308 to 6.5s? Convince me

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Pantallica90

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I have a dilemma on my hands regarding switching my deer rifle caliber around. I am currently looking for a 308 bolt gun for a lighter hiking gun but with all the 6.5 goodies around, am I thinking the wrong way?

Due to the events of May 2020, I have a surplus of 308 reloading goods and ammo that sit around collecting dust. I also have everything set up for 260 as I already have a rifle in that caliber for LR steel ringing (too heavy to hunt with).

Most of hunting will be inside 300 yards (majority 100 area), and apart from 6.5s having better BC and being better at distance, I can't think of any reason why I wouldn't just get a 308 and use all my goods for that.

So, convince me otherwise or agree with me haha.
 
BioPace said:
Inside 300y .308 probably has the advantage of ft/lb on the animal too.
Click to expand...

This^^ especially if you decide to shoot heavy for cal at any point. I also recommend a kimber hunter for a nice hiking/truck gun due to the light weight and removable mag. Can also drop a further 8oz from the hunter stock with a few minutes of your time.
 
I would hold off ... Use what you have and See what things are like in 1 year


I passed on buying a rifle ... Odd cal and Not paying 3-4 dollars a round for what I could find in factory rounds

Might be shooting a lot of rf (when it lasts) Have a old cooey, needs a bit of fixing

I can remember when 30-30 was less than $15 a box
 
got to say im a 6.5 creed guy now . i started with magnums then went down to 308 as i got older .tried a 6.5 and fell in love. 308 and 6.5 also work good in shorter barrels but exactly same spec gunsthe 6.5 kicks less.the 6.5 i have i use for varmints to moose to black bear using premium bullets on larger critters. You can buy 6.5 hornady american hunter for 29 a box of 20 and sellier billot for 24 .sakos 156gr premium is like 45 but 39-45 for super premium ammo is a walk in the park, hell 45-70 costs 49 bucks now and goes way up for super premium stuff theres a lot of compacts available in the creed now and lightweights. ive just tried the new 6.5 prc and theres a noticeable kick upgrade which made be go back to the creed. i can shoot all day at the bench without getting tired.honestly though if your a tinker the 6.5 is boring and all 6.5s ive shot have been stupid accurate with lots of different ammo.the factory ammo seems to be getting cheaper in 6.5 and 308 has been getting more expensive lately not including surplus which is getting harder to find. see if you can get to shoot both and see what you like ive seen also 6.5s getting 160gr bullets and sako is loading heavier bullets now.in europe the 6.5 calibers are darlings and now the creed is getting popular there also/ no other cartridge seems to give a more love or hate reviews than the creeds.i have both and my 308s have been gathering dust.have a almost new 308 cz and i take out always the creed when i go out.its what i now feel most confident with as i spend a lot of time at the range with the creed,.didnt starte out wanting a creed and shot a friends, saw dime size groups of 5 at the range ,bought the same gun and got the same results, ended up getting 2 more diferent guns a super light weight and a heavier extreme short barreled 16.5 inch and they all shoot . if you do have a ton of ammo in 308 you can always buy both.dont know what your budget is bought the 6.5 in the ruger predator for 599, put a zeiss scope im il easily hit the gong out 500 without much thought.my personal max on game for myself is 300 but most shots are under 75. the one thing i can tell you though is with the 6.5 that has a brake i can get faster line of site follow ups with 6.5 as there is virtually no recoil. the 308 still jumps a bit.... and takes a second to get back on target. now if there was a 6.5 pump i would be all over it.remember you dont need a heavy 6.5 long barreled hunting gun. was looking at a weatherby ultra light and it felt like a toy.also 6.5 has great long range capabilites. have a friend that was a heavy hunting rifle for years and as we got older even walking into stand he was huffing and always slinging his rifle on his shoulder i gave him the compact for the day weights 5.4 pounds and put a leupold vxr which is a light weight scope and he would not give it back for the rest if the hunt,depends what your looking for.
 
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other than recoil, i cant see the average hunter benefitting from the advantages of a 6.5 since you really need to stretch it out past 600m to start noticing a difference. in most hunting situations i would rather have the .308. comes down to preference in the end. i will most likely never max out my .308 and i'm ok with that.
 
I have mostly switched over to a 6.5x55 swede sporter i picked up a few years ago with a new lighter barrel on it and i haven't really taken the 308 out for deer since. It's lighter (although that will vary by rifle), nicer to carry, everything is a little less bulky, and the recoil is like my 30-30 and i just plain enjoy shooting it more.

There's lots of good to say about the 308, and if i ever had to pick "just one rifle" it would probably be my choice, but the 6.5 is plenty good enough for deer and is what comes along for the ride.

With how availabilities are right now, i would just see what is available, decently priced, and just whatever feels best when you pick it up, that or toss a coin, because the deer aren't going to notice a difference on their end.
 
Inside of 500 yards the 308 has the advantage for hunting being a heavier bullet past 500 yards is where the 6.5 start showing better ballistics. Hunting tho shooting at game over 500 yards away is just dumb and completely unnecessary unless you really really really suck at hunting. If a bow hunter can get to 20ish yards for a shot there is absolutely no reason a rifle hunter cannot get under 200 yards. Only something like a 6.5 grendel compared to a 223 from a semi automatic would the 6.5 be the better choice for deer hunting. For long range target shooting then ya something like the 6.5 creedmoor would be a better choice
 
I compete and hunt with the 308 (35 years) and now .260 (9 years). I have heavy barrels as well as light carry barrels. I have arranged to set up my Remmy rigs in switch barrel format for the hunting seasons I cannot make up my mind.

What I particularly love about these calibers is that ONE set of headspace gauges does the job for helping determine a safe headspace, after all the 308 is a parent cartridge of the 260 (and 7mm-08 and 243). Understand that having been a Handloader for decades , the 260 is a royal pain for someone who does not roll their own. That’s where the 6.5 CM shines.

Like others have mentioned, get both and discover what floats your boat. Buy what works for you!

Cheers, Barney
Peace Be To Journey!
 
Light rifles are attractive since they are less fatiguing to carry, but the lighter the gun, the snappier its recoil will be. If you shoot a .308, it doesn't have to be loaded with 180 gr bullets, but if don't think you can manage a light weight .308, a 6.5 might be a good choice but it will produce recoil the same as a similar rifle chambered in .308, when both are loaded with the same weight of bullet. Of course if you like the .308 and find it works for you, there is no huge advantage to switching to a 6.5 in a practical hunting rifle, unless you just want to try something a bit different. I like the 6.5X55, but if it wasn't available in the rifle I wanted, I'd consider a .260 Remington, although the rifles chambered for the .260 seem to becoming scarcer and the 6.5 CM rifles seem to be more numerous. The 6.5 CM doesn't do anything in a practical sense that can't be done with any number of similar cartridges, and I prefer not to invest in new cartridges just to be stylish. Lets face it, any modern rifle chambered for a high velocity bottle neck cartridge, sighted a couple of inches high at 100 yards, will strike 6" to 8" low at 300 yards, and drift in a full value 10 mph wind is a couple of minutes with any bullet having a reasonable BC. Heavier bullets of similar shape within caliber will have a longer time of flight and lighter bullets a shorter time of flight, which will affect their relative near range trajectories accordingly. Making decisive hits on a big game animal is not an insurmountable problem with a modern rifle, but its tough to find one non-magnum cartridge that provides a huge advantage over the others in terms of near range trajectory.
 
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Stay with the 308, it's always and will always be on top du to it's vesatility.

Over the years, i bought 3 X 6.5 Creedmoor and they all ended up in the back of the safe, not that they are a bad caliber, it's not a 308. Period. YMMV.
 
Hunting deer inside 300 yards ?

308, 30-06, 270, 260, 65CM, 7-08 etc are all going to do about the same thing.

Since you have lots of 308 components the 308 would seem the practical choice for you, but practical isn't always the point. Sometimes you wan to play around with a new cartridge and that's as valid a reason to get a Six Five Creed as any other reason.
 
This is a YMMV question that I asked myself as well: should my next rifle be .308 or 6.5CM? I stuck with .308:

* I have all the reloading equipment for it
* I'm not shooting much past 300 (sometimes out to 500 )
* I don't shoot competitively with it
* I didn't want to worry about yet-another-cartridge for reloading.
* .308 ammo, should I need to buy it, is incredibly common.

If I suddenly came into some money and more free time, then I would pickup a 6.5CM in a heart beat. I think the question you should be asking yourself is: Do I *want* a 6.5CM rifle?
 
Do you shoot better with a 6.5 CM than a 308 Win?
If so and it fits your requirements, I would go with the lowest recoil option all the time (for non-trophy and non-dangerous game).
I'm a big fan of 243 Win, 6.5 CM and 7mm-08 because of recoil/accuracy which make them great deer cartridges at medium range when using proper ammunition.

From a purely versatility/practical point of view, 308 Win/30-06 can't be beaten but that does not means that 243 Win, 6.5 CM and 7mm-08 can't do a better job.
 
Not sure if new boots is the answer.
But I just had to post this one....................:cool:

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