Recommend me a 6.5 Creed for deer

[bigbossman]

Thank you....
I'm going through the same crap with my Henry Long Ranger. My Marlin 94c shoots better groups. Hell, at 25 yards I can throw rocks better..

Not a problem. I bought the rifle for $250 on a Black Friday sale, with the intention of tinkering with and creating a budget hunting rifle. I did not know about the crappy design and the hi-jinks I would have to go through to make the gun work. If you're looking for a budget shooter and are satisfied with it as-is out of the box, fine. But it is not a rifle to buy with the intention of improving it.

I'll have to try to find the old tread and post the link if you're interested in reading about it.

In contrast, I traded into a Winchester Model 70 XTR, pillar bedded it (easy-peasy), mounted a scope, and had it grouping sub-moa in about 15 rounds.

[golfish]

Not a problem. I bought the rifle for $250 on a Black Friday sale, with the intention of tinkering with and creating a budget hunting rifle. I did not know about the crappy design and the hi-jinks I would have to go through to make the gun work. If you're looking for a budget shooter and are satisfied with it as-is out of the box, fine. But it is not a rifle to buy with the intention of improving it.

I'll have to try to find the old tread and post the link if you're interested in reading about it.

In contrast, I traded into a Winchester Model 70 XTR, pillar bedded it (easy-peasy), mounted a scope, and had it grouping sub-moa in about 15 rounds.

Thanks again. Don't worry about finding the other thread, I'm good..
I almost bought a Ruger M77 but it didn't work out.

[bigbossman]

Thanks again. Don't worry about finding the other thread, I'm good..
I almost bought a Ruger M77 but it didn't work out.

Too late, I found the threads.

Summary - My goal was not to just go out and buy a nice rifle in 6.5 CM, rather I was wanting to see if a bottom tier rifle would shoot, and if not, see if I could make it shoot without spending a lot of money. I got my answer, and it was a "yes"......... but it took hand loading AND more than an insignificant amount of redneck "engineering" to make this rifle shoot.

Starting at post 45:

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?p=24217205#post24217205

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1610697&highlight=mossberg

[JWil]

I know you said 6.5 creed, but 6.8 western is a better 6.X round. 6.5 is a cool round but way more practical for benchrest target guns. .270 wouldn't be bad, buuut it's a barrel burner.

[ar15barrels]

I know you said 6.5 creed, but 6.8 western is a better 6.X round. 6.5 is a cool round but way more practical for benchrest target guns.
.270 wouldn't be bad, buuut it's a barrel burner.

6.8 western burns more powder than 270 so it's going to be even MORE of a barrel burner than the 270win.

Using max loads from hodgdon and the same powder and bullet weight, the accuratereloading barrel life calculator says 1180 rounds for a 6.8 Western while the 270win gets 1675.
Of course the 6.8 western gets more velocity since it burns several grains more powder and runs at higher pressures.

Speed costs barrel life.
There's no way around it.

[waveslayer]

6.8 is interesting, but nothing that really isn't out there already

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[Kerplow]

6.8 western burns more powder than 270 so it's going to be even MORE of a barrel burner than the 270win.

Using max loads from hodgdon and the same powder and bullet weight, the accuratereloading barrel life calculator says 1180 rounds for a 6.8 Western while the 270win gets 1675.
Of course the 6.8 western gets more velocity since it burns several grains more powder and runs at higher pressures.

Speed costs barrel life.
There's no way around it.

[ar15barrels]

Barrel life depends on accuracy requirement.
Accuracy requirement depends on target size and distance.
No way to accurately answer an unqualified question.
So the answer is yes, no or maybe, but it depends...

I was not nit-picking.
I was responding to the humorous comment that a 270 Winchester is a barrel burner.
The guy was saying that as if the 6.8 western was not even a bigger barrel burner.

The 6.8 western is 5-10% faster than the 270 Winchester with the exact same bullets being used in both so it wins on terminal ballistics but it absolutely loses on ease of ammo availability.

[RNE228]

Between factory rounds and wildcats, couldn't you really say that about all the rounds out there?

6.8 is interesting, but nothing that really isn't out there already

[waveslayer]

Between factory rounds and wildcats, couldn't you really say that about all the rounds out there?

My point exactly! So .... nothing special about the 6.8

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[Kerplow]

Barrel life depends on accuracy requirement.
Accuracy requirement depends on target size and distance.
No way to accurately answer an unqualified question.
So the answer is yes, no or maybe, but it depends...

I was not nit-picking.
I was responding to the humorous comment that a 270 Winchester is a barrel burner.
The guy was saying that as if the 6.8 western was not even a bigger barrel burner.

The 6.8 western is 5-10% faster than the 270 Winchester with the exact same bullets being used in both so it wins on terminal ballistics but it absolutely loses on ease of ammo availability.

I didn’t read your reply as nit-picking, I was referring to the fact that it’s even a topic of discussion at all for a deer rifle.

The more I think about it, unless you’re trying to get as much practice/training as humanly possible out of a gun, I don’t see barrel life as a factor for much of anything.

Then again, some folks get joy out of squeezing every last penny out of anything they can, but I’m not that guy.

[cz74]

Tikka:

https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting-gear-gun-supplies/rifles/tikka-t3x-superlite-matte-stainless-bolt-action-rifle-65-creedmoor/p/1463077

Savage 110:

https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting-gear-gun-supplies/rifles/savage-10110-predator-hunter-bolt-action-rifle/p/1303124

Tikka is $20 cheaper than Savage right now, which one to get?

[Kevin11mee]

Definitely a Tikka over a Savage. The 6.5 CM is a great deer cartridge. The 6.8 Western is really cool also, but it's only available in the model 70 and Browning bolts, which I think are beyond the OP's budget. If you want to spend a bit more, I think the 6.8 Western is a great choice. It shoots a .270 caliber bullet not only faster than the .270 Win but the barrels are twisted faster which means it can push the high bc 165 and 175 grain bullets; which also makes it a legitimate elk cartridge, but it also recoils more than the .270 win.

[ar15barrels]

Tikka:

https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting-gear-gun-supplies/rifles/tikka-t3x-superlite-matte-stainless-bolt-action-rifle-65-creedmoor/p/1463077

Savage 110:

https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting-gear-gun-supplies/rifles/savage-10110-predator-hunter-bolt-action-rifle/p/1303124

Tikka is $20 cheaper than Savage right now, which one to get?

If you want a lightweight rifle to carry all day and only shoot 2-3 rounds, then you want the Tikka.
If you want a target rifle to take to the range and shoot 20+ rounds in a day, you want a heavier barrelled rifle than the Tikka.
The Savage weights 2.5lb more so it probably has a heavier barrel.

[bigbossman]

If you want a lightweight rifle to carry all day and only shoot 2-3 rounds, then you want the Tikka.

I'm not sure how the SuperLite in the link compares to the older T3 Lite, but I have an older T3 Lite in 30-06 and it is a very accurate hunting rifle out of the box. I just did a quick ladder test, picked the best load and was done. No tinkering at all, and it has taken proven itself in the field over and over. The action is slick as glass, and because of these two reasons I would not hesitate to buy another Tikka, and would certainly choose one over a Savage for similar money.

But you're right - for a hunting rifle, not a target shooter.