Creedmoor conundrum, help needed

[bikemutt]

Everyone in-the-know around here has either moved to 6.5 Creedmoor or is in the process of moving, most all from .308. I don't always feel the need to follow the herd but if this round is as good as everyone seems to think it is, I at least owe it to myself to check it out. And, I'm talking bolt rifles, not semi-autos.

I think I've figured out three basic price ranges for this caliber:

1) Factory Savage, Browning etc. for around $600-$900.
2) Gunsmith-trued Rem 700 action with Bartlein or similar barrel for around $1500-$2000 depending on accessories.
3) Barrett, Surgeon and other high quality builders for around $4000-$7000.

There may be others, and I may be oversimplifying here and there but generally this is what I see out there I can actually buy and not just dream about.

If I were to buy a 6.5 Creedmoor it would be strictly for recreational target shooting at 100-300 yards. Present rifle calibers are .223 and .308. No bolt rifle I own cost me more than $1500, Steyr Scout .308 being the price leader.

So, good folks at THR, what itch does the 6.5 Creedmoor scratch that the calibers I already have don't? And, if the scratch is good, how much do I need to pay to play?

Thanks

 

[farmerboy78]

Hmmm, well I have a 6.5 Creedmoor and I will tell you this, it's way easier to shoot than the 7.62 and will buck wind better than a 5.56... no matter the rifle, get a 8-8.5 twist barrel to shoot up to a 140 gr bullet. I personally have a savage 12 lrp and love it!!! I have made hits on silhouette steel out to 810yds using the 123gr hornady amax in handloads... you can buy factory match ammo with 120 and 140 amax bullets. And, also with sst... to make it really perform, you will want to reload. It's well worth getting into.

 

[dogmush]

If I were to buy a 6.5 Creedmoor it would be strictly for recreational target shooting at 100-300 yards. Present rifle calibers are .223 and .308. No bolt rifle I own cost me more than $1500, Steyr Scout .308 being the price leader.)

6.5 Creedmoor has nice, long bullets with a high BC. So at any given range they will be faster, have less drift, and less drop then .308. That said, paper doesn't care about energy at impact and 300yds isn't really stretching .308 out.

At that range .308 is still nicely supersonic, and not dropping that bad. I'm not sure that at such short range you will get enough benefit from 6.5 to offset the costs of running it. Stretch it to 800-1000 yds and the advantages become clearer.

 

[MrBorland]

I shoot it's ballistic twin (.260 Remington) and have been very impressed. A bit less recoil than .308, and excellent LR ballistics, though any obvious ballistic advantage isn't likely to show itself inside of 300 yards.

Depending on which you choose, the rifle itself might (or might not) be an improvement over what you've got for 100-300Y target shooting.

If I already had a good & accurate .308 with which I'm happy with at 100-300Y, wasn't necessarily looking for less recoil, wasn't planning on shooting beyond 300 yards, and was on a budget, the "itch" would be just that. But if you're looking for a different or more accurate rifle, though, I'd seriously consider a 6.5CM (or .260 ).

 

[69Precision]

If you have plenty of play money and just want a new toy, by all means do it. You don't need a reason or justification.
As far as your 3 price ranges, that seems about right. You can spend more, but really the savage LRP is a ridiculous value for the money. I have one in 243 and it's an honest 1000 yd target rifle out of the box for ~$900.
At 100-300yds on steel or paper you won't gain much of anything over your 223 or 308. I routinely take my 16" AR to 500 on a 9" gong. I can get 90% hits and any misses are certainly my fault not the 223 round. Similar success with my 308 bolt out to about 700. Past 600 or so is where the creed will really shine. For me if I were staying under 300 it wouldn't be worthwhile.

 

[bikemutt]

Let me add something that may be germane; the only .308 bolt rifle I have is the Steyr and it's really one I consider more a hunting rifle, for hogs, if I ever get the time to get out of here to TX

So, my thought was to start on a benchrest .308, that's when the 6.5 Creedmoor wasp fell into the soup.

 

[dogmush]

If I was building a dedicated benchrest rifle, I probably wouldn't pick .308.

But then if I had a dedicated benchrest rifle I would shoot it a lot farther then 300yds. It's kinda what you want to do at that point. But the differences between a really accurate .308 and a really accurate 6.5, with a good shooter, will be hard to pick out at that range.

FWIW, I'm not that into long range shooting, and I don't really consider myself stretching out my .30's until 600 or so yds. And they aren't benchrest rifles by any means.

If you like 6.5 however, it will perform really well doing what you are planning. It basically comes down to do you reload, and how much do you want to pay for ammo?

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Do you have a Savage 10/110 or DPMS pattern "AR10"? Trying out 6.5CM or 260 Rem is just a barrel swap away!

I went with 260 on a recent Savage build for easy brass creation from the stacks of 308 I have. It does require neck turning on my barrel though. I'm reading some people say they can alSo make 6.5CM from 308 with just one pass through the sizing die. Probably needs necks turned as well, but that makes brass for either caliber much easier to find!