I have just purchased an X-Bolt Stainless Stalker in 6.5 Creedmore. This is my second 6.5CM rifle. There seems to be a lot of interest in this bullet and I thought I'd share my impressions and some actual statistics on it that I've gathered. If you look into the history of the 6.5CM you'll find it was developed from a wish list passed to the senior management at Hornady. It seems they reached their goal of a consistently accurate factory load. Before continuing, some down sides to this great flyer: As far as I can determine there are only 4 manufacturers making them: Hornady, Nosler, Winchester and Prime. Currently the price is relatively high - from around $1.05 to just over $2.00 per round via online sources. I could start a rumor of a 5th potential source - a quality manufacturer who is giving it consideration based on a conversation I had with them - but that's still at the rumor stage. As of now I've shot two different bullets: the Hornady 120 grain AMAX, and the Winchester 140 grain Match. The AMAX is a polymer tipped boat tail; the Winchester is a hollow point boat tail. I have some Hornady 140 grain AMAX here, but haven't shot any of them yet - can't wait, as this seems to be the long distance shooter's preferred round right now. One big contributor to it gaining a good reputation in the target world are the ballistic coefficients (that measure of aerodynamics) that come with this bullet. The numbers for the Hornady line range from .450 for the 120 grain with GMX bullet, to .465 for the 120 grain AMAX, to .485 for the 129 grain line, and a jump up to .585 for the 140 grain AMAX, and for the newly introduced 143 grain ELD-X line, the one number I've seen is an awesome .625. They're calling this ELD-X the Precision Hunter. Heck of a combination but I haven't seen any available yet. These aerodynamics enable the 6.5CM to hit as hard as a larger bullet, .308 for instance, at a greater distance. It looks like the 140 grain ELD match and 143 grain ELD-X are going to replace the 140 grain AMAX since the 140 grain AMAX no longer shows up on the Hornady 6.5mm Creedmoor line of ammo. I've gone through around 200 rounds of the Hornady 120 grain AMAX, and only about 80 rounds of the Winchester 140 grain Match. At this point both the on target results of groups at 100 yards from the same rifle along with chrony measurements taken would push me to the Hornady 120 grain AMAX if I had to make a choice. Based on the reputation of the 140 grain AMAX, I can't wait to shoot them, and eagerly await the availability of that 143 grain ELD-X. Here is a quick rundown based on my chrony measurements (a Magnetospeed V3). Hornady 120 gr AMAX / Winchester 140 gr Match Sample size 200 rounds / 80 rounds Advertised Muzzle velocity 2910 fps / 2710 fps Advertised G1 BC .465 / .580 Max Muzzle Velocity 2926 fps / 2909 fps (200 fps above advertised!) Min Muzzle Velocity 2850 fps / 2727 fps Average MV 2898 fps / 2809 fps Standard Deviation 16.4 fps / 63.2 fps (standard deviation is the average difference of any bullet from the overall average of the sample - smaller is better) The results on target seem to reflect the statistics -- overall tighter groups with the Hornady 120's, although I've gotten some good groups from the Winchester also. From the rifle I was using (a Ruger Precision Rifle with 24" barrel) at 100 yards, both bullets are capable of sub-moa groups. The best I've personally done is shown in my current avatar - 5 shots in a .44 inch center-to-center group. Better marksmen than myself have reported groups at various ranges that were all less than 1/2 moa groups - but the brand/weight of the bullets were not mentioned. With my X-Bolt and the Winchester 140 grain, I've gotten groups just under 1 inch (1 moa) at 100 yards, but they weren't as tight as my groups with the lighter Hornady - but I've only fired 24 rounds through the X-Bolt so far. For me, the 6.5CM X-Bolt I now have almost guarantees that if I can get game in my sights at a range I consider ethical for a shooter of my skill, then I'll put meat on the table. And if I were forced to try to take a deer out around 700 yards it could be done -- the gun and bullet have the ability, although the ability of this shooter at that range is rather doubtful.
I thought I'd follow up with a little comparison based on ballistic calculator results between the (as yet unavailable) Hornady 143 grain ELD-X in 6.5 Creedmoor (#81499) and the Hornady 308 Win 150 gr InterLock SP American Whitetail (#8090) Assumptions made for the comparison: the published muzzle velocities and ballistic coefficients are accurate; a sight height of 1.5 inches; scope zero at 100 yards, and a 10 mph direct crosswind. Assume that it takes 1,000 ft pounds of energy to bring down a deer, and that the trajectory is going to begin to suffer from possible unstable flight when the speed of the bullet drops below 1,300 fps. .................................................... 308 Win ........ 6.5CM G1 Ballistic Coefficient .............. .338 .................. .625 Energy at 200 yards .................. 1,763 ft lbs ...... 1,858 ft lbs Max Range to take down a deer: 450 yds .............. 700 yds (greatest distance where bullet still has at least 1,000 ft lbs of energy left) Max Range for stable flight: ...... 700 yds ............. 1,200 yds (greatest distance the bullet remains above 1,300 fps) Drop at 500 yards ...................... 62 inches .......... 54 inches Wind drift at 500 yards ............. 30 inches ......... 15 inches Without splitting hairs, it boils down to the fact that the 6.5CM retains more energy and flies flatter and with less wind drift beginning at about 200 yards out. Now - about pricing... oops. The Hornady 308 win can be had on the internet for as little as about $0.78 each. No street pricing available on the 143 grain 6.5CM, but based on pricing for their 140 grain ELD Match, we are probably looking at something just north of $1.40 each.
As much as you shoot and like to work with the best bullets, I would look into reloading. It is fun, economical and rewarding.
A few things hold me back from learning that new skill ... first, I live in an apartment complex and it's bad enough that that I've got a few thousand rounds of various caliber bullets in it without adding a few pounds of gunpowder . I've looked into the cost side also - buy in is pretty stiff and takes loading a lot of cartridges to recoup the investment. I even looked at costs for reloading the 6.5CM and a quick survey showed me that the brass and bullet would run me about $1.10/round - along with primer and propellant. At this point I can find the Hornady 140 AMAX for about $1.40 (and the 120 AMAX at about $1.05) and all things considered, I have elected to go with the factory loads. But I admit that I rather dread the price tag of say 1,000 rounds of that new 143 grain ELD-X when it hits the market Ouch! But I appreciate the suggestion - and I'm actually saving the used brass just in case I change my mind sometime down the road.
Glad you like the Creed! I love mine! I really wish Browning would make a run of BLRs, and maybe even a BAR, in the 6.5 Creedmoor. I was in Vegas for the Vegas Precision Rifle Challenge this past weekend, and I stopped by Wild West Guns there. I had planned to ask them about re-barreling my BLR to the Creedmoor. The $1.10 per piece of brass is a bit misleading. You'll get anywhere from 5 to 30+ loads from a piece of brass, depending upon how much you like to flirt with the edge of pressures, and whether you're willing to buy a candle (so you can anneal the brass cheaply if you need to). So, that's a max of $0.22 per piece of brass, and a minimum down below $0.035 per piece. Or, since you already have a pile of brass you've fired, your brass cost is $0.00. ;-) Lee's Classic Cast press is as good as the ones that cost 3x the money, and their simple hand press works very well for a low-volume loader. In the end, though, it's a personal decision. Too, the fact is that hand loading never saves you any money. It simply increases the number of rounds you get to shoot for a certain amount of money.
I'm don't reload them, but have a shooting friend who does. But this page from American Rifleman http://www.americanrifleman.org/Webcontent/pdf/2009-6/200961145351-hornadycreedmoor.pdf says that "Full case capacity of the Creedmoor is 52.1 grs. of water, compared to 54.4 grs. for the .260 Rem. (both measurements taken using new, unfired cases)" That article also gives specific load and primer info for the Hornady 120 and 140 A-MAX rounds at that time. I could ask my friend what he uses to reload the 140 grain rounds he uses - and he loads with both Hormady and Berger bullets. I'm sure contacting Hornady would give you good starting point on loading them, that was one of the main considerations requested initially: that reloading info for them be made easy to get. [Edit] Wikipedia says that the 6.5x55 case has capacity for 57.9 grains of water.
John, Not sure I can really answer the 260 vs 6.5CM question other than to say that the 6.5CM was designed for precision shooting after discussions between Hornady senior management and some world-class shooters back around 2007. I think you see this in the G1 Ballistic Coefficients of various bullets in this class: Winchester 264 Win Mag 140gr BC .384 Federal P260A Vital-Shok Sierra Game King 140 gr BC .416 Hornady 140 gr ELD-M BC .610 Even the Prime 130gr Match+ load with a Norma HPBT bullet has BC of .583 (Side note: I've been shooting these recently and they're a good factory load - shot 2 boxes yesterday and the chrony said the average muzzle velocity out of my Ruger Precision Rifle's 24" barrel was 2852 fps with standard deviation of 18fps -- the published MV is 2851 fps!! For 100 rounds I've got an average MV of 2859 fps with SD of 18.7 fps and I'm getting sub-MOA results at 100 yards). This high BC lends to a flatter trajectory, reduced wind drift and more retained energy at a given distance. Until recently there has only been one hunting round for the 6.5CM - but Hornady is finally beginning to deliver a 143 grain bullet (ELD-X with a G1 BC of 0.625) designed for hunting to go along with their 129 grain SST tipped bullet. I saw this new 143 grain offered just momentarily at Cabela's for about $32/box of 20; seems anything with 6.5 Creedmoor on it go off the shelf pretty fast! Another possible consideration is that the 6.5CM works with short actions rather than requiring a long action rifle. There are some AR types that have been chambered for yet another variant of the 6.5, specifically the 6.5 Grendel.
I agree with the builds interest and boosts sales theory, I just wish a few more would try making a profit off of the 6.5 Creedmoor. So far I've only found maybe 4 sources of factory loads for them and have tried offerings from 3 of those ... Hornady, Winchester and Prime - and IMHO the Winchester simply doesn't measure up as a match grade round like the ones I've tried out from Hornady and Prime. There definitely appears to be a demand but few sources - as I look around for 6.5Cm it's easy to find the Hornady 120 gr A-MAX, while finding the 140 grain bullets (and the new 143) from Hornady is tough. I'd love to see some companies like CorBon and even Aguila who are known for high quality offerings to come into this arena also - since some competition in the market might just drive the price down a little.
