6.5 Creedmoor for Tactical Shooters

While the new 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge was devised primarily for High Power and Across the Course shooters, it is starting to find favor with tactical shooters looking for a highly accurate round that feeds well from a magazine, but offers significantly less recoil than a .308 Winchester.

CLICK HERE for 6.5 Creedmoor Video and Specifications

6.5 Creedmoor vs. 6.5×47 Lapua — Cost Factor
The 6.5×47 Lapua and 6.5 Creedmoor offer very similar ballistics with 120gr and 140gr bullets. However, 6.5 Creedmoor brass AND loaded ammo are cheaper. That’s a big plus in the tactical game. At tactical competitions, there are “move and shoot” stages where you need to shoot quickly and then move to another position. It’s very difficult to recover all your brass. Losing a piece of 6.5×47 brass (at 83 cents a pop) is painful. The Hornady brass is $32.49 per 50 (65 cents each) at MidwayUSA or Creedmoor Sports. And we expect the price may drop a bit, in time.

6.5 Creedmoor loaded ammunition is also much less expensive than the loaded 6.5×47 Lapua rounds. For shooters that don’t have the time (or skills) to reload, the 6.5 Creedmoor (at about $24 per 20-rd box) makes more financial sense. Grafs.com currently sells loaded 123gr 6.5×47 ammo for $42.99/20 rounds.

On the other hand, the Lapua brass is tougher. Forum member Mudcat observes: “[As to] the Hornady brass, while it’s good, it ain’t no Lapua, so don’t try to run hot loads cause all you are going to do is blow out the primer pockets. Keep your loads reasonable and you will get over 20 loads out of em. I have some I have loaded well over 20 times during testing…they grow like a mother though, as they are a lot softer than Win or Lapua, which is why the pockets will go. However the necks haven’t been splitting.”

Barrel Life Looks Promising
Barrel life appears to be pretty good with the 6.5 Creedmoor. Early reports indicate that barrels should last significantly longer than with a .243 Win or 6.5-284. Forum Member Mudcat reports: “Based on my throat wear at 600 rounds on my 6.5 Creedmoor barrel, I bet we are looking at 2500 rounds EASY of great accuracy and then probably to at least 3000 where you ain’t going to notice it shooting Cross the Course — you might see something at 600, but nothing worse than a few less Xs. At 600 rounds, I have not had to move my VLD seating depth yet.” Forum member Rob1 concurs: “The round shoots at lower pressures than other 6.5s and barrel life should be pretty good.” Rob1, who shoots tactical comps with Team Blaster, notes that Hornady puts its load and velocity on every box, so it’s easy for reloaders to replicate the performance of factory ammo. That way you can start with a few boxes of factory fodder, and then load your own once you have the brass.