× All powder charges were weighed on an RCBS electronic scale. The older classic cartridges are just fine, but they don’t have the new engineering science of the Creedmoor, and never will. May I get one thing off my chest? I am sick and tired of folks saying, “The 6.5 Creedmoor won’t do anything my (fill in the blank with your favorite cartridge) won’t do.” When asked how their 6.5 CM rifle shoots, they sheepishly admit that they’ve never shot one, much less owned one. The author tested 45 different 6.5 Creedmoor handloads for velocity and accuracy from an indoor benchrest for this report. This makes it a highly effective hunting cartridge. The 6.5 CM shoots long, skinny bullets with high ballistic coefficients for a flat trajectory, and their high sectional densities and sufficient weights ensure deep penetration. However, Hornady prints the load data for its highly accurate factory loads on the boxes so that reloaders can duplicate the load at home, and hunters and target shooters alike dote on the round. Plus, factory ammo is so accurate that handloaders are hard-pressed to duplicate it. The 6.5 CM was originally designed for the National Matches, and in that role it has excelled, but it also turned out to be a terrific hunting round. VihtaVuori developed its high-energy N555 powder specifically for the 6.5 Creedmoor, and it excels in that role. In addition, the 6.5 CM can be housed in short-action rifles that are lightweight and handy in the game fields as well as in monster “chassis rifles” for plinking steel at extreme ranges. This allows the use of long-for-caliber bullets of suitable weight for hunting big game and long-range target shooting. A bevy of high-tech bullets and powders make handloading the 6.5 Creedmoor a rewarding endeavor.Īnother reason the 6.5 CM is so effective and popular is that 0.264-inch-diameter bullets have high ballistic coefficients, and the round uses a fast one-turn-in-eight-inches twist rate. Thus, virtually all 6.5 CM rifles, even the inexpensive ones, shoot great. And the case length of 1.920 inches is a perfect fit for the many short-action rifles available, as well as ARs.įinally, ammo and bullet companies make sure that the 6.5mm projectiles they make for the cartridge mate harmoniously with the barrel chamber and throat.
This simplifies manufacturing of both rifles and ammunition. The rim diameter of the 6.5 CM case is 0.473 inch, same as the. A number of manufacturers produce 6.5 Creedmoor cases, including Hornady (shown), Lapua, and Starline. If these specifications are faithfully incorporated into every gun so chambered, the round delivers top-notch accuracy consistently, over a wide range of platforms, from low-cost budget rifles to high-dollar rigs that cost as much as your first car (or maybe even your first house). 30 TC (also a Hornady development), its shape, the rifle chamber and throat, and the bullet ogive all have very precise design criteria. The 6.5 CM isn’t just another case necked up or down with a new name. Small primer pockets are not recommended for use in cold weather. The 6.5 Creedmoor is offered with cases that take either Small Rifle primers (left) or Large Rifle primers (right). I’ll get to the particulars of handloading this gem in a minute, but first here’s a look at why this metric cartridge has been so successful. It has an excellent record in the field on big game and on target ranges because of several interacting virtues, and it has really kicked the development of 6.5mms into high gear. It is easily the most popular round of its caliber in existence, at least in the U.S. In the last five years or so it has become a monster hit-and justifiably so. in 2008, making it a “factory” cartridge. It was developed by Dennis DeMille and Dave Emary of Hornady in 2007 and was approved by S.A.A.M.I. That round is the 6.5 Creedmoor (6.5 CM). Historically, cartridges with metric names have not been overly popular in the United States, but one relatively recent addition has turned things around in a big way.
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