6.5 Creedmoor vs 308 Winchester
BY Herschel Smith
1 year, 10 months ago
At Outdoor Life.
At close range (i.e., < about 350 – 400 yards), .308 packs a slightly bigger punch than 6.5 Creedmoor, but not by much. I’ve known this for a long time.
The real advantages of the 6.5 Creedmoor are (a) distances longer than that, and (b) less recoil thus the ability to stay on target with your scope, and (c) the longer profile of the 6.5, meaning that it minimizes free bore and thus avoids bullet deformation, and has less drag.
This video – while somewhat chaotic at times – shows essentially the same thing.
To me this comes down to intended use and personal preference.
On February 10, 2023 at 12:49 am, Furminator said:
This debate will outlive you and me. I have tried and tried to love the 6.5 CM but it just can’t excite me despite shooting better than my 308’s in most tests. 308 is a military round adopted to hunting and target; 6.5 is a target round adopted to hunting (and trying to be drafted into military). Unless you are a thoroughly practiced marksman neither will improve your shot. Any mature mid-range cartridge will do the job for 95% of us typical hunter/shooters. Figure out what you like and leave the hair-splitting to those who make a living on stirring the pot.
On February 10, 2023 at 2:16 am, Dan said:
To be honest the number of shooters who can make use of accurate calibers out past 500 yards is minimal.
On February 10, 2023 at 2:42 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
The Scandinavians have been using 6.5×55 a.k.a. “Swedish Mauser” for about 130 years, for hunting, competition and for a long time, military use before replacing it with 7.62x51mm NATO. The Swedes even had for a time a Browning Automatic Rifle chambered in 6.5mm/.264-caliber. Cool!
North American readers might be surprised to find that the Swedes, Norwegians and others hunt not only medium game with the 6.5×55, but large game as well, including reindeer, moose and bear. This is because the conventional wisdom so often calls for larger bore offerings.
However, the 6.5×55 is noted as one of those cartridges which “punches above its weight” in terms of field performance. This is chiefly due to its excellent sectional density and ballistic coefficient numbers across a range of bullet designs and weights. Though it isn’t sleek by any means, the 160-grain round-nose has been dropping large game for a long time. It so effective that many African professional hunting guides recommend 6.5×55 as an excellent choice for plains game hunting.
If there is a drawback to 6.5mm/.264-caliber cartridges like 6.5×55 or the 6.5 Creedmoor, it is that bullet weights top out around 150-160-grains. Some authorities consider that too-light for certain kinds of hunting and/or game species. The .308 cartridge probably has the edge there, since it can handle somewhat heavier loads fairly well.
Most hunters take their shots inside 350-400 yards, which is about where the 6.5mm/.264-cal. projectiles begin to overtake the performance of the generally less-efficient 7.62mm/.308-cal. bullets. Thus, most hunters will not realize all of the theoretical gains possible at longer ranges when using a 6.5mm/.264-cal. projectile.
The 6.5x55mm – being a long-action cartridge – can be pushed harder than 6.5CM, at least in theory. But due to the large numbers of old Swedish Mausers and other mil-surp rifles firing 6.5×55, most factory ammo sold here in N. America is substantially down-loaded in terms of pressure and MV. However, modern 6.5CM suffers from none of that, so it is loaded to its potential. Recoil from the new kid on the block, the 6.5CM, is generally less than from the .308 Winchester – but the difference is not all that substantial.
As a competition and target cartridge, the 6.5CM has much to offer, and this ought not to be surprising, since it was designed from the start by Hornady as an across-the-course competition cartridge to take advantage of the superb exterior ballistics of many 6.5mm/.264-cal. projectiles. The venerable .308 has had an excellent competition career, but has been largely displaced by more-efficient and lighter-recoiling (and hence more accurate) cartridges, not just in 6.5mm, but in 6mm as well.
The .308/7.62mm is hampered as a competition projectile due to the fact that .308-cal. bullets do not exhibit truly outstanding BC numbers until they top 200 grains, which is already borderline too heavy for the short-action case to handle well.
In terms of availability and cost, the .308 wins hands-down. It has something like a seventy-year head-start on the new kid in town, the 6.5 CM, and the older 7.62mm offering is more widespread in retailers and less-expensive to purchase on a per round basis. As 6.5 CM gets more popular, prices are dropping and availability is improving, but nowhere near that of the older chambering.
Make no mistake, the 6.5 CM is a capable cartridge, but like so many new things, much of the furor surrounding it is largely hype. Except perhaps for its use in competition, it doesn’t do anything that the older .260 Remington or 6.5×55 doesn’t do. Or for that matter, your grand-dad’s old 30-06, 308 or 270.
I will give the 6.5 CM some props in one area, though: It is an excellent choice for recoil-sensitive shooters or those just starting out hunting or learning to enjoy the shooting sports. Because it is comparatively modest in recoil, inherently accurate and forgiving of wind, it is an easy cartridge with which to score hits.
On February 10, 2023 at 9:08 am, Furminator said:
I sold guns for several years. I think the 6.5 CM gave every dad and husband a defensible improvement over defaulting to the .243, which added a lot to its popularity as a hunting round. Serious hunters continue to seek range and knockdown from more powerful high-bc stuff like 28 Nosler or more traditional stuff like 300 Win Mag or .270 Winchester.
On February 10, 2023 at 9:21 am, Herschel Smith said:
Hmm … 6.5 CM is popular in these parts.
I think you probably mean “serious hunters out West” who hunt Elk, Bison, etc., would use something else, which is right.
6.5 is plenty for white tail or hogs. And not having to worry about holdovers is nice.
On February 10, 2023 at 6:17 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Herschel Smith
In the part of the country where you live, does 6.5 CM have a big following as a hunting cartridge? If so, what kinds and sizes of game are being hunted with it? Medium game, I am fairly certain, but what else?
On February 10, 2023 at 8:22 pm, Herschel Smith said:
There’s as much 6.5 CM on the shelves as .308. Deer, Coyotes and Hogs.
There’s also long range precision shooting. Foothills Shooting Complex has a 250 yard range, while a newer range run by Larry Hyatt (of Hyatt Gun Shop) has a 500 yard range, and then within about 1.5 hours there’s a 1000 yard range, the longest around here (Coleman’s Creek).
I also think there’s another 500 yard range around Pageland, S.C., but it’s small.
On February 10, 2023 at 11:32 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Herschel Smith
Thanks for the report. It’s all good that there is ample .308 and 6.5 CM to be found. Sure wasn’t that way around these parts not too long ago! Good to hear there’s a burgeoning long-range sporting community in S.C. My folks used to live on Hilton Head Island before my father passed away in 1999, and it is beautiful country down there. Not just that area, but the whole state. I love North Carolina, too. But then, I’m an old southern boy at heart anyway!
On February 11, 2023 at 12:02 pm, John Stock said:
Isn’t this just the old .270 Winchester vs .30-06 argument, slightly shortened?
Deja vu all over again, right Casey?
On February 12, 2023 at 10:29 am, X said:
The 6.5 Jesus is a great cartridge, no doubt. But it doesn’t do all that much more than a 6.5×55 or a .260 or a 6.5-08.
I have owned a 6.5×55 for 25 years and I like it very much, but it is the rifle that get shot the least. There is something to be said for the availability of brass and components, and the .308 is more cost effective, hands-down.
If “quantity has a quality of its own,” it’s hard to beat a NATO caliber that has been standardized for over 60 years as opposed to a recent sporting cartridge. (You could also say that the 7mm Shooting Times Westerner is a better caliber than a .30-06, but for practical shooting I will take the ’06 every day).
If you are going to build a dedicated F-class rifle for 600+ shooting and you aren’t going to use it for anything else and money really is no object, by all means you should go with a 6.5 Creed. If most of your shooting is going to be 100-200 yard blasting and hunting deer or pigs at those ranges, the .308 is going to be a much more practical choice.
On February 13, 2023 at 12:18 am, Herschel Smith said:
@X,
Dropped by Academy today and scoped out the price of .308 and 6.5. $30 for a 20 round box of .308 hunting ammo, and $34 for a box of 6.5. Not really that much difference. If you want good ammo to hunt with, or good ammo to sight your rifle in, either is a good choice.
As for plinking, eh, not sure .308 or 6.5 either one is plinking caliber.
On February 13, 2023 at 5:15 pm, TRX said:
Georgiaboy61 covered the excellent 6.5×55, but the 6.5 Mannlicher was once a favorite of some of the famed Africa hunters, who spoke fondly of it. The Mannlicher is pretty much a dead issue nowadays, but most of the old English bespoke rifle makers had it as an option when ordering a new rifle.
On February 13, 2023 at 7:37 pm, bobdog said:
I’ve got both calibers. Say what you want about 6.5 Creedmoor, I’m not impressed with it. Never have been able to make it group, and I’ve tried pretty much everything I can think of, including two barrel replacements and every reloading trick I know of.
My Remington 40X in .308 Win can shoot rings around it.