I'm thinking of getting a 6.5 Creedmoor and leaving the 300 WM

iron cat said:
I own and shoot ( and occasionally compete) with three .223 match rifles as well as several others.
The .223 can reach out there, for sure, but stacked up against other cartridges, it is left way behind in the dust past 600 meters , especially if you are talking about off the shelf rifles.
Almost anything with decent optics in 6mm and up will best it.
The 6.5 Creedmoor is offered in a host of factory rifles these days and is a good alternative.
I didn't notice on whether or not you are hand loading. If not, and you intend to continue on a regular basis, hand loading is essential to success at extended ranges.
Cat
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Agree, I do not compete but own a .223 target rig and I can stretch to 600 on the outside at best. I know of some amazing competitive shooters who can take it to 800 but man, that's a looong shot with a pipsqueak. And that'll be with a 24-26" barrel, highly tailored and very stout loads, 75gr+ projectiles which might mean custom throats, etc.

6mm is almost a cheat code for making those shots and I'm finding a surprising amount of 6mm Creedmoor on the shelves locally. But not a lot of good rifles available from the factory.

6.5 Creedmoor might kick harder but the 140+gr bullets just go. Ammo is easy to find, they don't seem to be too particular with bullets, the cartridge specs call for tight necks as well as throats designed for long bullets and fast twist rates to stabilize, they fit easily into a short action and standard mags, velocities are reasonable leading to good barrel life, easy to reload for, doesn't need a ton of powder. I know it's popular to hate on the Creed but man does it do a good job of making an okay shooter look like a hero. Don't even need to brake one if it's a target rifle, a 10lb Bergara B14 HMR with another 2 pounds of scope, rail, and rings on it plus a good bipod will be more of an angry shake than a hard kick.

People are taking 6.5CM out to a mile, so I'd probably start with that and find my limit from there.
 
Seat a 140 hybrid in a 260 with the base of the bearing surface at the shoulder-neck junction and the OAL is almost 3". Won't fit most SA AICS mags. 130 bergers are nearly 2.95" long when seated where they should be. Yes you can seat deeper, but you're into the powder column and risking having to deal with donuts.
Seat a 140 hybrid where it should be in a creed and the OAL is around 2.85", which will fit and feed out of most AICS mags. With lots of neck to chase the lands down the road. Being easy to load for and no issues finding good brass doesn't hurt either.
 
DLDCriders said:
I have been shooting a 300 Win Mag and reloading for over 30 years. I think I am a decent shot with a rifle but I've never really done long distance target shooting and most of my activities have been around hunting and recreational target shooting with my Sako. I have always enjoyed accuracy in shorter ranges and that's a big part of why I reload. Now my son who I shoot with is in his mid-20s has now taken up long range shooting. He bought himself a nice 6.5 creedmoor custom rifle all decked out. He set up some 400 and 750 meter gongs. Well I went out with him one evening and in two shots I hit the 400 gong twice and I thought that's pretty good nice gun. Then a few days later we went out again and I hit the 750 m gong twice in two shots again. I sat there for a few minutes and said I think I need to get another gun. So I started looking and saw 300 custom that was done up pretty nice as I'm used to the 300wm, but this 6.5 creedmoor is a pretty nice shooting gun and I'm thinking because my son has one it may be better to stay to similar calibers. I've always liked the 300 win mag for what you can do with the 30 caliber bullet. But I understand once you find your optimal load in these type of Target guns you don't really change around a lot. So I guess I'll keep my 300 Sako for hunting and decide on what target rifle I should get. I really liked how with the break and the smaller caliber it was so easy to stay on target and I'm not sure you can do that with a 300 although perhaps I just don't know enough yet on these guns. Oh and don't worry he's shopping carefully for me so I don't make a mistake but I think he's leaning towards the 6.5 as well.

All your input would be valuable in this decision if I should switch or stay with the 300 win mag.
:cool:
Thanks
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The 300 is a great cartridge for killing things at longer ranges. The Creedmoor is a great cartridge for ringing steel at long ranges. If you reverse the roles then neither is optimal. The 300 burns a lot of powder just to bang steel. The 6.5 hasn't got the arse behind it that it needs to be a really good LR game killer, I don't care what your friend, or some gunwriter, or guy at the gun counter told you. It's overkill to go get four bags og groceries in a diesel dually, and it's ridiculous to try to haul 15 Christmas trees with a Civic.

No reason not to have both, but keep them in their lane.
 
I appreciate everyones comments. It's been good and more comments are great to hear.
So I think I'm going to choose the 6.5 Creedmoor. I'm going to keep both calibers. The 6.5 is going to be a very heavy gun and don't imagine packing that around for hunting. So I'll keep my 300 WM for hunting. I like the killing power for hunting, I have never had a deer even take a step after the shot in over 20 years. My son just hit hit target out at 1200m yesterday so im going to have to get some practice in. I can not let my whipper snapper out shoot me.��
 
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