.243 Win. vs 6mm Creed.

Small Caliber Shootout

  • #1 choice - 243 Win.

    Votes: 139 60.2%
  • #2 choice - 6mm Creed.

    Votes: 99 42.9%

  • Total voters
    231
Have both, advantage of the 6 Creed is that match grade factory ammo is readily available and relatively cheap, for those that do not reload. I reload, so run 115's at almost identical speed.
 
For those of us who love to shoot but do so on.a limited budget, custom rifles are a fantasy yet to be realized. But we can spring for a decent factory rifle. And with a minimal additional investment, my factory 243 became a 243 AI and the hand loads exceed the 6. So I chose to not lament what i don't have and enjoy what i do have. Oh; and don't let go of the fantasy. It may be realized one of these days.

Gotta love this line of logic "most of us cant afford an expensive custom rifle, so instead you should buy a factory gun (that probably is in the wrong twist rate) and then send it off to have a few hundred dollars worth of smith work done to it to re-chamber the factory barrel for a wildcat cartridge that has no factory ammo available and requires fire forming to get the full potential out of it"

are you serious?

If money is tight... reason would suggest you get the best possible gun/glass combo you can afford in a caliber that has readily available high quality factory ammo that suits the purposes you intend to use it for. As pretty much every other poster in here has noted... the 6mm Creedmoor checks all those boxes. The extra money you spent on the rifle and glass (instead of chamber work) is going to more than offset the ~100fps you might get with an Ackley.
 
I put a 6mm creed 7 twist criterion barrel on a bighorn origin action and it shoots everything into tiny holes. I vote creed because it's short enough to fit in a short action with heavy bullets, the 243 limits you in length when you've got long bullets. I can't see anything the 243 does better than the creed.
 
Unfortunately, can't speak to either, my 6dasher has a lot less boiler room than either of them, but I've been quite happy with it, it's very efficient using Barts 105 Gungnirs.
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Wanted a 6mm looked at the Creedmoor but since I have dies, brass and loaded ammunition for the 243 I went old school.

If I wanted a longer range 6mm I would build a fast twisted 240 weatherby mag.
 
Small Caliber Shootout : Which one do you prefer and why ?

Nearly identical ballistic capability but the Creed is a better case design. Better suited to short actions with long VLD type bullets, shoulder angle and longer neck theoretically reduce throat erosion. VLD type factory ammo readily available in the CM.

John
 
For those of us who love to shoot but do so on.a limited budget, custom rifles are a fantasy yet to be realized. But we can spring for a decent factory rifle. And with a minimal additional investment, my factory 243 became a 243 AI and the hand loads exceed the 6. So I chose to not lament what i don't have and enjoy what i do have. Oh; and don't let go of the fantasy. It may be realized one of these days.
Agree.
I have a T3 243ai (26" Fluted Bartlein 1:7.5), that loves the Amax 105 and 108 ELDM bullets. It is easy to get 3200/3300fs with H1000. With the factory barrel, rechambered to 243ai also, you can get nearly 3150fs or so with these bullets.
Amazing hog and deer killer, period.
 
6mm Creedmoor for me, just because life changes. I used to run a 1:7 twist .243 shooting 105-115 grain bullets back when I had more time. Eight years ago I had a job where I worked 4-10 days so I always had a three day weekend if I wasn't doing the Army Reserve thing. I had time to spare for things like reloading, these days I work on call 24/7-365 and I can be going back to work ten hours after I finished my last shift.

So to me I'd rather spend my limited off time shooting instead of reloading. I love reloading and I'll go back to it someday, but right now I'm trying to fund retirement and my current jobs income more than doubled my previous one. Even if it's cold and nasty outside I'd rather shoot than reload.

If the .243 had progressed to fast twist factory rifles and ammunition using appropriate bullets for the new twist rates this wouldn't even be a discussion, but the 6 Creed is just a better fit with my lifestyle right now. I can reload if I absolutely have to, but it's much easier to order up a case of ammo online and have it shipped to my door. Plus I have a lot of ammunition choices available for the 6mm Creedmoor I can't get in the .243 Win when it comes to LR options.

I'll always have a .243 Win, it was my first love. I'll use it as well to still hunt coyotes, pronghorn, and deer as even with a slow 1:10 twist rifle it is still a great cartridge for that. My next rifle will be a 6mm Creedmoor though, I'm thinking Howa barreled action from Brownell's magnum contour cut to 20" threaded for my suppressor and dropped in the Alpine stock in my closet. I think that'll be the next perfect rifle, until I think of the next one.
 
I have poured over the 6mm stats for a couple of years. With its superior long range ballistic coefficient 6mm appears to be THE bullet for target and hunting game up to the size of whitetail deer. I "built" a Savage 6.5x47 Lapua (found a new left port/right eject action, ordered a hand lapped savage barrel, wrench and laminate stock) and I have a 6.5x47 Lapua MOA single shot pistol with a 10 inch barrel. I got the pistol to take advantage of an additional nine day deer hunting season here in Missouri. This season is limited to handgun and black powder firearms. So I have the reloading setup for Lapua and quite a bit of brass.

That moves me toward a 6-6.5x47. The only reloading items I would need are a 6mm neck die insert and some bullets. But I really like the looks of the 6XC and the older 6mm Remington. The 6 Creed and the .243 are superb also. If you want a readily available off the shelf rifle with readily available ammo and don't want to reload go with the latter.

I am not trying to sell anyone on the Lapua. It is personal preference for me but I like a cartridge with a longer neck. I believe that leads to longer barrel life. From everything I can tell the 6-6.5x47 Lapua would fill that bill.
 

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