Talked my buddy out of getting the 6.5 Creedmoor

[dverna]

Got a call today from my buddy. I am perceived as the gun guy so he asked me about getting the 6.5 Crredmoor.

He already has a .270 Tikka.

I asked him why he wanted it and did not have an answer. But I knew!!

I told him to ignore the marketing BS. The Creedmoor offers him nothing over the old boring .270.

I think I may have talked him into a .223 for relatively inexpensive CF shooting. He does not reload.

[fightthenoise]

You’re a good man. I always peer pressure into buying guns. There’s always a justification if you look hard enough. Less recoil maybe.

But I’m a huge proponent of bolt action, fast twisted .223’s for cheap trigger time. Great call.

[Texas by God]

You're a good friend because you enabled him to get a new gun and I agree with your advice. Of course the .223 should be another Tikka. Just saying.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[charlie b]

I agree. I love my .223

Perfect companion to a larger caliber.

[Conditor22]

Bolt action and single shots are a lot more fun --- you don't go through ammunition so fast and can enjoy the process.

[dverna]

What shocked him is that I have a number of .223’s. The RRA Varmint model and the Howa Mini-Mauser both intrigued him. I told him I shoot jacketed SP reloads for $.20 a shot....that was the clincher.

I helped him sight in the .270 Tikka this deer season and it is a MOA rifle....thus my surprise when he wanted the 6.5 Creedmoor. That was funny. His scope was not lined up and the first two shots hit the right T Post that holds my target backer and destroyed it.

Sometimes people should throw gun magazines in the garbage. For the majority of hunters, I cannot think of any caliber introduced in the last 30 years that offers sufficient justification to warrant adding it.

The dumbest caliber I ever bought was a .243 WSM that was on sale. I was so thankful I sold that for what I had in it.

[crankycalico]

if it wasn't for people without friends, and gun magazines. There would not be a seemingly endless supply of 5 pound rifles chambered in 300 win mag in the used racks.

[Hickok]

I would have told him, "If you ain't got a .308, you ain't squat!"

Just

[FergusonTO35]

I have five .30-30's. So, this means I should sell four of them, since one can do anything the others can?

[GARD72977]

Most people buy a 6.5 for the wrong reasons.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

You mean having more than ONE gun in a caliber doesn't make ANY sense. I must have at least 6+ 308 Savage 99's, another half dozen plus in 300 Savage, then the 30-30's, 303 Savages, an '06 or two and a couple 300 Mags, oh yeah and a Marlin 30 carbine, all for shooting, accumulated, not 'collected'. I can use the same boolits in all of them. Why even just in 308 you 'NEED' an iron-sighted rain/snow rifle, a lightweight rough country rifle, a heavier open-country rifle, a heavier still 'fun/practice' rifle, a long-range target/precision rifle, and then a semi-auto high cap 'zombie' rifle.

[lefty o]

Most people buy a 6.5 for the wrong reasons.

and what would those be?

[jonp]

I bought a 6.5 Creedmore. Ive always liked the 6.5 as in 6.5x55 Swede and the new rifle was about $200 on sale with rebate. Just as accurate as i remember with little recoil but the synthetic stock doesnt hold a candle to my old 1918 Swede.

If he was deadset on a 6.5 I'd steer him in that direction. About as good a blend of accuracy, power, long range if needed and recoil you can get imho

[koger]

JonP you are spot on about the 6.5 swede, I have been shooting the one I built back in 85 and it still shoots 1/2 MOA way out there! I sporterized a unissued swede, CG, that I bought when I ran a gunshop, for $69. I bought them 12 to a crate and sold them for $139. I did serious load development over two years, ran a lot of loads slightly over max, with no pressure signs, and had loads that used the same powder for 85, 120 and 140 grains that would all shoot under 1/2 MOA out to 300 yds. I wont go into all the work that I put into that mauser, but it still shoots great. I took my longest shot to date on a deer this year, a lasered 510 yds, and the 120 gr Sierra sp entered at an angle quartering away, took out the hear and blew the leg off at the knee on the opposite side when exiting! Great performance, what more could you ask for. And from what I have learned, the 6.5 swede can be run hotter than the 6.5 CM.

[dverna]

I bought a 6.5 Creedmore. Ive always liked the 6.5 as in 6.5x55 Swede and the new rifle was about $200 on sale with rebate. Just as accurate as i remember with little recoil but the synthetic stock doesnt hold a candle to my old 1918 Swede.

If he was deadset on a 6.5 I'd steer him in that direction. About as good a blend of accuracy, power, long range if needed and recoil you can get imho

He is a hunter...not a shooter or reloader. Part of his "motivation" is to have a gun as accurate as my .308's...but he does not need a 6.5. He has a .270 so why spend over $1000 (he wants another Tikka with a good scope)? He does not yet realize that a big part of the accuracy he is seeing with my .308's is tuned handloads and skill. The longest range at our hunt camp is 300 yards. A couple of inches flatter trajectory at 500 yards might be a consideration for the highly skilled shooter who can ethically make a shot at that range, but Joe average will never utilize it.

Don't get me wrong. I like the 6.5's. Just the wrong caliber to add to the arsenal of a guy with a .270, who currently shoots 10-20 rounds a year. The .223 will give him trigger time to 300 yards at half the cost.

[FergusonTO35]

10-20 rounds a year? I think more practice would serve him better than another rifle! I'm a big Creedmoor fan BTW.

[charlie b]

No need to justify how many guns you have, or what caliber. Everyone owns guns for different reasons.

But, if advising someone on a gun purchase you need to take into account why THEY are buying the gun, not why you might or might not buy it. You may need to advise them to buy a gun that you would never think of purchasing.

[dverna]

10-20 rounds a year? I think more practice would serve him better than another rifle! I'm a big Creedmoor fan BTW.

EXACTLY!!!!

All he does is sight in and hunt. Heck, I was shocked at how many deer hunters don't even bother to sighting in!

This guy can hunt though. He got a 12 point and a big 10 point in the last couple of years. Every shot was under 100 yards so minute of clay bird works the way he hunts. We have a spot where we can get a 300 yard shot but he never hunts it. I respect him for knowing his limitations and not wounding game.

BTW last year he got a Ruger American in .450 for hunting downstate...need straight wall cartridges. It is the perfect rifle for him.

[jonp]

A lot of guys I grew up with and knew didn't have much money so couldn't afford to buy ammo and practice. A few rounds to hit a pie plate the weekend before deer season and they were good.

Need and want are two different things but I agree with others. 10-20 rounds are not enough and the money on a rifle would be better spent in a couple of more boxes of ammo. If money is an object have him sell his 270 and buy a 308 then teach him to reload

[dverna]

Jonp, that is the weird part. He is relatively wealthy. When I talked to him about reloading he had little interest in saving money....basically said, “you can reload for me”. Which I am loath to do for liability reasons.

What he really needs is to shoot 5000 rounds of .22 a year to learn trigger control and follow through. Hopefully the .223 will help a lot and let him feel he is not shooting a kids rifle.