Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters A short essay on the 6.5 Creedmoor

I ignored the 6.5 Creedmoor for years, considering it to be the latest fad cartridge. Then Steyr chambered their Scout rifle for the round and the combination struck me as an ideal match. It has become one of my favorite and most used rifles. To date I have yet to try a load in it that groups OVER an inch.

I bought one (CA Ridgeline), didn't love it, sold it and forgot about it for a while. Then I started thinking about a DIY rifle I could build that's 1) easy and fun to shoot, 2) ammo available and affordable and 3) effective on the game I'm likely to shoot with it (Whitetail deer) and the 6.5 CM was the Easy Button answer for me.

Mr. Mule Deer,
You miss writing, don’t you? Lol

I had no need for one since that niche was covered by several other rifles as far as I was concerned. Then I had to rebarrel Mrs Blacktailer's 308 Kimber Super America. When I told my smith I wanted a 7-08 he told me I was crazy if I didn't make it a Creedmoor. Always listen to your smith.
Good article JB.

personally I'd take the 6.5 Creed over the .260, etc.. I've also done several .25's on the case, 6's and .22's. Do my own work ---.

Once again, I think the small primer pocket Lapua Creed case is tough to beat. Also done many of the 6.5x47 Lapua's. It is also charmed

One has to wonder if the folks at Lapua ever ask themselves, "what if?".......
IIRC, it was 2, maybe 3 years on the scene before the 6.5 Creedmoor.

Agreed... Just a sneaky hunch but the 6.5x47 case may offer a tad better accuracy potential than the Creedmoor

The 6.5x47 Lapua guys are a true CULT!

I’ve been in the industry in some form or fashion for decades but of all the thousands of rifles that I’ve owned or that’s come through my shop the Creedmoor was an answer to a question I didn’t ask and therefore I had no interest in a new round, especially a 6.5mm anything. I’ve yet to even fire a Creedmoor since I already have plenty of 308’s, 243’s, etc but with the popularity of the round it’s become harder for me to ignore. I know that finding ammo for the Creedmoor is NOT difficult since every shop around here has cases upon cases upon cases of every conceivable bullet and configuration and it’s “cheap” compared to everything else.

Before my best friend died he’d built a AR in the Creedmoor and loved it so I think that’s what I’ll do with the stripped upper and lower I have sitting here….

It’s hard to ignore the attractiveness of the Creedmoor and it’s impossible to ignore the guys that I trust that are shouting the praises of the Creedmoor …especially after they’ve been able to put it through its paces.

Were I to ever own a 264 caliber, it would be a 6.5 Remington Magnum, no other.

But, I don't care for 264's, so I don't see that ever happening.

A couple weeks ago I picked up a Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creed on clearance for what amounted to $304 out the door. Just happened to have a Burris FF II 3-9x40 new in box at home waiting on something. I cleaned and then prepped it with Dyna Bore Coat before trying it out. Pretty much laying the blame on Mule Deer for this one, lol!


I’ve only shot 10 rounds of factory Federal Fusions to cure the Bore Coat and to get the scope somewhat dialed in. Two groups of three for the last six rounds went a bit over 1.1 and 1.2 inches each. Pretty sure it will do better but I’m not complaining as I’m no competition shooter by any stretch.


Mule Deer; I actually was going to post this question as a thread but I’ll throw it out here.

Several times I’ve seen where you mentioned the 41.5gr of H4350 load you used initially in your RAP and noticed in Hornady 11 that charge is listed as max in their 140-143 gr class of bullets. I don’t have H4350 but do have Ramshot Big Game I could use with new primed Hornady brass and 143gr ELD-X bullets I picked up from from Mid South. I’m thinking of starting at 40gr (41.4gr listed max for BG) and working up from there.

Yea or Nay?

Also have a pound each of W760/H414 I could try.

Pretty much a newb at reloading. I get the “work up” aspect and am aware of the 10% rule but I’m never really sure how low to actually start. Doesn’t help when I know guys in addition to yourself who sometimes start at max published loads. Component availability being the main issue.

Apologies if this causes too much thread drift.

When I first started loading for the 6.5 CM I worked up some very good loads using 760. Lately my go to powder has been 6.5 Staball.

I think you're right, lol. I haven't messed with the 47 case in 4-5 years.. Put everything 6.5x47 related up, off my bench and out of sight, when I went down the CM path.. Reason being it looks like an accident waiting to happen..Firing a 6.5x47 in a CM chamber would be something I didn't want to witness.. One day I may reverse paths and pick up where I left off with the 47 stuff..

i think it was 2008 or 09 (might have been 2010) when i first got 6.5 Creedmoor. i was looking to purchase an off beat cartridge in a Encore barrel and i found it, a 15" MGM heavy factory barrel. i handload and i could not find any 6.5CM brass. instead i necked up the 22-250 brass to 6.5/22-250 CM brass. 5 shots at 100 yards were under 1", didn't matter what powder or bullet. i got several deer with it and i decided to make a carbine version of it. i called MGM and ordered a 16 1/4" heavy factory barrel in 6.5 CM. 5 shots at 100 yards were under 1" were the carbine version. i got several more deer with it. then i decided to ma.ke the 6.5 CM a rifle. called MGM and ordered a 23" heavy factory barrel and i called High Plains Gunstocks up and ordered a Saphire Laminate rifle stock. 5 shots at 100 yards were under 3/4". i got several more deer.

then it happened, "everybody" wanted a 6.5 CM, bolt or semi, at the public ranges and in the barroom, "everybody" laid praises on it. well, crap. i was bored with the 6.5 CM anyways , so i sold it and bought a 500 Linebaugh in 23" MGM heavy factory barrel for my Encore.

i loaded up 120gr/140gr Nosler BT and Hornady SST and 140gr Hornady A max and both H and IMR 4350, IMR 4064, Varget and Superformance powder. in the velocity region, i believe it was 2600-2700fps for 120/140 gr for the rifle. 2300 - 2400fps for the handcannon. the best powder was the Superformance and the best bullet was the 140gr Hornady A max, it was around .25" at 100 yards with 5 shots. deer loads were Superformance and 140gr Nosler BT about 1/2" at 100 yards with 5 shots.

i don't have a 6.5mm rifle, but if i do, it will either '16 Spanish or a '95 Chillian Mauser with a 22 - 24" barrel in 6.5x55. most likely a Numrich sporter barrel, but i wouldn't say no to a Douglas barrel.

i built for my youngest son, a '16 Spanish Mauser with a Timney trigger and D&T (gunsmith) for a 3-9x Vortex and a Richards Wolverine Apache Gold gunstock in 24" Numrich sporter barrel in 6.5x55. i have about 150 pieces of 120gr Nosler BT and IMR4350 that go about 27ish fps (have to do my chrony) and around 3/4 - 1 1/4" at 100 yards with 5 shots.

i have a 270 Win, 7-08, 7x57, 30-40 Krag, 30-06, 8x57 and a couple of more. i should take the 7x57 and throw the rest away. but i don't, i like to shoot them.

I’ve thought about the x47 a few times.

But man, the creed makes it soooo much easier

The 6.5 CM is at the confluence of a great many agreeable human factors.

I don't own a creedmoor but I don't boycott the cartridge at all. I simply own various 308's and 7mm-08's that are spectacular. Not to mention my other long actions. Not a void to fill for me.

I respect it for what it is and I concede to it's merits at range pound for pound but I cannot understand the sense of magic for the average hunter. Personally I think it has run its course and many are putting down the koolaid. The 308 and 7mm-08 are certainly more versatile but we live in an error of great excess with fine niches to be filled.

Sometimes I just wish I could run down to the Walmarts and grab a quality box of 7mm-08 ammo but that ain't in the cards. 308 is a whole 'nother story.

I built my CM about three years ago. It's great, as a silhouette cartridge. It would also be fine for hunting, I'm sure, but I have three other 6.5 to hunt with. I have little to no need for another.
I have long said that the case is only a powder holder and a gasket; I still consider this to be so, within reason. The Creedmoor holds enough powder and is a good gasket. GD

I never stopped writing! And probably never will.

My old friend Charley Waterman, who wrote about fishing, hunting and guns for a LONG time, once told me that "old writers never stop writing, they just write less." He passed away at 91, while still writing a monthly column for at least one magazine.

There were reasons I "semi-retired" in December. One involved growing weary of coming up with so many ideas for articles, and the other realizing our investments over the decades meant I didn't have to work nearly as hard. But I also became a professional writer because I've loved to write since around 12 years old.

I still love it, but am no longer up to writing 75 articles a year, and a book every other year. Between doing a column and feature article for Sports Afield (which appears every other month) and an average of three articles for each issue of Rifle Loony News (which appears every three months) am doing 24 articles a year--but am also sometimes compelled to write a much shorter "essay" like this one, which is only about 1/3 the length of the average magazine article these days. Plus, about half of it was already written for Gun Gack IV. I can also be pickier, and pretty much only write what I really want to.

I've figured out why the youngsters like 'em so. My son tells me he's going with his buddies out to the range to "shoot Creedmoor's". But first they stop at the local SW and buy the absolute cheapest factory ammo available at the time. On returning from the range they pile out of the rig with their targets in hand to show off their latest groups, which actually, are pretty darn good.

And if they're like my son, those targets go up on the wall in their rooms. I guess that's their version of pinups.