THE BACKSTORY REVEALED: HORNADY CARTRIDGES - Part 3 |
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A Home Run: The 6.5 Creedmoor | After the success of the .204 Ruger and about the same time they were developing the .375 Ruger and its progeny, the Hornady cartridge design team also started working on a cartridge that would have a broader application in North America. \xa0 The goal was to create an extremely accurate, flat-shooting round that would exceed .308 Winchester performance and rival .30-06 and .30 caliber short-magnum performance. And it would have to fit in both short action bolt guns and the AR-308 platform. |
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 | Hornady offers a variety of 6.5 Creedmoor target loads, including this one with a high-performance 147-grain ELD Match bullet. |
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Right Bullet & the Right Case | For a highly accurate bullet, the Hornady folks looked to a long, slim 6.5mm projectile. Metric bullet designations have never been super popular in the U.S., though the military's "5.56" and "7.62" are now commonplace in the civilian market. And a "Six-Five" bullet (in reality measuring 6.7mm) has topped several cartridges known for their exceptional accuracy: 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser, .260 Remington, 6.5mm Rem Mag, and .264 Win Mag. \xa0 The keys to the 6.5mm bullet's accuracy are its high sectional density and superb ballistic coefficient. That long, skinny bullet slices through the air like a supersonic fighter jet, and it's highly resistant to wind deflection. Sectional density is the ratio of the bullet's mass to its diameter; the higher the sectional density, the better the bullet's penetration on impact, which is important for hunting. This also results in excellent ballistic performance. The high ballistic coefficient means higher velocities and longer range, which are beneficial in both hunting and target shooting. |
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With the caliber chosen, Hornady needed a case. They settled on the proprietary brass of the .30 Thompson Center or .30 T/C, which Hornady was developing at the same time for Thompson Center to chamber in their new Icon bolt action rifle. The .30 T/C case takes advantage of the principle that powder burns more efficiently in a shorter, wider case than in a long skinny one. That's why cartridges with wide, squat cases like the 6mm PPC make highly accurate target competition rounds. \xa0 Similar to the goal of Hornady's new "Six-Five" round, the .30 T/C case was designed so .30-06 Springfield performance could be packed into a cartridge that fit into a .308 Winchester short action. It has a .473" head diameter, so it neatly fit an AR-308 bolt head, and is also short enough to hold that long, narrow 6.5mm bullet without having to push it far back into the case. As it turned out, the .30 T/C did not set the world on fire, but it gave Hornady the perfect case for their 6.5 cartridge. |
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 | Ruger offers a large selection of rifles chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, including this American Gen II bolt gun. |
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Stunning Performance | The resulting 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge will generate .300 Win Mag velocities in some loadings, with far less recoil. And of course, it fits in compact short action bolt rifles and\xa0AR-308sthat are easier to lug around on the hunt or in PRS competition. But why not just get an AR-308 chambered in .308 Winchester / 7.62x51 NATO? Did we mention the 6.5 Creedmoor's much higher velocity and flatter trajectory? \xa0 Here is how it plays out in practical terms: a 140-grain 6.5 Creedmoor bullet will still be cranking along at supersonic speed out to 1,150 yards, while a 168-grain .308 Winchester bullet will drop below the speed of sound at 975 yards. What targets can you reach with that extra 175 yards of supersonic speed? In bolt action rifles, the 6.5 Creedmoor can consistently hit steel targets at 2,000 yards, while 1,600 yards is achievable by the average marksman/woman. And remember, that's from a relatively compact, light-recoiling rifle. |
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 | Hornady has several 6.5 Creedmoor hunting loads, including this one with a 129-grain Interlock bullet for bringing home the venison. |
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How good is the 6.5 Creedmoor's performance? Velocities don't tell the whole story, but they tell a lot. Hornady's 120-grain ELD Match target bullet will zip out the muzzle at 2,910 fps and still be doing 2,028 fps at 500 yards. The heavier 143-grain projectile in Hornady's ELD-X® hunting load gets up and goes out the muzzle at 2,700 fps and is still doing 2,025 fps at 500 yards. The 120-grain bullet packs 1,096 ft-lb. of energy at 500 yards, while the heavier bullet is good for 1,302 ft-lbs at the same distance. \xa0 For comparison, a 125-grain Hornady Custom SST .308 Winchester bullet speeds out of the muzzle at 2,675 fps and is doing 1,437 fps / 573 ft-lbs. at 500 yards, while a heavier 150 grain Interlock SP .308 projectile cranks 2,820 fps at the muzzle and 1,667 fps / 925 ft-lbs. at 500 yards. Clearly, the narrower 6.5 Creedmoor bullet is packing a lot more energy downrange! For further comparison, Hornady's American Whitetail .30-06 Springfield load with a 150-grain Interlock bullet delivers 2,910 fps / 2,820 ft-lbs. at the muzzle, and 1,700 fps / 963 ft-lb. at 500 yards. \xa0 We can see the 6.5 Creedmoor is more than competitive with both the .308 Winchester and .30-06 in initial bullet velocity at the muzzle. The narrower, more aerodynamic 6.5mm bullet really shines in the velocity and energy it retains out at the longer ranges. |
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\xa0 What's in the Name? | What about the name? Rather than grab extra glory for their "brand," the Hornady team named their 6.5mm after the legendary Creedmoor Rifle Range on Long Island, New York, founded by the NRA in 1873. Many important national and international target competitions were held there through the beginning of the 20th century. As Long Island became more populous, the competitions moved elsewhere. Today, the range's former location is the site of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Hospital. What better way to name a highly accurate long-range cartridge than to pay homage to this famous rifle range? |
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 | Savage got in on the 6.5 Creedmoor hunting rifle action with this Model 110 rifle with colorful "Muddy Girl" camouflage (scope included). |
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\xa0 Widespread Love for the Creedmoor | The 6.5 Creedmoor was first embraced by long-range target shooters, especially PRS shooters. But hunters soon realized that the characteristics that make it good for the match range - low recoil, flat trajectory, impressive velocity - make it just as good for long-range hunting when loaded with heavier, expanding tip bullets. Hornady led the way with factory ammo production, and now every major ammunition maker offers 6.5 Creedmoor loads. With the cartridge's widespread popularity, they can't afford not to! |
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 | For competition shooters, Ruger offers this variant of their popular AR-pattern SFAR rifle. |
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The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) ran extensive tests on the 6.5 Creedmoor in 2017, comparing it to the 7.62x51 NATO and .260 Remington. The result? The 6.5 Creedmoor beat the 7.62 NATO with double the hit-probability at 1,000 meters (1,094 yards), nearly 50% longer effective range, wind drift reduced by one third, and as a bonus, lower recoil. The .260 Remington performed almost as well, but the SOCOM testers believed the 6.5 Creedmoor had\xa0more scope for developing different loads and bullets. \xa0 SOCOM decided to go all in on the 6.5 Creedmoor, by converting their M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper (SASS) and Mk 20 Sniper Support Rifle (SSR) rifles to the caliber. In November 2019, the U.S. Navy ordered conversion kits to upgrade their M110 rifles to 6.5 Creedmoor. And in August 2023, a Geissele Automatics rifle design chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor was selected for USSOCOM's Mk 1 Mod 0 Mid-Range Gas Gun Sniper (MRGG-S). \xa0 With heavy adoption by civilian target shooters, hunters, and the military, Hornady's 6.5 Creedmoor has proven to be a rarity. It's a new rifle cartridge that fulfilled the high hopes of its designers to become a "standard" cartridge - all in less than 20 years. |
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