Good article on this calibre vs .22 Creedmoor 22 ARC vs. 22 Creedmoor: A 3,000-Round Range Test
.22 ARC
- Thread starter Mungo
- Start date
I think the ARC is a common sense choice really, especially if achieving 1750ft-lbs with an 80gr isn't vital.
Slips nicely in as a 22-250 alternative for all the reasons Ed mentioned.
Weird bolt face is off putting, but sortable.
I'd go 22 Creed if I had to pick between the two, but doesn't take away from the ARC.
Very.It’s no 22BR
Exicted to see this thing in action though
Sadly, I’m slightly limited by lack of truck…
What loads are you shooting through it, and what have you used it for?
abn31c
Well-Known Member
I'm loading 85.5 bergers over h4350.
I built it move my 13 yo gson up from the mp5 he's been using when we he comes to the house to shoot , I just thought it was an interesting cartridge. So I guess it's a range toy/learning tool.
you forgot 22br, 22-250 velocity with less powder and stupendously accurate.
Ah! Yes. @stu847 has one, and it was a large part of the reason I started looking at the ARC.
As far as I can tell, the 22BR is the ‘I was at Knebworth with Oasis’ of the modern hot 22s…
LOL love it Mungo. Never heard it put that way before, but I’m definitely borrowing that! If 22BR is Knebworth with Oasis, then 20BR is front row at Nirvana Unplugged in New York, peak performance, cult following, and just obscure enough to sound smug about.
I did flirt with the 6mm ARC for a new build, but ended up going with 6mmBr, the Eric Clapton in the Crossroads years cartridge, mature, confident, deeply capable, technically perfect, beloved by purists.
And then there's 6.5 Creedmoor, the Coldplay at Glastonbury of the shooting world. Overproduced, universally available, and somehow still playing on every stage whether you asked for it or not. Beloved by influencers, ignored by gods. If 6BR is a surgeon’s scalpel, Creedmoor is a selfie stick with delusions of grandeur.
I think I am done at this point although we could go onto 7 WSM hmm, the Betamax of short magnums. Technically superior in some ways, but utterly shafted by bad timing, poor support, and a fan base that still insists it was “just misunderstood.” It’s the cartridge equivalent of turning up to a speed dating event in a tuxedo, and then realising everyone else brought a 6.5 PRC.
Putting salt in my tea won’t make yours any sweeter!
Actually, I’d say 6.5Creedmoor is more Taylor Swift Eras tour than Coldplay at Glasto. Gen Z already regard Coldplay as boring and a bit vintage - it’s the music their parents listen to.
that would definitely bring it under the selfie stick metaphor lol.
Just following this theme, I had a go on ChatGPT and asked what it thought about the 6.5 creedmoor and how it equated to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour. It came up with this, which I couldn't stop laughing at...
The 6.5 Creedmoor is the Taylor Swift Eras Tour of the shooting world—bloated, everywhere, and impossible to avoid no matter how niche you thought your range day was. It turns up with custom cerakote, a ring light, and three sponsors, then acts like it invented long range shooting. Precision? Meh. It’s more about the vibe, the outfit, and the Instagram post. Real marksmen nod politely while reaching for their 6BR, whispering, “We knew accuracy before it went pop.”
The 6.5 Creedmoor is the Taylor Swift Eras Tour of the shooting world—bloated, everywhere, and impossible to avoid no matter how niche you thought your range day was. It turns up with custom cerakote, a ring light, and three sponsors, then acts like it invented long range shooting. Precision? Meh. It’s more about the vibe, the outfit, and the Instagram post. Real marksmen nod politely while reaching for their 6BR, whispering, “We knew accuracy before it went pop.”
yeah that a good one lol, chatgpt comes up with some superb responses, plugged in 6.5x55, 30-06 and 444 marlin and got this in context of above:
30-06 Springfield
The retired colonel in pressed khakis and a campaign hat, listens to Johnny Cash sitting in the clubhouse polishing his Mannlicher-stocked Mauser while eyeing the Creedmoor crowd with quiet disdain. It’s been through more wars, taken more game, and outlived more trends than the entire contents of your Instagram feed. While 6.5 Creedmoor is autotuned and sponsored by hydration supplements, the .30-06 just hums low and steady “I’ve been everywhere, man.” Doesn’t need validation because it already won. Shoots MOA if you do your part but won’t tell you that, because it assumes you already know how to shoot. When Creedmoor says, “We just broke 1,000 yards!” the .30-06 chuckles and replies, “I did that in Korea.”
444 Marlin
The cartridge equivalent of a Harley-riding lumberjack who builds cabins by hand, drinks black coffee from a tin mug, doesn’t own a phone and listens to ZZ top on the record player because WTF is streaming. While 6.5 Creedmoor wears cryo-treated barrels and carbon-fibre stocks, the .444 Marlin turns up as an iron sighted lever gun, with a box of handloads that smell like burnt hickory. It doesn’t do long range. It doesn’t need to. When it hits, it doesn’t ask questions. It just knocks things down. Creedmoor shows up to a photoshoot; the .444 shows up to work. While Creedmoor brings a spreadsheet to the party, .444 brings a bottle of bourbon and a worn-out vinyl of La Grange. It doesn’t shoot groups; it punches holes. Loud ones
6.5x55 Swede
The distinguished elder statesman who was doing everything Creedmoor claims to have invented long before Creedmoor was a glint in a ballistics marketer’s PowerPoint. Polite, unhurried, and utterly lethal, it doesn’t shout about its sub-MOA groups or transonic behaviour past 1,000 yards… because it considers such things vulgar. Smooth. Precise. Soulful. It doesn’t shout, it resonates like a well-timed David Gilmour guitar solo that floats over a Scandinavian fjord at dusk. 6.5x55 Swede isn’t trying to impress you, but it does. Every. Single. Time. It’s not obsessed with speed it’s about harmony: BC, SD, recoil, accuracy all perfectly in tune. While Creedmoor posts TikToks in multicam, the Swede is out there, alone, smoking cloverleafs in a wool jumper with a smile that says, “I tuned my handloads by candlelight.” Think Comfortably Numb, if it chambered 140-grain Lapuas and had a thing for hand-turned brass. Forged when men still used moustache wax unironically. It doesn’t care for your influencer discount codes. It was precision, before it became a brand.
You can own a Creedmoor but only if it sits quietly alongside any of these: a .30-06, a .444 Marlin, and a 6.5x55 Swede. The .30-06 is there to remind you what recoil and real-world pedigree feel like. The .444 brings the thunder when subtlety is no longer required. And the Swede? That’s your proof you understood precision isn’t a hashtag it’s a heritage.
Without them, the Creedmoor is just a Taylor Swift track at a Guns N’ Roses gig catchy, overproduced, and not nearly as deep as it thinks it is. You can’t own only a Creedmoor unless your idea of "heritage" is a Taylor Swift record and your range bag comes with friendship bracelets.
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