Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Will the 6.5 Creedmoor survive?

Just as the title says, do you think this cartridge is going to survive. I'm looking into a new rifle in some type of 6.5 and wondering if you think it'll be around or going by the way of most of the WSSM's

Thanks,

Mike

I'm for betting that it won't last long commercially. But could be wrong and then some, have been b4.

Dober

I agree it's in the mix and ballistically similar to the 260 and Swede so it may survive in the Loonie crowd or competition shooters but as for hunting no way.

Define "survive".

Unlike the WSMs, brass for the Creedmoor is easily formed from existing cartridges.

How can it fail? With all the gunwriters singing it's praises, and never seeing a bad article written about it, it's going to put all the other cartridges out of business. All the experts can't be wrong can they? LOL.

If you buy a 6.5 Sweed you will have no need to ask the question.

Jim

I know Jim. I have (3) 6.5x55 swedes and a 260remington. I never could see the need for the 6.5 Worthless except to sell ammo and guns.

and to take millions of game animals, and win tens of thousands of competition matches. I know you just happened to forget these.
Best to you,

Jim

I think..more than likely, but it may fade into oblivion for a large part over the coming years. Just my guess over time what it will do. It could catch on, and ballistically has every reason to THRIVE vs. not survive as it's a fine round from its merit's.

Survive - more likely than THRIVE - is my guess, but I could be wrong. My guess is arms/ammo sales are flat lined.

When the 6.5x47 came out, alot of shooters adopted it, the Creed perhaps went after the same niche - competition shooters, w/hopes I suppose it would spill over for hunters.

Once Lapua intro'd their 260 brass for handloaders, it pretty much sealed the deal for many would be 47 AND Creed shooters, as the 260 is viewed to have a little more horsepower and now w/Lapua brass, accuracy on par for the needs of those TactiCool/Sniper/Steel shooters who for the most part are building custom rifles w/DBM mags that take longer COL/OAL rounds. That last part was the big selling point for the Creed.

Recently Sako has made a run of TRG-22 Sniper rifles in 260. The are out the box, ready to run for the guys who want that type of rifle.

The 260 has not thrived as well as it deserves either, but I think the pendulum has swung in it's favor in the USA for 6.5 shooters as I have seen more 47s for sale than 260. I see more 260 shooters than 47 or Creedmoor.

That said, ALL rounds have been proven highly accurate, and for all out competition the newer 47 and Creedmoor have equalled the 260 for accuracy, and some surpass it. Speed? All 3 are VERY close when looking at results of how shooters are using/loading them.

If you are looking for a factory rifle - find the rifle of your preference. If it's a Creedmoor, being a handloader helps, but I doubt factory ammo is discontinued anytime in the near future, and it's very accurate and to spec w/speeds. It's not my first choice due to being a 'Hornady exclusive' re: proper head stamped brass/ammo options, but it will do as good a job as you need if its in the rifle you want.

If I know Ruger, if sales are not increasing, many/all rifle options may be discontinued in time. DPMS and perhaps others however may have a small niche for the AR type rifles.

IF Lapua really wanted to kill the Creed, and dominate the mid-sized 6.5 USA market, they could mfg. MATCH grade ammo in their Lapua brass, using 123 and 139 gr Scenars at a competitive price. That last part is not what Lapua is known for doing.

That said Norma has an opportunity to do the same w/260 ammo as affordable MATCH/Tactical ammo market has room to grow. One thing is certain, many former 308 shooters have/are moving over to 6.5s.

I think it will. The fact that Ruger's Hawkeyes in it are selling pretty well and the fact that those cheap factory rifles are surprisingly accurate is going to be a factor. E

Do you have #'s of Ruger sales year over year E?

I'll bet it's going to rival the Ruger 300 RSM in popularity-

LOL - I do applaud Ruger for giving 6.5 shooters an option, but would have already bought a #1V by now had it been in the 260, but they never offered it, instead discontinuing all but the compact 77 in 260 IIRC.

Hornady upper management told me a few years ago, a short action '270 TC' was coming out pushing a 120gr as fast as a 130gr 270 Winchester load. Had that been correct, I would if it would have sold more rifles vs a Creedmoor? Perhaps he mispoke and meant the 6.5 Creed, but I am 100% certain, he said two seventy. Perhaps the idea was canned.

The original question is like asking "Why did the 6mmBR fail?"

This thread is going exactly like a bunch of other threads. A bunch of people question the validity of ANY new cartridge, but ignore the fact that any smokeless round introduced after World War One is redundant.

All any new round introduced since then can do is fill a very small niche. Sometimes the niche is as small as offering something similar to a round a competing company sells. The .243 Win. and 6mm Rem. are perfect examples.

So what if the 6.5 Creedmoor's ballistic only match those of the 6.5x55 or .260? Hornady wasn't trying to develop a revolutionary new cartridge for whitetail hunters. Instead it developed a round for the target niche. Yeah, it will work just fine on deer, but that's not the point.

We could just as well have dismissed the .260 when it appeared because all it did was match what several of the original, redundant military 6.5mm rounds would so. But the .260 was also designed as a niche cartridge, one that fit in a short magazine--and also had consistent chamber and brass dimensions, unlike all those old military 6.5's, including the 6.5x55. Just try using ALL the different brands of 6.5x55 brass in a wide variety of rifles, and you'll understand part of the reason for .260.

It's always interesting to hear shooters with a very narrow range of interests complain about a new round that nobody is forcing them to buy.

I don't get the point of the original question. Other than a non reloading shooter, why would anyone really care about the popularity of a cartridge?

If you like the rifle/cartridge.. buy it and a few hundred rounds of brass, its not like their going to stop making 6.5mm bullets. In 15 years if you can't find new brass.. you can always rebarrel.

Heck I just bought a 338 RCM (that will be dead long before the creedmore).. I got 400 rounds of brass, when thats used up I will have certainly gotten my money out of the barrel.

As a 338Fed owner, how many times have I seen this happen.

noknees,

One not-so-minor additional point: 6.5 Creedmoor cases are easily formed from .22-250 brass, and I suspect .22-250 brass will be around as long as centerfire rifles exist.

Barry - the 6BR IIRC, has won/wins from 300-600 meters. And taken many records to 1,000.

I am not sure the Creedmoor has done anything that other 6.5s have not done, inc. the 47 Lapua or the 55 Swede.

The 260 - Sherri Gallagher�s record-setting victory in the 2010 NRA High Power National Championship, Sherri was shooting a .260.

JB - good posts. As to niche rounds, often handloaders seek them for various reasons..that those rounds deliver. Brass can be sourced no doubt if pressed. That said, guys, think about the 41 magnum, the 350 Rem Mag and others with low sales volume...there is still brass being mfg...so it's not likely that the Creed will vanish, 'subside' perhaps if it does not prosper.

In the meantime, I bet Hornday could add incremental profit to ammo sales by mfg. 260 match and hunting ammo. Whether they choose to to make the financial investment for a return, or how that would affect their plans for the Creedmoor's future I do not know.

Purely looking at the Creed as to it's design and performance, it has few flies...but if it had the 308 based case to source brass, and the same options ie. Lapua brass and ammo options by other mfg. as the 260 does, then it would make those concerned w/the future viability of the round's supply of ammo/brass become moot and the OP would not be asking the question IMO.

It really simply boils down to:

Do you like it?

Then get it in a rifle or have one built.

If I did not handload, the Creedmoor would be My pick, as ammo as accurate as the Hornady 6.5 is priced at a much bigger premium in 260 Rem. Likewise, if someone dropped ALOT of Creed Brass in my lap....I might have a reason to load them

No doubt, if one likes a round, the investment in brass that will wear out a barrel and last MANY years, can be viable, and wise. Likewise, so can pre-ordering ammo if you shoot only factory, as one would not have to worry at a last minutes notice IF ammo is readily available.

There's another article on the 6.5 Creedmoor in the November issue of Guns & Ammo. In a photo line-up of the 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 Grendel, .260 Rem, 6.5 Rem Mag, and .264 Win Mag it's easy to see what the author of that article is explaining when he says the Creedmoor case was designed from the ground up as a short-action cartridge with a modern shoulder angle as compared to the .260 Rem. The article includes data for 16 reloads with various bullets from 95 to 160 grains. Good data for anyone wanting to reload the 6.5CM.

Whether the cartridge survives, as in readily available factory loaded ammo, no one can know. As with everything new, the market will decide its long term fate. That said, change and innovation has been the hallmark of the firearms industry for centuries and I applaud companies like Hornady and Ruger for keeping that tradition alive and well.