Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 6.5 creedmore

260 Remington
6.5x47 Lapua
7-08 Remington

Are three cartridges that are equally effective, launching bullets with a G1 BC above .65 at 2650fps to 2750fps. The two Remington cartridges were not marketed terribly well and suffered poor uptake leading to poor choices of factory ammunition.

In my experience the Lapua cartridge is slightly easier to get an accurate load for than the Creedmoor, but it is a handloader only proposition (with relatively expensive high quality brass). So whilst it is equally effective, it isn't even close in availability and only appeals to those who build custom rifles and handload. It is not an 'everyman' proposition like the others.

You could also throw 6.5 Swede in there too if you were shooting a Tikka T3 with their medium length action.

Some will say that the 260 gets higher velocities than the Creed, which delivers higher velocities than the Lapua. At less than 70fps between each one that difference is a mind game, not a discernible difference at the point of impact. It is ammunition in summer v winter, a fast barrel v a slow one, a 24in v a 22in barrel.

Similarly, you could add a fast twist 243 and 22/250 in there if companies chose to make them. After all, a 6mm Creedmoor equals performance of a 243 but commonly found twisted to 1:8 or 1:7.5 instead of the usual 243 1:9.5 or 1:10.

I'm not saying the Creedmoor does not deserve a reputation for easy accuracy and useful performance for the everyman. There is no other combination that you could buy from most any sporting goods store that would perform as well out of the box - this is why the 223 is more popular than the 222 or 222 Magnum. I am saying that equal results can be achieved with other cartridges when chambered in rifles with similar specifications and loaded with similar ammunition.

Many years ago the same feverish support was observed around the 270 Winchester and the 300 Weatherby at their respective times so this is nothing new in the shooting world.

Availability off the shelf and being an effective cartridge are not the same thing.

If you were to take a Tikka T3 Varmit in each of these cartridges, buy or assemble equal cartridges then it would difficult to spot a difference between them.

A package was created...and then they marketed the hell out of it.
.

Still trying to figure out what where all this marketing took place. I never have seen an ad for one, but I don't watch outdoors tv or read the gun rags. That being said, based on my own research, word of mouth, and prior knowledge, I picked one up and it does everything I expected it to.

The butt-hurt exhibited by those invested in similar cartridges just goes on and on.

A lot of that investment is emotional, IMHO. Just when a feller gets to enjoy feeling all special about his toy, somebody comes along and does it maybe just a bit better, over the counter yet.

That's a first!

Adamjp,

Your response to my question about "equally effective" cartridges was exactly what I expected.

The anti-Creedmoor rifle loonies who inhabit the Campfire (like you) apparently believe EVERY shooter and hunter on earth handloads, and is willing to spend considerable money on custom rifles or rebarreling, to use other 6.5 cartridges than the Creedmoor.

But why should they, when they can buy off-the-rack rifles and factory ammo that will do the same things? I purchased my present 6.5 Creedmoor for the vast sum of $350, and for another $25 can buy a box of factory ammo that groups 5 shots well under an inch. And my rifle's very first 5-shot group at 100 yards with handloads measured .33 inch, which is not exactly an aberration. The other three factory 6.5 Creedmoors I've owned were also very accurate.

In case you might think I'm prejudiced because of only owning and shooting 6.5 Creedmoors, my safe includes a number of rifles in some of those "equally effective" cartridges, including a Tikka T3 .260 Remington, a Douglas-barreled Ruger in 7mm-08, and a "full custom" 6.5x55 with a minimum-throated match chamber in a Lilja barrel. I had to modify the magazine in the Tikka to seat even common hunting spitzers out to the lands, and while the 6.5x55 and 7-08 shoot very well, neither is as consistently accurate , with a wide variety of factory ammo or handloads, as the least-accurate factory 6.5 Creedmoor I've owned.

Yes, there are reasons beside the "recent" publicity on the 6.5 Creedmoor for its extreme popularity. I put "recent" in quotes because the cartridge was introduced a dozen years ago, and has kept growing in popularity since then. Most new factory centerfire rounds only sell well for 2-3 years before starting to fade. That's because publicity can only do so much, and factoryPR departments can only afford to flog some new cartridge for a short time before the cartridge must stand on its own. (In a way, it's like book publishing. If a new book doesn't continue selling after the initial announcement and publicity, then the company eventually quits printing copies, because there's no sense in printing books that never leave warehouses.)

Cartridges that become profitable within that initial period usually stick around for a while, and those that are selling FAR better after a dozen years tend to become world standards, meaning that just about every company making sporting rifles chambers them, and just about every ammunition company makes ammo. That is exactly what's happened with the 6.5 Creedmoor. Not only do major American companies produce both rifles and ammo, but so do many European companies--and that trend continues to spread.

One of my friends is a South African professional hunter who also owns a big sporting goods store. A few months ago he told me that the majority of new rifles he sells today are 6.5 Creedmoors. The reason? They work, not just for target shooting but the constant commercial meat-hunting that takes place in SA, since game meat can legally be sold in supermarkets and restaurants. Such meat-hunters like the 6.5 Creedmoor because of its accuracy and light recoil, allowing them to precisely place shots to ruin the least amount of valuable meat, along with affordable, accurate factory rifles and ammo. Such "cullers" are among the most practical hunters in the world, and since they're in business to make a profit, are not likely to spend money on the latest "fad."

But according to you, and others like you, the 6.5 Creedmoor's world-wide and growing popularity, a dozen years after its introduction, is totally due to publicity.

A lot of that investment is emotional, IMHO. Just when a feller gets to enjoy feeling all special about his toy, somebody comes along and does it maybe just a bit better, over the counter yet.

Late getting back here. I honestly have no idea what that "Hornady marketing hype" is or was or WTF? I don't do cable TV, gun magazines, nada. I heard about it here, read about it online from other users, one gun writer (token gun writer? LOL), bought one, shot it, read more, liked it, bought more, shot more, liked it more, and sticking with it.

Hater be haters. Missing the point ain't "effective." LOL

A lot of that investment is emotional, IMHO. Just when a feller gets to enjoy feeling all special about his toy, somebody comes along and does it maybe just a bit better, over the counter yet.