Pick one, 6.5 creedmoor vs 260 remington

In a short action the two are very similar with bullets seated to mag length. If I were building on a short action, I would build a 6.5 CM. If I were building on a long action, I would do a .260 so I could throat the barrel to use the full case capacity of the .260. I am still hoping for a left hand Ruger Predator in 6.5 CM.
 
If you reload there is better and more options for 260 brass. The 6.5c brass seems to be hit or miss in quality. I have a shooting partner we both have Ruger Precision rifles his in 6.5c and mine in 243. He was blowing primers on the 3rd firing of his Hornady brass. I do believe Nosler may be making 6.5 brass but we haven't been able to find it. Otherwise you are stuck with Hornady brass.
Both of us plan to rebarrel to 6.5x47L over the winter.
 

Pick one? I did. I picked the 260 Rem. I re-barreled a Savage 16, that was a factory 204 Ruger rifle(still have the parts to switch it back). Changed out the bolt head and blind box magazine, to "308" parts, and started loading 260 Rem. ammo. My son, coming back for this year's deer hunt, will be using it. I have 100 gr. Barnes TTSX loads, going into sub-MOA groups.

Why did I pick the 260 Rem.? Said to be "inherently accurate", easy to find or make brass, and Jim at Northland supply had the barrel I wanted, in stock.
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No regrets. It was my first 6.5mm cartridge, and it has lived up to my expectations.

Squeeze
 
I picked the 6.5 Creedmoor, just last week in fact. I don't reload, might in the future but who knows? I was looking for an inexpensive way rifle to deal with those coyotes that like to hang up out there a way plus the 6.5s kind of intrigue me. I looked for a Ruger American Predator in 6.5C checked with the Cabela's in Sidney they didn't have one in stock and when they checked the system for me, that day they didn't have any period.

I finally found one in a local to me gun store and picked it up. Mounted a older 4.5x14 Nikon scope that I had laying in the safe and now need to find the time to get out and shoot it.

Main reason I went with the Creed over the 260 was the factory match ammo and the fact I could get it in the RAP, there doesn't appear to be much difference in the performance of either of them.
 
Originally Posted By: MudcatIf you reload there is better and more options for 260 brass. The 6.5c brass seems to be hit or miss in quality. I have a shooting partner we both have Ruger Precision rifles his in 6.5c and mine in 243. He was blowing primers on the 3rd firing of his Hornady brass. I do believe Nosler may be making 6.5 brass but we haven't been able to find it. Otherwise you are stuck with Hornady brass.
Both of us plan to rebarrel to 6.5x47L over the winter.

I have 7 loadings on my Hornady creedmoor brass with no failures or signs of stress. Primer pockets are still tight. There is nothing wrong with the Hornady brass as far as I am concerned.
 
If you do enough research there is mixed feelings and results with the hornady brass.. There is zero doubt about what your going to get with Lapua brass, high quality stuff.. It is a bit pricey though, but you get what you pay for.. I am building a custom 6.5 right now, I asked my smith which 6.5 cartridge I should choose and he recommended the 6.5x47 Lapua for both inherant accuracy and long brass life.. I've read guys posts of getting 20+ loadings in the 6.5x47 Lapua with their brass. That's pretty damb good.. Im not bashing hornady creedmoor brass cause I don't have one, I just know what I've read and researched..
 
Originally Posted By: ICU22-250 Im not bashing hornady creedmoor brass cause I don't have one, I just know what I've read and researched..

LOL. You don't have one, you have never reloaded for it, but you can give an opinion on the brass for a rifle that a member is trying to decide on?

I have done a ton of research. There are many pieces of Hornady brass out there that are doing just fine.
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Like everything else, the only news you hear is the people who are complaining. Happy campers hardly ever post opinions .... Unhappy campers scream at the top of their lungs.

The cartridge is touted as a long range caliber, and a lot of folks are loading it hot to try to get the max range out of it. Loading 140/H4350 combinations over max published loads is quite common in some circles. And if you read the thread about "shoulder bumping" you'll quickly realize that the vast majority of reloaders out there over work their brass without knowing that they are destroying it.

Like I said ..... my Hornady brass is doing fine.

 
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Geeze.........

Some people are trying to make the Creedmoor look like its close kin to something like a 264 Win Mag for reach-out killing power by calling it a long range cartridge. Just about any cartridge will easily kill at normal hunting ranges. I own rifles in both cartridges (as well as in the 260 Rem flavor) and they are comparable only in terms of bore diameter for being true flat shooters. (Hint: 6.5 diameter bullets make a bunch of cartridges look good.)

As for Hornady brass, some is good and some isn't. Just like most things you buy today. Speaking from experience.

Please feel free to fire a volley across my bow if it's deemed necessary for any reason such as:

1. You own a 6.5 CM so no one should speak badly about it on the internet. Your feelers might get bruised

2. You own a 260 Rem so no one should speak badly about it on the internet. Your feelers might get bruised.

3. Both of the above cartridges are the ultimate in long range killing in your non-expeienced internet experience.

4. You own some Hornady brass (good or bad lot undetermined at this time) so refer to #1 and #2 above about what you truly aren't fully sure about from experience.

4. A special reason of your choice.

Any cartridge, even some with rainbow trajectories, can be considered long range cartridges at KNOWN yardages. Shooting at UNKNOWN ranges while hunting is a whole different ball game. For that purpose, neither the 6.5 CM or the 260 Rem shine in comparison to a cartridge like the 264 Win Mag. And for the recoil conscious, if the 264 Win Mag scares you, you might be afraid of the dark too.


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Not going to enter the one vs the other fray but the Creedmoor does have Norma/Nosler making brass and the 3 hundred pieces I bought when checked was quite consistent.
Hornady brass is OK too but not the quality of Nosler from the stuff I have used so far. I run the Hornady in the 6.5 Creedmoor AR platform and the Nosler in the bolt guns for obvious reasons.
I am on my 3rd personal 6.5 Creed and loaded for my son's bolt guns and all have been a breeze to load for.... I personally think both cartridges will be with us a long while.
 
I went round and round making a decision on what 6.5 short action cartridge to go with for a long range steel spanker build. One week it was the 260 the next week the 6.5 x 47. I finally decided on the 6.5 creedmoor. I have read that these three cartridges are ballistic triplets. IMO take your pick, you can't go wrong.
 
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Since this thread has gone into the weeds on brass quality, let me add to the pile.

Even Lapua can make a poor quality batch of brass. I have 100 pcs of 308 Win, that fall into that category.

As for Hornady, IMHO is no better than Win./R-P and only marginally better than FC. Actually I like FC, but it is soft, which causes primer pockets to shoot loose earlier that other brass. I purchased some Hornady 6.8 SPC on a recommendation, and spent time turning it into 6mm WOA. My very accurate rifle(WOA barrel) doesn't think much of it when compared side by side with original Silver State Armory 6.8 SPC brass. And this brings me to Nosler. Nosler bought Silver State Armory, so now SSA brass is Nosler. In a side-by-side comparison, with old(new in bag) SSA brass, my group sizes grew, in two 6.8 rifles, and my 6mm WOA, with the new SSA(Nosler) brass. I am not impressed. I am not sure who actually made my old SSA brass, but I sure wish I could get more. Fortunately I have a few hundred pieces NIB, so I have some brass I can use where better accuracy is the goal. I also bought some SSA 260 Rem. brass(Nosler), and I am not impressed either.

So my point in all of this, is brass varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and from batch to batch. My last batch of Lapua restored my confidence in Lapua after a horrible batch of 308 Win. brass. I may give Hornady, and Nosler, another chance someday, too.

Squeeze
 
I love my Creedmoor, but I also have no experience with the 260, so I can't make an HONEST comparison.

But if anyone is concerned about 6.5 Creedmoor brass quality or availability, and is basing their choice of calibers on that basis, then I would strongly suggest that they not make a decision based on rumors or myths. They would be much better served by venturing to www.65creedmoor.com and spending an hour or two reading and picking the brains of the guys there.(you may even find a few PM members there
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) They are Creedmoor fanatics and some have fired many 1000s of rounds in their rifles and have hunted with them regularly. Some are using Hornady brass, others are not. You can gain FACTS there and not rumors or opinions by those who may simply own a 6.5 and have fired a few dozen rounds in it.

Take that FWIW.
 
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I did NOT give an opinion to the op on which round to choose, nor did I give an opinion specifically on the brass from a personal experience.. I said there were mixed feelings about the hornady creedmoor brass, based on researching the cartridge, there is a difference.. I also plainly stated that I wasn't bashing hornady brass... Calm down man, geez..
 
Originally Posted By: HidalgoOriginally Posted By: MudcatIf you reload there is better and more options for 260 brass. The 6.5c brass seems to be hit or miss in quality. I have a shooting partner we both have Ruger Precision rifles his in 6.5c and mine in 243. He was blowing primers on the 3rd firing of his Hornady brass. I do believe Nosler may be making 6.5 brass but we haven't been able to find it. Otherwise you are stuck with Hornady brass.
Both of us plan to rebarrel to 6.5x47L over the winter.

I have 7 loadings on my Hornady creedmoor brass with no failures or signs of stress. Primer pockets are still tight. There is nothing wrong with the Hornady brass as far as I am concerned.

I'm happy for you and getting 7 loadings. I saw primers of 12 rounds blow out on the 3rd loading. We 42.5grn of H4350 and the 140 Amax is what he is loading not sure on primers but most likely 210m.im running H4350 at 42 grn and a 105 Amax in my .243 with Winchester brass annealing every other time. I could care less about Hornady brass to be honest. I've used it before in .308 and had good luck with it. I'm just saying what I saw on the range with a regular shooting buddy. Other guys shooting our matches said similar when loading hot. I guess next time we shoot together if it happens I will take a couple pics for those that thinks it never could happen. But to be honest I really don't care.
 
I have a 6.5 grendel, a .260 and had a 6.5 swede. My swede was an old rebarreled mauser from Samco and it was not very accurate, but I would take a swede again in a better rifle. I think it is a tad bit better than the .260, but the .260 is so cheap to load for I couldn't go wrong. My Savage rebarreled with a criterion is very accurate and I have piles of .243 brass, so it was no brainer for me. As a direct comparison I have been running Hornady brass vs Lapua (AA brass) and I can say that the two are not equals. The Hornady brass does ok but it does not last as long as the Lapua with the same loadings in my AR. (which is my favorite 6.5 rifle hands down)
 
I have a 6.5 grendel I have built, but have not shot yet. I've been told that the 6.5 grendel is underwhelming compared to the 6.5 creedmoor, 260 and 6.5x47. Once work slows down, ( harvest is dragging out this year) I plan on doing some work with my grendel and seeing how it performs out of my 18" BHW barrel. I guess I'm just second guessing myself on if I short changed myself or not
 
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