Hiker wrote: Sat Mar 13, 2021 8:04 pm
I've heard that the 6.5 Swedish is a better round. Yet everyone seems to be in love with the 6.5 Creedmoor. I want the 6.5 Swedish but practicality says get the Creedmoor. I was hoping y'all might have some additional wisdom either way.
The rifle will be a CZ 557 American with a 24 inch barrel. It will be used for long distance target/precision shooting.
Thanks
I own and shoot rifles in both. I have a Tikka T3X set up for long range stuff in 6.5x55, as well as a smattering of old Swedish rifles, and an AR-10 in 6.5 Creedmoor.
Ballistically, using commercial ammo, they're about the same. I think the normal load for the 6.5x55 might be a bit slower than creedmoor. The main driver for this is that the 6.5x55 you find on the shelf is loaded to safe pressures for the old M1896 and M38 rifles. 6.5x55 SAAMI is 51kpsi while the Creedmoor is 62kpsi, so that will translate to more wear in the creedmoor barrel over time. However, the creedmoor is a short action cartridge so that means the gun will be more rigid and have a shorter bolt throw which a lot of people like.
6.5x55 can really shine with hand loading. Creedmoor is already going about as fast as you can probably get it safely. 6.5x55, however, can be pushed a lot faster than factory since theres a lot of unused case capacity. Modern rifles can handle a lot more than that 51kpsi, I've been playing with loads that are around the 60kpsi range with my Tikka and haven't seen any pressure signs.
While there is really nice commercial 6.5x55 out there its not stuff you're going to find on the shelf in your local Cabellas. Before the current ammo shortage I never had problems finding any to shoot, most stores had at least some PPU FMJ. 6.5 Creedmoor is always much more common and with a lot more variety to choose from.
If I could only have one I'd probably take the 6.5x55, I have a bunch of rifles that shoot it and its a more interesting handloading project. If I took handloading out of the equation I'd probably go with Creedmoor for better out of the box performance in long range shooting.