Shorty 6.5: Creed or x47?

[Bully]

So a little background.

I'm learning to spin together my own rifles. I'm not very good at it but I'm giving it hell. I have an itch to build a short barreled (17") 6.5 rifle. It's gonna be a "cheap" rifle on a Remington 700 that I trued up and a Green Mountain barrel.

Yes, yes. I know about velocity loss and the detriments of going with a short rifle all too well. I'm not building this to shoot a mile. I'm building it to shoot at 300 and have a hoot doing it. So all the crap that is gonna get spewed about "why" can stop now.

I'm betwixt and between the 6.5Creed and the 6.5x47Lapua. I owned a Lapua and it was awesome. I would certainly do another. The appeal of the Creed is it's everywhere. And I've not owned one. There's easily available ammo from the store and TONS of load data.

The plan is to build the rifle around the 123 Sierra Tipped Match King. Barrel will be a 1:8 in case I want to shoot heavier. But mostly the 123's. The BC is pretty close to the 130's and it can go a bit faster.

What sayeth The Hide?

 

[buffybuster]

If you want the possibility to shoot factory ammo then Creedmoor, if handload only then Lapua. That's pretty much what it comes down to.

 

[sid]

Why 17" and not 16"? I mean go short or not I'm actually thinking about the same, I have x47 dies, but I'd like the possibility of buying ammo from the shelf.
I have a 20" barrel and the only reason it's not mounted is because it's not short enough.

 

[502Chevelle]

You could screw a can on that thing and it would still be short enough to be a handy little rifle. Good luck with your project. By the way, I don’t think you could go wrong with either caliber. Tons of load data on both.

 

[dms416]

Nice thing about the Lapua seems to be plenty of good loads with Varget; thus, not being so dependent upon H4350 supply.

I'm not fully into reloading yet, but the 6.5CM factory stuff is losing its novelty. I've had one barrel that loves the Winchester stuff (and it's cheap). The next barrel hates it. PRIME performance has also been a mixed bag between barrels. Hornady seems pretty consistent, but depending on what bullet you want, it can be tricky to stock up in the more popular bullet weights...and assuming you get the same lot numbers. Right now, I'm getting my 6.5 done by McCourt.

 

[Niles Coyote]

As has been stated, if you want factory ammo support get the creedmoor. If you want stupid easy load development where almost any load used will be good, get the 47L. Below is a Green Mountain barrel 1:8 in 6.5x47 at 600, 2.25" oal 5 shot, 140 hybrids.

 

[Bully]

You could screw a can on that thing and it would still be short enough to be a handy little rifle. Good luck with your project. By the way, I don’t think you could go wrong with either caliber. Tons of load data on both.

I'm in NJ....

 

[silhouette]

I think smaller capacity cases are more efficient than large ones in shorter barrels, so I vote the x47.

 

[Niles Coyote]

One thing I forgot about, have you had your firing pin channel bushed? if not you may have firing pin/primer problems with the 47L.

 

[lte82]

Nice thing about the Lapua seems to be plenty of good loads with Varget; thus, not being so dependent upon H4350 supply.

I'm not fully into reloading yet, but the 6.5CM factory stuff is losing its novelty. I've had one barrel that loves the Winchester stuff (and it's cheap). The next barrel hates it. PRIME performance has also been a mixed bag between barrels. Hornady seems pretty consistent, but depending on what bullet you want, it can be tricky to stock up in the more popular bullet weights...and assuming you get the same lot numbers. Right now, I'm getting my 6.5 done by McCourt.

You can use varget with a creedmoor too. Actually 8208 works as well (tried it a year or more ago).

 

[Diver160651]

At 16 or 17” have you thought about a slightly faster twist?

 

[Bully]

At 16 or 17” have you thought about a slightly faster twist?

I hadn’t as I’m gonna run the 123’s. The 8 should handle them just fine and at 17” I’ll get almost 2 complete turns.

 

[Guns&WhiteWater]

As a side note, I have been using Reloder 16 (with 147's) to great effect with my 47, although I have to use a drop tube. I have heard not-so-good things about using Varget extensively.

 

[Sig Marine]

I’ve had a few 6.5x47s and found my rifles did better with H4350 when shooting 140s. Varget shot better using the lighter bullets like the 130s and 120 class bullets. YMMV

 

[Bully]

As a side note, I have been using Reloder 16 (with 147's) to great effect with my 47, although I have to use a drop tube. I have heard not-so-good things about using Varget extensively.

I’ve had a few 6.5x47s and found my rifles did better with H4350 when shooting 140s. Varget shot better using the lighter bullets like the 130s and 120 class bullets. YMMV

As per the OP, I'll be running the 123's 99% of the time.

 

[BobinNC]

If you have a Creedmoor your not dependent on H4350.

You can also use these for top velocities in the Creed:

AA 4350
IMR 4350
SW 4350
Reloader 16
Reloader 17
Reloader 19
VV N-555
Hodgdon Hybrid 100
Winchester StaBall 6.5


For bullets, for a short barrel, I would focus on the 123 grain class like you planned. Nosler CC 123, Sierra 123 SMK, or Hornady 123 ELD Match make a nice match / paper punchers, and Hornady 123 gr SST would do nicely for game. They have BC's similar enough to use both pretty much interchangeably.

If your feeling flush, Hornady, Nosler and Barnes all make 120 grain high BC mono bullets if you need a stouter bullet without giving up the initial velocity need to open them up at range.



.

 

[XTREM HTR16]

If you’re going to hunt antelope/deer/hogs, don’t sleep on the Nosler 120 ballistic tip. It’s a deadly killer.