Rise and Fall of The 6.5 Creedmoor

well we all know there was a rise and fall of the Roman Empire but could there be a rise and fall of the 6.5 Creedmoor maybe so we're about to find out on this episode of Ron spomer Outdoors well we all know how popular the 6.5 Creedmoor has become is there any chance that it could be losing some of its shine I know a lot of Creedmoor haters would like it to but I don't know if it's going to happen I consulted several ammunition manufacturers and they say the number of units that they're selling in 6.5 Creedmoor is not declining but that doesn't necessarily say that there are fewer rifles maybe being chambered in it that could be happening and I didn't ask all the rifle companies what the numbers were nor are they likely to give them out anyway but think about it the 65 Creedmoor has been around since 2008 and it is beloved because it does several things so well one is pretty darn efficient it's a small cartridge doesn't have a lot of recoil and yet it throws bullets that are a sufficient size weight and velocity to cleanly take Pronghorn whitetails mule deer Sheep Mountain Goats coyotes even elk guys have used it on moose give all kinds of complaints against that but then folks will always say let's remember the 6 by 55 Suite 6.5 by 55 Swede has been around and known as a really high quality Big Game Killer since 1892 but then the 65 Creedmoor folks will say yeah but it's a lot less efficient than this and the Creedmoor is actually a little bit faster takes some higher pressures shoots the better long high BC Bullets and that's another one of its Grand selling points is that is specifically designed to handle those long high BC efficient bullets it's not just the cartridge that's efficient with its straight wall it's 30 degree shoulder and it's limited powder Supply it has those highly efficient aerodynamic bullets that retain their energy and fly fatter and drift Less in the wind so it became known fairly quickly as an outstanding Target Round And this is important it to notice that it came out about the same time laser rangefinders came into fashion everybody was now able to determine exact distance to their target which made it a lot easier to compensate for bullet drop then all you had to do is beat the wind deflection and those long high BC Bullets helped with that and with that little six five Creed board and its limited recoil it was easy to see your hitch to stay on target and see where you were hitting and or missing and then make Corrections it just took the long range shooting World by storm and then of course it became pretty popular as a deer hunting cartridge and why not once again back to the Swede it's been proven so there's no doubt that people would start using it and it had such light recoil that it was a great starter cartridge but this may be contributing to its eventual dare we say downfall or at least decline in popularity and by that I mean folks who are looking at the Creedmoor not as a Target cartridge but as a hunting cartridge can also look at some of the newer little less recoiling rounds like that little Grendel Believe It or Not Whitetail Hunters are really gravitating toward that little thing because as you can see it has even less recoil than the Creedmoor fits at a wonderfully short lightweight little mini rifles mini actions like the Howa 1500 and it more than does the job delivers the energy out to 200 yards maybe even 250 yards wow talk about a great starter rifle and then there are those who will go for the arc six millimeter which is an even smaller cartridge but again it does the job and then there's the 243. there are plenty of Old-Timers and some young timers who say what is wrong with the 243 it's right in that same class with the 6'5 Creedmoor Noah won't throw the 143 grain bullets but over the years a long time since 1955 it has been cleanly taking whitetails mule deer Pronghorn and all the similar sized animals in a 24 caliber with minimal recoil all those rifles out there aren't going to suddenly be replaced by 6'5 Creedmoor and then if you're staying into that family you've got your six millimeter Remington not nearly as many of those out there and are not selling or chambering for them anymore but still plenty of people have the old rifles and they're going to continue shooting them then we come up with something that's new in the six millimeter field and that's the six millimeter Creedmoor obviously it's your 6'5 create more neck down to six millimeter and guys are liking that for hunting same reasons the light recoil flatter shooting less wind deflect action all the wonderful things are available there taking away market share from the 6'5 Creedmoor that's in the hunting Fields but there are always Hunters who say why are we compromising with this 2750 feet per second 140 243 grain bullet from the Creedmoor when we could be getting a lot more speed and horsepower out of other cartridges yeah 264 Win Mag that's an oldie not going to come bouncing back as the new hottest item ever because of that belt people just don't like those belts anymore but if you're talking about big game hunting plenty of hunters are saying why should I settle for the puny performance of the 6'5 Creedmoor when we can go faster and you're probably not going to revive the 264 Winchester magnum not with that belted case but there are other options now and stealing Thunder from the 6'5 Creedmoor is the 6.5 PRC yeah you're adding 200 to 250 feet per second more velocity to the same bullet Plus us you can now efficiently drive a heavier bullet say 150 even up to I think 156 grains much more bullet for those bigger animals like elk you're going to have longer reach more energy downrange less deflection of the wind with this as a hunting round and if that's not your cup of tea look what else we have these days the 6.5 RPM from Weatherby that thing is pretty much doing the same as a PRC maybe even a little bit faster if you don't mind standard length actions well look at there we've got the 26 nozzer that is an absolute screamer if you want to reach out there and take them at a long distance the 26 Nosler is going to do the job for you and not to be outdone whether it be steps up with the 6.5 by 300 Weatherby Magnum those are absolutely long range optimized hunting cartridges probably not going to see them on the target range because you're burning a lot of powder and that's going to burn the throats out on your rifles but for a hunting rifle hey those three have got to be stealing some Thunder from the 6'5 Creedmoor and while we're speaking of stealing Thunder you don't have to stay in the 6.5s when you start talking about efficient hunting cartridges you can go to the 27 calibers that's not that far off from the 26s and you've got the 6.8 Westerner is it Western you've got the 6.8 Western and that's got to be threatening a bit of the 6'5 Creedmoor audience because it will like the PRC throw a heavier bullet only instead of stopping at 156 grains this guy starts at about 160 goes all the way up to 175 grains so someone who's looking at a cartridge that's going to be quite versatile and excellent for all the deer including elk and moose and into the Bears we probably want to be looking at the PRS PRC or the 6.8 Western and those are stealing some of the six five creedmoor's Thunder and then we got this new one the newest one that's going to start taking over in two categories not just hunting but target shooting at long range this is the seven millimeter PRC pretty much the same velocity as the seven Rim mag only it shoots those long Sleek bullets most efficiently and it's geared up for being wonderfully accurate we've covered it all in previous videos but I think that guy is going to steal some of the audience from that 65 Creedmoor I mean once you've become a dedicated Hunter and you're not so much interested anymore at just plinking at Targets at long range you could switch to that but if you also like hitting those targets you can still stick with it gonna burn your Barrel out a little sooner but if you're not shooting 400 rounds every weekend it'll still last you a long time and as we always say Barrel burns out you just replace it so I don't know you take them all together and I think you really are looking at so much competition that the Creedmoor despite its 15 years on the market is starting to lose its uh luster shall we say there are just too many more options these days old options as well as new and small options as well as large and that is why I suggest only suggest the 6.5 Creedmoor has hit its Peak and it's probably on its slow slide down this doesn't mean that it's going to go away this is a cartridge that is going to stay around a long long long time there have been just too many rifles chambered for it too many brands are loading ammunition for it and it's still a great round it really does stand out for all the usual reasons that we by now all understand so unless you are an absolute 6'5 Creedmoor hater I think you can depend on the 6'5 Creedmoor to hang in there and continue providing the well the wonderful performance that we've come to know since 2008 but I think the other guys here in the Roman senate are going to be gunning for the 6'5 Creedmoor this is Ron spomer thanks for tuning in we'll see you next time on honest and Shoot Straight [Music]

Channel: Ron Spomer Outdoors

Views: 481,328

Keywords: outdoors, ron spomer outdoors, ron spomer, hunting, firearms, guns, shooting sports, rifles, big game hunting, hunting gear, hunting gear review, rifle review, gun review, Rise and Fall of The 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 creedmoor, 6.5 creedmoor cartridge, 6.5 creedmoor for hunting

Id: 0abvCcTOGuw

Length: 11min 44sec (704 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 27 2023