The Creedmoor Forum

The 6.5 Creedmoor: What's the Big Deal?

by Richard Mann - Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Thank you Tex.
This link should be in a "sticky" here in the General Discussion forum.

It clearly explains why we like the 6.5 Creedmoor so much and why it is such a sweet cartridge for so many shooting pursuits. As it says, it's explained in "hillbilly terms" so even us ridge-runnin', gully jumping'  hillbillies can understand it - as well as newcomers to the cartridge.

Eric B.

 Dadajack; read it and weep

Question. If you're a Hillbilly, how can you read it in the first place?  Just sayin ?

The 260 Remington was built to be a .264 caliber cartridge. Here it is. Then, the 6.5mm Creedmoor was built to fix the issue with the 260 Rem and long bullets. Now, the 6.5 Creedmoor is the long-range, go-to cartridge shooters could easily use without needing to be a reloader. Low and behold, a few hunting type bullets exist and now we have a long range hunting cartridge. Wa-laaaaaw!

After doing a little dated reading research.....Is it possible that
the 6.5 Creedmoor would'nt have come into existence if Remington
would have gotten barrel twist rates right early on for the 260 ??

You would be correct. You can find lots of posts over the net relating to barrel twist being mucked up by Rem.


In a nutshell, the 260 had barrel twist probs, having to load mag length, and case growth. The creed has better efficiency, seating depth, and being designed from the start to solve the 260 probs.

Most of the 260 guys tout their mighty round because they have lapua brass for it. This will change once lapua releases their brass with small primers. Their is nothing wrong with the 260. I think they saw the potential of the 6.5's, but they have a hard time admitting the creed is a better design.
 To take it a step further, the 6.5x47L is even better. Its one of the best over engineered cases on the market. Everyone runs them way over the pressure levels used in 600 meter comps they were designed for. The creed is actually a 6.5x49L for comparisons sake.

This is what has so many people ramped up. Lapua knows they can make the round to the 47 pressure levels, after all, its only 2 mils more in length. I am hoping they refine it enough to blow the 47's from being king of the hill. The extra room in the case should make them less temperamental. In my 6x47L .1 grains makes a big difference.

The creed is the perfect balance of case design/performance.

If you don't believe that brass quality and consistency are important to precision reloading, ask a competitor why they are willing to pay so much for Lapua brass. I can't wait to get my hands on some small primer Lapua Creedmoor product. My next bench build might get changed from a 6Dasher to a 6.5 Creedmoor.

I have some on order. I have a new barrel. As soon as they come in I will take the Creed down for some new blood. Can't wait

I am wondering how many thousands of those little blue boxes got put on backorder from grafs....I can see 5k boxes already sold.

What primers are you guys guessing will be the go to for the Lapua Brass? Think they will need magnums?

I am currently using 205 mar primers, but when these run out I am going to buy 450's and run them. Most of the 47 guys already use them.

Quote from: Wilson1911 on January 02, 2017, 11:08:46 PMI am currently using 205 mar primers, but when these run out I am going to buy 450's and run them. Most of the 47 guys already use them.

I use 450s in my Dasher and they appear to be the best for my load

Great to hear, I've got 2k 450's sitting around

Just a thought.......  I find it rather interesting that Remington has "blown" it on two different rounds and perhaps 3 by using the wrong twist in their barrels.......

I have just purchased a Ruger #1 in 6.5 and have today started the pre shooting barrel cleaning.  I am looking forward to spending time developing this gun into an accurate shooter.  I really want to try it with quality factory ammo before anything else.  As was stated, that was one of the original ideas.......

By the way..... Hello to all, New guy here from Southernmost Illinois..... Not Chicago, almost 6.5 hours south of there... No pun intended with the 6.5.......