6.5 Creedmoor

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 2/11/2019 | M Collins

[w1n1]

Between the hunting woods, long-range target competitions and even the U.S. military, the Creedmoor round is making inroads among shooters.
6.5 Creedmoor is one of the new calibers that’s quickly received a pretty intense following, and it's easy to see why. It offers better ballistics than most rounds in its class, has taken numerous precision rifle match medals, and is even being adopted by the U.S. military for some of their sniper weapons. I personally have used the 6.5 Creedmoor for a few years now, and I have two rifles chambered in the caliber. I've taken several large deer with it, and placed well with it in local and state competitions.

I've brought home ribbons, and any shortcomings in my shooting were squarely my fault, and not the fault of the round. Yes, indeed, the 6.5 Creedmoor has taken the rifle shooting world by storm, and people have certainly had success with it, but does the round live up to the hype? Is it worth investing in instead of something like a .308? Is it worth the extra cost over similar rounds? In a word: yes. Let’s talk about why.

CARTRIDGE DEVELOPMENT
The 6.5 Creedmoor, or 6.5 CM, is a distant relative of the .308 Winchester cartridge, developed by Hornady in 2006, and first released in 2007. It was born in the bowels of Hornady's research and development department, and was brought into the world chiefly by Dave Emary and Dennis DeMille, then Hornady’s senior ballistic scientist and the VP of product development, respectively.
They set out to develop a round that would excel in a competition environment, out shooting similar .308 loads, and with less recoil to boot.

They decided to start with a 6.5mm projectile, which is tough to beat for a low-drag, high-velocity cartridge. From there, they settled on the then-new .30 TC cartridge as a parent case (itself a derivative of the .308), which gave them the ability to have the longer 6.5mm bullets load reliably in a short-action rifle such as the AR-10. The .30 TC case was also great for overall barrel life, even in a competition scenario where a competitor may fire hundreds of rounds in relatively short periods of time. Read the rest of 6.5 Creedmoor.

[Who is John Galt?]

CARTRIDGE DEVELOPMENT The 6.5 Creedmoor, or 6.5 CM, is a distant relative of the .308 Winchester cartridge...

If you actually look at the dimensions of the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge case, you'll find that it's essentially the old .250-3000 Savage Improved, necked up a whopping 0.007", and with the shoulder pushed back a hair. Hornady could literally have named it the 6.5/.250 Improved, but they were obviously more interested in marketing and sales, than history (for good reason). But the "new hotness" is basically a slightly modified version of a century-old cartridge...

[griffin]

350 Legend? For something a bit closer in and lower recoil that the 450 Bushmaster.

Case is based on a 556 case, just opened up to 9mm (357). MIGHT feed out of modified AR mags? Might have to modify the mag feed lips. Straight walled case will affect mag capacity too?

https://www.guns.com/news/2019/02/04/saami-approves-new-350-legend-cartridge-video

[griffin]

Totally agree. Gotta select the right tool for what you need/want.

I will say that you can have a mouth watering coffee table discussion piece for maybe a bit less than what you’d expect? And tickle your funny bone at the range. :)

It is kinda a bummer though, cuz as soon as you splurge on a little bit of hardware, then you gotta invest in a range appropriate scope.

https://ruger.com/products/HawkeyeLRT/specSheets/47189.html?buy=1

https://ruger.com/products/precisionRifle/models.html

[Lurker]

Mrs. L got a very nice AR for Christmas. She picked out the girly components, (handguard, Cerakote colors, etc) but the real $$ went into reliable components (think a really good trigger), and the best optics we could afford (Aimpoint red dots).

Included was a big pile of Magpul magazines, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, and range time.

Love those Rugers. Wish I could come up with a believable excuse to buy one. I really want one of these:

https://ruger.com/products/scoutRifle/models.html

L

[griffin]

Physics is physics. The 308 is just fine and a solid performer if you find the right ammo for your particular rifle. You just need to be willing to put up with significantly more drop, more drift and lift/drop due to cross wind and terminal bullet performance at the range you are desiring to shoot out to. If it’s just target marking, then that last one isn’t a big deal.

[griffin]

Ah yes, Scout. Col. Cooper is smiling now. I want one in a folding stock with more rails or M-loks on the front to hang thingies off of! :) Too many things to buy and not enough moola.

Have you investigated the rifle caliber pistols? They are pretty interesting in AR platforms. At first I resisted the idea. But the more I learned...
No SBR issues to worry about as long as you don’t modify the brace AND it is very compact for transport AND you can keep it loaded in your car (state laws providing) because it is legally a pistol. In some cals, the short length barrel really has minimal effect on inherent velocity and accuracy. Just limited in sight radius for open sights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GddNdLKu2uI

[eastexsteve]

2000 rounds is a lot for a long range rifle, but not very long in barrel life compared to what I would expect on other rifles. I wonder why the short life. When I compare reloading data, the max pressures for the Creedmoor are not that much more than max pressures for 308Win. Like 60,000 PSI vs 59,000 PSI. For the same weight bullet the muzzle velocities are also pretty comparable. I wonder what the life issue is?

It's not the pressure. It's the flame cutting by the high-temperature gases that result from the burning propellant. The reason the 6.5 Creedmoor performs like it does is due to heavy bullets and a lot of slow-burning powder to push them at those velocities and still stay under allowed pressure. Using stainless steel increases the barrel life somewhat, but they still burn the throats out pretty quick compared to other cartridges.

[griffin]

BTW, the guy in the video I just posted is mistaken on the brace against the shoulder issue. Current ruling from ATF is they can’t regulate how you use an approved OEM brace. Just don’t modify the design or take the strap off unless you want free room and board for 5-10 years.

[Big Red Badger]

Ruger Scout,
You Will Not Regret It!
Ever.

[Magnum44]

I can’t disagree with your opinion.

[Magnum44]

Check out ammoseek.com

Steel Grendel starts at 25 cents per round. Brass Grendel at 75 cents per.

When I get around to building one, I’ll buy the brass initially and reload.

[griffin]

Got one ‘eh? What flavor? In what role are you using it?

[Magnum44]

Thanks, but it’s still not 100% clear to me. You can use many of the same powders to load 308 as the Creedmoor. But I am not discounting your warning about barrel life. I learn something new everyday and that’s the way I like it. :)

[eastexsteve]

Interesting your 308 is more consistent than your CM. I’m used to the CM being pretty solid.

I'm reloading for both rifles, and part of the reason is that I haven't found the magic load for the Creedmoor that will make it shoot as tight as the .308. I do know that slowing the bullet down a bit does make the CM I have group better. The 6.5 is a newer rifle than the 308 though. I'm probably still getting used to the hold, trigger, etc.

I can definitely see where the 6.5 CM is an excellent caliber for a bench gun. But, I don't do much bench shooting. Most of my shooting is over a bag thrown on the hood of my truck and shooting at 500yd+ coyotes and hogs that aren't usually standing still for very long.

[eastexsteve]

Thanks, but it’s still not 100% clear to me. You can use many of the same powders to load 308 as the Creedmoor. But I am not discounting your warning about barrel life. I learn something new everyday and that’s the way I like it. :)

Some of it might also have to do with general cartridge design. A good example would be the Winchester 30-30 vs the 32 Special. Ballistic-wise they are close. But, the old 32 Special would burn up a barrel in as few as 500 rounds.

[Magnum44]

You know you’re only the second person I know who has ever mentioned the 32 Special. The first was my dad. He has a beautiful 1955 model 94 in 32 Special. But I didn’t know about the barrel wear issue with that caliber either. But then the model 94 was more of a bush gun than a long range shooter, at least that was my experience with both 30-30 and 32 Special.

[Big Red Badger]

Picked one up when they first came out.
Caliber .308 with synthetic stock,
No optics,added a sling.
I’m not much for long range and
Not a hunter.
It is a Great handling firearm
that gets little range time but
It hits what I’m aiming at and hits Hard.

[wardaddy]

I know out west hunters who love this round....claim it’s the be all round for anything below Wapiti

It’s got impressive ballistics especially lack of drop

It’s basically a 308 necked down to a .264 .....yes I know technically it’s .30TC

it’s step sister to the once popular .270 which in my view does slightly more but of course with more powder needed proportionately

[wardaddy]

Btw

Ammo and gun makers have to come up with new cartridges especially in hunting

Buy a new gun

otherwise I’d still be on my grandads winchester model 100 308

Or dads bar 30-06

Or his 243 mannlicher

Or my first 30-30

Best all around North American hunting rifle for me if money is no object is 300 weatherby mag

My son hunts deep cluttered woods for whitetail....and hates tracking em so he uses his 45-70

It’s like a big muzzle loader....bam...deer ain’t far away

[Lurker]

“i’d personally be leery of buying inexpensive non-match grade stuff.”

All I really want is the brass.

L