Why the 6.5 caliber?

[Philward]

Where does this leave the old 25 souper wildcat from years ago? Will it make a comeback now?

 

[Turnbolt53]

6.5 bullets vs 270,284,308. Why has the 6.5 taken off and if you believe the hype - taken over? I have been sucked into the hype with one 6.5 PRC with a second to follow. Is it just bullet type and availability? The 270 bullets just can't keep up because they don't exist yet? The 284 must be heavy for caliber like the 308 to compete with the 6.5? Why why why is the 6.5 the new "King"?
Just wondering....

To me it just comes down to what bullet weight I want to shoot.

For targets, lighter bullets reduce recoil, and lead to better accuracy. Maybe a 6mm Creedmoor is a good choice.

For deer, a 140 class bullet is surely enough, so the 6.5 offers low recoil and great BC's in that weight range.

For elk, I might like a 160 class 284 bullet with a great BC.

Or for elk in grizzly country, maybe a 30 or 338 caliber with a high BC bullet.

All of these calibers offer a variety of high BC bullets, because they are commonly twisted fast enough to support them.

 

[Pmacc60]

Where does this leave the old 25 souper wildcat from years ago? Will it make a comeback now?

Interesting , this 25 makes me want one. Great bc with the 131 gr. And getting close to that 3000 FPS mark in a 22 inch barrel.

 

[del2les]

I don't think there is anything special about the 6.5mm/.264 caliber. What is special is the advancement in bullet technology.

When all we had were soft-point, non-bonded bullets, the .308 caliber made sense, because with the right weight you could overcome deficiencies (of the bullets) and get necessary penetration for effective kills.

Then we got partitions. Then bonded. Then monolithics. Manufacturers mastered controlled expansion across a broader range of velocities.

The result is that now we can do the same things we used to do with .308 bullets with smaller and smaller calibers. It's similar to the FBI moving from the .40 caliber to the 9mm. The .40 caliber can still do the job, but now the the smaller caliber can tick all the boxes. That's because of bullet technology, not because there's anything special about the 9mm handgun caliber.

6.5mm bullets can do more today than ever before, as can bullets of every other caliber for the same reasons. But when several calibers will work, why not go with the smallest, softest-shooting choice? Companies like Hornady have capitalized on this trend wisely. But they didn't create it.

That and the new gen of LR scopes, social media like YouTube where everyone competes to out do the prior LR/ELR shooter, and over-the-counter available 1/2 MOA rifles and ammo that nearly anyone can buy.

Your explanation is almost a perfect fit for my many years of decreasing caliber size for LR deer hunting, for if I can routinely hit small varmints at true LR and there are bullets that work correctly, I was bound to try those same calibers and rifles on deer and similar. Simply, they work and I can see the impacts.

 

[del2les]

Where does this leave the old 25 souper wildcat from years ago? Will it make a comeback now?

Back in the 90's, I used a 25-06 in a varmint 26" to make the 1,000 yard club in coyote(1 shot) and P-dog(3rd shot), so calibers like the 25 Souper, 25 Gibbs, 25-06AI, etc all have great potential with faster twists and higher BC bullets.

 

[HEAL]

….Forgot to mention that all those attributes are performed with a light to medium size and weight of bullet. More powder efficiency with the majority of cartridges where the bullet is applied.

I definitively agree. I missed that. Now, I could only add that the bullet weight ranges available are very proper for a wide variety of game size and type. These characteristics are of course found on other caliber bullets but at a much higher weight, powder requirement and recoil.
thanks for the clarification.

 

[Philward]

Back in the 90's, I used a 25-06 in a varmint 26" to make the 1,000 yard club in coyote(1 shot) and P-dog(3rd shot), so calibers like the 25 Souper, 25 Gibbs, 25-06AI, etc all have great potential with faster twists and higher BC bullets.

Who's to say I can't use this 131g bullet in my 257 Roberts with comparable results, if I had a 1:8 twist barrel.

 

[rbTanzan]

Who's to say I can't use this 131g bullet in my 257 Roberts with comparable results, if I had a 1:8 twist barrel.

Bingo!

Yes, if I was ordering a 257 Roberts barrel, I would want an 8" twist for a 121gn, 1.35", HammerHunter, or perhaps a 7" twist for the 128gn, 1.51" Hammer Hunter. Of course, the 103gn, 1.2", HH would work with only a 9"twist, and the 98gn Sledge Hammer works in 10" twist. The varied BC's on the website are all verified by drop measurements.

 

[Pmacc60]

Who's to say I can't use this 131g bullet in my 257 Roberts with comparable results, if I had a 1:8 twist barrel.

How dare you interject you 257 bob into this! We are talking Creedmoor here, please show some respect and keep your facts out of this. Lol

 

[del2les]

Who's to say I can't use this 131g bullet in my 257 Roberts with comparable results, if I had a 1:8 twist barrel.

Well, I haven't heard anyone, but I don't think the standard 257Rob will push them as fast as some of the prior mentioned cartridges. If that is your choice, build it and enjoy, but remember, anything built on a CM case is faster, less wind drift and drops less.

"...calibers like the 25 Souper, 25 Gibbs, 25-06AI, 'etc' all have great potential with faster twists..."

 

[Will D]

I've been hunting with a 6.5-06 for forty years. It has a 1:10 barrel and puts 140 gr Nosler Partitions in the boiler room of everything from rock chucks to elk out to 400 yards. A pre-64 M-70 264 Win Mag is currently being re-barreled to 6.5 PRC with 1:7.5 twist for wolves at longer ranges.

 

[HEAL]

I've been hunting with a 6.5-06 for forty years. It has a 1:10 barrel and puts 140 gr Nosler Partitions in the boiler room of everything from rock chucks to elk out to 400 yards. A pre-64 M-70 264 Win Mag is currently being re-barreled to 6.5 PRC with 1:7.5 twist for wolves at longer ranges.

ALL SAID SOUNDS TERRIFIC. CONGRATULATIONS!.
I AM ALSO PURSUING BUILDING A 6.5 PRC.

 

[flylo]

6.5 bullets vs 270,284,308. Why has the 6.5 taken off and if you believe the hype - taken over? I have been sucked into the hype with one 6.5 PRC with a second to follow. Is it just bullet type and availability? The 270 bullets just can't keep up because they don't exist yet? The 284 must be heavy for caliber like the 308 to compete with the 6.5? Why why why is the 6.5 the new "King"?
Just wondering....

6.5 has been one of the most accurate bullet since 1894 125 years as the 6.5x55 & people in the know have used it from woodchucks to elk. I think the creedmoor name sounded cool, was a shooting range in NY state & the ammo & gun makers needed to sell more. The Swedish military didn't put a rifle in service that didn't shoot sub MOA. Nothing new just finally people discovered it.

 

[skipglo]

I'm still waiting to be wowed. I spent a lot of money building an AR-10 in 6.5 CM. And with 2 harvests under my belt I'm not seeing anything special. But I want to, I really want to! But I've hunted with a lot of calibers looking for that perfect deer round and so far have only been impressed with the 25-06. Others have suffered from overkill and under kill. I think my biggest issue is that I hunt in Texas and shots are almost always under 200 yards. I'm starting to believe that at 200 there a better calibers. But I'm not giving up. I need a few more kills to say definitively.

My .270 wsm surprised the heck out of me on deer. Seems to be the perfect blend with good old fashioned 150 gr Spire Points. I got to try it out last year and 4 out of 4 DRT.