Ive got the itch for a new gun,,Tell me your thoughts on a 6.5 Creedmore for accuracy

Well, a question first, what is it that you would prefer?
A brand new box rifle, in a rugged weather resistant synthetic stock, a barrel fully capable of minute of angle or less accuracy, chambered in an easy to load, well supported, modern and well wrung out cartridge, with bullet wieghts that are deer capable at five hundred yards and can still be use at a longer range competitive venue.

Or something more interesting?

The creedmoor doesn't really shine at 500. Great round for sure but at only 500 yards, there's quite a bit of options out there cartridge wise. If the rifle is up to it. And the shooter of course. Need to know your intentions to recommend a cartridge/rifle.

Edited for misspelling.

Yeah, I would go with more interesting too. Maybe a six five aught six. I have a few thirty aught six cases laying about.
But as far as accuracy goes, it can be as much as any other cartridge.

What are you using it for, @HamSlamma?

Its a great round but at 500 there are many great rounds. I prefer the 308 as there are so many options.

If you don't have a 6.5, 7 mm, or 30 cal something or other I'd just settle in with the Creedmoor. I wouldn't sell a 7 mm/08 or even a 308 to buy one however.

Be advised it isn't the cartridge de jour any longer though. Hornady 6.5 PRC is the latest.

I got a great deal on a 6.5 Creedmoor I simply couldn't pass up. I finally found a few hours to hit the range and brought it along knowing precious little about it as 30 cal. rifles are what I've owned.

Got on paper at 50 with one big hole and reproduced that a second time. Hung a target at 100 yards and put two in overlapping holes. Got so excited I pulled the third shot but I can easily see the appeal in 6.5; almost no recoil, flat shooting, supersonic at 500, and deals well with wind.

If and when I'm ready for a serious "fun gun" 6.5 has definitely cut the line considerably.

I have several 3 shot groups ranging from .335- .450" from 2 different 6.5 Creedmoors. Even got to shoot them out to 500 yards and it is a hoot when you can keep you groups under 6" at 500 yards with a standard, run-of-the-mill hunting rifle. However, 500 yards isn't where the CM shines. There are several calibers that will hold their own with the CM out to 500.

I agree with those people telling you to buy a .308.
I have only owned two .308s. Both were bone stock mid price range guns and both shot almost any load I put into them subMOA. On the one I have now, I shot three different bullets with four different powders (a couple hundred rounds of load testing) before I ever had a group go over an inch at 100 yards. And 500 yards is no sweat. With more punch than your .22-250. Basically the .308 is the most forgiving cartridge I have ever fired or loaded for.

FWIW: the 6.5 Creedmoor is something I own and shoot quite a bit. Mine is a Savage with the factory barrel. I have shot mine out to 1200 yards and it shoots great. The first time I took it out to 1200 yards I hit an 18x18" plate 7 times in a row including the first shot. I have shot 3/4" groups at 200 yards with it. 6.5 Creed would be a great choice for pretty much any purpose you would buy a rifle for, but it really shines at distances out past 500 yards. It out-shines the .308 at long range both in terms of bullet drop and wind deflection. I am definitely not telling you, not to buy a 6.5 Creed but for the purposes you state, there are lots of options. And the .308 would be my top pick.

For the type of shooting I do, my first choice would be a 6.5 Creed. I have little to no interest in hunting: I am into long range target shooting. And for that, I want the 6.5 Creed. Not that there arn't plenty of other calibers that would work; the 6.5 Creed is just wildly popular so the latest/best bullets as well as the premium dies and loading gear are all readily available for the 6.5 Creed.

never heard of it, let me google it and get back to you.

At 500 yards the Creedmoor enjoys nearly a 25% advantage across the board vs. .308 with wind. I'm not generally given opportunities to shoot past 3 or 400 yards but I have read time and again that wind is what separates long range shooters and if you're new to distance any advantage helps.

6.5 Creedmoor may not top them all categorically but few cartridges are enjoying its current popularity and widespread support. I was shopping for ideas in .260 Rem. the day I brought mine home, with .308 or .30-06 available in the same rifle at the same price. It won't replace my -06s for larger game anytime soon (ok ever) however I am seeing a future antelope hunt coming together.

The Creedmoor spanks 308 at any range beyond 200 yards and does it with 25% less recoil. With the best high BC bullets the 6.5 remains supersonic to about 2000 yards. The 308 runs out of gas at just over 1000. Lots of long range shooters shooting it at over a mile. As a hunting round it does anything a 270 will do. At ranges inside 200 yards the 270 has a very slight edge, but beyond 200 yards the better bullets available in the 6.5 surpass 270. And with about 30-35% less recoil than 270. It is a legitimate elk round out to 400ish yards and hunters have taken them at longer ranges.

Even though the 308 CAN be just as accurate at least at normal ranges, the recoil reduction is significant. The 6.5 is between 243 and 308, but closer to 243 in recoil.

As to accuracy, most any of the commercial rifles will put 3 rounds of factory ammo into 1/2" at 100 yards if the shooter can do it. I don't even shoot my $389 Ruger Predator at 100 yards anymore. It is too boring. At 200 yards I consistently get 5 shot groups ranging from 3/4"-1" with either factory loads or my handloads. I use Hornady Precision Hunter 143 gr ELDX factory loads and the same bullet in my hand load. The only difference is my hand loads are 100 fps faster.

The round was developed by long range target shooters about 10 years ago. It was inspired by the 260. Shooters found that the 260 with some minor tweaking of both the rounds and rifle made the ultimate low recoil long range target round. The 6.5 Creedmoor was developed to offer shooters an off the shelf option with all the tweaks made to the 260 without building custom rifles. Within a few years hunters found it and it is now the hottest selling round out there.

Well said. Indeed, where does it not shine?

But still, Fire forming, neck turning, necking down brass. A six and a half aught six sounds fun!

Just curious, which brands/models rifles in Creed 6.5 are popular with sport shooters, not professionals?

I know nothing about rifles at all but just want to know which models to glance at on the web to see what people are talking about.

Thanks. Interesting

CoalTrain49 said:

Be advised it isn't the cartridge de jour any longer though. Hornady 6.5 PRC is the latest.

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It may be the cartridge du jour at Hornady's ad agency, but it is going to have trouble if AccurateShooter.com slams it this way:
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...prc-precision-rifle-cartridge/comment-page-1/

Maybe Hornady is in cahoots with a barrel company to sell new ammo and new barrels.

Me? If I wanted to shoot 500 yards, it would be with a 6mm something or other. Or maybe a fast twist barrel for my .22-250 to use the heavy bullets the Valkyrie is supposed to sell.

One of the most popular rifles is the Ruger Precision Rifle. Savage also makes a couple chassis rifles in 6.5 Creed. There are a lot of chassis rifles in 6.5 Creed.

I personally shoot a Savage Model 10T-SR.

I hope he's not planning to shoot at game at 500 yds. IMO that's irresponsible. To many variables in the open field to make consistent kill shots and not just wound an animal.

Thanks for the model name. Off to gunbroker for some pleasure viewing!

Demi-human said:

Well said. Indeed, where does it not shine?

But still, Fire forming, neck turning, necking down brass. A six and a half aught six sounds fun!

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Or a 6.5-300WSM. Can you say SIZZLE?

Sorry if this gores someone's ox, but I'm not a big 6.5 fan for hunting.
I've shot several deer with my .260, and can say it's good, but not anything special. Under 300yds, a .270 whips it, likewise the .30/06. BTDT.

For shooting big game at distances where the bullets perform acceptably due to impact velocity, I'll take a 7mm every time, over a 6.5.
A 7mm-08 with a 160-168gr bullet (i.e.: Partition, A-max or ELD-X) will out perform the 6.5 with a 140-143gr bullet on BIG GAME.
For the paper games, the 6mm Creedmoor is gaining rapidly.

Just like with piston aircraft engines and Hot Rod cars;
THERE IS NO REPLACEMENT FOR "DISPLACEMENT "!!!

Everything else equal, bigger is BETTER.
Just ask Military snipers. A 6.5creed won't replace the .300wm, .338Lapua,or .50BMG.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great cartridge, but it's got its limits.

I don't own a 6.5 CM. It sounds like a great cartridge, and if someone was just getting into rifle shooting, I would certainly recommend it.

I do own a couple of .260 Remingtons, and a couple of .243 Winchesters, which share the parent .308 case. They are all very accurate at 500. So no need (for me) to own a 6.5 CM. But if someone is buying his or her first rifle, it would be hard to make the case that any of the .308-based family of cartridges is "better" than the 6.5; if I were starting with a clean slate, I'd probably opt for the 6.5 CM myself.

HamSlamma said:

Looking for something that's VERY accurate at around 500 yards that has more punch than my 22-250.

Thanks for your help............

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I own a .260 Remington, and that cartridge is a very close ballistic cousin to the 6.5 Creedmoor. Like anything else, the load you're using, the rig you're shooting, and your skill will determine how far you can effectively use that cartridge, but the cartridge is capable. Also, what you're planning to do matters as much as anything else. Target shooting? Hunting? Protection against the zombie hoard?

With that said, 500 yards targets are a breeze with the 6.5's shooting match ammo. With my Accuracy International I've made hits out to 1,500 yards with the .260 Remington, and I regularly shoot it between 700-1,250 yards. With that said, your target matters when making these decisions! I would personally shoot a deer or elk to 500 yards with that rifle, if you're asking about hunting (admittedly, some folks wouldn't). I definitely wouldn't shoot an elk or deer at 1,250 yards with a .260 Remington, even if I can and have shot targets at that distance (the bullet is certainly still lethal at that range, but it arrives at that distance going a modest 1,507 fps, with 700 ft/lbs of energy -- too anemic for big game in my personal opinion).

The 6.5's are cheap enough to shoot, and they don't punish the shooter on a long range day. In a rifle as heavy as my AI (which I run suppressed), it feels like I'm shooting a .22LR. Obviously lighter rifles without suppressors or brakes will recoil a bit more, but the bottom line is that the 140 grain loads through these rifles don't beat you up like a .300 Ultra Magnum would. Still, that's all a moot point if you're planning to shoot a bull elk at 1,000 yards, and need the additional power.

As far as some of the .308 Win talk is concerned, it is ballistically inferior to the 6.5CM, and that's the bottom line. The advantages the .308 Win has is that it is still more common (outside of the competitive shooting world), and the barrel life is phenomenal. Don't get me wrong, the 6.5CM is pretty common these days, and the barrel life is pretty good. Ballistically speaking it walks away from the .308 Win pretty easily. I still shoot both, and enjoy both, so this is a user preference issue.

I bit on the 6.5 CM bug. Tasty as it was. Purchased a Savage LRP, reloading dies, bullets and I was on my way. Can't beat it with a stick. Very accurate rifle/cartridge combo. There are others in the 6.5 range to consider, but you can't go wrong with the CM. Others might be better in one thing or another, but on average, it meets the needs very well.

John G C 1 said:

Thanks for the model name. Off to gunbroker for some pleasure viewing!

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If you haven't purchased yet, might want to take a look at tikka as well. I bought a ctr 6.5cm recently and really like it so far for an all-around rifle. Ergonomics are great for carrying and suitable for informal target shooting. Barrel is heavy enough, but not too heavy. My 12y/o can shoot it well offhanded and killed a deer with it the other day. The action is about 200% smoother than another 6.5cm built on a R700 action. IMHO, you get a lot for the money.