Talk on or suggest a 6.5 Creedmoor

Savage Arms makes a fine rifle, but does it have to be a Creedmoor, When loaded with heavier bullets, cartridges such as the 6.5x55mm and 6.5-284 are capable of greater muzzle velocity due to their longer cases and larger powder capacity, and unless you just have to have a short action, Savage builds one in 6.5-284 & its a much better cartridge............

 

What are the intended uses of the rifle? Target's/Hunting/Long Range

The 6.5 Creedmoor/260 Remington/6.5x47 Lapua are almost identical across the ballistic table,and are great Target/Hunting/Long Range calibers.
I have an AR10 in 260 Remington,and as soon as I get another action,I'll put my 6.5 Creedmoor bolt action together.
The 6.5 CM has a shorter case,and lets you use the longer match bullets and stay within magazine length.That's the only advantage that I see with the 6.5 CM over the 260 Rem.
While factory ammo is available,these calibers are cheaper to handload.
If your wanting a caliber that factory ammo is easy to find look at the 6.5x55 Swede. It has been around a very long time,and is still a favorite target/hunting caliber in Europe.
The 6.5x284 is a great Long Range caliber,but it's also got a short barrel life from what I've been told.

 

So then why not go with something a little easier to find like the .25-06, & cheaper to..............

 

I shoot the .260 Rem for 1000 yard target rifle. My observations is that the 6.5 Creedmoor and .260 Rem. are near the same in ballistic performance with the barrel life of the 6.5 Creedmoor being longer. Used to be said that brass and ammunition was limited for the .260 Rem., but that is no longer very much of an issue. Very good quality traget as well as hunting ammo is factory loaded for both now if you don't reload. Also, I would think that a 6.5mm cartridge should be fine for most all deer and some larger critters within the normal ethical shooting distances.

http://demigodllc.com/articles/6.5-creedmoor-260-done-right/?p=1


I think you will be fine with a 6.5 Creedmoor if you decide to go with it.

 

Combat Medic,Thank you for your service!

While any of the calibers that Tom and I listed will work fine for what your wanting,I agree with Tom.
Unless you load your own ammo,the 6.5 Creedmoor is limited in what you can find in factory offerings. It's even worse for the 260 Remington,and also expensive for factory ammo.
I love the 25/06,but factory ammo doesn't give many options.
The 243 Win,6.5x55 Swede,270 Win,7mm-08,308,and 30/06 have a lot of factory ammo choices,and the price of the ammo is cheaper because they've been around a long time and are very common calibers.

 

I reload, however, I have bought good ammunition on and off from Copper Creek Cartridge and Southwest Ammunition.

http://coppercreekammo.com/

http://www.southwestammunition.com/category_s/107.htm

Their prices aren't too bad for what they have to offer in quality.

 

The 6.5 Creedmoor is on the AR10 platform,the 6.5 Grendel is on the AR15 platform. There's a big difference in the performance between the two calibers.