Sierra Bullets Publishes 6.5 Creedmoor Reloading Data

by Adam Scepaniak

Published: February 1st, 2017

The 6.5 Creedmoor has been peaking in popularity since 2007 as more and more gun manufacturers chamber the flat-shooting cartridge. Not all reloading books go into much depth on this caliber though. Sierra Bullets recently published 8 pages of data for the 6.5 Creedmoor which should please a lot of bench shooters.

Sierra Bullets also gave an overview of the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge for those who are uninitiated:

Developed in 2007 by Dennis DeMille and Dave Emary, the 6.5 Creedmoor is a shortened and improved 30 TC cartridge case that was inspired by the .308 Winchester design. This short action design was created to maximize case capacity and a wide range of loading lengths, while still fitting in standard short action magazines. With the correct twist barrel, the versatile 6.5 Creedmoor can take advantage of the wide range of bullet weights available in 6.5mm. Reloaders should keep in mind that the 6.5 Creedmoor works best with medium to medium-slow powders such as H4350, Varget, Win 760, and RE-17. The light recoil and adaptability of the efficient 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge has already proven itself in high power, precision rifle series and benchrest competitions. Couple that with respectable barrel life and its intrinsic accuracy potential and you have a recipe for success which should insure its legacy for decades to come.

With Sierra Bullets’ Matchking and Tipped Matchking offerings, this should give long-range shooters plenty of food for thought with their reloading.

#6.5Creedmoor #SierraBullets

Adam Scepaniak

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8 comments

TechnoTriticale on Feb 01, 2017

So what does this do that previous 6.5mm/.264 cal cartridges don't?
My impression is that what it brings to the party is:
* short action, .308 feed infrastructure
* short case, allowing high BC bullets
So, sort of what the 6.5 Grendel is to the .223.

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- See 3 previous
- Anonymoose on Feb 01, 2017
  
  @TechnoTriticale And it won't burn up your barrels as quite fast as the new 6mm Creedmoor. :^)
  
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- Ostiariusalpha on Feb 01, 2017
  
  @TechnoTriticale Shorter cases also burn powder more efficiently than longer ones; more bang per grain. You can stuff a 140gr bullet into a .260 Remington case also, but you'll need a bit more powder to match performance with the Creedmoor. Not a deal breaker for the longer case, but not very elegant either. It just gets worse with 160gr bullets too. Still, if you want to shoot 120gr and lighter bullets into coyotes and small deer with a bit more velocity, then you won't go wrong with the .260 Rem.
  
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- Keiichi on Feb 01, 2017
  
  @TechnoTriticale For me, as someone who doesn't reload and is just getting into the shooting sports, the draw of this cartridge over other 6.5s comes down to two things:
  - works in my current .308 rifle with no modifications other than a new barrel, which means less hardware expense when I switch to it.
  - readily available high quality factory match ammunition that is no more, and sometimes less, expensive than .308 match from the same manufacturer.
  I can't speak to it from a reloader's perspective...
  
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- Mattblum on Feb 01, 2017
  
  @Anonymoose Will still burn them plenty fast compared to .308. Then, it will reach out farther with greater accuracy. Seems to be a popular compromise.
  
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Mazkact on Feb 02, 2017

Y'all leave my IMR 4350 alone please, my 6.5x55 Swedish mausers need it ;)

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- RocketScientist on Feb 02, 2017
  
  @mazkact Just bought my first Mauser, my unicorn gun (m/96 swede, 100% #s matching, great condition). Any good suggestions for reloading recipes/resources for the 6.5x55, and/or any recommendations for factory ammo they seem to like at a reasonable price?
  
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- Mazkact on Feb 02, 2017
  
  @RocketScientist In factory ammo any Privi Partisan load shoots good in my Swedes and Privi brass is great brass for reloading,stay away from Igman as the cases split early and often. Hodgdons listed starting load with IMR 4350 or Varget work well but mine prefer 4350 by smidge. If loading the Privi Partisan bullets work well , I get them from Graff and Sons. I can't remember but I think PPU calls out 139 gr instead of 140.
  
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Sierra Bullets Publishes 6.5 Creedmoor Reloading Data

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