6.5 Creedmor more popular than .300 Blackout?

[Aim1]

TC makes a bolt action rifle called the Compass. It comes standard with a threaded barrel, magazine, and MSRP of $399, so it's probably about $320-$330 which is a great bargain. It won Outdoor Life's Rifle of the Year in 2016.

I thought this would be a great rifle to compete with the Ruger American Ranch Rifle if TC came out with a model in .300 BO with a 16.5" barrel. Obviously it has worked well for Ruger who's RARR has become a favorite among .300 Blackout owners. It appears to be a great rifle and would be considerably cheaper then the Ruger.


So, along comes the Shot Show and they reveal that they are coming out with a new caliber for the TC Compass. It's not .300 Blackout, it's 6.5 Creedmor.


What the heck! I know that the 6.5 is gaining popularity but this surprised me. The .300 Blackout has established itself and already cemented it's popularity. They could have also come out with a .300 BO and 6.5 models. Is the 6.5 Creedmor more popular than the .300 Blackout? Apparently TC doesn't see enough interest in the .300 Blackout to make a .300 BO model.

 

[bang_bang]

High BC projectiles for 6mm and 6.5mm combined with the power to take game at long range and shoot tiny little groups with a nice selection of factory rounds....I'd take that over the 300 BLK since I'm not clearing houses with suppressors. The 300 BLK is fun to play with, but costly for what it is unless you reload IMO. I own 2 BLK weapons, never shot a sub-sonic round or attached a can. They work ok on deer in the mountains here in Virginia. My 6.5 CM will see competition shooting very soon.

 

[jmr40]

Sorry, but the 300 BO is a niche round with limited usefulness that has probably already peaked. The 6.5 Creed is proving to be extremely versatile as both a long range target round as well as a hunting round with recoil similar to 300 BO. Hunters are using it on elk size game out past 500 yards with exceptional results.

 

[Aim1]

Sorry, but the 300 BO is a niche round with limited usefulness that has probably already peaked. The 6.5 Creed is proving to be extremely versatile as both a long range target round as well as a hunting round with recoil similar to 300 BO. Hunters are using it on elk size game out past 500 yards with exceptional results.

True, but I was assuming with a threaded barrel that TC expected people to add accessories like suppressors to it and a .300 Blackout is great with a suppressor as the RARR has shown.

 

[bang_bang]

Put a break on a 6.5 CM and it's recoil almost becomes a tickle. Lots of long range shooters shoot with cans.

 

[eastbank]

i shoot a 300bk, but it has different uses and one of them is not long range animal killing. i know you can kill animals at 300yrds with the 300bk if you get the range right and the animal stands still for the bullet to get there. eastbank.

 

[horsey300]

True, but I was assuming with a threaded barrel that TC expected people to add accessories like suppressors to it and a .300 Blackout is great with a suppressor as the RARR has shown.

The blackout has less usefulness than the Grendel. The creedmoor is much more capable in every way, the blackout success that is so "cemented" has to compete with the Grendel, spc2, .223, and .458 soccom (sp?) On an ar 15, even worse if you factor in the ar-10s, and in a bolt gun? I have a bb/pellet gun that would see more use and needs no suppressor to be quiet cool. The pistol carbines are also out there too. Jmr40 gave it too much credit as a niche market. There are better options on every front than that blackout. At best it's an expensive plinking short ranged deer caliber cartridge, 7.62x39 does it cheaper. The creedmoor is a better marketed .260 that has been better adapted for high b.c. match bullets to seat longer. I'm sure it's fun enough but that's where it ends. tc made the smart choice imo.

 

[LoonWulf]

As a 300RAR owner i can say its a fun round, and performs its function very well. I think people get caught up in the "high bc" bullet argument. I disagree with BC meaning a whole lot at subsonic velocity.
What does mater is accuracy and heavier for caliber bullets penetrate better.
Where the 300aac shines, imo, is accurate and well made factory ammo. Any handloader with an x39 can equal the 300s subsonic performance, but there isnt alot of factory ammo out there for it.

Super sonic its sorta a lame duck compared to similar rounds.

 

[1stmarine]

The whisper should be purposely built and dedicated like originally intended. It is great for a simple subsonic round but not reliable nor accurate in a multipurpose role.
Popularity can be something pretty arbitrary. Trying to compare the whisper and any of the 6.5 calibers is like trying to compare a toddler's tricycle wiht a Suzuki Katana.
TC also has the compass in 7mm-08 with a 9 twist that will give you superior ballistics than any of the the 6.5 calibers or 308
if that is what you are looking for.

 

[Ibmikey]

As mentioned before the two cartridges have such different uses that it is totally unfair to each in a comparison. I can comment on the 300 being a fun plinking cartridge that I have taken large animals at close range, in my AR's ( a rifle and pistol) i blast cans, steel, dirt clods etc and have a ball. With my AAC Handi Rifle I took my biggest hog, i since have added a Ruger American Ranch to the Blackout arsenal primarily for Texas pigs.
My buddy I hunt with uses a Creedmore and loves the caliber taking hogs, deer and other critters at 100 yards and more, the rifle is certainly good for longer distances but the wooded property is restrictive.
I shoot hundreds of 300 BO rounds on a fun outing where my friend may not shoot fifty rounds of Creedmore in six months ( depends on the hogs cooperation) we both have fun but in entirely different ways.
I will keep my 300 Blackout and my buddy gave me his 300 upper and is concentrating on his Creedmore loadings.

 

[Walkalong]

For a bolt action hunting rifle 6.5 Creedmoor makes more sense, IMHO, and I really like the 300 BLK, for a range toy.

 

[horsey300]

I would also add, if you are marketing a firearm, and you do not wish to exclude sales to people who can only afford to grab maybe one gun a year at most, (which are quite a few) do you chamber a limited purpose cartridge or a versatile do-all? Look at tc dimension.....they don't have barrels in EVERY chambering of even the .308 spawn but they DO cover the utilitarian get it DONE cartridges, I don't think that this was too big of a shock.

 

[Rutnut]

TC rep told me they are coming out w the 6.5 Creedmore barrels on all their rifles soon

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Already been said but another shortened version of the same thing.......

Two different plains divided by an ocean. What they each do and serve best could not be further apart.

Creedmoor is so capable of long range, flat shooting, target or minute of deer.

Blackout is lower velocity punch in a bigger caiber than .223 and best for shorter ranges and even hunting.

Thats my 2 as well.

 

[Davek1977]

i personally have way more use for a round like the Creedmore than the .300BO. I hunt medium game in open country, and the the 6.5 excels in that role. i don't use a supressor, and most folks don't....so the .300 BO doesn't really do much the 7.62x39 cant do for much cheaper.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

I think the .300 Blackout serves a very different niche. It's more designed for the guys that kill people and break things. It's not designed to print groups of tiny holes in paper at 500 yards, it's made to fight with. And I suppose to kill hogs with.

 

[kozak6]

.300 BLK is a cartridge in decline. It's most popular with suppressor enthusiasts, as the supersonic loads are a hard sell against 6.5 Grendel or even 7.62x39. That makes for a tiny market.

6.5 CM is a low recoiling target cartridge that turned out to be fantastic for hunting.

There's more hunters than suppressor enthusiasts, so it's not an unreasonable decision.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

I've never even seen a 6.5 Grendel in real life. I don't even remember seeing one in a catalog- is it really competition for the .300 Blackout? The .300 Blackout definitely does one thing the 7.62x39 doesn't do; work easily in an AR15 with no changes but a barrel. Since the AR-15 is arguably the most popular rifle in America that's not an insignificant thing.

 

[eastbank]

i shoot a 130gr bullet in my rem aac model 7 bk at 2100fps and have killed a deer with it and it was a good shot with a little tracking job, i wanted a light carry rifle good for 100-125yrds and it does that well, but the cost was very high and my H&R handi rifle in 30-30 will shoot the same bullet-bullets at several hundred feet per second more and is just as accurtte in hunting ranges. as in a ar platform used with a surpresser and clearing buildings of bad guys it seems to be the hot now thing. my rem 7 in 300 bk will be going down the road soon for a new LH .260 tikka. eastbank.

 

[jmorris]

I am not sure the 300 blk is in direct competition with any single round. The 300 whisper, 221-300, 300 fireball would be the only ones (because they are all the same round from any practical standpoint). If it were not for the popularity of the AR 15 it would still be a wildcat round like it was for decades.

In all fairness the 6.5 Grendel also wouldn't exist if it were not for the AR 15 and it had much better "legs" than the 300blk.

They beat the 6.5 CM in being able to fit in an AR 15, so now you have a reason to build another one, and I guess they use less powder too.

 

[JohnMc]

I've never even seen a 6.5 Grendel in real life. I don't even remember seeing one in a catalog- is it really competition for the .300 Blackout? The .300 Blackout definitely does one thing the 7.62x39 doesn't do; work easily in an AR15 with no changes but a barrel. Since the AR-15 is arguably the most popular rifle in America that's not an insignificant thing.

That pretty much says it for me; one new upper, same BCG & mags, and I have approximately 7.62x39, albeit a bit weaker. 6.5 Grendel & 6.8 SPC are better rounds, and really so is 7.62x39, but have a higher activation barrier if sticking with an AR-15 platform. I reload, so cartridge cost isn't a huge deal, .308 bullets are cheap enough and .223 brass is plentiful and trims easily.
When venturing out of the AR-15 platform, especially into bolt guns, I wouldn't even consider 300 BLK, 6.8 SPC, or 6.5 Grendel.

 

[Newtosavage]

At best it's an expensive plinking short ranged deer caliber cartridge, 7.62x39 does it cheaper.

I completely agree. A fellow at the range had his 300 BLK running next to my 7.62x39 - both bolt actions. He had a lot more questions about my 7.62x39 than I had about his 300 BLK. He asked why I chose that round instead of the 300 my answer was the AK round in a bolt action is more affordable to shoot and produces much more downrange energy when I handload. He couldn't argue with that.

I'm still trying to figure out the comment above about the 300 and the 6.5CM having similar recoil though... I don't get that one.

 

[huffmanite]

Am a frequent shooter at a 600 plus private range. The 6.5 creedmore is a cartridge well spoken of by its owners where I shoot (and I own one).. Know a couple of guys that like the 6.5CM so much, they've gotten a 6mm Creedmore to play with and speak well of it too. As to the 300 BLK, well I do regularly find its spent brass on our firing line, but seldom hear any conversation about it. Last one I heard was a gent I shoot with on a fairly regular basis that owns some decent hunting land. He had acquired one for blasting hogs on his property and was experimenting with reloads for it.

 

[CraigC]

Two different tools for two different purposes. The appeal of the .300BO is not a question of either/or but BOTH. It does very well as a subsonic round but also does well with supersonic loads. The 6.5's claim to fame is that it's a great long range cartridge but it also happens to be a fantastic deer/hog/antelope cartridge. My Ruger Precision Rifle is on the way.

There's more hunters than suppressor enthusiasts, so it's not an unreasonable decision.

The two groups are not mutually exclusive.

 

[MCMXI]

Back to the original post, I sent some time with the Compass at the SHOT show last week and was impressed. It was interesting to me that it has a 3-position wing safety and yet the more expensive models don't. I have rifles chambered in .300 BLK and 6.5 CM and both have their uses. I'm not a fan of bolt action .300 BLK rifles with factory ammunition (case is a problem) or the 6.5 Creedmoor for hunting anything much larger than a coyote and dont understand why anyone would choose the 6.5 CM over a .308 Win for deer or elk. I put it down to a combination of factors including the 6.5 CM being the latest fad and the desire to use the latest fad regardless of suitability. The 6.5 CM offers no margins in real world hunting. Some go on and on about shot placement but that's disingenuous.

300 BLK - subsonic loads, full or semi-auto suppressed, close range PDW

6.5CM - long range steel/paper, antelope, coyotes, deer out to reasonable ranges with well-placed shots