Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 6.5 creedmore

Shrapnel is gonna kick your ass......

Yep and this new fangled smokeless powder is just a passing fad...

Getting to the age where I don't like change, either...

DF

Drat, didn't think about that!

Was Shrap 30 when the 270 came out???

Ouch...



DF

Sorry, my friend, but you're giving my memory waaayyy too much credit! I think I was clear that the investment I was talking about is emotional, not financial or otherwise tangible. Your situation is one where sticking with a proven favorite and/or its kin makes perfect sense, kinda like me keeping a .270 (to name just one) around. Wouldn't want to discourage anyone from using what they already have or like, for any reason.

On the other hand, I said before, there's absolutely no reason for anyone buying or building a new rifle to saddle themselves with a wildcat, or an obscure, difficult to feed cartridge when the same performance is available off the shelf, or to fuss and stamp their feet when something new and useful comes out that does what their pet does, but simply and relatively inexpensively. Obvious exceptions are vintage guns, or attempts at recreating same, or "just because", all good reasons to do things the hard way.

Hey, wait a minute... I know ingwe is older than Shrap, and I'm older than ingwe...

Hey, wait a minute!

blunderbuss, baby....

Oops. I may need to go back to the Upland Game forum.

Ok, I’ll bite. How do the CMs feed from the magazine ?
That .462” diameter shoulder has me pondering that aspect of their performance.

It is amazing how the "butt-hurt" runs strong in the shooting community when it comes to rifle calibers. It's like people might take offense if someone else has a different favorite color. As I've said previously, on the continuum of cartridges, the differences between each and the ones directly above and below it on said continuum in so miniscule as to be almost completely un-determinable by most mere mortals.

Having said all of that, if some newcomer to shooting were to approach me and ask for my recommendation for a on-rifle-do-all for the average hunter, based on all we know about ammo cost, inherent accuracy, ballistic capabilities, etc., I would be hard-pressed to suggest something other than the 6.5 Creedmoor as the "best" option. I do, however, acknowledge that anything ranging from the 243 through the 30-06 would not be leading said individual astray.

Fine

While "butt-hurt" certainly exists regarding cartridges, the opposite end of the spectrum exists. That is, unfailing admiration of cartridges; the thinking that one round is somehow far superior to another, when in reality most will do exactly the same thing.

With the 6.5 Creedmoor, this unfailing admiration is often exhibited in places like a bar during hunting season. If there's a group of flat bills drinking cheap beer in said bar, at some point one will pull out his I-phone and start forcing everyone around him to look at pictures of dead things which he "smacked" or "laid the hammer down on" at ridiculous ranges. This fellow will then proclaim how the cartridge he was using was by far the best choice for said "harvest". In 2018, there's a good chance that cartridge is one of the big Noslers, or a 6.5 Creedmoor. After a few more drinks, said hero will mumble something about the extra rounds it took to bring dead animals to bear for pictures, as some of the rounds fired went into the hillside or blew off a leg.

Cartridge selection is as much an emotional choice as it is practical, and when emotions are involved they will run the gamut from love to hate. When exposed to experiences such as those described in the above paragraph, it's easier for an observer to slide more towards the negative, lest one be lumped in with said flat bill brigade for using the same round.

So in short, chicks and emotions are the problem, both sides of the coin.

No surprises there

I can't disagree with you pg, that's why my first sentence specifically referenced, topically, "rifle calibers" (note the plural).

Pretty much how the .300 Weatherby was discussed in bars when it was the hotness.

The big difference is that the 6.5mm CM can actually deliver for the average hunter.

That is what makes it unique, the hype is warranted.

Based on the hammering of a fair number of deer at varying ranges, I have to agree with this. I just, plain, like the 6.5, whether it is a Creed, or .260.

John,

Yes, I handload. For full disclosure, where possible I use Lapua brass, then Norma and then others although I'm looking forward to developments with the emerging case manufacturers like Alpha, ADG and Petersen. Lapua/Norma are preferred through hard won experience as when I start reloading I will batch the available brass - the variation between good ol' Hornady/Winchester/Federal brass in the same packet is scary and will not help in the long run.

If I were asked by someone wanting to get into longer match ranges or a good rifle for light/medium game at any useful range I would certainly recommend a 6.5 Creedmoor. In fact I did back in November when one of my staff was about to undergo a shoulder reconstruction and doctors advice was 'no shooting' for a long time. I recommended a 6.5 Creed in a Varmit weight rifle with a very effective muzzle brake and a limbsaver recoil pad (the 30mm one). He starts shooting that next month (3 months after the surgery). The combination is such that it is an effective package and should be at the top for anyone.

FWIW my staffer also reloads, but cannot for probably a year as he cannot manipulate the press post shoulder surgery.

The longevity of the Creedmoor is down to the fact that it does work. As I said in an earlier post...


Simple fact is that when first launched the Creedmoor was heavily marketed by Hornady, just like they did the 204 Ruger before it, and most recently with the 6.5 PRC (full page adverts in the magazines, pushing product to the reviewers in print and online). Nothing wrong with that, but you must admit that Hornady do have a habit of strong marketing campaigns, sometimes for pretty mediocre product. As you state, a cartridge popularity usually wanes after 2-3 years (the 6.8 SPC is the latest of a long line of Remingtons marketing missteps). That the Creedmoor continues to sell strongly suggests that it has reached a level of acceptance with the buying public, passing a fad stage several years ago and has became a benchmark cartridge.

My issue is that I have an innate dislike of faddish behavior perpetrated by manufacturer marketing and industry magazines/websites which are sometimes nothing more than advertorials. I know there is an industry out there to sell products, be they rifles, ammunition, or column inches (or is that column electrons now?). I look forward to reading about it, but don't think I won't consider the outcomes with a level head and call BS when the words don't add up to reality.

My point is, and remains that there are equally effective products for those who choose to use them. Yes, they do lack ammunition options across the counter which makes them a reloader choice, but they are as effective as the Creedmoor.

You may want to reconsider labelling me (and some others here) an "anti-Creedmoor rifle loony".



As usual, you only look to what is sold over the counter in the USA, not what is available from the factory or by special order from Beretta USA.
Tikka T3x Varmit Stainless Factory Production

Holeee-phucqk. It is not popular because of the marketing a decade ago. .

Amazing that the younger crowd gets criticized here of all places. With hunting numbers declining and all....

I'd say the Creedmoor's success is more due to R&D strategy than "marketing" strategy. It was shooters, engineers and ballisticians that came up with it. Not MBAs or marketing experts.

The marketing budgets of all the shooting-sports companies combined isn't big enough to do "marketing" of anything on an effectual level. One company doing it, as you suggest, is completely ludicrous. It can't happen. There is absolutely no "marketing-driven" reason for the success of the 6.5 Creedmoor.

Truth be known, since Hornady is a much smaller company than Remington was when it introduced the .260, I'd lay very comfortable odds that the .260 Rem had far more "marketing hype" and budget than the 6.5 Creedmoor did. We all know how that worked out.