Well I'm a complete noob to rifle cartridges. Until last October all I'd shot was .22lr and 9mm, besides a bunch of airguns. But a surge in my crypto investments in October gave me an excuse to buy the rifle I'd been hoping to have for more than a year; the Sig Cross, which a friend encouraged me to buy in 6.5Creedmoor, though I'd been leaning towards .308. I'd thought the heavier bullet of the latter would be a safer bet for hunting, whenever I eventually get around to doing that, but my friend had seen a number of larger game hunts successful with 6.5CM and he felt it would be more fun to shoot with the reduced recoil, so I went with that.
Finally got a proper scope for it a couple of months ago - a Vortex Viper 5-25x FFP - and the other day got out to shoot it for the first time. Took me 9 shots to get on paper (apparently my laser boresight didn't do a very good job), but once there, didn't miss again. And I enjoyed shooting it a lot! Very easy rifle to shoot. It has a little kick, but nothing alarming, not as sharp a kick as my TNW ASR frankly, and that's not very hard to shoot so I'm happy with recoil. I'll have to get a more solid bipod as a Caldwell was pretty wiggly. Best I could manage was the last 4 of 15 total shots inside 2.75" from my 104 yard position, and most of that spread was due to the bipod balancing on my backpack with my bicycle helmet inside to raise it up for a seated position. Not exactly ideal, but I was shooting from river rocks and couldn't find a more comfortable and stable position. Shots 14 and 15 were touching and felt solid, while 12 and 13 I definitely felt the gun move a little as I squeezed, so I'm very optimistic about printing some tiny groups in future.
I have a small selection of factory ammunition to try, favouring the heavier types. Will take another range session or two to see if this barrel has a favourite. But the two types I tried - Barnes Vor-TX 127gr and Hornady 147gr ELD Match - both seemed to shoot about the same at this short range. Mostly I have S&B 140gr, at a decent price thanks to Reliable, so hoping that one proves adequate.
As a novice to rifles proper (the PCC doesn't really count - but it's a hoot to shoot and still my favourite) I've been following this thread with interest, hoping to learn a little. The snobbery around 6.5CM is something I've noticed in various forums for years and it still seems confusing. Many people saying it's easily enough for elk, but then so many others almost seem to treat it with a dismissive air, much the way some say 9mm is totally useless, or .22lr basically like shooting a kid's pellet gun. Such exaggeration seems unwarranted, and frankly, looking at the ballistics of most 6.5CM bullets, it looks like more than enough for anything on this continent, with decent shot placement of course.
Anyway, carry on bickering if you folks like, and I'll keep an eye out for useful information in the clutter.
. RJ
