Why all the 6.5 Creedmoor Hate?

[Dukeisok]

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!

 

[meigsbucks]

I actually think the 6.5 Creedmoor is a good round. Virtually identical to the 6.5x55 and .260 Rem, it go so much press. IMO, the problem is that because is was designed to be a long range target round, people think of it as a long range hunting round, especially when they read of retained energy at extended ranges. In other words, people try to make it into something it’s not.

 

[WAB]

It’s a good cartridge as the 6.5 Swede has proven for over 100 years. You could argue that it was unnecessary as it basically duplicates the Swede. However, it has brought many new folks into the shooting sports, and you could argue that there is more high quality ammo available for it than any other commercially loaded cartridge.

 

[Graham Hunter]

I think the problem is and was the 6.5x55 never caught on as a modern cartridge. Had it been brought out 10 years ago with all the hype the Creedmore received it would have taken off! I have both and they are basic equals. I have had my 6.5x55 for a long time and was an old cartridge then. And it was metric and European,two strikes in North America.

 

[Jeff505]

6.5 hate ? It’s not the cartridge, it’s history. Lee Harvey Oswald, that’s were it all fell apart. The assassination of an American president, conspiracy theories, bullets that can turn in mid air, the Grassy knoll. Just think how different the world would be had Lee Harvey used a 35 Whelen.

 

[375Fox]

For what you describe it’s a perfect cartridge. My personal dislike of the cartridge is seeing it used as a magnum cartridge when it isn’t. It should be used for deer sized game in North America and that’s it. The 6.5x55 has taken many moose in Europe, but they are also taken at reasonable ranges and often with dogs.

 

[318AE]

It’s remarkably similar to A 6.5 kurz Mauser introduced around 1900, with a tighter twist. The “hate” is likely a reaction to some claiming it is really something new and different, where some perceive it to be an industry and market “innovation” to drive new sales that are not really needed. The point about some perceiving it to be a “long range” cartridge, and there suitable for elk at 400 yards is certainly a factor as well. That is my opinion. I also think 275 yards is actually a pretty long shot at game In many conditions.

 

[375Fox]

6.5 hate ? It’s not the cartridge, it’s history. Lee Harvey Oswald, that’s were it all fell apart. The assassination of an American president, conspiracy theories, bullets that can turn in mid air, the Grassy knoll. Just think how different the world would be had Lee Harvey used a 35 Whelen.

History gets rewritten everyday in 2022. Maybe it will be a 35 Whelen. I wasn’t aware he used a 6.5 rifle until I just looked it up.

 

[fourfive8]

All reasons above correct! Some relate to the promotion of its magical long range properties. There are many newbs in the shooting and hunting world- particularly younger shooters who are into the OD tactical world or the long range world of the vicarious sniper. The 6.5 CM gained the nickname 6.5 Man Bun for a reason. It gained fashion status. That phenomena is similar to the 416 Rigby vs the 416 Remington continuing debate. I actually heard an experienced Africa PH say that he just likes the Rigby better because it carries more punch than the Rem Mag even though he knows and admits both shoot an identical 400 gr bullet to the same nominal velocity of 2400 fps. go figure.

I've shot and hunted with the 6.5 CM's cousin, the 260 Remington quite a bit. It is an effective big game round for certain animals with the right bullet at reasonable ranges. I'd say it is a really good pronghorn antelope round and large mule deer would be at its upper end for real world hunting. I know a PH in Zimbabwe that really has no use for the cartridge for the reasons outlined in the above posts. Seems a client brought one a few years ago as his primary PG rifle. The client also arrogantly bragged about his ability to shoot it because of all the shooting medals he had using the 6.5 CM from his home country in Europe IIRC. Well, predictably I guess, the client lost an eland and a waterbuck during the hunt- not finding either one, no matter the efforts put into the search or quality of the fine trackers. I was there a month later and we found the waterbuck skeleton. Anecdotal for sure but typical of those hunt reports not commonly passed around.

 

[BWH]

I think just about all calibers have their haters…. 308, 30-06, etc.

The 6.5 is a great flat round that has great performance. However, my personal experience is that it is fast & is not designed to open up fast. Do anything inside 100…. It’s not expanding, anything over 300 it may lose some energy. So then one argues… why not just use a 270, 7M, etc.

It’s a great gun, great round….. but just another niche variant. I own one. But it doesn’t really do much that others don’t do as well or better. No recoil BTW.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

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!

I can’t say I hate the caliber. You seem to have a very accurate assessment of the caliber and its capabilities, so have at it I say.

Most of my rifle experience over the last dozen years or so has been with .308 calibers and larger. One exception being the M70 FW in 7x57 I bought for my son. That just had to happen as how many are of those out there. Could’ve bought two of them and wish I had.

But I digress. The point being is I’ve focused more on larger calibers. I knew nothing about the 6.5CM until a friend of mine started talking about it to me. Now this friend is a good gent and he has some hunting/shooting experience, but let’s just say he knows more about what he’s been told versus what he’s actually done. He would talk and talk about it, then finally sent me an invite to a 6.5CM Facebook group. I was curious enough and accepted that.

Oh my goodness, this is when I kind of got it why so many people hate the caliber. So many of those guys think they’ve been handed the hand of God quite worthy of taking down a T-Rex if needed. And yammer on and on and on about it. I finally quit that group as it just got old.

It means nothing about the caliber however. It seems fine when used within it’s capabilities just like any other caliber. So I don’t hate the caliber, but some of the 6.5CM crowd can get old quickly.

 

[Puddle]

Uh, someone forgot to send the memo to the 6 elk I've killed in the last 3 seasons using the 6.5 CM that they died from an underperforming cartridge.
How do I know the CM will perform just fine? Because I killed all the previous elk over the past 20 years using a 6.5x55.
Second verse, same as the first.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

We have used the 6.5 CM exclusively on my ranch as camp guns for 2 years while harvesting Elk, Whitetails, and pigs. The caliber is devastating on everything hit and performs extremely well. That said I would not go bear or moose hunting let alone DG hunting with this caliber.

HH

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

It looks like a great whitetail round at normal hunting distances. I think the Chris Kyle wannabes are the ones who have thrown some people off of it

 

[CoElkHunter]

I personally wouldn't say I HATE the 6.5 CR, or the 6CR, 6.5PRC or other latest and greatest 6.5s or 6.8s and now the 7PRC, .350 Legend and whatever else is out there...... I've lost track! I do HATE the manipulation by the cartridge companies and their "partnered" rifle brands to have to buy a new rifle to use their proprietary cartridges. Back in the day, we saw the same thing with the WSSMs, SAUMs and to a lesser extent the WSMs. These companies became smarter this time around though. They used the cover of the pandemic, riots and election of our imbecile Brandon to propagate an "ammo and reloading components shortage" to aggressively PUSH their proprietary cartridges. For TWO YEARS, we couldn't find a box of .30-06, .270 or .308 HUNTING cartridges on the shelves. But, ALL of the above were plentiful along with all the black gun and semi auto pistol cartridges in every LGS I haunted. I know these companies loaded for profit and I understand that. But, IMHO there wasn't a shortage of anything. They maximized their profits loading their proprietary cartridges with "scarce components" for their new rifles for profit, leaving the rest of us with standard hunting cartridges behind. I refuse to play their game and will not buy one of their latest and greatest cartridges as I have several older chamberings that have and will continue to work just fine. AND, as an added bonus, I can usually find brass for them.

 

[Vintageguy]

It’s because there are some crazy fanboys out there that get so upset if you hate on it, lol. It’s also because I’m an old fart that gets a kick out of old fart calibers like the 30-06 and I also won’t shoot beyond 350 cause “it just ain’t huntin”! Seriously though to each their own and it sounds like you made a sensible choice for the purpose. One big plus for it is, like the 30-06, I’ve seen ammo for it consistently when all others were scarce.

 

[Rubberhead]

It's not the caliber that draws so much ire...It's the caliber's users that do that...

 

[CBH Australia]

Uh, someone forgot to send the memo to the 6 elk I've killed in the last 3 seasons using the 6.5 CM that they died from an underperforming cartridge.
How do I know the CM will perform just fine? Because I killed all the previous elk over the past 20 years using a 6.5x55.
Second verse, same as the first.

I have never read anything about them underperforming.

I do read ludicrous claims about their performance.

 

[Buffalo1]

Thank you for enlightening me on the gun used in the assassination of a U.S.president. I really had no idea what gun/caliber LHO used.

I have a Begera in a 6.5 Creedmore and use it for WT deer. With the right bullet it is both deadly and accurate. It also offers little recoil. Sweet shooting gun.

 

[crs]

Many shooters do need the 6 or 6.5 MM cartridges. I am one of them. I already have all the cartridges needed to hunt about anywhere in the world and will not be buying or trying anymore. I am not a gun writer, just a hunter and I care not about any of the new cartridges or the rifles that shoot them.
Period.
It does not bother me if some folks want to try every new fad, even though all the hub-bub over new things is tiresome, It is mostly ignored by me.

No hate, just bored with all the fuss. I bet this is true of a significant portion of most
mature, been there /done that hunters. Yawn.