Good article on why everyone either loves or hates the 6.5cr

[judgebill]

Back when I started shooting (age 13, joined a rifle team) there were only a handful of popular calibers, the 257 Roberts classically used for the "little woman", the .270 Winchester (Jack O'Connor's favorite for sheep), the 30/06 for anything bigger than a coyote to moose (but not quite appropriate for large bears), the .300 H&H Mag (overbore for anything but preferable for moose and brown bear) and the venerable 375 H&H Mag for anything from brown bear up...but a little light for elephants. That was it. Then along came the "in between" that were designed to "fill the gaps" and the abundance of magazines plus brand new experts who had to write about something and the manufacturers who had to increase sales and we have the plethora of choices now available. But the "old-timers" managed to kill everything at what was then called "normal hunting ranges". Looking at today's choices I am amazed and impressed and yes, I also have a variety of choices in my safe...and enjoy them.Time and technology have given us an abundance that most enjoy.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

I agree... I think we are in the Halcyon days of firearms much like we are in other technologies, so many good old and new designs.

 

[dr.frank338]

The 6.5 cm pretty much matches the Swede. It's a good, useful round. But that metric stuff has got to go, **** commie paraphernalia. Long live the the 243 Win, 260 Rem, and 280 Rem Mag

Yah, that metric stuff is so boringly easy to understand... 6,5x55, x65 or x68? It'much better .300 Savage, WM, Wsm, Dakota. Who can not understand that 450 BM is 451 and 45/70 is 458? (460 Wby of course will be 460)... it might be time to leave these crazy things to England, they still got the Queen etc...

 

[ButterBean]

I'm not sure what you mean by "small game", but I know a couple of 300 lb boar hogs sitting leisurely at 150 yards that might beg to differ. Each one DRT with a single neck/high shoulder shot with 140 gr Swift A-Frames. Accuracy and enough punch to do the job on nice sized critters.

Small game to CBH is anything under 400 pounds, Australia and Tasmania take a completely different skill set for a completely different set of critters

 

[scope-eye]

I am still working out the details of my 6.6 Creedmoor here is the jist of it, you will need a new bolt this one will have a firing blade oppose to a firing pin. Here is how it works when the blade hits the primer the primer is filled with atoms which the blade splits them which causes a chain reaction and a whole other bunch of stuff " Hey I never said I was a nuclear scientist" my only problem that I have not worked out yet is I am having a hard time finding a stabil load but I am working on it. I don't know what the velocity is I have not found anything that can read that fast.

Dean

 

[ButterBean]

I am still working out the details of my 6.6 Creedmoor here is the jist of it, you will need a new bolt this one will have a firing blade oppose to a firing pin. Here is how it works when the blade hits the primer the primer is filled with atoms which the blade splits them which causes a chain reaction and a whole other bunch of stuff " Hey I never said I was a nuclear scientist" my only problem that I have not worked out yet is I am having a hard time finding a stabil load but I am working on it. I don't know what the velocity is I have not found anything that can read that fast.

Dean

Ohhhhhh, Ahhhhhhhh

 

[RWE]

I am not Catholic anymore but I have a confession...

I like my 6.5CM....

For the record I shave my head slick, have a bushy goatee, drink only black coffee (in the morning), water, and "occasionally" bourbon (no water, one ice cube).

 

[xsn10s]

"If" you really want to test your wind calls, MT and WY are two prime places to be.

This is me antelope hunting in 2015 ...

Yup we have some pretty good winds too. Good training days.

 

[CMP70306]

The 6.5 CM is inferior by over 100 fps to
the venerable 6.5x55 SE ( aka sic ' 6.5 Swedish
Mauser' ). Likewise the newer .260 Remington
has up to 300 fps in factory loads over the 6.5 CM.

Long and short of it: The Creedmoor has benefitted
from an incredible public relations effort by Hornady,
which has managed to obscured the marked
benefits of the older two 6 1/2 cartridges!

Once you wade through all the bally-hoo...
It is instructive to find the Norma video showing
a watermelon shot at a range of one kilometer using
Norma factory ammunition, 143-grain Bondstrike
at 2,723 fps.

20K views · 331 reactions | In late 2019 and in the final phase of production, Norma's Key Account Manager and former international champion shooter, Anders Brolund brought two... | By Norma Ammo | Facebook

In late 2019 and in the final phase of production, Norma's Key Account Manager and former international champion shooter, Anders Brolund brought two...

www.facebook.com

DoD tests found the .260 to be as accurate as the 6.5 CM.

'Doc' Dempster

I'm pretty sure the standard .260 factory ammo is not hitting 6.5 PRC speed so you should double check the velocity numbers again. Also 6.5x55 Swede has the same pressure issue the .45-70, .45 Colt and .44-40 have, the original guns are strong so modern ammo is downloaded by lawyers to prevent issues. I wanted an old Kraig or M41 till I found out I would have to limit them back substantially to the point it's not fun anymore.

I'm just glad that all the idiots from years ago that touted that the 6.5 "needmore" could do anything a 300 Win Mag could do have all disappeared. It was extremely well marketed and imho, that is its only advantage. If the 260 Rem had been given a better name and marketed even partially as well, there would be no cm.
View attachment 275307

That argument could be made about a lot of cartridges, the most recent thing I can think of is .270 WSM and the 6.8 Western. Winchester made a slight tweak and rereleased almost the same cartridge less than 20 years later. If the 30 Nosler had been tweaked instead of simply removing the belt on the .300 WM then the 300 PRC wouldn't exist. If the 6.5 Rem Mag had been tweaked there wouldn't be a 6.5 PRC and on and on and on we could go with plenty of examples to choose from.

As for the 6.5 Creed vs .300 WM I'm pretty sure it was statements like "the trajectory of the 6.5 Creedmoor is much flatter to 1000 yards than other short action hunting cartridges such as the .308 and 7mm-08, offering trajectories similar to that of the 300 WM" but over time it got shortened to "6.5 Creedmoor is the same as .300 Win Mag" with zero context. All I know is that my 6.5 PRC with the 153.5 smacks the steel at 1000 much harder than the creed but it doesn't hold a candle to the 225gr at 2920 out of my Win Mag.

 

[davidu]

That's great! But does the steel really care how hard it's smacked

 

[CMP70306]

That's great! But does the steel really care how hard it's smacked

It does not but I like the "bong" noise it makes and the louder the better.

 

[xsn10s]

and "occasionally" bourbon (no water, one ice cube).

My understanding water helps release more flavor. Or makes the flavor better.

 

[FEENIX]

My understanding water helps release more flavor. Or makes the flavor better.

I read the same thing, but I prefer no water, no ice.

 

[xsn10s]

That's how I used to drink it. But after some trial and error I like a couple of cubes of ice. I don't mind experimenting some more though.