Creedmoor or Swedish for Big Animals?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Swifty Morgan

Swifty Morgan

member
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
691
Location
Florida
I don't have any rifles that are well-suited to deer and other large animals. My .308 is heavy, my K31 is an oddball, my Romak III is a bizarre range toy, etc. I was thinking I would fill the void with either 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5 Swedish. Bolt action, just to be clear. I really like accurate guns, and I am not all that thrilled about pounding my shoulder during target sessions.

People say either of these guns will work on anything that walks in North America. I do not know if that is true.

I have read that 6.5 Swedish is better for reloading. I don't reload for rifles yet, but I would like to start. On the other hand, everyone in the universe shoots 6.5 Creedmoor now, and life is easy when you shoot the same caliber as everyone else.

Is 6.5 Swedish a waste of time?
 
I have both and honestly no I don’t think the Swede is a waste of time but I do reload for it which helps
flip a coin on which you want but if I had to buy hunting Ammo for it I’d go “Creedmoor”
Because everybody has made a hunting load for it!
 
The Swede is never a waste of time, especially if you are planning to handload. I've owned 2 6.5x55's and they were both extremely accurate rifles that had a very pleasant amount of recoil. Having said that, it's tough to argue that the 6.5 CM hasn't all but replaced the old Swede, and it will give you a lot more options, not to mention showing up in much less expensive rifles these days.
 
The Swede has a very slight (negligible) performance increase over the CM. The more important aspect to consider is that the Swede will typically be found in long action rifles (or "medium" Mauser length) that offer greater flexibility in bullet seating depth.

If you reload, all else being equal in terms of platform, I'd give the nod to the Swede. If one doesn't handload, pragmatism favors the Creedmoor.
 
MachIVshooter said:
The Swede has a very slight (negligible) performance increase over the CM. The more important aspect to consider is that the Swede will typically be found in long action rifles (or "medium" Mauser length) that offer greater flexibility in bullet seating depth.

If you reload, all else being equal in terms of platform, I'd give the nod to the Swede. If one doesn't handload, pragmatism favors the Creedmoor.
Click to expand...
the long actin for a swede don't mean to much these days most of the actions are a long with a short mag. and u have the room to run a long col.
 
stevehgraham said:
I don't have any rifles that are well-suited to deer and other large animals. My .308 is heavy, my K31 is an oddball, my Romak III is a bizarre range toy, etc. I was thinking I would fill the void with either 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5 Swedish. Bolt action, just to be clear. I really like accurate guns, and I am not all that thrilled about pounding my shoulder during target sessions.

People say either of these guns will work on anything that walks in North America. I do not know if that is true.

I have read that 6.5 Swedish is better for reloading. I don't reload for rifles yet, but I would like to start. On the other hand, everyone in the universe shoots 6.5 Creedmoor now, and life is easy when you shoot the same caliber as everyone else.

Is 6.5 Swedish a waste of time?
Click to expand...
i didnt reload till a few weeks ago and i had to my k11 308 is tempermental, now i am addicted to it worse then drinking:uhoh: LOL! beware:eek:
 
I would (and did) settle on the Creedmoor. I had a 6.5x55 in a Remington 700 back in the day, and wasn't overly impressed. I never got velocities that were much above what I get with my CM, and authoritative full power load data was far less available. I don't have any problems loading heavy hunting bullets close to the lands while still having plenty of room in the mags.

There's nothing really wrong with the 6.5x55, but I don't see any real advantages either, I wouldn't bother with another one unless I came across an amazing rifle that just happened to be so-chambered.

It sounds like a lot of folks don't want to try the Creedmoor because the chambering has become popular.... That seems like a bizarre reason to swear off a cartridge to me, but if thats what's important to you, buy something else I guess.

BTW, what "big animals" are you planning on hunting?
 
Last edited:
I will be dove hunting with a Browning XS 12 gage tomorrow; it is heavy, bulky and of old design BUT, it always patterns where I look - the gun fits me extremely well and the birds fall. I have two .308’s that are legitimate 3/4” rifles with handloads - boringly accurate and consistent. I want something new; the CM is calling, a custom rifle is calling, a custom rifle in .308 is calling, a custom rifle is calling in 6.5 CM. Every time I get going on something new, my brain tells me that the my old stuff is great and does everything I want. The CM would be my choice for target/ deer but I will probably just go with what I have because it performs so well - I just don’t know!
 
I wonder if maybe we shouldn’t put more emphasis on the hunt and less on the newness of the tool used in the hunt. After all, during any hunt, no matter the amount of time we’re out there, we only actually use the rifle for a MAYBE a few minutes.

I can’t speak for any other state except Oklahoma. But if I want to hunt public land, I have plenty of options when I can go. And I MIGHT see another hunter. I also have plenty of options I can go that when the sun comes up, it looks like a pumpkin in, and next to, every other tree. Just depends on if I want to drive 10 minutes to my hunting area or 40.
 
Your 308 or any of the 6.5's (6.5X55, 260, or 6.5 CM) will kill anything in the lower 48. Out to about 400-500 yards the 308 is just as good, albeit with more recoil. Beyond 400-500 the 6.5 CM takes over and if you ever want to shoot long range targets the 6.5 CM is still in the game at a mile while the 308 is running out of gas at 800-900 yards. You'll need to shoot 175/180 gr bullets from your 308 to match what any of the 6.5's will do with 140 gr bullets. Anything lighter from the 308 and the 6.5's beat it in every way.

The 260 matches anything 6.5 CM does as long as bullets 130gr or lighter are used. Anything heavier requires custom rifles and out of spec handloads.. This is the reason 6.5 CM exists. Target shooters found that 140-147 gr bullets fired in 260's gave excellent results. But they needed to handload out of spec ammo and have custom rifles built to shoot the ammo. The 6.5 CM was invented to offer the same performance in off the shelf rifles and ammo.

The 6.5X55 is a cool old round that can match, anything the others do. But only with handloaded ammo. If I had one that shot well and I liked it I probably keep it and use it. But if buying a new rifle the 6.5 CM just makes more sense.
 
my cz 550 in 6.5x55 does not have short magazine syntrom, I can put a loaded 3006 round in the magazine with room to spare. by the way all the 6.5,s are good cartiges, but you do need the right twist for them to shoot the long range bullets. for me their are many better cartiges for the long range hunting of big animals.
 
stevehgraham said:
Is 6.5 Swedish a waste of time?
Click to expand...

The Swede is a great round and will do everything the Creedmoor can at less pressure. If you have one there is no reason to get rid of it.

gkwHyyX.jpg

Itrre45.jpg

QdLgoQR.jpg

Currently the 6.5 Creedmoor is riding a wave of popularity, availability of guns and ammunition is excellent. Those are good reasons to buy a 6.5 Creedmoor.
 
The Swede and the 7x57 have been two of my favorite cartridges since I was a kid. My first long range training rifle was an x57, my second was an x55. Both are fantastic cartridges, both will kill anything in NA. There ARE better options - far better options - for killing heavy game like bison, moose, and brown bear than either of these, but for elk and smaller, they’re in their sweet spot.

That said - if I were buying new in 2018, it wouldn’t be an x55 when the 6.5 Creedmoor is on the market. Better ammo availability - which may fade in time, but will never fade faster or farther in your lifetime than 6.5x55 will. High vs. low pressure factory ammo - the x55 is known as a reloader cartridge because the factory ammo on the shelf is loaded to relatively low pressure standards. Short action instead of long - the Creed really doesn’t suffer from magazine length issues, as it was designed to accommodate long bullets in short action mags. I’m already seating 147’s as far out as my bearing surface will really allow for neck tension. Less powder use - to match the Creedmoor, the x55 uses about 5% more powder, to beat the Creed and reach the same chamber pressure, you’re talking 10% more powder. Less brass availability. Less firearm availability. Next Generation Inheritance or resale issues - brass and ammo for the x55 will only become less and less common in future generations.

If I were wanting a hunting ONLY rifle and didn’t care at all for resale opportunity OR legacy inheritor issues, and didn’t have much interest in firearms outside of hunting, then I might buy a 6.5x55 Swede. I would NOT recommend taking up reloading for such a low volume application either - I would simply live happy with standard low pressure loads which have been killing game for generations. The fact you’re a member on a gun forum suggests the above likely doesn’t apply.

For any other purpose, I’d take the 6.5 Creedmoor in 2018.
 
I'm not sure that there's enough difference between the two to really matter.

I'm wondering what bullet weight would be best if you were hunting game like elk or moose? I use 140's in a 260 Rem for PA whitetails and think I'd consider a 156/160 for elk and such. The M96 Mausers had a 1:8 twist to stabilize the 156 gr. bullets.

I know that Lapua and Norma load 156 hunting bullets for the 6.5x55, not sure about the Creedmoor.
 
I really like accurate guns, and I am not all that thrilled about pounding my shoulder during target sessions.
Click to expand...

You could always use one gun to hunt with and another for target shooting. Lots of great choices for target shooting that don’t make great hunting guns and lots of great hunting guns that make for a poor benchrest rifle.
 
stevehgraham said:
People say either of these guns will work on anything that walks in North America. I do not know if that is true.
Click to expand...
I think they're a poor choice as a stopping rifle for the great bears (I'd choose a .375 H&H there minimum), but suitable for basically everything else.

The two are ballistic twins, but the 6.5x55 needs to be in a long action (really intermediate, but there are few new actions sized to it). For hunting, I would wait for the new M70 Featherweights in 6.5CM to hit and get one of those. It was a 2018 shot show introduction, so it should land soon.

The 160gr Weldcore is a key bullet, albeit a handloader proposition, for larger game. For deer sized stuff the 120 and 140 accubond work well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

MCMXI
  • Locked
Christmas present to myself .... a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel.
Replies
7
Views
2K
MCMXI
MCMXI
bikemutt
  • Locked
Creedmoor conundrum, help needed
Replies
7
Views
820
Caliper_Mi
C
R
  • Locked
Savage Model 12 Ruger Target 6.5 Creedmoore
Replies
2
Views
411
roc1
R
deerhunter61
  • Locked
Shooting distances to fine tune 6.5 Creedmoor
Replies
8
Views
4K
Txhillbilly
T
Dr T
  • Locked
Optics for 6.5 Creedmoor
Replies
8
Views
2K
Dr T
Dr T
Back
Top