On topic of hunting with these new super 6's, it would seem that most rifles chambered in these calibers are for the most part being used for targets......one form of competition or another, and most using fast twist barrels to launch heavy, high BC bullets somewhere into the distant horizon. For the most part, that is the only context you see them mentioned with.
But do any of them hold potential to compete with the old guard like 243 win or 6mm rem as hunting rounds? Say use 6mm Creed brass to launch 100 grain hunting bullets thru 1:9 or 1:10 twist barrels? Same with the 6GT under same notion? Not really competing with 6mm Rem as brass has dried up and is going obsolete. If a 6 GT could be stepped down to launch same bullets as 243 Win with better barrel life, would it not be a viable alternative?
Plainly, if a guy can’t hunt whatever game they’re chasing with a 6GT or 6 Creed, they can’t hunt it any better with a 243win or 6rem. So yes, the 6 Creed and GT will hunt anything anyone has ever hunted with a 243win or 6 Rem.
For what it’s worth, I’d also bet heavily against the majority of 6 creed or 6 GT rifles being used for “competition of one form or another.” There are simply too few folks which compete, and there have been a lot of 6 creeds sold in the last ~6yrs.
The 243win was my favorite rifle cartridge for a lot of years, both for target shooting and hunting. But I spent half of my life asking the 243win to do that which it wasn’t designed to do - almost all of my 25+ 243win barrels were fast twist, custom barrels, and around half of those were 243AI chambers instead of standard chambers, AND for most of my life, I made 243win/AI brass from Lapua Palma brass to gain access to small rifle primer pockets instead of large (ironically, I do use mostly Hornady LRP brass for 6 creed now). I started shooting 6 Creed 6 years ago now, and doubt I’ll ever go back to 243win for any reason.
I think guys with this mental bias of “the round was designed for targets, it can’t be good for hunting” are doing themselves a huge disservice. The design origin really doesn’t matter - it’s just a bullet of a certain mass at a certain speed, so whether the case was designed as a hunting cartridge or a target cartridge, it has the same potential.
So to answer the question: There’s not a deer, coyote, or hog on Earth, or any distance they could be hunted, for which I would really feel undergunned with a 6GT, 6 Creed, or even 6 Dasher rather than a 243win - especially not a factory slow twist 243 or 6 Rem with underweight bullets. I’d have to think pretty hard to decide if I even think I’m at any advantage with a 243win over 6 ARC or 6.5 Grendel at distances I most commonly hunt (0-400). I’ve said frequently on this forum and others, if I find myself feeling I need more than 100-120grn of bullet over more than 30-40grn of powder to hunt deer, hogs, or coyotes, I probably really need to evaluate if I should be doing whatever it is I’m doing.
I also wouldn’t personally waste any energy chasing a 1:9” or 1:10” 6 creed or 6 GT, or using sub-100grn bullets, unless you simply wanted a 600yrd prairie dog rifle with limited versatility. The 1:7-1:8” twists used in these cartridges does well with most lighter bullets, and frankly, hunting deer with lighter bullets in any of these and pretending they have any advantage over the heavier bullets for the 6mm bore is believing a false narrative. I know a few guys shooting 80-90grn Varmint bullets for calling coyotes with 6 creed, but it doesn’t do anything we’re not doing with 100-110’s, so I wouldn’t bother with it, myself. But again, I spent almost 20yrs building custom 6mm’s in fast twist barrels to do what I could do now with a $300 factory rifle and ammo.
6 Dasher 105H at 2800, 2500 and change impact velocity at 172yrds
6 creed, 105H at 3165, impact velocity just under 3000 at 120 yards
6 Creed, 105H at 2800, impact velocity ~2610
6.5 Grendel, 123ELDm at 2565fps, impact velocity ~2520 at 75yrds
Again, if a guy can’t hunt whatever they’re hunting with a 6 Creed, GT, or even Dasher, adding 50-150fps to use a 243win or 6 Rem won’t save them.
