6.5 Creedmoor for High Power and Tactical Shooters
While the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge was devised primarily for High Power and Across the Course shooters, it has also found 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. In fact, the 6.5 Creedmoor has become so popular that some vendors we checked were sold out of both brass and loaded ammo. (Don’t worry though — Creedmoor Sports has both 6.5 Creedmoor brass and loaded ammo in stock.)
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 $1 dollar a pop) is painful. The Hornady brass is $34.49 per 50 (69 cents each) at Sinclair Int’l or $34.95 per 50 (70 cents each) at Creedmoor Sports.
Hornady’s 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 $25.95 per 20-rd box) makes more financial sense. Grafs.com currently sells loaded 123gr 6.5×47 Lapua ammo for $52.79 per 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. Barrels will last significantly longer than with a typical .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, who shoots tactical comps with Team Blaster, notes that Hornady puts its load and velocity on every box (see photo below), so it’s easy for reloaders to duplicate the factory ammo. That way you can start with a few boxes of factory fodder, and then load your own.
Similar Posts:
- 6.5 Creedmoor for Tactical Shooters
- Excellent Factory Ammo Offered by Creedmoor Sports
- NEW 6.5 Creedmoor Cartridge from Hornady
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- Hornady 6.5 Grendel Brass — Whitley Reports
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Tags: 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x47 Lapua, Creedmoor, Creedmoor Sports, Hornady
Dennis DeMille shooting a Tubb 2000 chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5dEr2NmNQs
No discussion of this issue is complete without a mention of Zak Smith’s article comparing 6.5 Creedmore v. 6.5×47 Lapua v. .260 Remington:
http://demigodllc.com/articles/6.5-shootout-260-6.5×47-6.5-creedmoor/
His articles about the individual cartridges are also very informative.
Mike.
An important fact that everyone failed to mention is that brass and loaded ammo cannot be found. To recommend a fledgling cartridge without adding that information is slighting the readers.
Bobby, the second sentence of the article explains that most vendors are out of stock at this time. Then we explain that MidwayUSA is expecting brass to arrive early in May.
There has not been a time as of yet, since the introduction of the 6.5 Creed that there was ever the quantity/supply equal to availability of the Lapua case. It has nothing to do with popularity. I isn’t available in any sort of comparable numbers. The Lapua is indeed more expensive,… but consider the quality diff., and do the math.
Simply said,… Apples and Oranges.
Bobby, an important fact that everyone failed to mention is that brass is easily made from .300 and .250 Savage brass, not to mention the ubiquitous 22-250 Rem case that any tapered expander will convert with barely any effort.
The 6.5×55 exceeds all of the above in accuracy and in access to components.
I like that Hornady state the barrel length from which recording were taken.
Nice. Would have liked to see that catridge here.
Larger case does not mean more accurate. I’ve shot both x47 and x55, but for intermediate ranges I will take the x47. Fits standard SA / 308 mags as well, interesting for tactical shooters.
Great article. I’ve been a fan of .223, .308 Win, and .50 BMG for a long time, but I’m thinking about getting a Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmore, and this article– while a few years old– was really handy. Thanks.
Hi Michael. I am also interested in that Ruger in 6.5. Please let me know if you do get it how you find it. pieter ad oxichron dod com Much appreciated.