Why all the 6.5 Creedmoor Hate?

[colorado]

My hype rifle is my Mark V in 270 Weatherby lol

 

[MS 9x56]

@mdwest
The same applies to the 243 60 years ogo when the great Winchester bullshit advertising launched it. Unfortunately people still believe it. Tell the same lies long enough and people believe it's gospel. ALL cartridges will kill game if used CORRECTLY. Unfortunately some people wear rose coloured glasses and won't listen to any negatives about their beloved cartridges. The manbun is a far better hunting cartridge than the 243. To me the 243 is still a shit hot round. 99% shit and 1% hot
Bob

Ahh come on Bob. The 243 is one helluva varmint cartridge. The shame is that people still try to pretend it is a big game cartridge.

 

[Velo Dog]

You were likely just born 50 or 60 years after the hype. I hear the same thing from a lot of 270 fan bois that I hear from 6.5 manbun fan bois. They're both solid cartridges, but not really better than any other small bore in any meaningful way.

It always goes something like "the 270 is a REAL flat-shooter."

Yeah, and so is nearly every other modern, bottle-neck cartridge out to around 300 yards.

Using MPBR for a white tail sized target, a 270 firing a 130 gr bullet at around 3050 is about a whopping 2" flatter than a 6.5 firing a 140 gr bullet at 2700 fps at 300 yards.

I like the .270 Winchester with 130 gr spitzers for “deer sized animals”, up to and including caribou, at longer ranges.
However, after noticing that anything I can hit with that one, I can also hit with the 150 gr spitzer from my .30-06, I sold my last of several .270’s and remain happy with my choice.

As for longer shots from small bore rifles, I prefer the 6.5x55 and 140 gr spitzers.
Plus, it is a real peach out to around 300 paces with 160 hr round nose bullets, without wrecking much meat.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Rifle Cartridge Killing Power Comparison

Using the Chuck Hawks Killing Factor formula, a 6.5 CM 140 grain factory load is ~70% more powerful than a 243 100 grain load. If your CM has a long-ish throat, (mine does), you can load the 155 - 160 grain bullets at >2,600 fps. Fully equal to a modern Swede, yet in a conventional short action.

What's not to love? Especially if significantly more horsepower than a Bob's-Tomato-Stake is desired.

There will be those who might take the unethical shot at game regardless of caliber. Probably even more if their cartridge has "Magnum" attached to the name.

Got an old boring Rem 700 in 308? Screw on a new barrel in 6.5 CM for lots of fun at the range - or in the deer blind. My $.02.

Careful now, Townsend's @Bob Nelson 35Whelen 6.5RSE (Rising Sun Express) wildcat WILL leave most 6.5s in the dust including the Crudmoor. LOL

 

[Forrest Halley]

Careful now, Townsend's @Bob Nelson 35Whelen 6.5RSE (Rising Sun Express) wildcat WILL leave most 6.5s in the dust including the Crudmoor. LOL

RSE stands for Really Sucks Eggs...

I was impressed with the few .270's I have fired. They were quite accurate. That said I prefer a 30 caliber projectile for most things.

 

[sgt_zim]

I like the .270 Winchester with 130 gr spitzers for “deer sized animals”, up to and including caribou, at longer ranges.
However, after noticing that anything I can hit with that one, I can also hit with the 150 gr spitzer from my .30-06, I sold my last of several .270’s and remain happy with my choice.

As for longer shots from small bore rifles, I prefer the 6.5x55 and 140 gr spitzers.
Plus, it is a real peach out to around 300 paces with 160 hr round nose bullets, without wrecking much meat.

If they had made 270 with a 9 twist all along, it would be a much more interesting cartridge.

 

[Dukeisok]

I honestly hunt with any number of rifles. I've killed deer with 30-30, 6.5 grendel, 6.5 creedmoor, 45-70, 375 raptor subs, 270, 308, 300 win mag, 30-06, 280 ackley... probably most with a 270 (130 grains at 3160 still gets it done).

I have a nostalgic streak (for an hunting era at least 30 years before i was born) and would love a nice 6.5x55, 7mm Mauser, or even a 257 roberts. There isn't much out there. My current plan for deer this season is a savage 99 in 300 savage topped with a period weaver 4x scope. I can shoot men's guns and love my 375h&h, my Rigbys (416s and 450, caliber only not the rifle ). I think the 375 h&h fits me better than any other gun I have but without traveling the world I've never killed anything with it.

That said, when it came time to buy a rifle for my son, i didn't have the money or desire for a custom rifle, couldn't find an appropriate old sporter I was willing to cut up, and bought a 400dollar Weatherby vanguard youth in 6.5 creed. I put a leupold 3-9 scope on it, filled the Tupperware stock with lead shot and epoxy and loaded him up with 100 grain ttsx bullets pushed fast. He's never wounded a deer with that rifle in 8 seasons. Now he's 5'11" and the stock was changed to an adult stock but he still carries it (as well as a variety of other things from the safe).

My daughter is super sensitive to recoil and noise, so when she told me she wanted to hunt she got a 6.5 grendel with a suppressor. This will be her first season with it but I don't doubt it will do fine at the distances I'll let her shoot at.

I'm a numbers guy and the numbers say that the creedmoor is a great cartridge for what I do. Most shots are 50 to 150 yards. The deer are small (coastal Carolina) and my buddies occasionally use a .223 for them (any centerfire is legal here). It lacks the panache of a highland stalker in 275 rigby but the kids don't care and I'm fond of it myself.

 

[Ray B]

My daughter is super sensitive to recoil and noise, she got a 6.5 grendel with a suppressor.

It's nice to live in a state that isn't suppressor paranoid and all you have to do is pay the federal tax.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

You were likely just born 50 or 60 years after the hype. I hear the same thing from a lot of 270 fan bois that I hear from 6.5 manbun fan bois. They're both solid cartridges, but not really better than any other small bore in any meaningful way.

It always goes something like "the 270 is a REAL flat-shooter."

Yeah, and so is nearly every other modern, bottle-neck cartridge out to around 300 yards.

Using MPBR for a white tail sized target, a 270 firing a 130 gr bullet at around 3050 is about a whopping 2" flatter than a 6.5 firing a 140 gr bullet at 2700 fps at 300 yards.

@sgt_zim
And the 25-06 with a 119gn accubond or eldx at 3,400fps shoots flatter than both with ZERO hype.
Bob

 

[0002S]

I’ve either had ‘wow’ results or ‘really?’ results hunting with the 6.5 CM. This is strictly me, but I like to target shoot with it but I no longer hunt with it. I would choose a 6.5 PRC or .264 WM over it. I like 120-130 gr bullets over 3000 fps in 6.5s.

I’ll just leave these here for a laugh.

 

[Pilgrim]

My early teenage twin daughters use 6.5 creedmoor. Why? Lower recoil with good performance on deer and elk, always less than 200 yds.

 

[powerquest]

Me personally, out of all my rifles there is not one cartridge I don't like they all work perfectly, just choose the proper cartridge for what you plan to do with it. Personally I would take my 6.5 prc over my creedmoor in most circumstances but the very little recoil from the creedmoor makes for a more enjoyable range day or hunt.

 

[ChrisG]

I'll take your 6.5CM and your 270, and raise you my .280 Rem.

 

[colorado]

7mm Rem Magnum bump!

 

[colorado]

7mm Rem Magnum bump!

Or my Mark V in 270 Weatherby Magnum ! 150g Partitions at 3250 fps

It's wearing a Zeiss 4-16x Conquest scope now

 

[shark_za]

6.5 CM is a great round, its also boosted my favorite 6.5x55 as there are tons of bullets available in .264 now.
In fact the 6.5x55 sales have also pickled up; when I got mine over 20 years ago it was faltering and becoming really niche.
Its one of the top 10 now.

 

[HankBuck]

Just curious, but why is the 6.5 Creedmoor so reviled? Certainly it has its limitations, but so does every cartridge. I wouldn't take a 22 LR for whitetail any more than I would take a Creedmoor for elephant (W.D.M Bell notwithstanding). That said, I came to hunting as an adult and my young son has learned hunting with me. When researching his first deer rifle, A Weatherby Vanguard Youth in 6.5 Creedmoor made good sense. Cheap, accurate, and loads of support for the cartridge. (I know a 6.5/55 would also have been great but price and availability were not good here). At 9 years old he killed his first whitetail with that rifle and has it accounted for probably a dozen or more by now. It is an efficient no nonsense killer of small to medium game and is perfect for where we live. I would think it would do reasonable service on small plains game as well.

We are point blank range hunters. I won't let him take a shot past 275 yards, but he has never had to. We can always sneak in closer than that.

We are not into social media and do not watch any hunting youtubers, so I'm out of touch with the trendy side of shooting sports. My preferences tend towards wood and blued bolt actions in calibers that Teddy Roosevelt could have shot, but the Creedmoor just works. My son is currently on an overnight hunting trip with a local Christian outdoor organization. They supply all the rifles if the kids need one, and they have a rack of Ruger Americans in 6.5 Creedmoor.

For all the hate, it seems to be a straw man argument. I know the Creedmoor cannot do anything that other cartridges didn't already do, except that the marketing and factory support have rocketed it to popularity so that it available and easy. Besides, which new cartridge has ever really brought a completely new capability to market? everything is to some extent derivative.

I guess I'm feeling a little self conscious about my decision, and I certainly don't want my son to grow a man bun. I doubt I have much to worry about. He is now 5ft 10 inches tall 14 years old and took his last two deer with a 45-70. Hopefully that will be enough to bring his testosterone back up!

Dukisok, Good Question - I certainly don’t hate the 6.5 Creedmore and agree with others “good round”. My question is “why”? Followed by “who needs another New caliber”? My answer: To sell more guns, convince Hunters they “need” to add this rifle to their existing & nearly identical calibers (.260 rem, .243 etc...). There is Nothing the 6.5 Creedmore will do (in Hunting situations) that a 1/2 dozen similar calibers won’t do....but that can be said about most of the “new” calibers” introduced over the past 30 years ie: whatever happened to all those “short magnums” that were popular 20 years ago? But - must agree the 6.5 is a fine round and no one needs a reason to add to their collection.

 

[HankBuck]

@sgt_zim
And the 25-06 with a 119gn accubond or eldx at 3,400fps shoots flatter than both with ZERO hype.
Bob

Bob, I also have a .25-06, like it and packs a better punch then my .243 but I still like the .243. Like the .308 - it’s “efficient” and a great antelope round especially for someone recoil sensitive. I’ve also taken Caribou with it and one at over 400 yrds (of course a .22rf will drop a Caribou - they are the big “sissy” of all hoofed game). I’ve used my .243 for deer and when I stumbled on a good black bear - the .243 handled it (despite my poor bullet placement) — of course with the amount of bullets I had to put in that bear a .22lr would’ve worked. I don’t recall when the .243 was introduced and if it was the “6.5 Creedmore of it’s day” - but it has lasted and ammo in the U.S. is easy to find.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I sunk a WW2 Japanese battleship with my 6.5 at 1200 yards

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Bob, I also have a .25-06, like it and packs a better punch then my .243 but I still like the .243. Like the .308 - it’s “efficient” and a great antelope round especially for someone recoil sensitive. I’ve also taken Caribou with it and one at over 400 yrds (of course a .22rf will drop a Caribou - they are the big “sissy” of all hoofed game). I’ve used my .243 for deer and when I stumbled on a good black bear - the .243 handled it (despite my poor bullet placement) — of course with the amount of bullets I had to put in that bear a .22lr would’ve worked. I don’t recall when the .243 was introduced and if it was the “6.5 Creedmore of it’s day” - but it has lasted and ammo in the U.S. is easy to find.

@HankBuck
The 243 with PROPER BULLETS and used within its LIMITATIONS will undoubtedly take game. My problem with it stems from the fact I have seen to many IDIOTS use it with the WRONG bullet for the game hunted. The same can be said of other calibers but I've have more associations with 243 owners thay has swayed me completely against it. One of my rifle that I used on game a lifetime ago was an old 25/303 similar performance to the 250 Savage loaded with 100gn bullets. That old girl just seemed to work. While people were extolling the virtues of the 243 and using 2 or 3 or more shots to drop a pig or just let it run off wounded ( which pissed me off no end) the old 25 just seemed to drop them. Yes sometimes I had to use 2 shots but that was my my fault not the rifle or projectiles. Yes I did have to follow-up and finish a lot of game the 243 shooters couldn't or didn't. Their hunting ethics were questionable and when they hunted with me THEY were told to finish what they started. Some said it's just a pig. Those got told how bout I put a bullet in you and let you die a slow painful death. If they followed up and finished the job they got to hunt with me again. If they didn't they were never seen in my camp again.
Bob