6.5 Swede vs Creed?

[tackb]

All this talk about how much can I push a bullet faster is academic and unless you are into experimenting with handloading absolutely unimportant. 6.5 swede is a great classic cartridge capable of taking the biggest game available in Scandinavia. You have been able to buy the ammo for over a hundred years, will the Creedmoor still be available in 100 years?

yes

 

[bowji john]

Not about pushing faster

Precision shooting is though about knowing your MV and keeping your ES tight

Ballistics involve a range of variables- some measurable- some reference’able’ and some require inspired guesswork

MV is, though, a pre requisite for using any ballistics calculator

If you are shooting a 6” target at 100m - then you really need not understand anything about shooting other than pointing and pulling the trigger

(I’m not diminishing the stalking and bush craft skills to get into that position)

If you are shooting a 6” target at 1000m then there is some ballistics homework to do which i found fun to learn and not that difficult

 

[KimE]

156gr Lapua mega and Norma Oryx

 

[Loler UK]

I think you simply have to style your beard and hair accordingly? one you have an unkempt beard and knots in your hair, the other a neatly trimmed and oiled beard with well conditioned hair in a man bun?

In all seriousness if you home load the sweed gives you more options, especially with slower powders, longer barrels and if you are chasing the fastest velocity possible. You can argue the difference is marginal, if you want laser flat 6.5 there are flatter shooting chamberings.

as far as group sizes go I've achieved better ES, SD & group size with the sweed than the CM's I've worked with, again the differences are marginal and, again, if you are wanting super low es, sd & tiny groups there are better 6.5 cartridges out there

 

[Swedish]

I think you simply have to style your beard and hair accordingly? one you have an unkempt beard and knots in your hair, the other a neatly trimmed and oiled beard with well conditioned hair in a man bun?

I was thinking more like this:

 

[Heym SR20]

Six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Biggest difference will be the availability of factory ammo in your local area.

 

[AN DU RU FOX]

Its Twu! Its Twu!

 

[Ratel]

6.5 Swede has always and will always be a good rifle for stalking. I think that's what we all do rather than paper or gong shooting ( see STALKING directory) be it on the hill or low ground. To me, if you need to stretch things then .270, 25/06, 300 Win mag. However if your normal shooting of live quarry is below 250 yds the 6.5 Swede or good old 7x57 cannot be bettered. A friend has just bought a 6.5 CM, why I don't know as he has a Swede. Funny, he seems to be growing his hair a little, in future he walks and crawls in front of me.

 

[tim@tcs]

Have to agree with nun-hunter the creedmoor is here to stay, as so many US companies have big it up , pumped heaps of dollars into it and use the platform to lunching their new and improved “SUPER” calibers !!
They are just reinventing the wheel! And we will happily go along with it and buy into it. Sure there are the small percentage guys out there that will eek that something more out of the like of the creedmoor vs some of the other older 6.5 calibers. For most of us shooting out to 200 yd at UK sized deer the difference is tiny.

I started out with a 6.5x55 and would gladly have one again in the morning ,it was so smooth to shoot and you always saw your strike.I switched to 308win for years and shot plenty but never liked it . Now, the 270 win and I love it, reminds me of the 120gr noslers in the x55 with a pinch more hot sauce.
It would be nice to think that the reliable old swede could co exist and continue to be used. Maybe wishful thinking!

I think it will, classic calibres that were designed right the first time. I like .303 but I actually prefer 7.65 Belgian/Argentinian as it uses the same bullet in a rimless case. I still have stalking rifles in .303, 7x57 and 7.65 Mauser.

 

[Polar Lynx]

With Norma they load the same bullet for both 6,5 Swede and 6,5 Creedmoor, the Oryx. BC 0,348. Popular bullet for hunting within 250 m. Only main difference between Swede and CR is shorter action for CR vs Swede and a few more suitable bullets for long range with CR.

 

[tusker]

I love the Creedmore, it probably means there will be lots of cheap 6.5 swede,s on the market
Tusker

 

[Utectok]

I’d say both are good uk hunting guns with the right bullets and load to further than I can shoot.
Certainly to around 500m not that I’ve shot that far but close. So pick your comb and beard oil and go for it

 

[big ears]

Well done in choosing the 6.5mm bullet. This bullet will kill any animal in the Uk at ranges out to 300m.

All of them have predictable wind drift. The drop is not too excessive with on average 1” high at 100m means 2” low at 200m.

The lowish recoil makes it comfortable to shoot. The long action short action to me makes no difference. I usually only shoot one round and reload at leisure

As many have said get what you want. If you home load you can easily find the right powder/bullet combination in either swede, creedmoor, 260 rem….

 

[Foxyboy43]

From the Sako people who know a bit about ammunition….

 

[AlexD]

Can I add the 6.5 x 57 to the mix? In a roundabout way, it supports the Swede.

The story is I fancied a Sauer 202 in 0.270, but found no RH ones for sale. However on this excellent forum were two fine people who each had a 202 with both 6.5 x 57 and .270 barrels (as you know, the Sauer barrels are interchangeable with the same bolt). One seller wanted to keep the .270 barrel, the other wanted to keep the gun in 6.5 x 57, so I bought a complete Sauer 202 in 6.5 x 57 from the first chap and the 0.270 barrel from the second.

I thought the extra 6.5 x 57 barrel that resulted from these transactions would be redundant but this Creedmore fashion got me thinking, fuelled by Ron Spomer's great little article on the x55 and x57 on 6.5x57mm Mauser — Ron Spomer Outdoors.

It looks like simply changing the powder, one can make a 6.5 x 55 Swede or 6.5 x 57 Mauser round, do all a Creedmore can do and a lot more: one can make it quieter and 100fps slower, or zip it up 200fps faster than the CM. All these 6.5s take the same bullets, so anything the manufacturers have done to promote the CM fad feeds straight into the 120 year old Swedes and Mausers.

Given all of this, with Swedes and Mausers available at much lower prices, why would anyone who can reload buy a CM?

 

[Foxyboy43]

Can I add the 6.5 x 57 to the mix? In a roundabout way, it supports the Swede.

The story is I fancied a Sauer 202 in 0.270, but found no RH ones for sale. However on this excellent forum were two fine people who each had a 202 with both 6.5 x 57 and .270 barrels (as you know, the Sauer barrels are interchangeable with the same bolt). One seller wanted to keep the .270 barrel, the other wanted to keep the gun in 6.5 x 57, so I bought the 0.270 barrel from him and a complete Sauer 202 in 6.5 x 57 from the first chap.

I thought the 6.5 x 57 would be redundant but this Creedmore fashion got me thinking, and Ron Spomer has a great little article on the x55 and x57 on 6.5x57mm Mauser — Ron Spomer Outdoors.

It looks like simply changing the powder, one can make a 6.5 x 55 Swede or 6.5 x 57 Mauser round, do all a Creedmore can do and a lot more: one can make it quieter and 100fps slower, or zip it up 200fps faster than the CM. All these 6.5s take the same bullets, so anything the manufacturers have done to promote the CM fad feeds straight into the 120 year Swedes and Mausers.

Given all of this, with Swedes and Mausers available at much lower prices, why would anyone buy a CM?

 

[AlexD]

Expanding Swedish's great graphic before he takes the initiative of something less flattering:

 

[JH83]

I don’t know about the CM’s potential but I’m pushing a 100gn TTSX at nearly 3400fps in my 26” barrelled swede. It’s as flat as s pancake. As much as it’s not always about horsepower, with copper it can be useful to push them as quick as safely possible.

That being said if I were starting again, and especially if I weren’t hand loading I’d likely drift towards the creed. It’s pretty much future proof.

 

[Utectok]

I don’t know about the CM’s potential but I’m pushing a 100gn TTSX at nearly 3400fps in my 26” barrelled swede. It’s as flat as s pancake. As much as it’s not always about horsepower, with copper it can be useful to push them as quick as safely possible.

That being said if I were starting again, and especially if I weren’t hand loading I’d likely drift towards the creed. It’s pretty much future proof.

That’s very fast what’s your load ?

 

[Foxyboy43]

I don’t know about the CM’s potential but I’m pushing a 100gn TTSX at nearly 3400fps in my 26” barrelled swede. It’s as flat as s pancake. As much as it’s not always about horsepower, with copper it can be useful to push them as quick as safely possible.

That being said if I were starting again, and especially if I weren’t hand loading I’d likely drift towards the creed. It’s pretty much future proof.

I assume you mean the modern SE/SKAN 6.5x55 version rather than the old military “Swede” but that is cracking on some. For example,
Viht’s admittedly conservative data comes nowhere near 3400 fps for conventional 108gns bullets - 3189fps being fastest so interested to know if are there any pressure signs?