hunting I normally only need to shoot one time. Without running the numbers I'm pretty sure my 270 will do better in the wind.

CBHS

JB,

Yep............you covered it all very well.

For the most part, for most people, for most ranges & applications, it's all kind of a moot point & just something to BS about.

And of course, you are on the mark about recoil...........even though the 270 isn't a "hard kicker" by any means, it's surely more that the 6.5, or the 7-08 for that matter too, especially with stiff 150 gr. loads.

I was just kinda pokin' you a bit & your response was a great explanation of the real world for most folks except the die-hard's in either case who always know more than they understand.

In most arguments, one can always find "facts" or "data" on either side to support one's view.

Thanks for taking the time to compose an excellent response.

MM

MontanaMan,

Thanks for your thoughtful response.

Forgot to mention that I've also owned several 7mm-08's and 7x57's (including my present pair), and have hunted with them a lot too, taking game up to elk, moose, wildebeest and kudu. Which is why my original post on this thread also suggested buying a new stock for the 7mm-08....

The 6.5 does everything the 7-08 and 270 does with recoil closer to 243. But then the recoil from 7-08 or 270 is hardly bad. You could certainly do the job with any of them, but if looking for an excuse to buy something different the 6.5 has a lot going for it. It is already far more common than 7-08 and in a few more years may well surpass 308. It ain't a flash in the pan.

Dogger,

My first 6.5 Creedmoor was a Ruger Hawkeye with a decent piece of walnut, purchased for just about that price at Capital Sports & Western Wear in 2010. It had an open trigger (which I've found to be more easily "adjustable" than the Model 70's), and with scope weighed less than 8 pounds, even though it had a 26-inch barrels. I also purchased a couple boxes of factory ammo, and after getting the rifle on paper at 100 yards, its first 5-shot group went into right around .6 inch.

Unfortunately, the standard, walnut-stocked Hawkeye is no longer chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, probably because far more shooters purchased other variations of Hawkeyes (and RAR's and RPR's) when they wanted a Creedmoor. But the real-world price hasn't gone up much, if at all, and this year they started chambering it in .260 Remington! (Which some Creedmoor haters will no doubt regard as a Sign From The Heavens.)

As much as I like the 260, if GOD is sending signs, I'd opt for World Peace over Ruger cataloging 260s again. BTW, the only 260 that I could find listed on the Ruger site is the limited edition stainless RSI they made for Lipsey's.

And those who love it even though they've never shot one.

Jeff,

I recently found the Hawkeye .260 on the Ruger site in the "standard" Hawkeye section, with an 18.5" barrel.

Yep, for the last few years, the gun I've most hunted with has been an original Rem 700 Ti in 7-08, mostly using the 120 NBT or 120 TSX.............I like both the light weight for carrying, the 22" barrel & the light recoil, it's extremely accurate (after some work) & it kills what I've shot with it just fine.

I only own 2 magnum rifles anymore after having a schittload of them at one time, & those 2 are a 338 & 416 for specific purposes.

MM

I agree with this.

Originally I had it in my head the OP had a Model 7 Youth, with the skinny barrel and crappy M7 stock (if there is a worse rifle to start young people out with, I can't imagine it would be much different than that).

However, I realized it's the SPS Youth model with the excellent 20" Remington no.2 type contour. Heck yeah, re-stock it.

And if you want more barrel length, find a Rem take-off barrel and screw it on. In fact, if you want to be really exotic, locate one in 308

All three rounds are going to be equally effective as a generic deer rifle. From a purely practical point of view, 7-08 makes perfect sense as you're already setup to load the round and are familiar with it.

But, there's something to be said for getting a new chambering and starting from scratch working up loads, especially going through the process with your son so that he can have that experience. So I'd say the 6.5 creedmoor deserves consideration.

Love it.

Sounds like we've gone through a somewhat similar transformation. While I still have several rifles chambered for magnums and medium-bores from .30 caliber to .416, they're mostly kept around for test purposes, since I haven't hunted with any of them since 2011. The "big" rifle I've hunted with since then is a 26 Nosler, and it hasn't gone hunting nearly as much as several other rifles chambered for smaller rounds.

Actually, I learned a lot from you..............started reading you when you first started doing the back inside cover of Rifle; I think it was called Woodsmoke & Rifles or something similar.

Laughin' here............that was a while ago.

MM

I have a Remington 700 Classic in 270, not a real lightweight rifle, but not a heavy one either. Shooting 130 grain bullets with 60 grains of H-4831, I'd be lying if I said I didn't start to notice the recoil after a few shots. It's not bothersome, but I have arthritis in my shoulders, and it is noticeable. I have a Howa 6.5 Creedmoor, a little heavier rifle than the Remington, but not by much. The Howa is much more pleasant to shoot, practically recoil free. It will also kill a deer just as dead as the 270 will.

I have all three, the Creedmoor has less recoil. My 100 lb granddaughter has shot them all. Someone so small can probably feel recoil better. She loves the 6.5 Creedmoor. She will tell you right quick the Creedmoor has less recoil. It’s fun to shoot.

Ha, my M700 280 is scoped with a 3-9x40 Conquest. i must admit though, that i have a Leupold 2-7x33 on my Ruger M77 6mm Remington, which God forbid, is a push feed even though it fools many thinking it is CRF.

For more years than i can count i have considered the 140 Partition handloaded to an honest 2700 fps in a 6.5 all I need for anything i might hunt. I could be happy with a walnut stocked Ruger Hawkeye in 260 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 Swede, or 6.5x284 if I could just find one... and horrors,,, would probably scope it with a 2-7x33... but then i would be thinking about that honest 2700 fps with a 140 partition... if it fell short of 2700 fps i would be disappointed, even though i know a few fps mean nothing. But certain performance metrics must be met.

if I were the OP I would be tempted to roll with the future and the 6.5 Creedmoor... but no one loads the 140 NP for it that i am aware of...

Nosler loads the 140 AccuBond in their factory 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, which is basically the same thing.