Anyone shoot the 6.5 Creedmoor?

I too have the Savage 12 LRP rifle. Mine lives in a McRees Precision chassis. I'm still adjusting to the rifle but so far it's exposed my weaknesses. It really likes Winchester Match 140 grain.

I also have the Savage 12 LRP in 6.5 Creed and it is quite impressive for a factory rifle. The first 5 shot group I shot at 100 yards after initial break in measured .426" CTC. That was shot with factory 140 AMAX ammo. It regularly shoots 1/2 MOA and bucks the wind extremely well. It is a bench gun though for sure. damn thing weighs 14+ lbs with my vortex 6-24 scope on it. Love the gun though and love the round.

I am considering getting a Ruger Precision rifle in 6.5C as well. Attached is a picture of my average 5 shot group at 100 yards with this rifle.

Ok, that 6.5 CM BLR is awesome. Are you getting those velocities out of your 20" barrel with factory or hand loaded ammo?

SavageShooter2k said:

I also have the Savage 12 LRP in 6.5 Creed and it is quite impressive for a factory rifle. The first 5 shot group I shot at 100 yards after initial break in measured .426" CTC. That was shot with factory 140 AMAX ammo. It regularly shoots 1/2 MOA and bucks the wind extremely well. It is a bench gun though for sure. damn thing weighs 14+ lbs with my vortex 6-24 scope on it. Love the gun though and love the round.

I am considering getting a Ruger Precision rifle in 6.5C as well. Attached is a picture of my average 5 shot group at 100 yards with this rifle.

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Nice shooting SavageShooter2k!

Regarding the "overbore" or "bore capacity" stuff that's often mentioned, some years ago was when I decided to survey people shooting the best scores in competition or testing bullets for accuracy got with different caliber cartridges. The criteria was how many rounds fired before average group size increased 50% over the starting size.

One thing stood out above all else. People getting 3000 rounds of accurate barrel life were shooting max loads with 1 grain of powder for every square millimeter of the bore's cross sectional area. First one on my list was the .308 Win. It's 7.62mm bore diameter has a cross section of 45.6 square millimeters. An average charge weight for all bullet weights used was about 45 grains. 22 and 24 PPC cartridges shooting best results in benchrest events burned 23 and 28 grains of powder on average equaling their respective bore areas in square millimeters. Sierra Bullets got the same barrel lives testing their 22, 24 and 30 caliber bullets in the same respective cartridges. They started out with 1/4 MOA but were considered worn out when average got to 3/8 MOA.

Larger capacity cases burning twice as much powder for the same bore area got one fourth that barrel life. Cartridges burning only 41% more powder got half the barrel life. Which explains why competitive shooters shooting the 7mm Rem Mag in long range matches had barrels go sour at about 800 rounds or less. And my .264 Win Mag long range match rifle quit at 640 rounds. And the 6.5x.284 round popular in long range matches wears out a barrel at 700 to 800 rounds.

Cartridges used for traditional hunting got about 6000 rounds of accurate barrel life. Military service rifles; 9000 to 10,000 rounds of combat accuracy specs.

Therefore, the 6.5 Creedmore with 40 some odd grains of powder will have a barrel life based on its 33 grain bore capacity. The .260 Rem uses a tiny bit less powder; it's wildcat origin (6.5x.308) barrels lasted about 2000 rounds in competition where it was first used in the late 1990's. Easier to shoot more accurate than the .308 Win. it replaced as its lesser recoil made for better scores.

I own a Tikka in 260 rem and it's a great gun and cartridge. I don't see the advantage for the 6.5 Creedmoor over the 260. Powder Capacity goes to the 260 all the way.

cocojo said:

I own a Tikka in 260 rem and it's a great gun and cartridge. I don't see the advantage for the 6.5 Creedmoor over the 260. Powder Capacity goes to the 260 all the way.

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They are extemely similar cartridges. The reason I chose Creedmoor over the .260 rem is the availability of great boxed ammo for the Creedmoor. The 140 Amax is an awesome boxed round that you can pick up off the shelf and shoot 1/2 MOA. As far as my searching showed the .260 Remington does not have that option. If your planning on handloading exclusively it is a toss up as to which one is better.

I have had no trouble finding 260 ammo. Federal 120 BT & 140 Game King in their Premium line, Nozler 120 Partitions, Remington Accu 120's and regular Remington 140's, Federal Fusion 120's, Remington low recoil 140's, which I have no use for. My local gun shops have these in stock including bass pro in my area. Creedmoor is pretty much Hornady's baby and I did call them and ask them why they don't produce the 260. Reply was production of other cartridges but they did say check in future, they possibly will make it. I honestly think they won't make it because it will compete with their own Creedmoor round and with more powder space will be a bit faster. Don't get me wrong the Creedmoor is a nice round but I still think the 260 is slightly better. I buy Federal 260 Fusions for about $27.00 a box, which is not bad at todays prices. By the way my Tikka is left handed in 260 with the smoothest bolt I have ever seen and great trigger, I love it!

Coco, as I recall the CM was originally designed to fit magazine loaded rifles. The steeper shoulder and longer neck work with 140 gn bullets with little or no loss on powder capacity. When using 140's in the 260 some of the case capacity is lost because of the the longer projectile. All the technical stuff aside I have both and see little or no difference.

cocojo said:

I own a Tikka in 260 rem and it's a great gun and cartridge. I don't see the advantage for the 6.5 Creedmoor over the 260. Powder Capacity goes to the 260 all the way.

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I shoot the 260 and the 6.5 CM,each has different advantages over the other. The 260 has better brass choices,the 6.5 CM allows the shooter to load closer to the lands and remain within the OAL measurements of most magazines.
Velocities and Ballistics are pretty much a tie between the two cases,the 260 has a little more capacity but the 6.5 CM case design burns the powder more efficiently.

I prefer the 6.5 CM.

The difference between the 260 & the 6.5 Creedmoor reminds me of the old days when VHS v Beta were competing for the best video system. Both were good systems but I think the beta's picture was slightly better. The VHS system won out.

I have the Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. My only experience with the cartridge, but it seems to be very soft shooting and extremely accurate.