6.5 Creedmor more popular than 300 Blackout?

[300black]

TC makes a bolt action rifle called the Compass. It comes standard with a threaded barrel, magazine, and MSRP of $399, so it's probably about $320-$330 which is a great bargain. It won Outdoor Life's Rifle of the Year in 2016.

I thought this would be a great rifle to compete with the Ruger American Ranch Rifle if TC came out with a model in 300 BO with a 16.5" barrel. Obviously it has worked well for Ruger who's RARR has become a favorite among 300 Blackout owners. It appears to be a great rifle and would be considerably cheaper then the Ruger.


So, along comes the Shot Show and they reveal that they are coming out with a new caliber for the TC Compass. It's not 300 Blackout, it's 6.5 Creedmor.


What the heck! I know that the 6.5 is gaining popularity but this surprised me. The 300 Blackout has established itself and already cemented it's popularity. They could have also come out with a 300 BO and 6.5 models. Is the 6.5 Creedmor more popular than the 300 Blackout? Apparently TC doesn't see enough interest in the 300 Blackout to make a 300 BO model.

[polizei1]

300 shines in suppressed short barrel applications; IMO it's not a bolt-gun cartridge, but many people seem to like it. They can probably take a pretty cheap rifle, chamber it for 6.5CM, and get "decent" results, which will lead to a "cheap, good" hunting rifle. Plus, with PRS matching gaining in popularity, I'm sure there are a lot of people looking for a common match/hunting round, and the 6.5CM fits that bill nicely.

I have a RPR in 6.5 and love it, it's priced very reasonably (at least the Gen 1 was).

[Overton-AR]

6.5 Creedmoor and 300BLK are about as opposite as you can get. They are at the opposite ends of the application realm and the ballistic coefficient charts as well. In order to make the mental leap from 6.5 CM to 300BLK you would be jumping over just about every other caliber available. Clearly TM had a different vision than yours. I am a 300BLK fan and I have 3 of them along with one 6.5 CM (Ruger Precision).........but to be debating between the 300BLK and the 6.5CM is like debating between a JEEP and a Ferrari‎.

Nothing wrong with a JEEP.....but don't try and tell someone who just build a Ferarri that they did it wrong.

[dellet]

I'm guessing that T/C wasn't the only company that didn't release a bolt action in 300 Blk this year. Maybe there's room for a new start up company to fill that need.

[TMD]

Not saying the .300bo is fading but it appears to have peaked in popularity. The 6.5CM on the other hand is the flavor of the day. Oh and yes my wife bought me a Savage 12 LRP in 6.5CM for my birthday a few months ago.

[plant.one]

Not saying the .300bo is fading but it appears to have peaked in popularity.

its just taking a deep breath before the HPA passes

[Jim Timber]

Suppressor liberation would certainly see a rise in sales for all the short action bolt platforms capable of shooting heavy subs.

I think we'll see a huge influx of integrally suppressed options when the HPA comes to be.

I even tried making a Whitehouse petition to pursue legislation to remove the barrel and overall length requirements for rifles from the NFA (since pistols are legal and that's what they really wanted to ban with it anyway), but my submission produced an invalid url and it's not possible to find it without 150 signatures. Just think if we didn't need a 16" barrel or welded on can to have a no-stamp gun.

I'm not giving up on the petition, but I am letting it go for the weekend. Seems like something Trump might support if he really is a 2A ally.

[rebel]

On popularity of rifle cartridges and what is hot - the 6.5 has been with us for a while but before now never been popular in the states.
The 6.5 x 55 is a very old design that with modern bullets, excels as a hunting cartridge. Americans never accepted anything metric until 7mm Magnum.
6.5 x 47L has been with us 10 plus years. The 260 Remington was typically not supported by it's parent company when sales lagged, now only available in a Model 7 pencil barrel.
Enter the interest in long range hunting. Now we have a half dozen shows on TV depicting well heeled, equipment laden guys and gals popping shots at game animals from near impossible distances. It seems to have captured the rifle consumer's imagination in America.

Hornady came out with that cartridge at the cusp of that nationwide interest. Smart marketing and good for them. However this movement is disturbing in several ways. For most of us, a 300 yard range is all we have access to. While a shooter can figure his/her dope from 300 to even 1000 yards, it doesn't replace shooting at that actual range. So practice is difficult.
The equipment required to make a LR shot on a game animal isn't cheap. A Tasco and a free app using a G1 bc ain't gonna cut it.
The average shooter finds MOA difficult to achieve and rarely blame himself. Note I said HIMself because men attach being able to shoot well to manhood for some reason. As if it should just happen, no practice required.
I watched a LR hunting show the other day where the host said they typically burnt out 3 barrels a year on practice. Even if this was an exaggeration and you cut that in half it's thousands of rounds downrange, even with the biggest overbored magnums.
But I digress.....
300 BLK has gone from niche to mainstream and is now an established round. What will hurt it is manufacturers making out of spec ammunition, that won't shoot.
Fly by night, el cheapo companies whipping up poorly chambered barrels or AR barrels with HUGE ports and no instruction to use an adjustable gas block.
Trying to use the cartridge for a purpose it's not designed for. (dellet, you design your own parameters so no need to comment ,not intended for you ) A hard hitting intermediate round that has better energy at those distances than 5.56 and is also easily loaded sub sonic and suppressed.
The American hunter has decided it's a very efficient short range hunting round and has filled that niche nicely.
They are still coming out with powders and bullets that are tailored for the 300, so while popularity might have shifted the the latest, greatest shiny new thing, I hardly worry that 300 Blk is slipping into obscurity.
Obscurity is the realm of the 6.8 SPC and the Newton cartridges

[DutchV]

T/C wants to sell rifles. Right now everybody wants the 6.5. Simple enough.

[widow]

I don't won't one myself but now the 6mm creedmoor that I would own may make a fine varmint/deer rifle. Widow