Why did you buy a 6.5 Creedmoore?

[Newboomer]

This topic has been covered at nasium so I initially made an offhand manbunn joke. I mean if owners of such a fine rifle cannot joke about it, what are we becoming, Democrats? If i could find it I'd repost the picture of a father explaining to his young son how the holes in the moon were made by a 6.5 Creedmoor

But in all seriousness; with match grade 120 grain ammo and little to no wind, my Ruger Predator with the factory two stage trigger, out if the box shoots legitimate 1/4" groups at 100 yards.

I've had a 6.5 Creedmoor for about 13 years and have used it extensively. It is my go to truck gun. I've always hunted with 129 grain Hornady Interbond Superformance loads just because I bought a lot of that ammo initially. With the exception of coyotes where I use Interlock or SST loads that seem to shoot exactly the same.

It still has claim to my 3 longest hunting shots. 524 yards on a very slightly wounded Springbok. 442 yards on a pronghorn, and 350 yards on a coyote trotting across an alfalfa field.

The ballistic figure that got my attention is the amount of energy it carries out to 500 yards.

With a tender shoulder replacement I wanted a rifle that would give me good power and good range for pg type game without killing said shoulder. My 6.5CR does that.

 

[colorado]

Great reasons

 

[steve white]

Never handled one of the cartridges until yesterday at Cabela's. It's a tiny little thing....

 

[colorado]

Never handled one of the cartridges until yesterday at Cabela's. It's a tiny little thing....

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I do not own one, but I would venture to propose:

For some:

1) great long range match cartridge (very legitimate);​

2) great low recoil, mid-range, medium game hunting cartridge, and OK heavy game short range cartridge (with heavy bullet) i.e. modern iteration of the 6.5x54 Mannlicher, 6.5x55 Swede, 6.5x57 Mauser, etc. (very legitimate);​

​

For a lot more:

3) intensive Hornady marketing (both very legitimate for the above, and a lot less legitimate because its suggested use on elk should be clarified as only a close range affair);​

4) slick big-box retailers salesmanship (often frankly illegitimate because the cartridge cannot deliver on game at long range the results it delivers on paper, and this "detail" generally flies way outside the envelop of the usual gun-counter clerk);​

5) fashion;​

6) deplorable current confusion between hunting and game-sniping;​

etc.​

Great paper puncher, but indeed no better on game than the Swede (which is no faint praise when used appropriately), or in modern days the unappreciated .260 Rem which likely was just a bit too early for its time and which would have likely fared better with a metric designation.

@One Day...
6.5x 51 just doest have the cool factor. Call it something like the 6.5x51 PLR ( Precision long range) or some other fancy name and advertise the hell out of it and it might just work.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Because I was growing my hair out to make a stylish man bunn and needed a proper rifle to accessorize the look

@Action Bob
Did you get the manbag to go with the man bun.
I won't ask if you entered into a bromance as well because I know you married @Just Gina
Bob

 

[ActionBob]

@Action Bob
Did you get the manbag to go with the man bun.
I won't ask if you entered into a bromance as well because I know you married @Just Gina
Bob

No Gina likes my hair shorter than needed for a man bun. The only Bunn she likes is her Coffee maker

 

[375er]

No Gina likes my hair shorter than needed for a man bun. The only Bunn she likes is her Coffee maker

What happened to the Nespresso she was ordering??

 

[ActionBob]

What happened to the Nespresso she was ordering??

Oh it's sitting over there beside the Keurig

But the Bunn is still the go to for the pure volume required each morning

Those one cup thingings are for emergency fill in cups later in the day....

 

[AES]

For me, ammo is cheap and it’s a great training rifle for precision shooting. Takes to suppressor well and doesn’t kick. It will also flatten anything in the SE states through TX.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I am curious, I wonder just how many of the 6.5 Creedmoore fans bought it because a 6.5X55 wasn't readily available and the Creedmoore was?
I will be first to raise my hand, I wanted a 6.5X55, and none were available and if you found one it was out of my price range.
PLEASE let's not get into the love/hate discussions. I am curious, and bet I'm not the only one who bought it because it was readily available and the 6.5X55 wasn't.
Thanks!

@F. Vaccaro
Thought long and hard about getting one, well maybe thirty seconds then asked my self what it would do that my 25 won't.
Couldn't come up with an answer.
Shit my mates Howa in 6.5x55. sweet rifle but no match for my 25.
So still haven't got a 6.5 anything.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

yup,

BeeMa was pushing on me too! dang it, i bought the r8 as well.

@1dirthawker
Dang I wouldn't let @BeeMaa even push a wheelbarrow let alone push me into an R8.
Maybe he could donate you a couple of barrels for your decision. That night help easy the pain.
Bob

 

[GuttormG]

I didnt

 

[jpr9954]

Well, at the time there was a ton of press about the cartridge and I had shot one at the Industry Day at the SHOT Show. Thus, when our new Sportsman's Warehouse opened and had an opening day special of $215 for a Thompson Center Compass in 6.5 CM, I bought it. Not the fanciest gun but decent enough and its accurate.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I bought a Kimber 84 Hunter in 6.5 Manbun.


I wanted one because it's the only 6.5 left that has decent factory ammo availability.

My dad used a 6.5 Carcano to kill his two best bucks in the 60's (I have the rifle now).

I have:

1 - 6.5x55
2 - .260 Remington (Got my best whitetail with one)
2 - 6.5 Grendel



I've always been a big fan of the 6.5. When I was a child, I knew that long bullet should penetrate anything.

@Safari Dave
I once had a girlfriend whose philosophy was
Long and thin gets it in but short and fat is where it's at. Pity she wasn't a shooter/ hunter.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
I know I need to think above my navel it is a hunting forum after all but the same can be said of hunting projectiles. She was a smart girl that one.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

6.5 creed moor is the most overrated cartridge ever designed....

@akph24
There's one even more overrated. That horrible little 243.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Interesting take and agreed.
I’m still in the.277 crowd, but willing to explore the.264 crowd.

Realistically, Hornady has successfully marketed a number of good new cartridges, and the 6.5 Creedmoor is at the apex of successful cartridge design and sound marketing.
All for the good of shooting sports, and adding to the rifle economy. That is important for all riflemen.
Suppliers need success.

As an old school guy, I would prefer the 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser for my next rifle.

But, if a proper, old school classic rifle, walnut and blue steel 6.5 Creedmoor showed up at a good price, I would buy it in a heartbeat.
A well balanced cartridge, and I can buy ammo locally.

@cajunchefray
If'n I ever did go fer a 6.5 it would bet the unloved much maligned 264 Winchester magnum on a Savage 110 action and a 26" barrel.
Yeah I know I like to over do things
Bob
Just saying

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Try the hornady superperformace line with the 129SST. Out of a 20" barrel we are getting 2850. That killed very well.

@Inline6
Love the SST. Use it in my 25 and my sons 308.
Pity they don't make a nice 35 cal 225 or 250 grain SST for the Whelen. Id be all over it like a seagull in a hot chip
Bob

 

[steve white]

@cajunchefray
If'n I ever did go fer a 6.5 it would bet the unloved much maligned 264 Winchester magnum on a Savage 110 action and a 26" barrel.
Yeah I know I like to over do things
Bob
Just saying

What, no love for the 6.5 x 06? Oh yeah, it's the long and thin!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

What, no love for the 6.5 x 06? Oh yeah, it's the long and thin!

@steve white
Don't mind the 6.5s. Just don't float my boat.
My 25 with a 100gn TTSX @3,600fps or a 115-117 gn @3,300 fps does everything on most game I shoot.
If'n I wants Biggera I use the Whelen. With a 310gn soft or solid @over 2,400 fps won't stop what I shoot it I'll go home
Bob