With the cost of componenets, barrels and powders, I am a bit less inclined to do much experimentation. If Lapua doesn’t make brass for it, i wont use it. If I can’t make the highest BC bullets fly fast enough, I won’t bother with it. For this reason, the Swede offers the best combination of inherent accuracy, it uses the 140+ grain bullets well, and in terms of brass… ‘ nuff said.

The ’47 is not enough cartridge to push 140+ without being close top red-line. The Creedmoor doesn’t use lapua brass. the 260 is the runner-up now that Lapua makes brass, but you Americans love it so much that is to too common I’ll stick witht he Swede.

My 6.5 x 47 runs on 142 SMKs and does the business out to 1000 yards. My friend prefers 123 SMKs and not so great at the Longs.

Close in cannot tell the difference.

Just remember the rule of thumb for 6.5 – long and slow is the go.

How the barrel is throated is a key issue with this trio. In my case, I have always had the feeling that the 260 and ’47L are at their best with 120-130gn bullets and both have been chambered to suit the 123gn Scenar seated optimally. Both shoot this bullet fantastically well at getting on for 3,000 fps using Viht N150. I’m constantly amazed by this bullet’s external ballistics performance at up to 900 yards. I’ve yet to try it at 1,000. No, you won’t stand up to someone shooting a 7 short magnum or 284 Shehane with 180gn Hybrids or VLDs at 900 or 1,000 in rough conditions in an F/O match, but that applies to the 6.5-284 too. (That’s what I have a 284 Win F/O rifle for anyway for that matter!)

The Creedmoor which I’ve just about run in properly and am starting serious load development was chambered using a reamer that Dave Kiff recommended and sold to me – PT&G drawing #10618 is throated rather longer and suits 140s. So far, in 100 yards testing, 140s at ~2,800 fps have given the smallest groups, far better than either the 120 A-Max or 123 Lapua. So, I’m concentrating on the heavier bullets trying Lapua’s 136 and 139, a couple of 140 Bergers, 140 A-Max, and some of the blunter short-mid range numbers – Nosler CC, Sierra MK.

To date, all loads use H4350 for two reasons. (1) all US advice says it’s the ‘go-to’ powder, and (2) it’s completely unavailable in the UK, will be all year, and very likely next too. So, after getting precision and MV benchmarks with a bullet the barrel really likes, I can then try it with a range of other propellants that are available here or are likely to be – Viht N150/160/550; Ramshot Hunter; Lovex SO70 (what used to be Accurate 4350)/ SO65; IMR 4350; Hodgdon H100V/H414; IMR-4350/4831.

I’m very taken with all three cartridges. the ’47 is an outstading mid-range number IMHO. The 260 a good all-rounder. But I have a ‘feeling’ that I am going to end up very fond of the Creedmoor and can understand its tremendous success in the USA. Over here in the UK, it barely registers with target shooters, and I doubt if at all with what US shooters call ‘hunters’, we call ‘deerstalkers’. Fortunately, I was able to get 300 pieces of ornady brass a couple of years ago, but we can get very strong Lapua .22-250 Rem cases here easily and they can be necked-up / fireformed albeit to produce a slightly short necked 6.5HCM. I’ll try that anyway at a later time as it looks like the original variety is going to be hard to get here.

Running it against the 6.5 x 47 however shows a no contest with the 6.5 x 47 winning hands down on reliability, accuracy, recoil and powder use.