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Is the 6.5 Creedmoor the best do it all cartridge ever

Creedmoor shooter said:
No body should need "relief" because it shouldn't be happening in the first place.
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When anything becomes trendy or a trend, it draws new people like flies to crap. This is not always a bad thing, but it's when things get exaggerated, and something almost becomes some sort of folk legend with "tall tale" abilities, it is pretty **** funny. And it's even funnier when you hear people repeat such mother gooseries that you KNOW are false. Over time, it happens so much, that it creates a stigma that gets stuck to it.

It's like when people try to justify buying a $215,000 Aston Martin DB11 that goes 0-60 in 3.6 seconds, when you could just go buy a Mustang GT350R for only $70,000 that will still do 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, and with some small upgrades, will be running just as fast that $215,000 car for MUCH MUCH less money.

People see the GT350R and folks think "That's badass!"...People see the Aston Martin that costs 3x as much, and think, "Yeah, he's probably a rich *****..." That's the stigma that goes along with supercars and money. Even if the owner is cool and a really nice down-to-earth guy, there will still always be that stigma attached to those cars.
 
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gohring3006 said:
Should have used a Swede.
That's the Moose cartridge!!
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I saw an adult Sweden moose once. I mistakenly identified it as a calf.

Returning to moose camp one evening, the same guy that wings the mosquito with the 6.5 is standing in the lake in water above his waistline, shaking like a leaf and looking pale and ghostly. Poor guy had bumped into one of our brown bears... Good times for the rest of us!

He never carried another 6.5 into moose camp again.
 
I enjoyed reading this thread. The 6.5 Creed is what it is. A smallish 6.5 cartridge. I once was fired up over tje guys posting about the Creed being a better cartridge than the 338 Lap for 1000y hunting. I am over it now. Have loaded a couple Creeds and they have been great for what they are. 3000fps with our 124g Hammer Hunter with great accuracy out to 800y. About 200y less than the capability of a 6.5-06. It is a nice cartridge design just like the new Nosler line.

In the end I have to say I like seeing the new stuff come out. Keeps things interesting.

Steve
 
My original plan on a 6.5 build was going to be 6.5-06 , I had know plan on building a 6.5 Creed. I picked up a Long Action Savage for the 6.5-06 .
I have QL and decided to run numbers on the 6.5 cartridges, I saw that RL26 seemed to look pretty good for a lot of the 6.5's and the 6.5 Creedmoor looked like a good choice based of possible velocity vs powder charge. With the long action I could seat long and gain some case capacity. I hadn't done any research into the Creed beyond availability of brass. I decided to pick up a 26" X-Caliber barrel and begin the real world testing to see how it compared to QL calculations.
My findings seemed to show QL was quite accurate in it's estimations and my results were as follows:
Brass Nosler 52.7 gr H2O, BR2 Primers, RL26 powder and COAL ran toward the 2.890" some a bit less and some a bit more.
I loaded for the best SD and tightest groups at highest safe pressure, Pressures predicted by QL. 63K max.

130 ELD-M 3050 fps
140 ELD-M 2990 fps
143 ELD-X 2998 fps
147 ELD-M 2930 fps

I was able to get higher velocities with most if I ran them to max Pressure of 63K but accuracy fell off. Also testing with 143 ELD-X bullets I was able to get 3054 fps with no sign of pressure even though QL showed the pressure with that velocity was quite a bit over pressure, my lot of powder was hotter than what was in QL data so I made the adjustments to BA to equal velocities I was seeing.
I have also since original testing switched to HBN coating, had to increase powder charge slightly to get back to the node. I have about 1000 rounds at those velocities down that barrel now and over 10 loadings with some of the Nosler Brass with no sign of problems with brass. I do anneal my case necks.
I never read any of the 6.5 Creed hype until after I began testing myself. Funny thing is most of the hype is centered around loads that are quite a bit slower than what I shoot. As far as 147 ELD-M bullets at 3000 fps, it can be done with HBN coated seated long and 28" tube. I couldn't comment on how it would shoot, but pressures should be within its designed pressure. Now a 30" barrel well I would be pretty confident in a load shooting well at 3000 fps. My 26" has no problem of hitting 2950+ fps but accuracy falls off, being a Creednoor though just the vortex created by the extra speed may kill and gut the animal even with a miss. ;)
I have run the numbers on the Swedish 6.5x55 and with RL26 or MRP2 you could out do the Creed by about 30 fps if you load it long and run pressures to 63K in a modern action made to take it. Don't plan on smoking it unless you are using a 6.5-284, 6.5-06 or larger then you can add a good 100 fps. For some reason the RL26 does not show to increase the Swed as much as the Creed.
I have also purchased a Savage 10BA stealth in 6.6 Creed because of my results with the build, it seems to be quite accurate and velocities run about 50 fps an average slower with the 24" barrel.
I really like the Creed and I have always been a 30-06 die hard, I ran the numbers on the 06 using heavy 200 bullets and RL26 they look promising.
 
midnightmalloy said:
The spectrum of why someone would choose a creedmoor is very wide. Some are shooting a $500 factory rifle with cheap factory ammo that is performing better than the old standbys for deer sized game and that makes them very happy. Reminds me of the comments on the 308 win for years! On the farther end of the spectrum there is the full bore custom guy with a true custom rifle and the best reloading setup. It seems now with lapua brass in the mix, all ends of the spectrum can be pretty happy with a cartridge that is relatively low in recoil and fits a wide range of needs. Nothing magic but that's my take on it.

My example is I had a full custom built by pierce on a pierce action, proof barrel combo and using berger bullets and lapua brass it was the easiest load development I have ever had. 50 total rounds to go from nothing to tragectory validation. I hate to agree but it was VERY easy. I have loaded for 30-06, 25-06, 280ai, 7LRM, 243 win and now the 6.5 creedmoor. The creedmoor was by far the easiest.

My larger caliber hunting rifle build was not complete yet so I had to use my 6.5 creedmoor for all my hunting this fall. 2 coyotes, 2 antelope does, 1 whitetail doe, 1 elk all under 300 yards, an antelope buck at 530 yards and a very big bodied 5x5 Mule deer buck at 450. All were 1 shot kills other than the large Mule deer buck and the only reason for a second shot was he was close to a private land fence and I didn't want to take the chance of him going over the fence.

Everything was taken with the same load. Lapua 6.5 creedmoor brass, 43.1 gr of H4350, CCI BR4 primers and 140 gr berger Elite Hunter bullets. The only ones that even moved after being shot were a doe antelope shot behind the shoulder at 170 yards that ran surprisingly 80 yards and the buck Mule deer shot from 450 yard moved only 15 yard before I shot him again. That buck would have likely tipped over if I waited 3 more seconds!

I will preface my next comment with "I was as surprised as everyone else " when the load development and results were this easy. There is no cartridge that can do "everything for everybody" but I would say for the vast majority of North American hunters (especially because most don't hunt elk or larger animals) it's hard to argue that the 6.5 creedmoor is an excellent cartridge for their application!
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I have had the exact same "easy to load for" experience with the 6.5x47. Agree that Premium components, fancy gunsmith, and low recoil probably help with us labeling these cartridges as inherently accurate. Regardless of these factors, I tend to believe that Lapua uses a little pixie dust in their 6.5x47 brass. I am not a good enough shooter to produce the groups I regularly obtain with my rifle.
 
That's just insulting to Trump to compare him to a 6.5 CM... I think ole' low-energy Jeb would be a better match with the CM... You know, short, quirky, backed by lots of money, and only appeals to people because of it's last name... ;)

At least compare Trump to a REAL cartridge that dominates everything, and always wins, like the .408 Cheytac or 30mm Vulcan. :cool:
 
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