6.5 has made obsolete my rifles

As with most activities, equipment, even the uber best equipment, will not make you better if you don't put in the time.

I will take the guy with the 308 that practices over the guy with 6.5 Creedmore that thinks 6.5 means he doesn't need to.

Personally I like a challenge and usually hunt with odd-ball cartridges/guns simply because I enjoy tinkering and making the odd balls work.

There is still a need to send a higher amount of energy downrange that the 6.5's simply cannot achieve.

My motto is that just because something better has come down the line, that doesn't make the old stuff ineffective. That applies to just about everything. Guns, cars, boats, ect... Case in point my 30-40 krag. Its 119 years old and it still shoots a 180 grain ballistic tip 1 moa.



We really have not made all that much progress in the field of hunting rifles in the last 100 years.

There are fashions sometimes that sweep the shooting world. The .40 S&W was a previous example. Of course, any previous cartridges continue to be as good as ever when new ones arrive, so one need be in no hurry to change over.

In the case of the 6.5, there is something rather good to be said for the bore size. It is in a sweet spot that allows excellent ballistic coefficients at reasonable throw weights. Of course that was true before the Creeedmore cartridge and its hoopla.

I have a friend who has killed lots and lots of deer with several calibers, most recently with a 6.5 Creedmore. Now he is insisting that I buy one; he REALLY likes them, even with a ton of experience with other rounds. My .243 and .270 have killed deer very dead, so I'm unlikely to switch. And yet, I'm really curious. Maybe just need an excuse to buy another rifle?

My 308, 303 Brit, and 6.8 SPC have all given many one shot kills on deer, and I don’t see any reason to change now.

There's some things the 6.5s do unusually well, mostly due to having fast twists and heavy for caliber bullets.

For hunting tho there's little one caliber will do that another can't duplicate.

The only standard caliber I don't own between .22 and .31 is a .27
I've had two 6.5 Grendel's, two 6.5 Creedmoors, and a 6.5-284.

I liked them all, but then I like all the other cartridges/calibers I've owned too......I suppose I really do need to try a .277

Ok... so don't change anything if it's working. Rifle and cartridge companies only make money if you shoot more and buy their product. The more variety of unique cartridges you own, the more you coukd buy. If your 30-30 and .280 are all you shoot, they get little to nothing from you. Doesn't hurt you, hurts them. Keep on keepin' on.

LoonWulf said:

There's some things the 6.5s do unusually well, mostly due to having fast twists and heavy for caliber bullets.

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This. Combine those attributes with the light to moderate recoil of the 6.5mm cartridges, you have a recipe for success in the paper punching and steel ringing categories. There are lots of high B.C. bullets in the .284, .308 and .338 calibers as well, but a substantial recoil penalty that shooters working within the practical range of 6.5mm cartridges (and 6mm) don't care to tolerate unnecessarily.

For bringing down game humanely? The .264" critters won't do anything a .244", .257", .277", .284", .308" won't. A 6.5 CM should definitely be a consideration for a hunter who is also considering .243, 7mm-08, .308, etc., but selling your .25-06, .270 or .30-06 to buy a 6.5mm anything for harvesting animals would be pretty silly. And when it comes to larger species in open country, the 6.5 class come up short in a world of fast .300 magnums and similar.

My primary hunting rifles are a .25-06 and an 8mm Rem Mag. Neither have much selection of match grade, long, heavy, high B.C. bullets, and the rifles don't have the twist to support those if they existed. But these aren't 1,000 yard match rifles anyway, and by any account are pretty good choices for hunting pronghorn, deer & elk where ranges may be anywhere from rock throwing distance to over 1/4 mile. "Crappy" .520 B.C. or not, there ain't a 6.5 I know of, not even the 6.4-284, which will carry the kind of oomph to the 500 yard line that the 8 mag will launching 220 gr. Sierra bullets at 3,000 FPS.

When a rifle lasts a lifetime companies have to be inventive in order to sell you something new. Not to mention we are using the same basic designs that have been around for decades from the rifles to the cartridge.

But in all fairness.....how great is the 6.5cm?
Hunting, long range, lower recoil, accurate factory ammo, does well in a short barrel, feeds from a mag.....

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

VoodooMountain said:

When a rifle lasts a lifetime companies have to be inventive in order to sell you something new. Not to mention we are using the same basic designs that have been around for decades from the rifles to the cartridge.

But in all fairness.....how great is the 6.5cm?
Hunting, long range, lower recoil, accurate factory ammo, does well in a short barrel, feeds from a mag.....

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Yep!

If we step back from the annoying hype, it's really hard to fault the Creedmoor.
On its own merrits it's a wonderfully executed little round.

Again this isn't to say I'd give up my .250AI for it, but I'll happily own both.

VoodooMountain said:

But in all fairness.....how great is the 6.5cm?
Hunting, long range, lower recoil, accurate factory ammo, does well in a short barrel, feeds from a mag.....

Click to expand...

LoonWulf said:

Yep!

If we step back from the annoying hype, it's really hard to fault the Creedmoor.
On its own merrits it's a wonderfully executed little round.

Again this isn't to say I'd give up my .250AI for it, but I'll happily own both.[/earQUOTE]

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Its definitely popular for good reason. I won't be selling my 25-06 for one but if I could go back in time 15 years and if it had existed back then I would take it.

When I took my $100 6.5 x 55mm Sweedish Mauser to the range for the first time and blew the heck out of a GatorAid bottle at ~75 yards off hand, first shot, no sighting in, hardly any recoil, I fell in love with the Sweedish Mausers and the 6.5x55mm cartridge. I have never felt enough of a need to try the new fancy 6.5 cartridges to dump my reliable 30-06's and .308's and buy the hyped cartridge of the day.

6.5cm --- That would be a beast!

The 6.5x55 did that over 100 years ago. The 6.5 Creedmoor just does it in a slightly shorter package. The Grendel...now that little round in a micro action is something special. The Valkyrie could have been better, but it seems like Federal (& the insistence of companies on using 1:7 barrels instead of 1:6 or better) seems to have hobbled the 224 a bit.

someguy2800 said:

Its definitely popular for good reason. I won't be selling my 25-06 for one but if I could go back in time 15 years and if it had existed back then I would take it.

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It did, but was called the .260 Remington.

Firearms and ammo manufacturers need sales to stay in buisness, sure their going to hype some particular rifle or cartridge, right up to when the next super bang mini magmun shows up. The only problem I have with this whole hype deal is when shooters buy in totally and then disrespect, sometimes quite loudly, another shooters choices. My old Marlin 30 WCF is not obsolete, my long range Mauser 308 is not crippled either. And no amount of hype will change that, Im not going to buy a new rifle solely on hype or opinion, but proven qualities and investigation. Sure, a nice 6.5 could be in my future, just as soon as my 270 quits doing it's job so perfectly.

I actually have to admit to being a little lost, here. Anybody remember the 6.5 mm Carcano? Why is
everybody acting like they have discovered something new?

Next thing you know, they'll be hyping some new 38 caliber as the best thing since sliced bread.

Yes, the 6.5 Creedmoor has made all other cartridges obsolete overnight and somehow removed them their ability to cause ballistic harm even to paper or other targets, and not to forget the harm to creatures that you hunt. The only cure to the problem is to get your own wonder 6.5.

Of course if you believe that, I have some nifty things to sell you.

Did you guys hear that whining?

Unless you are a strictly long range shooter, if you are already invested in a .308 or similar rifle cal there is no tangible reason to change to 6.5. As a gun salesman, I love the 6.5. As a consumer, its a resounding meh. I'll stick with my .308's.

Last I checked, my .223, .243, .270, .30-30, .30-06,.308, 44-70 and a few others seem to get their jobs done just fine.

The 6.5Cr might a great little round on paper and in practice. But the hype & it's fanatical fan base's disparaging air towards all other effectively proven calibers leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

So as childish as it is, i'm going with spite. There's likely a 6.5x55 Swede in my future purchases, but not the creedmoor (even if hyper evolving deer skin causes my .30-30 to bounce off, and climate change reduces .308 accuracy to 50', and only the creedmoor can save us....)

I've liked the 6.5x55 for over 30 years, long before the 6.5 CM craze began. I currently have three 6.5x55 rifles. I also like the 243, 257, 25/06, 270, 7x57, 30-30, 308 and 30/06. Each has it's own unique qualities... I have nothing against the 6.5 CM as a cartridge, in fact I think it's a good hunting cartridge within it's limits and a really good long range target round. What I dis-like about the 6.5 CM is all of the hype surrounding it and the rabid 6.5 CM fans that think now that the 6.5 CM is on the scene it's a whole new world and everything else is obsolete, it's simply not the case..

MachIVshooter said:

It did, but was called the .260 Remington.

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I wanted one at the time but they didn't chamber the gun I wanted in it.