6MM & 6.5MM Creedmore

[rlandry6]

I;ve been looking at the Ruger Precision Rifles with a cautious interest and am wondering. The .243 Win is notorious for being a barrel burner because of the amount of gases and pressure being forced through a relatively small neck. The Creedmore rounds are also in the 6MM family, so what would keep those rounds from exibiting the same undesirable characteristics as the .243 Win?
Thoughts on this round, anyone? It's supposed to be a great long distance shooter.

[smustian]

Rebel has a rifle in the 6mm class. Maybe he will chime in.

[rebel]

I have a lot of 6mm rifles. 3 243s, 2 6x45's one AR and one bolt, 1 6 ppc and 1 6 Norma BR.
6mm is a huge bullet selection from 55 all the way to 115 gr. Depending on the platform, it will take prarie dogs to deer size game with no problem. Lots of high BC bullets in this class. Now to your question -
The 6.5 CM was designed from the 30 TCU case that was derived from the 308 family of cartridges. Designed from the ground up to be accurate, IMO to compete with the 6.5 x 47 Lapua and 260 remington. Hornady's marketing has been genius, and while a lot of ammo and rifles are being sold, the average podunk that buys a 6.5 CM thinks he is ready for 1000 yard competition with a Ruger American
It however is not much of an over bore. It is slower and has less case capacity than a 260 R. The barrel life, depending on care and how t is shot, should last a good while.
The 6 CM is much like the 243. It is an overbore and yes will kill the throat much faster. The pay off is speed, almost no scope dope out to 300 yards. My buddy built a 6x47 L and from a 100 zero only needs 2.5 MOA of up at 300, (10 inches) with 105 VLD bullets.
A 243 can do more than the 6 CM and will burn the throat a bit faster. Do you match shoot? If not, how long does it take you to put 1000 shots down the tube, 1500 shots? My buddy builds his 6mm improved based off 25/06 brass - 750 shots and your chasing the lands.
The barrel is a sacrificial anode of any rifle and should be discarded when accuracy is degraded, or cut back and rechambered. No big deal.
You pay for speed and performance. If you are thinking of getting a 6mm, I would suggest building one on a remington action. Custom barrel and a Jewel or Timney CE trigger and a good stock. A bit more than that Ruger Precision, but not much and chances are it will out shoot the factory rifles. My nickles worth.....

[Mike7.62]

I recently purchased a Ruger PR. Mine is in 6.5 Creedmoor. I bought it specifically for long range shooting. The 6.5 version of the Creedmoor cartridge is a very mild cartridge. You could use 90/100 gr bullets and get velocities up around 3000+ f/s, but 90/100 gr bullets won't cut it at longer distances, as they don't have the BC's or SD's to retain velocity out to 1200+ yards. The best bullets to use are in the 140-150 grain range, with the better ones like the Hornady 147 gr ELD, retain supersonic velocities well past 1300 yards. The muzzle velocity for these weights is around 2600-2700 f/s out of a 24" barrel using most powders, around 34-43 grains depending upon type. G7 BC is .351, which is pretty slippery.

The 6 mm version of the Creedmoor is all the rage now among some long range shooters, but I personally don't see the attraction. You can get 200-300 f/s more, and there are bullets from makers such as Berger, Hornady, et al that have somewhat comparable BC's (G7 .264 with 108 gr. Match ELD), but overall I prefer the bullet selection and range of weights in the 6.5. You can get close to 4000 f/s in both the .243 Win and the 6mm Creedmoor with the lighter end of the bullet weight range, but that is from where throat erosion problems come, and none of the lighter end are much use for long range shooting.

The reason that I key on long range, heavy bullet performance is because you mentioned the Ruger PR, which is designed for this. It is not a rifle that I would want to take on a walkabout big game hunt. Varmints, sure; beanfields no problem. Mine, with a NF 5-25 ATACR and rings weighs darn close to 14 pounds; not a very handy rifle to tote on a deer or sheep hunt. My days of humping 90 pounds of gear and weapons are over, so this rifle is more used from the bench, or from position, rather than carried over hill and dale for a week or more. That said, it is a nice rifle to enter into the PRS series, and is able to be used in that venue quite well from what I hear, though I haven't entered any of their matches yet. It uses MagPul SR-25 magazines, and can also use M-14 magazines in a pinch. I tried some CMI M-14 mags that I have, and they worked OK, but not as well as the MagPul's. I have not tried any of my FAL mags yet, so don't know about them.

As far as accuracy goes, It does well for me so far using Nosler brass, the 147 gr Hornady ELD Match, and H4350, with a CCI BR primer. The rifle is a recent purchase so I have only zeroed it at 100 yards at my home range, and have yet to take it to my long distance range, nor have I had time to develop any loads. So far the Hornady bullet is shooting MOA at 100 yds, but I'm hoping that future load experimentation does better. The load that I started with is giving me 2625 f/s according to my LabRadar. That keeps it supersonic past 1400 yards. It does this without a great deal of recoil, especially when compared to the .308, 300 WinMag, 7mm Mag etc. It is a very efficient, well balanced cartridge.

The stock is foldable, which is handy for transport, and adjustable for LOP and height at comb. The trigger is adjustable and came set at 2 pounds. I upped it to 2 pounds, 10 oz, which is what I prefer. It breaks cleanly and there is no creep or roughness. Fit and finish are nice on a utilitarian scale, and some things from AR's may be used as accessories, like grips, rails stocks, etc.

All in all, IMO it's worth the cost of admittance. I bought mine at Bud's Guns for $1116. MSRP is closer to $1500. Whether you choose the 6.5 or the 6 is personal preference. Good luck in making it.

[SwampDog_13]

. My buddy built a 6x47 L and from a 100 zero only needs 2.5 MOA of up at 300, (10 inches) with 105 VLD bullets.

This isn't much less than I've milked out of my 6.5creedmoor. I need 10.1" of elevation at 300yds using 140gn ELD-Ms but I do have them running pretty hot in comparison to most. Like you mentioned the stock barrel on this gun has become nothing more than a guinnea pig for erosion testing. Once it is rebarreled then I will adjust as necessary.

OP, your options in the 6-6.5mm class are almost endless.

[rlandry6]

I picked up the Ruger PR today. The local cop shop also sells to civilians and they had the PR in 6.5 Creedmore for $959. I just couldn't pass that up.

[Mike7.62]

You got a great price! Now expect to pay about the same for glass that will match the capabilities of the rifle/cartridge combo. Bushnell is one of the brands that has made great strides in their products, and they are reasonably priced. Vortex is another reasonably priced manufacturer that everyone seems excited about, but I can't get over the Communist Chinese thing, so I don't use their products. I try and use American, European, or Japanese products if at all possible. Better QA, and no slave labor. Bushnell and the new SHV line from NightForce are made using Japanese glass with some or all of the parts made there as well. Leupold and NF both import their glass for lenses but make the rest of the scope here.

My top picks are NightForce and Leupold, and for the glass you will require for long range shooting they will cost some serious dollars. I also prefer First Focal Plane reticles, as the ranging using MOA or Mils is the same for all magnifications, as opposed to second focal plane in which ranging is only good at one magnification, usually the highest, which may not be best for conditions. If you have unlimited resources, Schmidt-Bender, Zeiss, and Swarovski are about the best money can buy, but your wallet will be much thinner after you've bought one.

Anyway, good luck and have fun.

[rlandry6]

I got caught off guard with the sale price on the rifle so I've got a Sightron 36X with AO that I'm going to use initially. I also already have the rings as everything came off the upper I used for another build. If that doesn't make it, I'll consider something else when I have more coin to spend. Right now, I'm tapped out on reloading dies and components for this one.

[SwampDog_13]

Vortex is another reasonably priced manufacturer that everyone seems excited about, but I can't get over the Communist Chinese thing, so I don't use their products. I try and use American, European, or Japanese products if at all possible.

Vortex offers a completely USA sourced and built scope in the razor AMD. They have recently gone to having the reticle etched in Germany though.

[Mike7.62]

Vortex is another reasonably priced manufacturer that everyone seems excited about, but I can't get over the Communist Chinese thing, so I don't use their products. I try and use American, European, or Japanese products if at all possible.

Vortex offers a completely USA sourced and built scope in the razor AMD. They have recently gone to having the reticle etched in Germany though.

Thanks for the info. I had not realized that they were doing work in the US.