6.5 Creedmoor rifle’s popularity has skyrocketed among gun enthusiasts around the United States thanks to its exceptional cartridge and great long-range accuracy. The cartridge was first introduced back in 2008 and has since been one of the best ammo for long range shooting.
Long range shooting began to see a growth in demand among US civilians which triggered the gun manufacturers to start putting out more and more affordable long-range rifles into the market. The 6.5 Creedmoor is a big bullet that’s designed to offer low recoil and pinpoint accuracy. Another thing is that the bullet goes subsonic after 1,300 yards.
The 6.5 Creedmoor is clearly a formidable cartridge for tactical and target shooting applications and if you’re still considering whether you should invest in a 6.5 Creedmoor, then you’ve come to the right place! Here are six top reasons why Creedmoor rifles should be on the top of your list.
Design
One of top reasons why many would go for a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle is its case design. Thanks to its short action design, you can build a 6.5 Creedmoor from any .308 or .243 that you already have in your garage. It’s versatility and flexibility make it much more desirable than other calibers available. Not only that, but the Creedmoor sports an even shorter case design than the .260 action, giving you much more room to fit the magazine box, which is quite important when using the longer VLD style Berger bullets.
Low Recoil
Despite packing a punch and offers strong enough power to fit long range distance with pinpoint accuracy, the Creedmoor rifle provides very low recoil. Even in the worst case scenarios, a Creedmoor rifle can make full use of low bullet weights and still push a ballistically superior 143-grain bullet at a speed of 2800 feet per second. This leads to our next point.
Excellent Accuracy
With the ability to push bullets at near subsonic speeds, Creedmoor rifles are extremely precise weapons. Everything about it, such as the case design, ammo availability, and bullet selection work beautifully together to create pinpoint accuracy. In addition to that, but you also get a very forgiving round that will input bullets with very little reloading or tuning required.
Affordable Ammunition
The next reason why the 6.5 Creedmoor rifle would make a very good investment is that it’s a popular caliber and many gun manufacturers push out a wide variety of quality factory ammo at very affordable pricing. You can walk into a gun store and find once-fired brass for half a dollar per round for reloaders and ammo for as low as maybe $30 per box. The factory ammo also comes in 120 – 143 grains in high quality loads that can easily take down a whitetail deer at 800 yards out. Surprisingly, not many people realize how cheap the Creedmoor ammo is, making them a very affordable caliber to use and practice with.
Versatility
Though they’re not the most versatile guns in the market, but Creedmoor rifles are pretty versatile and can be used in various applications. These guns are not only good for hunting but they are also great for long range shootings. All you need to do is to swap out the bullets and you can go from hunting down large elks with a 143-grain bullet or to pick off some coyote with a 120-grain bullet.
Great Ballistics
Another reason why shooters choose the 6.5 Creedmoor rifle is its ballistics. The 6.5 Creedmoor boasts higher ballistic coefficient numbers at low weights. This simply means that your bullets will not be easily affected by wind and drag as other bullets may. Thanks to this, the 6.5 Creedmoor ammo can maintain higher velocity and cut down flight time.
Creedmoor vs .308 Winchester
The 6.5 Creedmoor is very similar to the .308 Winchester but they differ in some key ways. The first main difference between these two calibers is that there’s a huge gap when it comes to ballistics since the 6.5 Creedmoor can reach one thousand yards with less than 300 inches of drop – a feature that the .308 Winchester cannot hold.
Another area where the 6.5 Creedmoor beats the .308 Winchester is accessibility. If you visit any major online ammo dealer, you will begin to realize that the .308 Winchester ammo is often out of stock or gets grabbed by others really quickly. The 6.5 Creedmoor, on the other hand, are more readily available at a wallet-friendly price. There are plenty of dealers out there, from large to small suppliers which can order the 6.5 ammo in bulk.
While some shooters may complain about the barrel’s longevity, claiming that the 6.5 Creedmoor can only last 2000 to 3000 rounds whereas the .308 Winchester can stay good for up to 10,000 rounds, but this is really depending on whether you’re shooting 1 MOA. Provided the same shooting condition, the .308 Winchester won’t be able to reach the 10,000 mark either. If you’re an active-duty sniper, you may realize that you get more life out of your 6.5 Creedmoor than the .308.
Final Thoughts
The 6.5 Creedmoor isn’t just an excellent ammo for the military but they also work great for civilian hunters or gun enthusiasts. This caliber really shines when it comes to hunting thanks to the extra powder space and the ability to accommodate a wealth of different medium-burning rifle powders that results in a sick muzzle velocity.
Overall, better grouping and more affordable ammo make the 6.5 Creedmoor a no-brainer for anyone who spends their days at the firing range. This is especially true when we take into the account of the rising cost of bullets in the past couple of years and the scrutiny that many firearm companies are put under.
Not only does the 6.5 ammo come at a reasonable price point and are readily available, but they offer high-end ballistics. If you’re looking to impress, you certainly can’t go wrong with the 6.5’s remarkable 1,400 fps at 1,000 yards! At the end of the day, it is clear that the 6.5 Creedmoor isn’t going anywhere and it will only continue to grow in popularity as more and more long-range shooters embrace this caliber.
