6.5 CM vs 1:9 twist 243

[TNHighlands]

I think it is just folks having more options now.

6.5 is a soft recoil. Everyone should shoot a light weight 30-06 or 300 mag so they can compare the recoil instead of getting a light recoil gun and try a lighter recoil gun.

For sure. There's no doubt in my mind lighter recoil equates to higher hit rates and i'm fully sold on their effectiveness having dropped multiple deer with 6.5 creed and 6 arc this year. No more dead than my 7 mag with 162's.

Having shot both beside a suppressed 300 win, the main concern with recoil would be spotting misses. But, that gun was still shooting .5" with experienced shooters and premium ammo without inducing flinches.

 

[Rich M]

For sure. There's no doubt in my mind lighter recoil equates to higher hit rates and i'm fully sold on their effectiveness having dropped multiple deer with 6.5 creed and 6 arc this year. No more dead than my 7 mag with 162's.

Having shot both beside a suppressed 300 win, the main concern with recoil would be spotting misses. But, that gun was still shooting .5" with experienced shooters and premium ammo without inducing flinches.

Eastern hunter - I dont usually get shots far enough to miss on first shot due to cold bore or wind or whatever. 2025 buck was 50 yds - off a rest. Was expecting 150-250 yd shot but not complaining.

 

[TNHighlands]

Eastern hubter - I dont usually get shots far enough to miss on first shot due to cold bore or wind or whatever. 2025 buck was 50 yds - off a rest. Was expecring 150-250 yd shot but not complaining.

Same. My max shots locally are maybe 300 tops.

 

[coyotekilla]

For me, I wouldn’t want the limits of a 9 twist 243 barrel.

Well, ive killed more whitetail than you can stack on a pickup with 100gr soft points in a 9.25 twist Remington. I'll stand behind any 243 that will sling a 85gr sierra hpgk or 100gr sp into 3/4" of an inch. For game under 400lb the combo has almost no equal.

I like my creed too, but the 243 did it first and just as good, if not better.

 

[AZ Gator]

Well, ive killed more whitetail than you can stack on a pickup with 100gr soft points in a 9.25 twist Remington. I'll stand behind any 243 that will sling a 85gr sierra hpgk or 100gr sp into 3/4" of an inch. For game under 400lb the combo has almost no equal.

I like my creed too, but the 243 did it first and just as good, if not better.

No doubt. That doesn’t mean it (that twist) would be sufficient for shooting a 107, 109, or 116.

If I were guessing, 10tw 243’s have killed more deer than 6CM ever will. That doesn’t mean it isn’t limited, which is what I was speaking (writing) to.

 

[TxxAgg]

Tagged

 

[Cherokeeguide]

If you had a choice to always hunt with either a 6.5 CM or a 1:9” twist 243, which would you choose?

Since I would have to buy a brand-new or new-to-me rifle to do this, I'd go 6.5 Creedmoor.

The reason why is that I think I'd have a better shot at getting a usefully accurate rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. The SAAMI spec 6.5 Creedmoor chamber dimensions call for tight tolerances in the critical throat area of the chamber; tighter than the SAAMI tolerances for the .243 Winchester.

If I still had my Herter's J9 Zastava Mauser 98 or Savage Model 10 Sierra in .243 Winchester, I'd stick with the .243 and wouldn't have much justification for buying a 6.5 Creedmoor, as both of those rifles were plenty accurate enough to be fun to shoot on the range and take game as far as I care to shoot it with anything. I don't think a broadside mule deer shot through the heart at 300 yards or less could tell the difference, twixt the twain, and they're BOTH "more powerful" on paper than the pipsqueak .250 Savage that I killed most of my mule deer with was. .

 

[TREE ‘EM]

It’s not a hypothetical question to me as I have both. My preference for big game leans to the 6.5, as there’s simply more and better bullet choices that I’m comfortable with. That said, if we’re talking strictly deer and pronghorn, I’m perfectly comfortable with my 9 twist Barrett Fieldcraft .243, especially when you add skinnable furbearers to the mix.