Is the 6.5 Creedmoor the best do it all cartridge ever

[Litehiker]

The famous Outdoor Life writer Jack O' Conner always felt the best all around cartridge was the 270 Winchester. At that time ('50s and '60s) I would agree - for cartridges then available in America.

But I think the 6.5 Norma ("6.5 Swede") is a great cartridge when loaded to modern pressure and velocity standards for use in modern guns that can handle them.

However I'm now hunting with a Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor. A very inherently accurate cartridge and good in cross winds. I also use it for long range competition with my Ruger Precision Rifle. It is suited to game from coyotes up to and including cow elk.

But bull elk and moose require something on the order of a .300 Win mag or at least a 6.5/284 Norma. No, a 26 Nosler or 6.5 Weatherby are not needed for these larger animals but they would do very well too.

Eric B.

 

[WildRose]

Just seen a question on Facebook:
"Who has a drop chart for 6.5 Creedmoor, 140 ELD to 1000 yards?"

I see the point of "it's the people that annoy me"'.

I'm going to revert back to a earlier post on one of these Creed threads.
These guys do not want to put any work in shooting.
Someone is going to provide a chart that will get the guy close. Then he'll tweak it till it fits. The Creedmoor offers these guys factory ammo and data that will take all the hard work that I personally enjoy out of the equation.
I just don't get people who want all the questions answered without figuring out why the question even come up!
Its rampant in every part of this sport now.
Maybe I'm different, but I will not sleep until a i figure out why I had a question, long after I figured out the answer/solution.
But I also come from a time when any electronic device, even lighted sight pins were prohibited. We had to scout with binoculars and tying thread to small saplings to try and get a general time when the deer moved thru a area. Now in the time of instant answers, guys check their trail cameras (several trail cameras) while they are at work, pattern a big buck thru surveillance, they know he's coming thru at 7:00am so they show up at 6:30, shoot it, then go to the restaurant and bragg they killed the biggest smartest buck in the county! And all the goons will worship him as the greatest hunter of all time. So yea it's the people!!
Merry Christmas!!

The bottom third of any population will never do more than the bare minimum required to get by.

I'm almost jealous that there are today so many resources that simply weren't available to my generation or generations prior when we started trying to stretch the limits of range, velocity, energy etc. Unfortunately the internet and Hollywood have convinced an entire generation of young shooters over the last couple of decades that all they need is a custom rifle, the "right scope", and a drop chart that they can master the art of long range shooting.

I've worked pretty hard at it for 35 years or so and such mastery still can't be found except with a tiny handful of individuals.

 

[WildRose]

I agree with everything you said, except the public land part. Public land where yall hunt is WAY different than the public land down here. Public land down here is a dangerous place to be, because every inbred hillbilly and poor trailer trash with a gun hunts management area down here, and those are NOT people you want to be around in the woods with loaded weapons (unsafe practices in all aspects). I don't even own any land, so don't think I'm some uppity rich guy for saying this, but if I'm not able to hunt on privately owned land, my *** sits at home. Trust me, one of my best friends is a former AL Game Warden, and former cop, and even he will refuse to hunt public land 9/10 times. That's how sketchy and dangerous it is to hunt public land down here.

When I was young NM public land hunts ended in more than a few "shootouts" every season.

Even though it severely limited out opportunities and jacked up the costs considerably my dad made sure we only hunted private land. We never hired guides but we always had a local friend along or a solid relationship with the Ranchers and of course they made their rounds every day or at least several days a week and could tell us the best areas to hunt and what the lay of the land was.

 

[Shootin4fun]

Just seen a question on Facebook:
"Who has a drop chart for 6.5 Creedmoor, 140 ELD to 1000 yards?"

I see the point of "it's the people that annoy me"'.

Now in the time of instant answers, guys check their trail cameras (several trail cameras) while they are at work, pattern a big buck thru surveillance, they know he's coming thru at 7:00am so they show up at 6:30, shoot it, then go to the restaurant and bragg they killed the biggest smartest buck in the county! And all the goons will worship him as the greatest hunter of all time. So yea it's the people!!
Merry Christmas!!

You forgot about the guys who tag bucks with GPS darts when they see them off-season, then find 'em with an app on their iPhone when the season opens!

 

[gohring3006]

You forgot about the guys who tag bucks with GPS darts when they see them off-season, then find 'em with an app on their iPhone when the season opens!

What!!! I haven't heard that. But if it could be proven it should be a jail time violation!

 

[Shootin4fun]

Mud- with regard to the danger of hunting public lands in your area...Are you in Al.? I've heard the same in Texas, which is pretty much a privately owned state. It sucks to have to pay thousands of $ to get a lease on land...and they even bait the animals down here!
In Calif. I've hunted mostly public lands, wild animals who have never seen a feeder or salt lick, where there is probably about 50,000 square miles available. Just the Sierra Nevadas are 10,000 sq mi. But then a lot of it is not so easy to hunt there by staying in your pick up quad. To me, wandering in the wilderness is a large part of the fun of it. Having a rifle and a license to take wild game is icing on the cake.

 

[Predator 22]

Mud- with regard to the danger of hunting public lands in your area...Are you in Al.? I've heard the same in Texas, which is pretty much a privately owned state. It sucks to have to pay thousands of $ to get a lease on land...and they even bait the animals down here!
In Calif. I've hunted mostly public lands, wild animals who have never seen a feeder or salt lick, where there is probably about 50,000 square miles available. Just the Sierra Nevadas are 10,000 sq mi. But then a lot of it is not so easy to hunt there by staying in your pick up quad. To me, wandering in the wilderness is a large part of the fun of it. Having a rifle and a license to take wild game is icing on the cake.

Nothing like wide open space.

 

[Shootin4fun]

The bottom third of any population will never do more than the bare minimum required to get by.

I'm almost jealous that there are today so many resources that simply weren't available to my generation or generations prior when we started trying to stretch the limits of range, velocity, energy etc. Unfortunately the internet and Hollywood have convinced an entire generation of young shooters over the last couple of decades that all they need is a custom rifle, the "right scope", and a drop chart that they can master the art of long range shooting.

I've worked pretty hard at it for 35 years or so and such mastery still can't be found except with a tiny handful of individuals.

Indeed. And I also blame Hollywood for the AR craze we've seen in the last 2 decades. Come on, we had ARs available since the late 1960s, but most of us shooters were not obsessed with them the way we see younger shooters are today. When I go to the range, over 50% of guys are shooting ARs, and shooting them relatively fast. Sometimes I find it obnoxious. It's like, give them their own section of the range. I may get flamed for saying this but it seems a little juvenile to me. Might as well be shooting off fireworks. If you take the time to be a good marksman with a bolt, you can shoot an AR semi-rapid fire better than most AR enthusiasts, so they are not really practicing for anything. If you want to practice shooting rapidly from the waist, a 10/22 will do.

 

[Shootin4fun]

Nothing like wide open space.

Nice! My kinda country!

 

[Alaska2006]

Spot on Shootin4fun. I would never suggest people shouldn't be able to own and shoot whatever they like but **** these kids with black guns at the range scare the hell out of me. I usually go to the range early in the morning to avoid the black gun crowd. Yes I own a couple myself but when I do shoot them (very rarely) I don't see how fast I can burn through a 30 round mag.
Each to their own I guess; it's just not for me.

Indeed. And I also blame Hollywood for the AR craze we've seen in the last 2 decades. Come on, we had ARs available since the late 1960s, but most of us shooters were not obsessed with them the way we see younger shooters are today. When I go to the range, over 50% of guys are shooting ARs, and shooting them relatively fast. Sometimes I find it obnoxious. It's like, give them their own section of the range. I may get flamed for saying this but it seems a little juvenile to me. Might as well be shooting off fireworks. If you take the time to be a good marksman with a bolt, you can shoot an AR semi-rapid fire better than most AR enthusiasts, so they are not really practicing for anything. If you want to practice shooting rapidly from the waist, a 10/22 will do.

ot

 

[Shootin4fun]

^^^^ +1
P.S. Having said that, I'm glad most states still allow them. Calf's. regs on them (read: ban) are lame.

 

[Shootin4fun]

Back to the point of the thread...I find the 6.5 Creed to be a nice complement to the 243, 270, and 7RM. Low recoil, more umph and distance than the 243 while using about the same amount of powder and having the same recoil, great for LD target and midrange hunting. I bought in and am having a blast. Load development is relatively easy. Getting .1MOA - .25MOA groups out of a standard X-bolt.

Here are 3 groups: Top on is a 3 shot, the other 2 are 4 shot groups at 105 yards. 130gr Berger VLDH. It is not uncommon for it to put 2 rounds in *exactly* the same hole. The 1 with double black patch targets is because another shooter shot my target, not because I covered up a flier! I'm liking that 43.4gr load!

 

[Rich Coyle]

Shootin4fun,

Very nice. How does it do if you fire ten shots at one group?

 

[MudRunner2005]

Mud- with regard to the danger of hunting public lands in your area...Are you in Al.? I've heard the same in Texas, which is pretty much a privately owned state. It sucks to have to pay thousands of $ to get a lease on land...and they even bait the animals down here!

Yes, I'm in Alabama.