Maybe I don’t hate the 6.5 CM

I understand recoil can bother some people more than others. I just grew up shooting heavy recoiling rifles, shotguns and revolvers. I have some light recoiling rifles as well. I guess if I was shooting a lot of paper I would prefer something like the 6.5 CM or 6mm. When hunting I just like to hit them with something a little more substantial. Now if I was looking to go ELR, the CM would be way down the list. JMHO
 
Personally, I never got caught up in the hype or scoffing at the 6.5CM. I got interested in it because a friend kept praising his 260 Rem, which I was then considering. But the availability of factory rifles and ammo and brass for the CM pushed me that direction.

This is a natural path- 243 rebarrel to 6.5CM. I have one of each but the 243 is lighter due to scope and stock weight and I'm already thinking of just rebarreling the it to 6.5 when it's shot out.

Those are some pretty good speeds out of the 6.5CM. My conservative but low SD loads are 130VLD and 135VLDH at 2750 using H4350, 22" tube. RL26 gets them up over 2900 but I haven't hit single digit SDs or as tight groups with it yet. BTW, that's 270Win territory. I shoot an accurate 130gr TTSX load out of my 270 at 3005fps.
Here's the group with the load I settled on with RL26. Can't complain with those results and the higher velocity is a bonus.
 

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Yeah, I'm one of those RPR Creedmoor owners. In fact I have several Creed rifles. Used it to hunt whitetails and never lost one but........I've returned to my .270 for DRT results.

The Creed is used when I want to shoot paper way out there. It is fun and gives me the capability to shoot gongs at ranges I never even tried before.

I killed lots of game with the 6.5x55 and also own a 6.5x284 so please don't put me in the man bun category. ;)
I've had drt results with my 6.5cm useing 143 eld x on deer antelope sheep mountain goats and 3 elk out of the 45+ I've killed with the creed AND ALL were taken well past 200 yards
 
My nephew took 4 shots to kill his elk and my buddy shot his bear 5 times. My son lost his mule deer buck. It dropped at the shot. Laid there for 10 minutes while we walked up and then got up and hauled ***. I can't figure it out. We were shooting a Creedmoor. Nothing walks away from that round. 🤣🤣 In all fairness the bear was 412 lbs. The mule deer was shot too far back with a Barnes TSX that didn't open up I'm guessing and the elk was just being an elk. It's a fine cartridge, not a miracle worker.
 
My nephew took 4 shots to kill his elk and my buddy shot his bear 5 times. My son lost his mule deer buck. It dropped at the shot. Laid there for 10 minutes while we walked up and then got up and hauled ***. I can't figure it out. We were shooting a Creedmoor. Nothing walks away from that round. 🤣🤣 In all fairness the bear was 412 lbs. The mule deer was shot too far back with a Barnes TSX that didn't open up I'm guessing and the elk was just being an elk. It's a fine cartridge, not a miracle worker.
Yea, no round is magic and all require a killing shot to kill. Shut down both lungs and no matter what you hit , it can't breath , it can't live . Many a whitetail has been hung on a meat pole by a 22lr . If a light recoiling accurate round helps you make that shot placement easier, it doesn't matter what people say about the round , good or bad . Animal not breathing on the ground is the only measuring stick that matters .
 
I've been a 6.5 anything fan for decades. I did break down and buy my one and only 6.5CM in a Ruger PR when my buddy I decided to give the then exploding PRS game a whirl. My impression when all the hype and extravagant claims arose was that shooters succumbed to the marketing push, and finally figured out that the 6.5 caliber is a nicely balanced ballistic performer. Whether the 260R, 6.5x47L, 6.5 Swede, or 6.5CM, with the right rifle, they are all superb shooters. To my surprise I must say that the those Ruger PR's my buddy and I bought genuinely surprised us! Even with the barrels which looked like the inside of a sewer pipe, they delivered performsnce comparable to our best customs! Go figure! Needless to say, we did get hooked on PRS……
Groups at 200 yards
24D61808-B07F-45CF-85CA-D0E5D7AF4331.jpeg02AE7244-E812-407D-BB37-82394ACD1BB8.jpeg
 
I've been a 6.5 anything fan for decades. I did break down and buy my one and only 6.5CM in a Ruger PR when my buddy I decided to give the then exploding PRS game a whirl. My impression when all the hype and extravagant claims arose was that shooters succumbed to the marketing push, and finally figured out that the 6.5 caliber is a nicely balanced ballistic performer. Whether the 260R, 6.5x47L, 6.5 Swede, or 6.5CM, with the right rifle, they are all superb shooters. To my surprise I must say that the those Ruger PR's my buddy and I bought genuinely surprised us! Even with the barrels which looked like the inside of a sewer pipe, they delivered performsnce comparable to our best customs! Go figure! Needless to say, we did get hooked on PRS……
Groups at 200 yards
View attachment 351169View attachment 351170
Thanks for sharing your 200 yard groups. I am getting similar groups at 200 from my Sauer. Looks like you are set to go with GameKings on deer sized critters. Both of those bullets are soft enough to expand at distance. I'm still experimenting to find the perfect bullet that has that balance between accuracy and terminal performance. I want to kill something with both Bondstrike and Accubond before choosing a champion.
Truly surprised at your Ruger. There is something magic about this cartridge. Can you load other cartridges to shoot as well? Sure, if you spend enough money and time you can. But the 6.5 CM seems to make getting there a lot easier. Am I right about that?
 
Thanks for sharing your 200 yard groups. I am getting similar groups at 200 from my Sauer. Looks like you are set to go with GameKings on deer sized critters. Both of those bullets are soft enough to expand at distance. I'm still experimenting to find the perfect bullet that has that balance between accuracy and terminal performance. I want to kill something with both Bondstrike and Accubond before choosing a champion.
Truly surprised at your Ruger. There is something magic about this cartridge. Can you load other cartridges to shoot as well? Sure, if you spend enough money and time you can. But the 6.5 CM seems to make getting there a lot easier. Am I right about that?
Yeah I think that's about the size of it. I don't know why some folks insist that there are no such thing as inherently accurate cartridges. Because some patterns just seem to undeniable for me to, well, deny!

No record set with a .308 has been lost in recent years to a .30-06 for example.

The .222 rem did things that the newer .223 can maybe do IF you spend forever and a day fine tuning everything.

The 6mm PPC is surely not the dominator of BR shooting it is just because "no one makes good rifles in other chamberings"….

And the creedmoor case geometry (along with the x47 lapua and others) is a sweet spot of some kind.
 
I understand recoil can bother some people more than others. I just grew up shooting heavy recoiling rifles, shotguns and revolvers. I have some light recoiling rifles as well. I guess if I was shooting a lot of paper I would prefer something like the 6.5 CM or 6mm. When hunting I just like to hit them with something a little more substantial. Now if I was looking to go ELR, the CM would be way down the list. JMHO
The only time you notice recoil in the field is if you're in a really bad position and/or it causes a "scope bite".

Most of us who have them earned them proudly, they're trophies!
 
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