It's been a good year for 6.5 mm. The .260 Remington has hit full stride after a ramp-up of several years, with top competitors at most field-style long-range matches shooting it. Lapua's 6.5x47 saw the first wave of custom LR rifles built around it in 2007 and proved to be just as good as people hoped. Finally, Hornady is announcing its new 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge at SHOT 2008. How do these three mid-size 6.5 mm cartridges stack up against one another? I spent much of 2007 figuring out the answer to that question.

Shooters who compete in "practical" rifle matches have been migrating to 6.5 mm calibers for several years. While "tactical" shooters can be a dogmatic bunch, often sticking to conventional choices like .308 and .300 Winchester Magnum, practical competitors are in it to win, and the advantages of the lightweight but high-BC 6.5 mm bullets didn't escape their notice. The long-range practical matches I've shot and administered in the last five years have common themes of physical exertion, shooting from weird positions under time stress, and difficult UKD targets.

This new class of medium-sized 6.5 mm cartridges will fit properly in short actions (308 size) and feed from the detachable box magazine (DBM) systems becoming ubiquitous on tactical bolt rifles. They have less recoil than 308 but provide better trajectory performance for both wind and drop than the standard 190gr SMK load in .300 Winchester Magnum, and have barrel life over 4000 rounds, or about twice what you can expect from Tubb's 6XC, 6.5-284 Norma, or 7mm Remington Magnum. Launching the high-BC 130-142-grain bullets at a moderate velocity is a good recipe for a good long-range performance without the costs of the barrel-burners. Once you're using the same high-BC bullet, adding 150 fps to get 2970 fps instead of a more sedate 2820 fps only gains about four inches of wind drift per 10 mph cross!

But 6.5 mm is not just a range toy. The 6.5x55 mm Swede has a long history in hunting in Europe, and it sufficient to take moose if shots are chosen carefully. These new 6.5's can duplicate the classic 6.5x55 loads, so with the right bullet selection, they can get the job done on game.

This article isn't intended to sell 6.5 mm or to give a thorough account of each of the three calibers. I aim to explain how the three cartridges were tested and the summary of the results I was able to achieve with each one. I recommend reading the full articles for more background.

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The .260 Remington is the commercial version of the 6.5mm wildcat based on the .308 Winchester case, productized in 1997 by Remington. Brass can easily by formed by simply necking up .243 or necking down 7mm-08 or .308 brass; however, care must be taken with regard to the resulting neck thickness.

In spring 2007, I had George Gardner of GA Precision chamber a 26-inch medium-Palma contour 6.5 mm barrel from Rock Creek in .260 Remington and fit it to an Accuracy International AW (AI-AW) rifle. The length and contour duplicate the profile of the AI factory 26-inch 308 barrel. The rifle was topped with a S&B 3-12x50mm PMII scope. On the muzzle, I used a 1.5x9" titanium sound suppressor (designed for .308) most of the time, backing up to the AI single-chamber muzzle brake when I couldn't use the "can" for whatever reason.

The author's AI-AW was re-chambered in .260 Remington by G.A. Precision by adding a 26-inch medium Palma barrel from Rock Creek Barrels.

Final load: 139gr Lapua Scenar @ 2820 fps, 40.7gr H4350, CCI BR2, Lapua .243 brass necked up.
From a 100-yard zero, this load needs 7.4 mils of elevation to 1000 yards, and will drift 53 inches with a 10 mph cross. Accuracy is excellent at 1/4 MOA.

260 139 @ 2820
Zero 100yd  5000' Density Altitude
RANGE  ELEV-  moa    mil     | WIND(10) moa   mil   RANGE
 100    0"    0.00   0.0mil  |   0"   0.50   0.1mil  100
 200    3"    1.25   0.4mil  |   2"   0.75   0.2mil  200
 300   11"    3.50   1.0mil  |   4"   1.25   0.4mil  300
 400   25"    6.00   1.7mil  |   7"   1.75   0.5mil  400
 500   45"    8.50   2.5mil  |  12"   2.25   0.7mil  500
 600   72"   11.50   3.3mil  |  17"   2.75   0.8mil  600
 700  107"   14.50   4.2mil  |  24"   3.25   1.0mil  700
 800  151"   18.00   5.2mil  |  32"   3.75   1.1mil  800
 900  204"   21.50   6.3mil  |  42"   4.50   1.3mil  900
1000  267"   25.50   7.4mil  |  53"   5.00   1.5mil 1000

I originally tried using the Remington .260 brass. The primers pockets started off a little loose, and the brass was very soft. With standard loads, I had a problem with gas seeping around the primer and leaving a "soot" ring where the primer met the brass. This was present even with loads that exhibited "zero" case-head expansion.

I also learned that the pressure limiter in the system would be piercing primers. The AI-AW is set up to be utterly reliable in harsh field conditions and ignite mil-spec 308 primers. In guns built from the ground up for a very high pressure cartridge, it's common to bush the firing pin hole and then control the pin protrusion. I wanted to leave this rifle at the military spec, not to mention that a replacement bolt head from AI in the UK would be very expensive, so I left it and lived with the results.

I shot and won the 2006 Blue Steel Ranch Steel Safari match using loads in R-P brass, but had to toss half my brass after the match due to gas seepage. Transitioning to the Lapua brass, I used a K&M 6.5 mm mandrel and neck-turning tool from PrecisionReloading.com to make .260 Remington brass from the Lapua .243 Winchester brass. The results are excellent, uniform, and hard cases that last even with hot loads.

The downside of using formed 243 brass is that brass prep time in increased. Part of the 243's shoulder turns into the neck, and this part of the brass is thicker than the normal 260 neck thickness. As a result, I had to neck turn each piece of formed brass to remove this "donut" created in the expanding process.

Even in a great barrel on a solid rifle, I found .260 Remington to be somewhat temperamental with regard to accuracy vs. load recipe. However, once I locked on the recipe of H4350 with the BR2

primer, everything came together and I've replicated the same results with bullets other than the 139-grain Lapua. The other powder to try in .260 is H4831SC-- compressed loads using H4831SC are likely to have a slight velocity edge on H4350.

Remington dropped the ball on .260. All they had to do to essentially own this 6.5 mm market was to produce some good, accurate factory ammo with an appropriate bullet for long-range use. Instead, they have a few hunting offerings and that's it. GA Precision convinced Black Hills to do a run of long-range match ammunition in 2007, using the 139-gr Scenar and producing ballistics very close to my final hand-load solution. Priced on par with other factory match ammo at about $1/pc, it's much more expensive than reloads but makes .260 a viable choice for the non-reloading long-range shooter.

Good yet affordable brass has been a problem for .260. Remington's brass seems to be of variable quality. The 1000 pieces I got were junk; however, other .260 shooters have reported acceptable results using it. Although it is some work, forming .260 from any cartridge in the .308 family is a viable path. I used Lapua's .243 brass. I know others have used 243, 7-08, and 308 from Lapua, Winchester, and other sources of halfway-decent brass. Nosler debuted its "NoslerCustom" .260 Remington brass in 2007. It is of excellent quality, but very expensive at almost $1/pc.

In this comparison of 6.5x47, 6.5 Creedmoor, and .260, the .260 Remington is the "base-line." As such, I'll limit the Pros and Cons to those aspects relevant to the other two cartridges only.

• Load recipes are well sorted out
• Brass easily formed from the 308 family
• Most case capacity of the three cartridges
• Exactly the same body diameter, taper, and OAL as .308

• Brass either very expensive or marginal quality
• Very limited supply of long-range factory match loads

The .260 has been popular with top shooters at practical or field-style long-range rifle matches for the last several years. In the last two years, more than ten local Colorado shooters have built .260 Remington rifles to effectively replace their .308's and Magnums. My .260 was finished just a few weeks before the 2006 Blue Steel Ranch Steel Safari, where I won both the overall and the "standard/unlimited" rifle class shooting at small steel targets spread out in the terrain from about 50 to 1000 yards. I returned shooting the same rifle in 2007, again winning "standard/unlimited." The 260 gives a palpable advantage over .308.

The .260 Remington is a solid performer for long-range matches, with good barrel life and 300WM-like ballistics. The .260 is the status quo that 6.5x47 and 6.5 Creedmoor have to go up against and prove their worth.

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In cooperation with Grunig & Elmiger, Lapua set out to develop a cartridge optimized for European 300-meter CISM competition. Similar to our NRA High-Power, 300-meter CISM has a set course of fire from defined shooting positions using highly specialized target rifles. The caliber that currently dominates 300-meter CISM is the 6 mm BR Norma due to its excellent accuracy, good ballistics, and low recoil. As the project officially started in 2005, two initial project goals were to improve ballistics by decreasing wind drift and to reduce barrel wear compared to the 6 mm BR Norma, which will get only about 2500 rounds at top accuracy before the barrel starts to show wear.

The 6.5x47 Lapua case is about three-tenths of an inch shorter than a .260 Remington case, and has a sharper shoulder and a longer neck. With an overall loaded length of 2.700 to 2.800 inches, most bullets can be seated with their rear bearing surface above the case shoulder. It can be thought of as a shortened and "improved" .260 Remington case, with a small primer pocket. Factory 6.5x47 Lapua loads shoot the 139-grain Lapua Scenar at 2690 fps, the 123-grain Scenar at 2790 fps, or the 108-grain Scenar at 2950 fps.

I was approached by the editor of 6mmBR.com in early 2007 about the opportunity to build a "Tactical Rifle" - a rifle intended for the field-style practical rifle matches - in 6.5x47 Lapua, in order to really get a feeling of how the cartridge stacked up against the conventional .308 and the now-becoming-standard .260 Remington. So I unscrewed the factory .308 barrel from my other Accuracy International AW (AI-AW), and screwed on a barrel that George Gardner had cut from a Satern blank. This barrel finished at 25.3 inches and we added six flutes to cut down on weight since the barrel came with a heavy profile. I like my guns set up the same for continuity, so this rifle was topped with another S&B 3-12x50mm PMII. Again, the suppressor was used for most shooting. At this point, I had two identical AI-AW rifles- one set up in .260, one set up in 6.5x47 Lapua.

GA Precision fit this 25.3-inch Satern barrel to the author's Accuracy International AWP for testing Lapua's new 6.5x47 cartridge. The rifle is shown here with a S&B 5-25x56mm scope, and the thermal suppressor cover retracted for cooling during a break in load development.

Final load: 123gr Lapua Scenar @ 2930 fps, 37.2gr RL15, CCI BR4, Lapua brass.
From a 100-yard zero, this load needs 7.2 mils of elevation to 1000 yards, and will drift 59 inches with a 10 mph cross. Accuracy is excellent at 1/4 MOA or better.

123 6.5x47 Lapua @ 2930
Zero 100yd  5000' Density Altitude
RANGE  ELEV-  moa    mil     | WIND(10) moa   mil   RANGE
 100    0"    0.00   0.0mil  |   0"   0.50   0.1mil  100
 200    2"    1.25   0.3mil  |   2"   1.00   0.3mil  200
 300   10"    3.25   0.9mil  |   4"   1.50   0.4mil  300
 400   23"    5.50   1.6mil  |   8"   2.00   0.6mil  400
 500   42"    8.00   2.3mil  |  13"   2.50   0.7mil  500
 600   68"   10.75   3.2mil  |  19"   3.00   0.9mil  600
 700  102"   14.00   4.0mil  |  27"   3.75   1.1mil  700
 800  145"   17.25   5.0mil  |  36"   4.25   1.2mil  800
 900  197"   21.00   6.1mil  |  47"   5.00   1.4mil  900
1000  260"   24.75   7.2mil  |  59"   5.75   1.6mil 1000

Using Lapua brass, bullets from Lapua and Berger, and a variety of powder and primers, I tested no less than 45 combinations looking for the "best" overall performer. Besides excellent accuracy and consistency, I also wanted optimum ballistic performance for long-range UKD courses of fire with 100% reliability-- there are no sighters or alibis in practical competition. It was almost immediately clear that the pressure limiter in 6.5x47 in the AI-AW rifle would be the primer piercing issue I originally saw with the .260. Ignoring the primer issue, even with nuclear loads substantially exceeding my final load, there were never any pressure signs on the case head, nor was the bolt hard to lift.

Using powders such as RL15, H4350, Varget, and N550, accuracy was very consistent with the 123-grain and 139-grain Lapua Scenars, along with the 130-grain Berger VLD. Of the 45 combinations tried during the sandbagged 100-yard bench-rest testing, less than 10% were noted for "poor accuracy". To put things in perspective, "poor accuracy" meant worse than 0.5 moa. Most loads shot between 0.25 and 0.5 moa, and the best loads shot just better than 0.2 moa. I should add a disclaimer at this point that I am not a particular good bench-rest shooter. In the end, I settled on the 123-grain Lapua Scenar shot at 2930 fps using 37.4-grains RL15 with a CCI BR4 small rifle bench-rest primer, with a loaded over-all length of 2.735-inches.

Without the primer issue, the following ballistics would have been possible based on the experimental results: a 139-grain Lapua Scenar at 2850 fps; a 123-grain Lapua Scenar at 3080 fps; and a 130-grain Berger VLD at 2950 fps. RL15 is the powder for 6.5x47 Lapua. Similar results were had using H4350 and N550, but the RL15 seemed more predictable and was more consistent. With regard to primer selection, CCI 450, BR2, and #41 all gave similar results.

Because this cartridge was designed from the ground up for European long-range competition (in this case only 300 meter), Lapua has factory loads for the 108, 123, and 139-grain Scenar. Factory 6.5x47 Lapua loads shoot the 139-grain Lapua Scenar at 2690 fps, the 123-grain Scenar at 2790 fps, or the 108-grain Scenar at 2950 fps. Testing of factory Lapua ammunition showed that the published velocities are a little conservative. The 123-grain loads shot at 2820 fps from my 25.3-inch barrel and consistently held half-MOA or better groups.

As for components, the Lapua brass is excellent quality as usual, and costs about $0.65/pc if purchased in bulk. I did zero - zero - brass prep during load testing and accuracy and consistency was excellent. The Lapua brass is very strong.

• Ultra-strong case design
• Reasonably-priced excellent-quality brass
• Proper long-range loads available as factory ammunition
• Possibility of exceeding .260 loads due to strong brass

• Smaller case than .260 limited powder volume
• To achieve same ballistics as 260, needs to run at high pressure
• Factory ammunition 100-150 fps slower than same bullets in .260 Remington

I shot the 6.5x47 AI-AW at the August 2007 Sporting Rifle Match. After the main match, John S. (also shooting 6.5x47) and I were tied for second place. John edged me out with a better wind call in the sudden-death shootout on the known-distance range, so I ended up third overall. I try to console myself that his higher-BC 130-grain JLK bullets with a 40 fps edge over my 123-grain Scenars at 2930 fps had something to do with it. The overall match winner was using a straight .260 Remington and just beat us by three points at the end of the match. In the field, the performance of the .260 Remington is almost indistinguishable from the 6.5x47 Lapua.

The second big match I shot the 6.5x47 rifle at was the 2007 Camp Guernsey Invitational Multi-Gun Match, put on by Colorado Multi-Gun at the National Guard base near Guernsey, Wyoming. This was a match for long-range rifle, carbine, and pistol, with carbine targets to 330 yards and rifle targets to 700 yards. Thirty-eight shooters competed through seven "run and gun" stages, including one night stage, over two days in the terrain of the base. An accurate rifle, rock-solid data, and the light-recoiling 6.5x47 helped me dominate one of the two long-range stages, giving me the match points for an overall win.

In the field, .260 and 6.5x47's performance is virtually indistinguishable. The lighter 123-grain bullet I settled on for the 6.5x47 has only about five inches more drift (per 10 mph cross) at 1000 yards than my 139-grain .260 load, but is one-fifth of a mil flatter at the same distance. Viscerally, the heavier .260 bullet produces more impact signature when impacting long-range steel targets-- but a hit's a hit. Ultimately, I lost some ballistic performance with the 6.5x47 vs. the .260 due to the pressure limitations in my rifle.

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The 6.5 Creedmoor was developed for the express purpose to provide a cartridge with the accuracy and ballistics to be competitive at the top level of High-Power Long-Range competition using factory ammunition, while also being easy on the novice reloader. During the 2006 High-Power Championships at Camp Perry, Hornady's Chief Ballistician Dave Emary was chatting with Service Rifle and National High Power Champion Dennis DeMille. Dave asked Dennis what his ideal competitive round would look like. His answer was that it would shoot high-BC bullets with great accuracy for winning long-range performance; it would have low recoil and have comparatively long barrel life; factory long-range match loads would be available and no more expensive than .308 Winchester; and it would be very "reloader-friendly." The components used in the factory ammunition would all be available to the reloader in plentiful supply, and the factory loads would use readily-available commercial components. The recipe to exactly duplicate the factory loads would be printed on every box of ammunition from Hornady. The powder used in the factory loads is H4350 and the primer is the Federal 210M Match.

Emary and the Hornady engineers went to work and by early 2007 had come up with a cartridge roughly based on the .308 body size, shooting a 6.5 mm bullet. The case has a 30-degree shoulder and a 0.370-inch neck. The case head is identical to .308 Winchester which makes it a shoe-in to any .308 action, and the body is tapered 0.004-inch per side for extraction reliability. While reloaders will indubitably try to hotrod the cartridge, factory ammunition is limited to 58,000 psi and shoots the 140-gr A-MAX (BC 0.585) at 2810 fps from a 26-inch barrel. Compared to some long-range ammunition which runs at a maximum pressure over 60,000 psi, being able to achieve a respectable 2800 fps with the high-BC 6.5 mm bullets will increase safety, aid reliability, and provide long brass life. For reduced recoil or short-course matches, the factory 120-gr A-MAX (BC 0.465) loads run at 2980 fps.

At this point the consistent experimental method suffers a blow. Up until now, all testing was done on the same rifle platform: the AI-AW. For the 6.5 Creedmoor, I was only able to get a barrel for its native competition rifle, the Tubb 2000, from McMillan. I borrowed a Tubb rifle from fellow practical shooter Tom Freeman for the test. Since I'm not an aperture or metallic sight shooter, US Optics provided a 3.8-22x44 mm SN-3 with a mil-scale reticle and EREK 0.1-mil elevation knob for the project. The barrel finished at 28 inches and was not threaded for a muzzle device.

The test rifle was a Tubb 2000 I borrowed from fellow shooter Tom Freeman. With the 28-inch 6.5 Creedmoor barrel screwed on, I added an US Optics SN-3 3.8-22x44 mm scope. This setup could work for "Any/Any" division or F-Class (if a bipod were added).

140-gr Factory Load: 140gr A-Max @ 2770 fps, 41.7gr H4350, 210M, Hornady Brass.
120-gr Factory Load: 120gr A-Max @ 2980 fps, 43.5gr H4350, 210M, Hornady Brass.
From a 100-yard zero, the 140-gr load needs 7.7 mils of elevation to 1000 yards, and will drift 59 inches with a 10 mph cross. Accuracy was 1/2 MOA or a little better.

6.5 Creedmoor, 140 AMAX @ 2810
Zero 100yd  5000' Density Altitude
RANGE  ELEV-  moa    mil     | WIND(10) moa   mil   RANGE
 100    0"    0.00   0.0mil  |   0"   0.50   0.1mil  100
 200    3"    1.25   0.4mil  |   2"   1.00   0.3mil  200
 300   11"    3.50   1.0mil  |   4"   1.25   0.4mil  300
 400   25"    6.00   1.8mil  |   8"   1.75   0.5mil  400
 500   46"    8.75   2.5mil  |  13"   2.50   0.7mil  500
 600   74"   11.75   3.4mil  |  18"   3.00   0.8mil  600
 700  110"   15.00   4.3mil  |  26"   3.50   1.0mil  700
 800  155"   18.50   5.4mil  |  35"   4.25   1.2mil  800
 900  210"   22.25   6.5mil  |  45"   4.75   1.4mil  900
1000  276"   26.25   7.7mil  |  57"   5.50   1.6mil 1000

Due to limited time and a limited amount of pre-production 6.5 Creedmoor brass from Hornady, my load testing wasn't comprehensive. I think long-range shooters will be pleased with the results with the 120 and 140-grain A-MAX bullets; however, I couldn't resist trying some other 6.5 mm bullets in the Creedmoor case. Sticking with Federal 210M primers and H4350, I loaded and shot the 139-grain Lapua Scenar and the 130-grain Berger VLD. Both bullets shot excellent groups like the factory ammunition. The Scenars shot at just about the same velocity as the 140-grain A-MAX when loaded with the same charge. The 130-gr Berger VLD split the velocity of the two factory loads at about 2900 fps. For the reloader willing to push pressure a little bit, I think this cartridge has some headroom.

Hornady intends the 6.5 Creedmoor to be an off-the-shelf solution for long-range shooters, and offers several long-range factory loads for that purpose. The 140-gr load is specced at 2810 fps and the 120-gr load is specced at 2980 fps from a 26-inch barrel. The reloading recipe for each load is printed on every box of factory ammunition, so replicating or improving on the factory loads won't be a mystery.

Although no production brass was available at the time of this review, the pre-production brass was good quality. Judging based on the quality of Hornady's other brass, I expect the production brass to be good quality and affordable, at probable under $0.60/pc.

• Almost identical case capacity to .260 Remington
• Long-range factory loads to be available from Hornady
• Quality yet affordable brass to be available
• Load recipe printed on factory ammo boxes
• Better case design than .260

• Still new. Component availability to be proven.
• Is different than .260 but doesn't offer substantially more performance

I haven't yet had an opportunity to run the 6.5 Creedmoor in practical/field matches. Based on its accuracy and ballistic performance, I expect it to provide exactly the same results as .260 Remington. Dennis DeMille shot the 6.5 Creedmoor during the 2007 NRA High-Power Long-Range season and had great success. It is reported that as soon as he switched to the 6.5, his rapid fire groups and scores went through the roof, and he set a new personal best at the 600 yard line with 200/15X.

Hornady has the right mind-set to make its new cartridge a success in the competitive and practical market, unlike Remington who basically let the .260 languish in a few hunting rifles.

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The .260, 6.5x47, and 6.5 Creedmoor have almost indistinguishable ballistic performance. Factory ammunition for the 6.5x47 Lapua is down 100-150 fps versus the .260 and 6.5 Creedmoor, but an experienced reloader with a strong action can match or exceed their performance with hand loads due to the strong case design. I wasn't able to test the 6.5 Creedmoor in an AI-AW like the .260 and 6.5x47. My best guess is that it would match or slightly exceed .260 Remington, but the variance would be within what we see barrel to barrel.

Anyone with a rifle in any one of these three calibers would be silly to ditch a working system to switch to another of them-- they are that similar. Make your choice based on component availability and price.

What will I do? Because of the primer issue in the AI-AW rifles, I get better ballistics from .260 than 6.5x47. I'm going to keep shooting the original Rock Creek / GA Precision .260 barrel until it's toast, and then look at which of .260 or 6.5 Creedmoor has better brass for a cheaper price for the next 6.5 mm barrel.

The latest caliber or gear is no substitute for experience and skill. Rifles and cartridges don't make hits -- shooters do.

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