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6.5 Creedmore vs 257 Weatherby
pwillie
Member Posts: 20,253 ✭✭✭
Whats your take on White tail deer..hunting of course..
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The 6.5 Creedmoor can be thought of as a modern improved version of the .260 Remington but in a slightly shorter case. Recoil is mild and it's appetite for powder is moderate, yielding a good return in velocity. Factory ammunition is high quality, accurate and reasonably priced. Reloading insures that your rifle shoots up to it's potential with a large range of bullet styles and weights. If it makes a difference, the 6.5 Creedmoor is available in short actions.
The 6.5 Creedmoor is doubling as a very fine long range target and competition cartridge as well.
The .257 Weatherby has a more limited selection of bullets since the .25 caliber cartridges are suffering from a lack of enthusiasm from the public and major manufacturers. But the case capacity is greater than the 7mm Remington Magnum which provides more than adequate burning to insure highest velocities. Bullet selection needs to stand up to those higher velocities. Higher velocities coupled with heavier hunting bullet weights yields more recoil. The .257 Weatherby requires a long action and factory ammunition is relatively expensive.
Either cartridge will perform up to your expectations. Both can achieve longer range kills so long as the shooter is capable.
Best.
ADDED:
The 6.5 BRM you mention is the .30-30 (rimmed) case necked down to accept the 6.5mm bullets. It was designed for single shot actions specifically and could be problematic for modern bolt action, magazine fed rifles without some modifications.
Best.
Nononsense has wet your whistle a little, with great information.
I will extend this a little. Sometimes, depending on ones intentions, big and faster are not always better. There happens to be something about those 6.5's that just keep one coming back for more.
The 6.5 Creedmoor, 260 Remington, and 6.5x55 Swede all are somewhat of ballistic twins. That means, they all have the same external, and terminal ballistics, running the same weight bullets, at approximately the same speed, although some burn a little more powder than the others.
That said, they will start a 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip around 3000FPS. Not a true speed demon, but no slouch either. That particular performance I do have quite a bit of experience, as I have a couple 6.5's that perform to that level. One is a 260 Remington, and the other is a 6.5 Heaton(25 WSSM necked up to 6.5). There is another cartridge that starts a 100 grain bullet around 3000fps that we are all so familiar with, called the 243 Winchester. Extremely mild recoil, and quite often a kids first deer rifle. Well that list of 6.5's above, recoil very similar to the 243, meaning they are going to be very easy shooters, and comfortable to shoot. One seems, from experience, to be able to shoot a rifle better, that is not beating the snot out of them, and/or breaking their ear drums. While recoiling like the 243, these cartridges, provide more down range energy, past 400 yards, than 95% of the commercially, readily available loadings in the 308 Winchester, and 30-06 Sprg. They do all this, while shooting flatter than the touted 270 Winchester(yes I did it...I smack talked the Legendary 270 Winchester). There is something about the high sectional density, and the high ballistic coefficient of the 6.5mm bullets, that provide ballistics, both external, and terminal, that rival the famed 30 calibers. There is not an awful lot you can do with a 30 caliber, that you cannot do with the 6.5's.
Save for my 6.5 Heaton, yes it is a wildcat, that a friend told me about. It is in the same performance level as the 3 mentioned above. I built my rifle on a Browning stainless A-Bolt II, WSSM length action. It used to be that all the guys in deer camp would argue about who was taking that rifle the next morning to the stand. That was until my daughter stepped in, and the rifle disappeared to her safe.
There are a couple other 6.5's out there that are worth mentioning also. One is the older school, 264 Winchester Magnum. At one time was the epitome of flat shooting Western hunting rifles. It lost life, as most deemed it as a barrel burner. That was in part due to the lack of efficient powders we have to day, and in another part to the lack of judgment by the shooter, to not shoot their rifle hot, or dirty.
The two newer school, while loaded ammunition, and brass are available, they are like specialty items, that have a little more cost to them, but well worth the money spent.
The first is the 6.5 GAP 4S, which was developed by a company out in N. Kansas City, MO, called GA Precision. It was developed for efficiency, performance, barrel life(around 3000 rounds or more), and of course is inherently accurate. It best the velocity of the 264 Winchester, while using substantially less powder. Here is a link to the rifle it was released with, although these folks can build just about anything you want, and have it be a sub 1/2MOA performer.
http://www.gaprecision.net/ga-precision-2014-custom-rifles/ga-precision-xtreme-hunter.html
I highly recommend them if you are considering a custom build, and their products are worth every penny. Hands down, they build the most accurate rifles in the world.
The last 6.5 of mention, is the new hot rod of the bunch, and that would be the 26 Nosler. You can get factory ammo, and rifles are being chambered for it by Nosler, Montana Rifles, and CZ, on a production basis. The one I like the best is the Montana Rifles X2, which is built on their 1999 action, itself being a hybrid Winchester 70. This 26 Nosler will get you 100 fps more than the 6.5 GAP 4s, but burns more powder to do so, creating a little less barrel life.
Yes, these last 3 provide you with more recoil, and a bit more performance than the other 4 mentioned, but will do anything that needs doing on deer out to 1200 yards or so, with the right package.
Hope this stirred the pot a little bit.
EDIT 1
quote:quote:Originally posted by pwillie
What about the 6.5 BRM ? E Arthur Brown cartridge?
I strongly urge you to read the above. In a nut shell, past 400 yards, due to its extremely high ballistic coefficient, and sectional density, the 6.5 Creedmoor, will outperform your 257 Weatherby, due to the lack of decent bullets with high ballistic coefficients and sectional density, available in the 0.257" diameter. If you want to go bigger than the 6.5 Creedmoor, with readily available ammunition, and rifles, then the 26 Nosler is your animal.
Folks fail to understand that accurate long range TARGET shooting is very different from extended range hunting. The difference is KNOWING THE RANGE AND DROP (for the cartridge used). Long range target rounds are accurate-no doubt about it. Hunting rounds may be nearly as accurate (or maybe more so) but have to deliver the bullet with enough energy on target AND it helps if the hunter can "hold on the brown" for as far as possible.
The various rangefinders negate some of the demand for flat trajectory but not all. Some hunting simply doesn't allow for fiddling with the rangefinder, checking the distance, twiddling the scope knobs, and finally attempting the shot. Scopes with range ticks are close but not always close enough.
The 257 Wby is a rocket and generates approximately the same recoil as a similar weight 30/06. I found it harder to hit with than my 25/06 and put the Wby on standby. If you're not into handling that amount of recoil for every shot you take, choose something else(like the 25/06).
As an owner of both I'll give you my 2 cents worth. I originally had a 257 Wby in a Remington 700 and loved it. I mean hey, it was fast, shot good, ate powder like it was going out of style for its size, loud, had a little kick and made a great flame out the end of the barrel at night. Then one day I looked at the Creedmoor, and bought one in a Ruger 77 VT. It shoots better, less recoil and takes about 40% less powder to do almost the same thing. If you're thinking about one of the two I'd take a hard look at the Creedmoor.
But,is the Creedmore gonna do the same as the 257 Weatherby?....will it punch a deers lights out like the 257?
Within it's effective limits, yes, it will. Will it do this at the same ranges as the Wby w/o making scope adjustments or holding over? No, it won't.
As I said, the 257 Wby is the small bore answer to the "hold on brown and it's down" shooter. I shot some deer by holding on the backline with the 257 Wby that would have required aiming somewhere on the hillside above the buck with most other cartridges. BTW Those deer were lying dead within a few FEET of where they took the hit.
quote:Originally posted by toad67
As an owner of both I'll give you my 2 cents worth. I originally had a 257 Wby in a Remington 700 and loved it. I mean hey, it was fast, shot good, ate powder like it was going out of style for its size, loud, had a little kick and made a great flame out the end of the barrel at night. Then one day I looked at the Creedmoor, and bought one in a Ruger 77 VT. It shoots better, less recoil and takes about 40% less powder to do almost the same thing. If you're thinking about one of the two I'd take a hard look at the Creedmoor.
But,is the Creedmore gonna do the same as the 257 Weatherby?....will it punch a deers lights out like the 257?
I've shot my Creedmoor past 800 yds quite a bit and love it. Does it shoot as fast and as hard as the 257? No, does it kill them just as dead, yes. The end result is the same for the deer, with less recoil and bark. IMO it allows you to shoot it more for the same $$. But no, when it comes to bad *, the 257 comes out on top.
http://www.weatherby.com/products/ammunition/6-5-300-wby-mag-4.html