6mm vs .22”

[P7M13]

Inexplicably, it decided to lock the bolt solid, break the extractor and fuse the case head to the bolt on a day running temps in the low 20°C for no apparent reason.

Been there, done that, with meticulous recording of every charge from my Chargemaster. Most probably operator error, too much powder - the simplest explanation for flowing brass (unless you had an inexplicable massive carbon buildup).
My error was even written in my load log notes, and brain-farted that the charge was 4 grains extra.

6mm

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

While fast 22s are pretty epic, the 6mm will be more versatile. While numbers on paper are similar, the 6mm is still a bigger projectile and will kill better than a 22 will 90% of the time. 6mm will also have more barrel life if that concerns you. With all that said, I'll be building a 22 creed at some point

 

[Calvin45]

Well everybody we're one day in and at present the 6mm is winning by a landslide 24-4, 80 percent. But we shall see

 

[Coldfinger]

Okay folks, I'm here to stir the pot again! A while back I did a 7mm vs .30 cal poll and it got very lively in a good way. This poll now pits the .22 bore against the .24 (6mm). This would be a no brainer years ago for me (6mm obviously winning) but the ultra high bc .22 bullets out now change the game some, combined with the fact that in my home province of Saskatchewan it used to be you couldn't hunt big game with .22 caliber rifles of any kind and now that had changed, for better or worse.

the big cased .22s and the 6mms have tons of overlap now in application and performance. If you could only own a rifle in ONE of these bore
diameters, which gets the nod? For any and all applications, target, varmint, smaller big game, doesn't matter.

I still feel the 6mms are more versatile and not too much of a good thing for varminting, but what are your thoughts?

I had a 6xc and 6 creedmoor I still have 3 22 creeds and a 22-250!! Can anyone actually tell a difference off the paper or steel and crono's? I can't and coons, coyotes, fox, fishers, cows and deer couldn't either!

 

[orkan]

Given what I've experienced in the past 7-8 years with a 22 creed and 80gr bullets... I'll pick it over a 6mm every time if I'm hunting.

I've had the most consistently impressive performance with it, even on deer sized animals. It's shocking what it's capable of.

 

[Coldfinger]

While fast 22s are pretty epic, the 6mm will be more versatile. While numbers on paper are similar, the 6mm is still a bigger projectile and will kill better than a 22 will 90% of the time. 6mm will also have more barrel life if that concerns you. With all that said, I'll be building a 22 creed at some point

I'll report in deer season I'm actually doing a realistic comparison. The majority of 6's nowadays are designed around heavy bullets, the 22's I think are still aimed at lighter bullets just my opinion. Last year my son used a 22 creed and 85.5 Berger for a 250 yard heart shot. The year before a 6 creed with 95 SMK on a 90 yard deer both heart shots 22 deer was dead in 20 yards 6 creed she made it about 90 yards. What's your conclusion? Mine would be every animal reacts differently. I'm going to run my slower twist 22 creed with lighter bullets and hope to have my 6 creed with 12 twist for comparable bullet weights up and running. Yes I'm a diehard 22 fan but do like the 6 ad well that's why I'm building another. In all reality my 22-250 has way more DRT deer than every rifle I have combined, that's a lot of da-n deer lol. (Not spine or neck shots either) Im really curios you see what the 22 creed will do to deer with 69-73 grain bullets approaching my 22-250 velocity. Just what I've witnessed for myself.

 

[CrimsonSplash]

22 cal pretty hard to beat now... but that 6mm with any berger bullet is amazing too...

I have a short barreled 22cm on my desert tech, 16.5in long. I shoot a 80 amax at 3150 fps pretty easy. It also loves 53 vmax.

I have a long barreled 22cm being made on a savage action. Should be 22in or longer I hope, depends on the barrel blank he has in stock.
That would hopefully put an 88 eld going over 3300 fps. that would be a hammer at anything under 850 yards with that bc

 

[CrimsonSplash]

Given what I've experienced in the past 7-8 years with a 22 creed and 80gr bullets... I'll pick it over a 6mm every time if I'm hunting.

I've had the most consistently impressive performance with it, even on deer sized animals. It's shocking what it's capable of.

What about the 88 eld in 22cm? I think that would be wicked as well. ELDs have been great hunting bullets for me, even up to elk size.

 

[orkan]

What about the 88 eld in 22cm? I think that would be wicked as well. ELDs have been great hunting bullets for me, even up to elk size.

While I'm sure it's just fine, I spend most of my time with sierra and berger offerings. Although I did just buy 7,000 75gr eldm's. I tend to believe the 22 creed is best suited at 80gr and under for most of my purposes.

 

[Patton243]

How does it compare to a .22 creed with 75-95 grain range?

It burns barrels. Go 6mm you won't be upset with your decision. I cashed my 22-250 into a 6mm creedmoor. Way better in the wind at longer ranges.

 

[CrimsonSplash]

While I'm sure it's just fine, I spend most of my time with sierra and berger offerings. Although I did just buy 7,000 75gr eldm's. I tend to believe the 22 creed is best suited at 80gr and under for most of my purposes.

I gotcha. Thanks for the input. This will be a night hunter that I hope is flat for a long ways for both coyotes and elk.. both at night. and yes, legally haha

I know with elk I'll need to place it well, but neck shots with elds have dropped elk within 350 yards pretty easy for me.

 

[orkan]

A 6mm Creedmoor barrel is usually completely done at 1100-1300rnds. A 22 creed is 1000-1200 typically. So barrel life is close enough to not be a factor. Ballistically, well the numbers are plain for those that wish to run them. The retained energy at normal engagement distances, and the likelihood of transfering that energy to the animal vs a pass through... is especially noteworthy. Regarding my own choices, the 22 creed and its versatility has rendered the 6 creed obsolete at worst, and non-essential at best. It is also noteworthy that I have never been able to get a 6 creed to shoot as tight as even my average 22 creeds. The best of my 22 creeds are literal one-hole rifles. Groups in the .1's.

Here is a 6mm 105 berger at 3150.

Here is an 22cal 80gr berger at 3500.

 

[del2les]

While I hate the "only one gun" debates, I will throw my experiences in -

Through the decades and having used, owned and still own numerous 6mm's and varied 224's cartridges and rifles, I have to say my fast twist 22/250AI's (almost identical to a 22CM) and 22/243's with the VLD heavies "ballistically" outperform my varied 6mm's at longer ranges. This is no small thing for me to admit, for a long time, I was, and still am, a dedicated 243, 243AI and 6mmAI fan! In the faster twists with VLD's, they work well at the longer ranges, but when true 22 cal VLD's came along, I discovered I could make those long shots with less drift and drop than my old 6's.

As for game and where legally allowed, I have killed numerous deer sized and smaller animals with varied 22 cartridges and loads with varied bullet choices. Whether it is the 6's or 22's, bullet selection is always critical, and of course, the old bullet placement discussion.

As for the op's request of strictly "only one gun" of the 2 calibers, I would choose my 6mmAI's for the versatility of using 55gr for smaller varmints with the heavier varmint bullets for less drift, and then switch to the medium game bullets for those. Thus, "only" giving the nod to the slightly heavier, not necessarily better BC, projectiles for longer range kills on deer sized and similar game. Even that decision is somewhat based on my bias for my old friends.

(edited to add) - Part of "my" decision also rests in the fact several states do not allow anything smaller than 6mm for medium game, and since this was an "only one gun" op, I kept with the dual purpose of the two choices.

 

[orkan]

I felt similarly about my coveted 6mm's for a long time. However, the lighter bullets end up with worse performance on the larger calibers usually, at least when compared to equal weights in a smaller caliber. For instance, if you compare a 6mm 55gr to a 22cal 55gr... the better overall experience tends to come from the smaller caliber. I found that this typically was true of the whole range of bullets until you get to the very top end of the weight to diameter ratio. Heavy per cal bullets in larger cals tend to outperform the smaller cals. There are instances where the lines get blurred on that though. Consider a 55gr berger in a big .20cal for instance. Some combinations punch well above their weight class.

With enough experience, you can see how things really sit in a hierarchy. This is to say that different things are indeed different. Whether they are different "enough" to matter, is a decision for each shooter to make. Though ballistic fact is exactly that... a fact. Ignoring the facts is how arguments come to be, and that is unfortunate. It is alright to say something along the lines of "I choose this because I like it, even though other things may be ballistically superior." We can keep to the mathematical and real world performance facts, and also all get to shoot what we want.

Though in some cases, that means admitting that your cartridge of choice, doesn't actually sit in the hierarchy where you think it does.