Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles How much damage has the 6.5 Creedmoor done to the 243?

The greatest damage the 6.5 Creedmoor has done to the .243 is to offer a common, widely available alternative to it.

One that offers more power than a .243 for larger medium game like muleys and bear and as necessary for an occasional elk if desired.

Most .243 use I have experienced is in the form of a lightweight deer rifle for youths and wives. I always thought it was a little light for big black bear and mulies at long range.

The competitors to fill that notch have included the 6 mm Remington, .257 Roberts, 6.5x55, .260 Remington, 7mm-08 and for me at least, the .300 Savage. None of these, in my opinion, have been well supported with rifles appropriate for that use or had commonly available ammunition. The .260 Remington is, or my uses as good or better than the Creedmor but there aren't many and ammo is made of unobtanium.

I bought a 6.5 Creedmoor in a Kimber Hunter when they first came out for under $700. Ammo is available in lower priced, good quality loads like American Whitetail.

My sporterized 6.5x55 1894 Carbine doesn't get near as much use now as it used to.

Interesting thread.
I now live in buckshot and muzzleloader country, but try to get to an area to hunt with rifles most years. I do shoot regularly at a rifle range that is in rifle country.
While I see Creedmores and ammo in the gunshops, I have yet to see one at the rifle range or even among the odd piece of brass at the range.
I have not met a hunter in the woods who is using one, either. Let me caveat that with the limit that areas I hunt are woodland and thick brush, with no place to shoot much over fifty yards and tend not to be hunted by rifle loonies, there are not permanent tree stands, and baiting is not legal. So where I have the opportunity to observe is not similar to what many others experience.
I do admire the marketing effort that has gone into the Creedmore and the coordination with manufacturing.

Bfly

I have a lot of rifles chambered for .243", .257", and .264" bore cartridges that are mostly redundant when it comes to killing medium game.

As has been said time and again, bullet construction and placement counts far more than the head-stamp. Shoot 'em in the heart, lungs, or CNS and punch your tag.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm for the 260 REM when compared to the 6.5 CM, I haven't seen any difference in field performance when both cartridges are loaded with the same bullet up to 1.35" long, as longer bullets don't always fully stabilize in the 1-9" ROT 260s.

The difference being that the 260 was a good idea that was poorly executed, while the 6.5 CM was a good idea that was flawlessly executed.

I would contend that the 6.5 Creedmoor has done more to alleviate the 308 WCF for many hunters. Not because it’s a better cartridge in any way on game at 400 yards, especially when it comes to larger game such as elk and moose and .30 caliber bullet weights to choose from for long range flat work and big hits inside 150 yards.

The 6.5 Creedmoor is however mass produced in rifles and ammunition similar to the 308 Win, but certainly more friendly to shooters for recoil, long range ballistics, and especially for deer hunting, which is a large percentage of what it’s used for, same as the 308 WCF in the lower 48.

The 243 WCF as all 6mm is a multi purpose chamber used for the smallest of game and predators as well as taking whitetail deer and most any 150-200 lbs game animal sufficiently. Light recoil is a plus, even at a 10 twist your ability to shoot a wide range of weights from 50gr-100gr is what the 243 WCF is renowned for. Today I would opt for the 6mm Creedmoor, not because it stomps or outperforms the 243 WCF at typical hunting ranges, it doesn’t, but it does have a better design for utilizing a 6mm full potential and there’s nothing wrong with settling for full potential when it comes to ballistics.

My take is the 6.5 Creedmoor has taken some 308 WCF off line. When it came out years back it was directly pitted against the 308 WCF, mostly because of its ballistic advantage on distant paper targets, but also as a big game cartridge that holds its own in the field.

Fair take there. It likely has pulled quite a few shooters away from .308Win territory, probably even more than it has pulled from the .243Win end.

Today, most of us think of the .243 at a big game cartridge, but it was designed so shooters who could only afford one rifle could use it on deer and varmints. Rifles were expensive then (relatively speaking) but now they're cheap enough that most shooters can have one for deer and one for varmints. Also, a lot of new shooters only learn from the internet, so they focus too much on the possibility of long or very long shots.

I've seen a couple of dozen 6.5 Creedmoors at the range in the last year or so. The owners look like they're under 40 if not 30. About a quarter of the rifles are bolt-action hunting rigs with scopes that top out at about 10x. The rest are 12-pound chassis guns with brakes and giant scopes. A lot of the guys with the most complex builds are getting about 3 MOA at 200 yards--if they dare to shoot that far. They look through the spotting scope, then sit there behind the Labradar and scratch their heads.


Okie John

Agreed. I recently got a great deal on a 7-08, but looking at logistics, I'd take the 6.5 Creed for deer and similar game.


Okie John

6+ inch groups?

Yep. Not sure if the rifles aren set up improperly or the owners are just bad shots.


Okie John

This year I've seen a good number of apparently inexperienced shooters show up a the range with more scope than they knew what to do with.

If you hung 20 White Tails, on a meat rack, All killed with the same type Bullet, all hit in the same place, or close to the same place. could you tell which were killed by the .243 or 6.5 CM ?? I think not, and the deer didn't notice the difference their dead. Rio7

My son killed his buck this year with a seriously downloaded 243 and 80 grain bullets. When I was doing a field autopsy and looking at the damage to the organs, I noted that the damage was far more than a 300 mag and 180 grain bullets on another deer a couple years ago. Same size deer, same range 70-80 yards, same shot placement (slightly quartering away, mid-way up, forward ribs, exit behind far shoulder). Once I got the carcass hanging and washed out, the damage to the ribs looked identical.

In short, I wholeheartedly agree with your assertion.

If you can't kill Whitetails with a .243 and a good bullet? you need to stay at home. Rio7

Agree 100%.
I have killed more deer with a .243 than I have any other cartridge. Anything bigger than deer and I had much rather have a 129-160 grain bullet out of a 6.5 any day rather it be Creedmoor, PRC, Swede, etc.

LOL.

The smooth brain opinion.

Check out sales of 6.5MM CM vs .243 Win.

It not even a game, Dummy.

I can buy over the counter 600yd elk rounds in 6.5 CM that deliver in over the counter rifles.

Show me those in .243 Win and this is coming from a guy who has killed more elk, deer, antelope, and coyotes than you ever will with a handloaded .243 Win in a tight twist barrel.

Just Sayin, Yapper.

You won’t live long enough to shoot enough game if you used nothing but a 6.5 Creedmoor, that I have killed without it.

You passed your prime 50 or 60 pounds ago, but at least you can get from the table to your tablet and make yourself happy…

For me? None since I don't use either. I can load my 6.5x55 Swede to a level that beats the Creed so I have no reason to get one and I sold my 243 more than 15 years ago.

I can't see ever having the need for a
smaller hole in the barrel again other than
the 223 and 22LR rifles I have.
I used to use a couple of 243W rifles a
good bit until I couldn't get 785 powder
anymore. I'd put a lot of time and expense
to come up with some consistent and
accurate loads with the particular powder,
and I didn't feel like starting over from
scratch. I have other rifles that work as
well with proven loads that work fine as
long as I do my part.
If folks like to experiment and fiddle with
different things, I say have at it

I am in agreement with those who posted the 6.5cm has likely hurt the 308 more than the 243.

drover

I like the 6.5 Creedmoor. I also like the the .243 and .260 and have hunted with them for years. My experience has been that you are more likely to meet a new shooter shooting 6.5 Creed than any other cartridge. Hornady does a great job at marketing....Remington should've taken lessons years ago.