6.5 CM really that much better than the 243?

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I have difficulty in recommending to the "only have two" gun concept- I am lucky enough and nutty enough to have many flavors-

If the .243 Winchester has never let you down.....use it.... Better is only better if you can afford it and shoot it well....

If you just want a CM get one....they do a lot of things well, personally I wouldn't trade a .243 for one, I'd just save up and get one....
 
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For hunting I'd rather a 6.5 than a 6, but that's just me, and my .308 had been working just fine for a very long time. Alabama deer ain't hard to kill.

The biggest thing is you still need to match the bullet to the task....velocity/animal.
 
Shot one deer w .243 win.
Factory 100gr. Shot very well in my rifle and I put it through my deer's lungs on the trot north of me at 50 yards, in a woods.
He mule kicked and ran towards me, stopped about 25 yards west.
I reloaded and got ready to swat him again but he turned and walked up a rise- then fell over.
He was dying but not dead, so I slammed him again and he was done.
Dunno if he'd have expired right then, without the 2nd shot or not.

First shot just whistled through, rib hit going in. and clipped on way out.

Got some 95gr more expanding types of bullets for the next yr, did not see anything big enough to shoot.

.243 win using 70gr Nosler BT's is a dynamite chuck rig. Killed many with that, since the 90's.

I still have my .243 set up for yotes/deer and plenty of that faster expanding ammo. Its just a backup rig for deer in case any family needs it.
Much prefer my .35 rem in the woods. Just a more handy package and 200 grainers get more visible contact response.

Have not shot anything w my .30-06 or .280.
Need more tags/places to hunt to test this stuff.

One deer w .243. I know that's just a single data point. Amazing how all these folks on the web get better results w cheaper gear and stuff.
Even employing a hefty filter............I expected better results on my lone .243 freezer filler.
I should pop a couple more and see if things go better.

Hard to do when you have options LOL
 
jmr40 said:
I think it is. The 243 is probably ideal for deer size game and smaller. Which includes everything on your list of hunted game except black bear where I think you're a little under gunned. Especially if you run into one larger than typical.

As far as a hunting performance it compares more closely to 270, but with recoil closer to 243. It shoots bullets of the same or similar weights as 270 about 150-200 fps slower at the muzzle. But with better SD's which mean they penetrate deeper on game at any range and the better BC's mean they catch up to 270 velocity at a bit over 200 yards. A 140 gr+ bullet from any 6.5 will match the penetration and performance of a 180 gr bullet from your 30-06 or a 150 gr from a 270. And do it with 1/2 the recoil. It is the smallest cartridge suitable for everything in North America.

The 6.5X55 has nearly identical performance and has been a popular and classic plains game rifle in Africa for over 100 years. With 160 gr bullets it has taken everything in Africa, including elephant. No reason the 6.5 CM won't perform exactly the same on game.

The secret to the 6.5's rise in popularity is that today most shooters, even most hunters, spend more time at the range shooting than hunting. The 6.5CM is probably the perfect dual purpose cartridge. A guy can buy one rifle and be competitive at long range target shooting, and then take the same rifle out and hunt any game animal in North America. With reasonably priced rifles and ammo right off the shelf.
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My wife has been deciding on a pronghorn gun for herself and was stuck between a 6.5cm and 270. She read your post and has her mind made up now. Thank you for saving me months of back and forth.
 
I believe that there are two questions at play in this discussion.

The first is what the rifle can do.

The more important question is what you can do with the rifle.

I have no doubt that the 243 is quite capable. I have killed deer with the 243, 6 mm Rem, 270 Win, 6.5 CM, 7-08, 30-40 Krag, 308, 30-06, and 300 Weatherby. All are equally dead.

As I get older, I run into two limiting factors. The first is my tolerance for recoil. After the second rotator cuff repair, my loads in the 06 and Weatherby are getting a bit stiff. A couple of years ago, I started noticing the recoil from the 308. The second is my tolerance for tracking wounded animals in rough terrain. I have killed a bunch (30+) deer with the 6 mm and several with the 243. On the average, the have traveled farther (and taken more time to find) than those hit with the heavier stuff. Also, on the average and perhaps because of the load, those I have killed with the 6.5 CM have gone between 0 and 15 yards. The 6.5 CM is also easy on my shoulder. Overall, this puts a lower level of stress on the weakest part of the hunting system--i.e. me, the shooter.

If your confidence in the 243 is rock solid, by all means continue to use it. Once your confidence begins to fade, I suggest you move up a notch.
 
sarduy said:
6.5 CM really that much better than the 243?

Well for 1000 yards matches yes it is. For hunting hogs, deers and coyotes at 300 yards... meh about the same.
For the military? Yes it is.
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Actually for the Precision Rifle Shooters shooting "practical" rifle matches out to 1000 yards and beyond the caliber of choice is .243. The overwhelming majority of these shooters are shooting .243 diameter bullets not .264 diameter bullets. Now 243 Winchester as a cartridge is used very little in this sport but bullets of that caliber are the choice for shooting these matches with the top two cartridges being 6mm Dasher and 6mm Creedmoor.
 
Im not much of a hunter. But I have several friends that are big hunters. A few of them have switched to the 6.5 CM as their elk rifles. Between them, and their immediate families, they are probably getting close to double digits of elk killed with the 6.5. I believe all have been shot with the 143 ELD-X from ranges between 200 and 600 yards. All shots have either been pass through or the bullet was found under the off side hide.

One friend switched from a 270 to a 6.5 CM. He hasnt noticed any drop in lethality but has noticed he can put rounds on target better with the 6.5. That is probably more to do with going to a target scope over a traditional hunting scope though.
 
From a hunting perspective it offers 40 extra grains of bullet weight and generally better ballistic coefficients in hunting bullets. So if that is important to you, then yes I guess its better. If it isn't important to you then I guess no it isn't better.
 
if your shooting a modren rifle in 6.5x55 try N560, in my CZ 550 with a 24" barrel it will run a 120 nbt at 3000 fps+ and a 140 nbt at 2900 fps+ (cronied)with no pressure useing lapua cases.not for swedish army rifles.
 
The Creedmore is better for long range target shooting. However, if the .243 Win does all you demand of it, there's no point in changing to the Creedmore. The Creedmore is better in some fields than a .30-06 but taking larger animals (Moose or dangerous bears) is not one of those fields. I would not replace a .30--06 with a 6.5 Creedmore, either.
 
jmr40 said:
As far as a hunting performance it compares more closely to 270, but with recoil closer to 243. It shoots bullets of the same or similar weights as 270 about 150-200 fps slower at the muzzle. But with better SD's which mean they penetrate deeper on game at any range and the better BC's mean they catch up to 270 velocity at a bit over 200 yards. A 140 gr+ bullet from any 6.5 will match the penetration and performance of a 180 gr bullet from your 30-06 or a 150 gr from a 270. And do it with 1/2 the recoil. It is the smallest cartridge suitable for everything in North America.
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Ya know I've seen testing that still shows the .270 ahead velocity wise out to 800 yards with comparable bullets. 6.5C's a great cartridge, but it's not magic:

https://ronspomeroutdoors.com/blog/6-5-creedmoor-versus-270-winchester/

I load for a friends 6.5 in a 24" barrel and with 140s he's getting right at 2750 while I get a little over 3050 with 140s in my .270, so in my barrel at least and his it's closer to a 300 FPS difference.
 
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You are going to get proponents of either saying the differences are significant in favor of their favorite.
Really, on paper, there not a huge difference.
Sadly the question is a bit on par of .222 versus .233 or .270 versus .280.
Luckily, we get to pick our favorites and laud them as we eill.
A person could even have both.
 
Chuck R. said:
Ya know I've seen testing that still shows the .270 ahead velocity wise out to 800 yards with comparable bullets. 6.5C's a great cartridge, but it's not magic:

https://ronspomeroutdoors.com/blog/6-5-creedmoor-versus-270-winchester/

I load for a friends 6.5 in a 24" barrel and with 140s he's getting right at 2750 while I get a little over 3050 with 140s in my .270, so in my barrel at least and his it's closer to a 300 FPS difference.
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That’s where a lot of people get caught up, but the 6.5CM was never designed to be a speed queen. For hunting purposes only, it really doesn’t hold any significant advantage over any other common hunting cartridge. Where it was designed to shine is in efficiency. Burn less powder, have less recoil, lose less velocity, and be less affected by the wind at longer distances.
 
Legionnaire said:
That said, if I was limited to one, all-purpose centerfire hunting cartridge, I'd probably opt for a 7mm-08, even though I also very much like the .260 Remington.
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Good choice IMO. This is what I have done. I got into shooting the 7MM-08 years ago and have never looked back. Get the energy of the .308 and the ballistics of the 7MM. The best of both worlds
 
George P said:
Sure sounds like a modern version of the 6.5X55...............:thumbup:;)
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The 6.5x55 does do one thing better than the 6.5 Creedmoor: Shoot 155+ gr projectiles. While it wouldn't be my first choice for moose & polar bears, with that bullet weight/sectional density, it would do the job effectively (and has done so for decades). The slight edge in powder capacity of the x55 case makes it better suited for that particular niche vs the Creed.
 
Well, the Swedes like it for what they call elk, and we call moose. Mine was stamped 1907, someone had sporterized/shortened things, added a Williams peep, etc. With 3031 and 4198 and Sierra 120s and 140s, it would hold MOA @ 100 yards off a sandbag; not too bad for a (at the time) 90 year old rifle
 
I did some research about the 6.5x55 around ten years ago after I purchased my CZ. Like everyone else I’d heard and read how popular the cartridge is for moose and how it was the most popular cartridge in Sweden. Information was scarce but I did come across a study listing the most popular moose cartridges in Sweden .308 was number one and there were a number of cartridges ahead of the 6.5x55. Wish I would have kept the article.

So while I love my 6.5x55 and it’s my favorite cartridge, it was supplanted in Sweden a long time ago.
 
George P said:
Sure sounds like a modern version of the 6.5X55...............
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And that is all that it is.
It's ballistics are meh.
Certainly no better than the Swede.
So how does this name change make it the best hunting and target cartridge in North America?
 
Old Stumpy said:
And that is all that it is.
It's ballistics are meh.
Certainly no better than the Swede.
So how does this name change make it the best hunting and target cartridge in North America?
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6.5 CM fits in most modern short action bolt guns and 6.5x55 will not.

And I think one less tangible advantage a new cartridge (any new cartridge) has is all the manufactures have to scramble to get new tooling and thus all these manufactures pay just a little more attention and take a bit more care to follow the specs of the new cartridge and this "newness" forces a modest increase in quality of the rifle made in the new "hotness" cartridges. Just a theory that may or may not require a tin foil hat...
 
mcb said:
6.5 CM fits in most modern short action bolt guns and 6.5x55 will not.
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This is the only advantage of the 6.5 CM over the 6.5x55 Swede.
I currently have two 6.5x55's. I wouldn't trade either one for a 6.5 CM.

I have three .243's and won't trade any of them for a Creedmore, either.
JMHO. YMMV. :D
 
Serious question. Who all makes a current production rifle in 6.5x55? If it is so great I'll take a look at it for my wife.
 
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