Why all the 6.5 Creedmoor Hate?

[shark_za]

The area of NY sold to the NRA by Bernardus Hendrickson Creed looked a lot like the English moors but had very little game running around.
The name is a clue, its a target round first and foremost.
BUT it can be made to equal the 6.5x55 in the hunting field when you drop the long range target fixation and load it with relevant bullets (the long 156gr Oryx or even the 160gr Hornady RN).
A 140gr Nosler Partition or Swift A-Frame will do anything a .308 can do.

I love that its brought the .264 into the mainstream, it ensures my Swede has bullets going forward.

Please dont hunt with ELD-X, Berger or "ballistic" anything. Enjoy punching paper and ringing gongs at distances that the .308 can dream of, but hunt with real bullets.

 

[SaintPanzer]

They could have stopped developing sporting arms in 1913.

Basically, the whole world went to hell in August of 1914.

 

[Daggaboy375]

I'll be finding ammo and components for the 6.5 CM, and 30-06 long after the "perfectly designed" Post 1913 calibers are in the dust bin.

Don't y'all know diversity and equity of outcome are the wave of the future?

If you own a 404J, a 30-06, and a 22LR, any other caliber is just inbetweensies anyway.

I'm glad I live where I don't have to have a good reason to own any firearm.

DB

 

[Fixfire]

It is certainly not a “flat cartridge” Here it is compared to a 30-06….

View attachment 503271

Thank you for this chart.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Please dont hunt with ELD-X, Berger or "ballistic" anything. Enjoy punching paper and ringing gongs at distances that the .308 can dream of, but hunt with real bullets.

All my one shot killed animals with an ELD-X would disagree with you.

 

[WAB]

All my one shot killed animals with an ELD-X would disagree with you.

It can absolutely happen. They are designed to come apart after penetrating two to three inches. We just had one drop a buck on our lease at sub 100 yards. It was a perfectly placed behind the shoulder broadside shot. The bullet fragmented inside the buck. The only exit hole was where a small fragment exited the animal in the groin area.

Personally, I think this is horrible performance even though the buck is dead. I want the bullet to hold together, mushroom well, and create a 2” to 3” exit wound. This is much more reliable terminal performance if the angle of the shot is more difficult, or multiple large bones are hit.

 

[Flewis]

All my one shot killed animals with an ELD-X would disagree with you.

Our crew got 3 good sized pa bucks last week. 120 grain bts, 260 rem all one shot kills. Two 10pts drt old 6pt went 30ft. Wouldn’t use them on big stuff or a 6.5 either for that matter.

 

[Inline6]

It can absolutely happen. They are designed to come apart after penetrating two to three inches. We just had one drop a buck on our lease at sub 100 yards. It was a perfectly placed behind the shoulder broadside shot. The bullet fragmented inside the buck. The only exit hole was where a small fragment exited the animal in the groin area.

Personally, I think this is horrible performance even though the buck is dead. I want the bullet to hold together, mushroom well, and create a 2” to 3” exit wound. This is much more reliable terminal performance if the angle of the shot is more difficult, or multiple large bones are hit.

The only reason I see a need for an exit is to track an animal. Most, I will say it again to make sure it is not misquoted. MOST of my kills where the bullet did not exit were DRT, MOST of the kills I have had where the bullet (tsx or bonded) passed through ran. All were dead and did not know it. Again we are Talking about deer/elk not DG. Having used Hornady, Berger, and SMK. They have accounted for a good number of dead animals. I know of several people to take Eland with a 6.5mm 140 Bergers both DRT (6.5X284 and 6.5 SAUM).

Personally would never think about using anything other than a mono or bonded bullet on DG. When it comes to NA game, they are just not built the same as Africa.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I searched your name and found the answer I was looking for in a different post very quickly. Sounds like you choose your shots very carefully to stay inside the 6.5 creedmoor’s limitations. There are more appropriate cartridges for bulls at less than ideal angles.

“In the last 2 seasons I have used the 143 grain ELD-X to take 4 mature Elk cows.
From a 22 inch barrel the average MV is 2660 fps. This is not a bonded bullet.

I purposely wait for broadside-only shot opportunities and fire as the near side leg takes a step, avoiding as much bone as possible. Following this approach, the shots have been less than 200 yards and all have been pass-throughs. The animals have never gone further than 50 yards before dropping with the average follow-up distance being about 30 yards.”

It seems to me that if you could afford to always restrict yourself to those shots a .243 or even a .30-30 would work just as well. A gunsmith friend of mine told me that his father used a .22 Hornet to kill an elk every year by waiting in a blind at a water hole and placing the bullet in the elk's eye. That does not make any of them a good choice as an elk caliber. Many deer have been killed with a .22 LR. Does anyone think that a .22 is a great pick as a deer rifle?

 

[Puddle]

The area of NY sold to the NRA by Bernardus Hendrickson Creed looked a lot like the English moors but had very little game running around.
The name is a clue, its a target round first and foremost.
BUT it can be made to equal the 6.5x55 in the hunting field when you drop the long range target fixation and load it with relevant bullets (the long 156gr Oryx or even the 160gr Hornady RN).
A 140gr Nosler Partition or Swift A-Frame will do anything a .308 can do.

I love that its brought the .264 into the mainstream, it ensures my Swede has bullets going forward.

Please dont hunt with ELD-X, Berger or "ballistic" anything. Enjoy punching paper and ringing gongs at distances that the .308 can dream of, but hunt with real bullets.

ELD-X works on elk, however I go out of my way to avoid big bone while the bullet is on it's way to the lungs.

I switched to the Norma BondStrike 143 grain bonded bullet this season- same chron'd MV of ~2660+ fps from a 22" barrel using H4350 - did just fine. No drama insued. With the bonded bullet I can take on big bone if I have to, but I go out of my way not to....

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

You cant say Berger and superior in the same sentence.

@shark_za
I was just saying what Ron Spoomer said. I know a few people that use Berger hunting bullets and swear by them. I have never used them so can't comment. In my 25 the heaviest I have used are 117grain Hornady SSTs. I have found these to be excellent performers even when started at over 3,300fps.
Bob

 

[Aaron N]

It's the name. When I first heard it it screamed unicorn and rainbow even before I heard the man bun reference. That completed the imagery and it just won't undo. Just like sippy cup, when it fits it sticks.

I’m not sure where you get “unicorns and rainbows” from, but the name comes from a late 19th century range established by the NRA.

Imagine the drool out of an Anglophile’s mouth if a new “Bisley” cartridge was released by a London best maker.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Hornady vs. Nosler, Berger vs Swift, stalk vs long shot. CM vs Swede. Hunters are their own worst enemies.

 

[Puddle]

Hornady vs. Nosler, Berger vs Swift, stalk vs long shot. CM vs Swede.

View attachment 503520

With the CM on Elk I've used in season order:
1. 140 gr. Partition
2. 143 gr. ELD-X
3. 143 gr. BondStrike

In order of my preference:
1. 143 gr. BondStrike
2. 140 gr. Partition
3. 143 gr. ELD-X

 

[robert kuester]

The area of NY sold to the NRA by Bernardus Hendrickson Creed looked a lot like the English moors but had very little game running around.
The name is a clue, its a target round first and foremost.
BUT it can be made to equal the 6.5x55 in the hunting field when you drop the long range target fixation and load it with relevant bullets (the long 156gr Oryx or even the 160gr Hornady RN).
A 140gr Nosler Partition or Swift A-Frame will do anything a .308 can do.

I love that its brought the .264 into the mainstream, it ensures my Swede has bullets going forward.

Please dont hunt with ELD-X, Berger or "ballistic" anything. Enjoy punching paper and ringing gongs at distances that the .308 can dream of, but hunt with real bullets.

Berger bullets took out a large bull elk and a large Audad just fine in a 270. A ballistic tip took out a antalope. All died where they stood.

 

[Graham Hunter]

Berger bullets took out a large bull elk and a large Audad just fine in a 270. A ballistic tip took out a antalope. All died where they stood.

But did they fall down? LOL

 

[MS 9x56]

From my point of view the 6.5 Creed more was the solution to a nonexistent problem. Most already extant cartridges were better than the manbun.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Hornady vs. Nosler, Berger vs Swift, stalk vs long shot. CM vs Swede. Hunters are their own worst enemies.

View attachment 503520

Especially when another hunter shoots your ride out from underneath you and you now have to walk back to camp. LOL

 

[CoElkHunter]

From my point of view the 6.5 Creed more was the solution to a nonexistent problem. Most already extant cartridges were better than the manbun.

Whether the extant cartridges are/were better or not, here’s some other almost extinct solutions: WSSM, SAUM, WSM. LOL

 

[Safari Dave]

I don't hate the 6.5 Manbun, I just like to make fun of it, because it was the most over-hyped cartridge that I had ever experienced.


My dad owned a 6.5 Carcano in 1966 and took 2 of the nicest bucks taken in the north Georgia mountains with it at the time.


I've had a Winchester Model 70 in 6.5x55 for a long time.

I've had two Remington rifles in .260 Remington for quite a while. (Took my biggest whitetail to date with one of them.)


I even succumbed to the Manbun in 2019 with a Kimber Hunter.... (Heck, you couldn't find ammo for any other 6.5mm).


I recommended to my son to buy his wife a 6.5 CM last Christmas (Ruger American) as her first and only firearm, because of the versality of the 6.5 bullet and low recoil .

(Her's likes cheap factory deer hunting ammo (Winchester Power-Points) just fine.)

I have to feed my Kimber Federal Premium loaded with 140g Nosler Accubonds at $65/box to get it to shoot decent groups at 100 yards!