Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles WSM or Creedmoor which will actually be in hunting camps

Nice bunch of mature bucks.

WSM for me.
Never understood what the Cultmoore does the isn’t already done .
If I need a lighter faster handling rifle I’ll carry my model 7 7-08

I have seen exactly one used for hunting. At the deer check station on Ft Huachuca, my deer hanging and in the process of quartering it, guy shows up with a deer and starts running his mouth about shooting his buck with his 6.5 Creed, what a great round it is, how everyone should own one, blah, blah, blah.

Comes over to me and tells me I NEED to go buy a 6.5 Creed, cause its the greatest deer round on earth, blah, blah, blah. He finally got around to shutting up, asked me what I shot my deer with. Told him a 260. Joker turned around, walked away, and never looked at me the rest of the time I was there.

I have nothing against the Creed, just tired of everyone telling me I cant kill anything without one.

Hornady did a remarkable job marketing that round, that is fo' sho'.

It won't be at my hunting camp. Guys will be using the same guns they used 10 and even 20 years ago.

Never once heard nor saw any of the so-called Hornady marketing RE: 6.5 Creedmoor. Heard about it here, Googled up first hand reviews got me more interested, a used bargain got me buying (~7 years ago), trying it got me hooked, and results have kept me a believer. It's nothing but pure simplicity. Not sure I'm going to even bother reloading for it anymore. Had a 300WSM I wish I'd kept but is was not near as easy... Lowest price per round at Midway $1.60, a full $1.01 more than the cheapest Creedmoor. Extrapolate over a few thousand rounds.... Pays not just for ammo, but rifles and optics too. I dig the Hornady American Gunner 140s. I'm good with it.

Not trying to be a smart azz, but what does the WSM do that isn’t already done?

I have a Tikka T3X Creed that I really like and is really becoming a favorite of mine. It will split duty this year along with my T3X superlite in 308.

180 gr 30 cal bullets at 2980 FPS
168’s @ 3150
In a short action , and no belts to deal with.

No love for short fat rounds that may or may not feed well. The Creedmoor is an interesting round, having had several 6.5's I do know that they work. It is not "magical" and really does nothing more than a 6.5X55 or a 6.5x57 will do, perhaps they do it better. I would consider one, or a 6.5 PRC for a bit more horsepower.

If I were to come home some night and find the safe door empty and all my rifles gone, a 6.5 Creedmoor would be among my first purchases along with a .17 HMR and a .300 Win Mag .. not WSM. I'm a hunter, not a long range paper whacker. The CM is a good cartridge for my purposes, not sure it is better or worse than 7mm-08, though, and since I have a good .257 Roberts and a good .308, I don't need either one right now.

Tom

Last hunting “camp” I was in was in Alberta a few years ago. Had a few 300 win mags, a 7 mag, and a 338 edge... I was slumming the 6ai and 80 bts. I was beginning to think Alberta whitetail were the new elk!!! 1 80 gr bt killed the biggest buck of the year... grin

Skane, Yep, I remember you and BobinNH shooting some of those Kansas targets with Creeds, but if I'm remembering correctly BobinNH and your dad went back to their other rifles not being overly impressed?

The boys who say the Creeds don't offer any significant advantage for hunting over other cartidges, even other smilar 6.5s, are correct.

The boys who say that the Creed cartridges are properly designed for optimum performance in short-action rifles and that there's a bunch of good factory rifles and good factory ammo out there to feed them are also correct.

Those things don't conflict.

The 6.5 Creedmoor is better than other 6.5's? Please explain that. Other than a short action, for what that is worth I do not understand. The 6.5X55 and the 6.5X57 can take the long heavy bullets without the powder capacity loss. The 6.5 built it's reputation on the long heavy bullets. Velocity? Explain how the Creedmoor has more than several others. I like the round, but better?? BS

Rifle companies need to sell rifles. We need an excuse to buy more. I own 3 Creeds, 2 are unfired. But I also own a Ruger 300 and 338 RCM. The funny thing is I shot more deer with the 338 than any other rifle simply because of the short barrel and slightly shorter LOP. Makes a nice package for carrying around in the heavy brush.

I've got a friend that handload for 6.5 creedmoor while I load for my 6.5X55 swede in a long action and yes I can seat bullets way out compared to him. He runs a 130 accubond at 3000 fps and brages it up over my Swede load at 2930. If he adds anymore powder his bolt does get sticky so he backed off 1/2 grain for 3000. Needless to say he was a bit surprised when I loaded a few up and showed him I could push 3150 fps and no sticky bolt. I backed off to 3050 and am going to run that this year and time will tell but id bet a good chunk of change my brass lasts a lot longer than his


Trystan

I would agree that the 6.5 Creedmoor is a very good round/cartridge. One can find several rifles for not a lot of money. Great off the shelf ammo. Very efficient, and from reports works very well. My issue is with the "better" part. Experience says otherwise. Still if looking for a new rifle I would certainly consider one. Perhaps a better mouse trap, but the best mouse trap??

The only thing that makes it "better" is the great (and accurate) factory ammo, large selection of rifles properly twisted and throated (dozens - not several), and the fact that it fits in a 2.8" magazine while still allowing high BC 6.5 bullets (which matters to some).

If you call aligning all of those things "marketing", then I guess they marketed it extremely well. Too bad so many others have failed to do that.

I don't currently own one, but the ones I have owned did not disappoint me, and I am sure I will buy another sometime.

It's just hard to overlook a cartridge that makes everything so easy.

And that's a good choice. However, for someone that doesn't already have something like that, there are simply more choices available to them now in 6.5 than 7-08, I believe, for whatever reason, and that makes a difference.

FWIW, on those days when I find myself mulling over another Fieldcraft, the 7-08 seems to get the most contemplation, even though I'm totally bereft of dies, bullets, and brass, unless I count a bucket or so of .308 commercial and LC. Would prefer one with a #2 barrel. Maybe I'll stumble on an Alpine instead.

I'll see at least one on our annual white tail hunt. A 17 year old that has been hunting with us for several years has a T3X in 6.5 Creed. He started with a Savage 10 in .22-250, and that's what he moved up to. Good chance I'll see a couple more as well since a couple other hunters in our camp bounce between it and the 7-08.