Why did you buy a 6.5 Creedmoore?

[colorado]

A 270 is what a 6.5 Creedmoor wants to be when it grows up.

 

[Joker12]

I didn't, instead I bought a Ruger African 6.5x55 which will do everything the Creedmore will do with a bit higher velocity too.

 

[Inline6]

Have been shooting a 6.5CM since 2009.

Accuracy is very good.

Accomplishment:

T box hits at 1300 yards.
Many sub .25moa groups
Won several matches with it

One shot kills on:

Duiker
Impala
Blesbok
Ostrich
Whitetail
Hog
Black Wildebeest
Eland
Giraffe

Other than the Duiker, my 11 year old son took that list. It is a capable cartridge that most people don't give it enough credit.

YMMV

 

[DLSJR]

I’ve never shot a 6.5 Needmore, nor do I expect to ever get one. I already have the one and only 6.5 I’ll ever need or want… .264 Win Mag! It’s a tack driver, shooting 127 grain Barnes LRX groups of 0.355” at 3,200 fps.

I’ll never down grade to a Needmore.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Too late in life for a 6.5 Cr. I don't have enough hair for a man bun.

 

[CraigV]

@CraigV You can thumbs down me all you want? And this is not personal as I bet we could be great friends!
But there is nothing that a creedmore can do that a 6.5x55, 260 REM, or 7mm-08 does doesn’t do better!
And it’s laughable to think it’s a large game or serious long range round…
Again, nothing personal but facts are facts…

@CZDiesel,
Believe me, my "dislike" wasn't personal. It was because the OP asked, "Why you bought a 6.5CM". I knew as soon as I saw this thread, it would have several posts that instead of saying why they had bought one, folks would be bashing it.

AH members are a fickle lot sometimes. Purists on some items, yet gear and gadget obsessive on others. An example would be buying a double rifle, and then putting red dot and similar optics on them. Perhaps we should eliminate all calibers except 30.06, 8mm Mauser and .303?

As I said in my post, I was reluctant to go down the "new caliber" rabbit hole. Pushed it off until I both heard, saw and used it. I don't punch paper with mine, they all three (and yup they are bolt guns) go to the field. Heck, I like it so much I had a Mauser 98 action built into one. There's pictures of it here on AH.

I also don't reload, so for price, selection and availability it works out fantastic for me. If I did, I probably would have gone 6.5 Sweede.

I use it for all the NA game I hunt, and have never had a problem, but I am specific on shot placement, and will pass an animal if it isn't right.

I agree, we could easily be good friends, and I appreciate your post and thoughts, it was just the opposite of what the OP asked.

 

[FlyGuy]

The 6.5CM is a great little cartridge, with easily obtainable components.
It’s a very good example of how marketing can drive perception and sales.
Reminds me of the .308 Norma vs .300 WM.

I still use the old, outdated, inaccurate and ineffective 6.5x55 SE
If I weren’t a hand loader, the CM would be a solid choice for small to medium game.

 

[sureshot375]

I don’t know, but I ended up with two of them. I don’t really rifle hunt outside of dangerous game and African plains game. I honestly don’t know why I buy any rifles.

I wanted a rifle for long range target shooting and maybe doe culling on my lease in Kansas. I picked up a Bergara hmr pro. Why 6.5 cm?? Relatively inexpensive and good for long range shooting.

It has some ballistic advantages past 500yds, but honestly for hunting it doesn’t do anything the 7mm-08 or 308 can’t do just as well if not better.

I just bought a second one because Bergara Highlanders have been discontinued and are on sale for 1100 bucks. Seemed too good to pass up for a high quality suppressor ready set up. I’m sure the wife and kids will shoot a bunch of stuff with it.

 

[colorado]

Have been shooting a 6.5CM since 2009.

Accuracy is very good.

Accomplishment:

T box hits at 1300 yards.
Many sub .25moa groups
Won several matches with it

One shot kills on:

Duiker
Impala
Blesbok
Ostrich
Whitetail
Hog
Black Wildebeest
Eland
Giraffe

Other than the Duiker, my 11 year old son took that list. It is a capable cartridge that most people don't give it enough credit.

YMMV

Sorry for the trolls lol. Congrats! Seems like an awesome caliber for medium sized game

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

@CZDiesel,
Believe me, my "dislike" wasn't personal. It was because the OP asked, "Why you bought a 6.5CM". I knew as soon as I saw this thread, it would have several posts that instead of saying why they had bought one, folks would be bashing it.

AH members are a fickle lot sometimes. Purists on some items, yet gear and gadget obsessive on others. An example would be buying a double rifle, and then putting red dot and similar optics on them. Perhaps we should eliminate all calibers except 30.06, 8mm Mauser and .303?

As I said in my post, I was reluctant to go down the "new caliber" rabbit hole. Pushed it off until I both heard, saw and used it. I don't punch paper with mine, they all three (and yup they are bolt guns) go to the field. Heck, I like it so much I had a Mauser 98 action built into one. There's pictures of it here on AH.

I also don't reload, so for price, selection and availability it works out fantastic for me. If I did, I probably would have gone 6.5 Sweede.

I use it for all the NA game I hunt, and have never had a problem, but I am specific on shot placement, and will pass an animal if it isn't right.

I agree, we could easily be good friends, and I appreciate your post and thoughts, it was just the opposite of what the OP asked.

 

[Tra3]

Have been shooting a 6.5CM since 2009.

Accuracy is very good.

Accomplishment:

T box hits at 1300 yards.
Many sub .25moa groups
Won several matches with it

One shot kills on:

Duiker
Impala
Blesbok
Ostrich
Whitetail
Hog
Black Wildebeest
Eland
Giraffe

Other than the Duiker, my 11 year old son took that list. It is a capable cartridge that most people don't give it enough credit.

YMMV

Was it a neck shot or head shot on the giraffe? What distance?
My son used a .270 on a giraffe with a neck shot. It was decisive and instantaneous.

What caliber do you prefer to hunt with? (Obviously varies by species) For MN deer I’m happy to use a 6.5CM because of reduced meat damage.

 

[AZDAVE]

Bought a couple because the brass, dies were available when nothing else was. Have since learned it is a very capable round when kept in the deer/antelope/impala/ blesbok range of animals. it is when everyone listened to the writers and stared shooting bigger game with target bullets no less that the round got a bad name with hunters. I hunt smaller animals and punch paper/ring steel with mine.

 

[uplander01]

……..because the 6.8 western want out yet.

 

[Inline6]

Was it a neck shot or head shot on the giraffe? What distance?
My son used a .270 on a giraffe with a neck shot. It was decisive and instantaneous.

What caliber do you prefer to hunt with? (Obviously varies by species) For MN deer I’m happy to use a 6.5CM because of reduced meat damage.

It was a shoulder shot. 127 yards. The bullet went through the shoulder, first lung, top of the heart, and the second lung. I should have taken pictures of that when they were cleaning it. I guess I was more concerned with trying to find the bullet. The big bull was on the ground in 45 seconds. We shot 3 that day. My wife used a 375h&h and my middle son used a 375Ruger. Of the 3, the 6.5CM was on the ground the quickest. As soon as the bullet hit you could immediately tell it was sick.

 

[Adipose]

I bought it simply because I didn't have one. Shoots exceptionally well & a blast at the range. Dropped a whitetail buck in its tracks this past year with it and plan on using it for coyotes this coming winter.

 

[DG870]

I bought a 6.5 Creedmoor because of the availability of brass. During COVID I found myself out on the range more shooting and decided I needed another rifle to go with my Remington 700 VS in 308. I was looking for a heavy barreled range rifle in .260 so checked to make sure I could find brass and dies. The .260 supplies were out of stock or 2x the price and the Creedmoor stuff was everywhere so I decided to try the Creedmoor. I found a Savage Desert Tactical at a good price with a $100 rebate from Savage so I bought it and put a 4x16 Sightron STAC on it and took it to the range. It is a heavy rather ungainly rifle but it shoots well from the bench and does exactly what I wanted it to do, hit steel at a distance. I have several hunting rifles that I like better so I’ll never hunt with this rifle/cartridge combination but it serves perfectly as a reasonably priced range rifle that is easy to load for. I’m sure that it will kill deer with ease with the right bullets but I don’t think it is the long range death ray that it is hyped to be for larger game. You can kill lots of stuff with a properly place 22lr but it doesn’t make it an ideal big game hunting rifle. (And I’m old and my hair isn’t long enough to go into a bun so what do I know anyway!)

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I don't own one, but those that do on this forum seem to like it and make a good case for why in and of itself it's a good cartridge. There seems to be no argument that I see that puts down others, so why all the defensive posturing for those that own rifles in the similar range of caliber?

I think if I decide to buy one it would be for those reasons and a few others like:

1. I don't think @ActionBob should be the only old gray haired fart sporting a man bun.
2. It's fun sometimes to read all of the hating posts on a caliber made by people who haven't had one.
3. It would be great fun I think to walk the aisles of the SCI and DSC conventions with Bob wearing t-shirts with "I the 6.5 CM" printed on them.



Sorry I'm feeling a little smart assy this morning.

 

[MS 9x56]

I have the original 250-3000 in a Ruger RSI so I have no need for a 6.5 creedmore and don’t have the hairline for a manbun

 

[tydaws]

I own a custom 6.5 CM and I consider it to be extremely effective for the vast majority, if not all, of my hunting at home in Texas. Not here to discuss performance vs other calibers, just stating that it works well for me.

On to the OP's question...I chose the 6.5 CM over the 6.5x55 for basically two reasons:

1. Premium brass availability.

Lapua, Alpha, ADG, Peterson all make 6.5 CM brass & in addition to that, several make SRP brass for the 6.5CM. I only load SRP premium brass, it just flat out lasts longer, especially when pushing it hard.

Of those listed above, I believe only Lapua makes 6.5x55 brass & it is LRP.

2. The 6.5CM is a true short action with plenty of room to seat the bullet wayyyy out there, as my rifle has a Wyatt's extended mag box & long throated chamber.

These reasons are likely not important to everyone, but that is why I made my decision.

 

[amschind]

My first 6.5 CM was a gun I built for my dad off of an old Rem 700 ADL .243 Win that was just taking up space in a gun safe. Rebarrel, blueprint, bedded the stock myself in a Magpul hunter and added a new trigger. Worked up a load with Hornady 143 grain ELDX bullets that somehow did 2950 from the 26" barrel (which I still cannot replicate). He slaughters West Texas deer with it. It printed 0.3-0.5" groups with no special effort from once fired and trimmed but NOT annealed casese. One deer he neck shot and the exit wound was the size of a saucer; a West Texas whitetail doe's neck is maybe 6" thick.

That was enough, and I built a practice gun from a Savage Axis that was $400 with a Simmons scope on it. The worst gunsmith in Houston (me) put an MDT chassis, a new trigger, a tacticool bolt handle, a Vortex 6-24 scope and a Shilen prefit barrel on it. The AICS mags were running into the bottom of the receiver, but that was no problem for me and my trusty angle grinder. This monstrosity then had the temerity to shoot 0.5-0.7 MOA C-C groups with any effort AND 1-1.5" groups with leftover components that I simply wanted to be rid of. The fact that the only bullets I could find for it in the middle of COVID were Berger 153.5 Hybrids helped with that.

Basically, the combo of the Berger hybrid ogive and the 6.5 CM case is a cheat code that enables match grade precision with VERY limited skill or effort. I am sure that many bullets are devastating, but the ELDX 143 at Creedmoor velocities is a grenade on thin skinned game. I have a 6.5 because it is my least favorite rifle, I treat it worse than I treat my Home Depot special lawnmower, yet it is objectively one of the best rifles that I own.