Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5 Creedmoor Accuracy

II've seen mention of Creedmoor accuracy on a couple of other threads. I have seen spectacular accuracy out of every 6.5 Creedmoor I've shot. Not just accurate with one load but with most every load. Why is this? Case design or have a just lucked into good shooting rifles with this cartridge?

I have to agree with you. I'm on my fourth rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, and every one of them were accurate with everything I shot through them. All have been factory rifles, shooting them as they came right out of the box, with nothing done to them except a trigger swap in the Remington 700's. I've tried different powders and bullets, and just about every different load has been accurate enough for me to use as a hunting load, and I'm pretty picky.

It's in the design.

Seems everything I try shoots good. Worst is good, best is outstanding.

DF

Reamer specs. It's pretty much just that. The long throat has a very tight tolerance and the leade is a traditional "target leade" of 1.5 degrees. When you build tight tolerances into "factory" guns and ammo, they end up being accurate.

NAGW,
But I have bought two 6.5 CM’s, and both shot extremely well out of the box. The first, a Tikka TX3 lite, I no longer own. I loved the way it shot, just wasn’t fond of Tikka rifles. My second, a Barrett FieldCraft which I still have, also shoots as good as any rifle I’ve ever owned. I don’t know why it shoots so well, but it’ll be here until I’m not.

As an aside, I don’t understand why so many on here seem to want to deride the 6.5 Creedmoor. It is accurate as hell, and capable of taking cleanly most of the game hunted by our members out to ranges beyond most folks abilities. I’ll bet the 270 received the same treatment after it was introduced. No wait! It still does!!

270 and 6.5 hate is real. We need to come up with something similar to TDS but for the 2 calibers mentioned above.

Maybe, but my factory Creedmoors have shot better than most of my customs, including from companies known for accuracy. I think I've shot factory 6.5 Creedmoors from Weatherby (Howa), Blaser, Tikka, Barrett and Bergara, and they've all been some of if not the most consistently accurate rifles, custom or otherwise, that I've ever shot. Also, my handloads and factory loads have all shot about the same.

OK. So what is it about the design? Not looking for guesses but someone that knows.

HuntnShoot mentioned the reamer specs, but other factors are the relatively short, parallel-sided case with a 30-degree shoulder--which has been determined to result in more consistent pressures and hence velocities than shoulder angles of much less or more.

Plus, most factory brass is very consistent, especially in neck thickness, which has large effect on accuracy.

It's the reamer specs. Really. Look at the tolerances allowed in the SAAMI cartridge drawings for throats and leades. For example, the dimension on a 300 Win Mag is .315" for the throat just beyond the case mouth. That's the spec on every SAAMI reamer. For the CM, the throat spec is .2645", or .0005" over bullet diameter. This allows the bullets to enter the shallow-taper leade straight, and solves a lot of problems. This is the reason that Creedmoors are not so hit-and-miss for accuracy.

As I noted in another post last week, I'm getting consistent sub-moa results from a factory rifle using factory ammo out to 400 yards shooting 2 different bullet weights.

Why? Dunno, and don't care. Time to go hunting.

That makes sense. I've also generally had pretty good accuracy, though not nearly as good as the Creedmoor, with Weatherby cartridges since they tightened their freebore. I think the .257 Weatherby and .300 Weatherby both now run .0004 over bullet diameter.

My Creed likes the 123 Scenar over Varget. It's a 700 with a SS Shilen in a McWoody Mtn rifle stock, wearing a NF SHV 3-10x42

Even the worst loads were MOA., best ones, sub-MOA. Very easy round to load for.

Have posted this before.

DF

I've only had 2 6.5 Creedmoor's. One is a Ruger Hawkeye and the other a Ruger American Predator. Both are very accurate, although the American seems to shoot slightly smaller groups than the Hawkeye. I have rifles in quite a few other calibers, but the 6.5 Creedmoors are getting quite a bit of use the last few years. They're accurate, light recoiling and plenty adequate for any medium game. I enjoy rifles that are easy to get to shoot well.

The brother in law has a M1a and a bolt rifle that shoot the same ammo to the same place.

They are real good at 500 yards too.

I load 140-3's and 129's for both.

ELD's i think.

The M1A is a National Match.

That makes a lot of sense. My 7x64 (on a Ruger M77 tang safety) is the most accurate rifle I've ever shot despite having a massive long throat. When my gunsmith saw the reamer he said something that sounded like "ducking bell". The throat would be over an inch long. Yet it was just over 0.284 inch in diameter and slightly tapered, not allowing the bullet to wobble and guiding it centrally into the rifling. I load 150gn Ballistic Tips out as far as the magazine box allows but the bullets are still waaaaaay off the lands, yet three shots go under half an inch and five shots will be a bit over 1/2 inch at 100 metres with a 6x scope. The 7x64 is about the opposite of the 6.5 Creedmoor case, long and skinny with quite a bit of body taper, yet it shoots lights out. So, no doubt good brass with consistent necks undoubtedly helps but the chamber and throat dimensions must play a large part for the accuracy.

I built one on an Eliseo Tube Gun and it shoots great. I have another built on a new SS Remington receiver, Shilen match barrel, bedded B&C stock, and Jewell trigger and I've not found the good load yet. About .75-1.00 moa at this moment.

It's also ammo specs.

When you are dealing with a recent cartridge, with tight tolerances on the chamber,
you can reduce the clearances needed for the ammo.

And I would be willing to bet the ammo gets more care than others might.

"Boss,, these dies for 30-30 are wore to the max."
"F' it. Nobody shooting factory 30-30 will notice crooked rounds."


"Johnny, the office said to replace the Creed dies early, we don't want the
problems of any inaccurate ammo."