New Rifle Purchase 6.5 Creedmor or 7mm-08

[LouietheLurker]

7-08

[.270]

Based alone on ammo availability around my area.....7/08. 6.5 is hard to find around here. Not too long ago I was faced with the same situation regarding a 6.5 vs .308. I went with the .308 because "it ain't going anywhere, and ammo is everywhere". But I will end up getting a 6.5 probably. I missed the pre-Christmas gun sales this year.

[Wayspr]

7-08 will never go the way of 280 and 6mm, it's here to stay. Nearly every rifle manufacturer chambers rifles in it and has for a couple decades. It's about the perfect whitetail cartridge IMO.

[Encore]

I have three 6.5's and one 7mm-08. I say 7mm-08 I have shot more deer with it and never have had a deer go over 10 yards. I have total confidence when I have it with me. That said I have shot one buck and one hog with the Creedmoor and neither one of them took a step.

[meltingfeather]

I have both and both are great rounds-- can't really go wrong.
7mm-08 isn't going anywhere.
I do like to push 162s in my 7mm-08 for bigger critters. Took the nilgai in my avatar with it and he went about 20 yards.

[cva34]

7-08 I'm fan of anything based on 308...yea i know 6.5 cred 250-3000 /250 sav and brass is rare as hens teeth

308 brass is everywhere military cartridge

[Johnny44]

At first you see the 6.5 makes since because ammo companies are supporting it, much of the ammo is fodder.

The 7-08 is a better choice to me if you are a hunter. Personally I believe there are two choices in bullets, most 120gr and the 150 gr Federal. I’ve used about everything just to try for results on game but the Federal Blue Box with the old school flat based 150 gr Speer Hot-cor is my favorite.

“Marginal for elk” with either of these two is a laughable matter.

The 6.5 is definitely here to stay though, all man-bun jokes aside

[TacticalCowboy]

If elk is in the picture I'd lean toward something bigger than either.

Otherwise it's a wash

[SRK14]

Economically speaking, at one time I was torn between a 308 and a 7mm-08 and I chose a 308 based on ammo cost. I know that’s not what you asked but 7mm-08 standard Winchester and Remington loads are the same price as 7mm rem mag around my area. 28$ for 20 rounds as opposed to 18.99 for 308. I do own a 6.5 cm but have only fired it once. Just something to think about if ammo cost is a concern and you want to shoot a lot

[TxMedic]

6.5 prc

[RifleBowPistol]

I am contemplating a new rifle purchase that will be used for deer and hogs, and maybe elk. Longest feasible shot would be in the 300-400 yard range, but most shots would be under 200 yards. The rifle would be primarily for my wife and a backup rifle for me. For those of you that have real world experience with both rounds, do you have a particular preference and why. A few years ago it would have been a 7-08 hands down, but b/c of the increasing availability of factory ammo available (pre current shortage), I believe the 6.5 is no longer a passing fad. Since I don’t hand load, my concern is that over time with the popularity of the 6.5 will overshadow the 7-08 and ammo makers will make less and less of it in favor of the 6.5. Kind of like what happened between the 6mm Remington vs the 243 Winchester, or 280 Remington vs the 270 Win. Both the 6 mm Rem and the 280 REM were/are great cartridges, but I believe marketing efforts and real world usage and word of mouth caused both cartridges to essentially fall by the wayside, at lease for commercial gun and ammunition manufacturers. I just don’t want to buy a rifle whose caliber becomes obsolete in 20 years, and makes finding ammo difficult. What are your thoughts/ words of wisdom?

I agree with your thoughts, exactly. I think about how the 6mm Rem. and the 280 Rem. got the short end of the stick, because of pour job of promoting the two rounds. The 6mm in multiple ways is a better round than the 243, but lost out to the 243, pretty much from day one.

Don't know if the 7mm-08 is going to fade that much, but it might.

My thoughts on te 6.5 Creedmoor, is that it's very close to the 250 Savage, the case dimensions are very close to a 250 Savage, bore size is very close. I have wanted a 250 Savage/250-3000 for years. Also a big fan of the 300 Savage that the 250 Savage is based off of. It's definitely a lot easier to find 6.5 Creedmoor stuff, than 250 Savage today. Then there are multiple modern improvements that can make the 6.5 Creedmoor a bit better than the old Savage, not huge advantages, but advantages.

[quackadikt]

A 7-08 with 140gr Accubond(very easy to find when we get back to “normal”) will handle pretty much everything on this continent easily, except brown bears and moose. And I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot a moose in the right instance with one. That’s my main rifle and bullet. I haven’t personally shot an elk with it yet, but I know multiple people that have, and have blown right through bulls and cows out to 400 yards with that bullet.


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[muzzlebrake]

1890 the Swedes got it right with the 6.5x55. A couple of years later 1892 the Germans bumped it up to 7x57 Mauser. Both were equal for all practical purposes. Both were military cartridges and both were equally deadly accurate. Still in high use over across the pond to this day for hunting where hunting is allowed.
Our American siblings 6.5 Creed and 7-08 are equally as good.
Handloading the 6.5 is a tiny bit more finicky IMO but due to ballistics has longer legs for long range shooters. These are one of those flip a coin calibers.
Neither one will out do the other by a large margin.