The 6.5mm Creedmoor (6.5×48 mm),
designated 6.5 Creedmoor by
SAAMI
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several Americ ...
, 6.5 Creedmoor by the
C.I.P. or 6.5 CM or 6.5 CRDMR for short, is a
centerfire
Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center
A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rim ...
rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
cartridge
Cartridge may refer to:
Objects
* Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition
* ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device
* Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators
Other uses
* Cartridge (surname), a ...
introduced by
Hornady
Hornady Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of ammunition cartridges, components and handloading equipments, based in Grand Island, Nebraska.
History
The company is currently run by Joyce Hornady's son, Steve Hornady, who took over ...
in 2007.
It was developed by Hornady senior ballistics scientist Dave Emary in partnership with Dennis DeMille, the
vice-president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
of product development at Creedmoor Sports, hence the name. The cartridge is a necked-down modification of the
.30 Thompson Center }
The .30 Thompson Center (7.62×48 mm), designated 30 THOMPSON CENTER by SAAMI, 30 TC by the C.I.P., is a centerfire rifle cartridge developed for Thompson Center Arms by Hornady intended to deliver .30-06 Springfield performance in a .308 Wi ...
.
The 6.5mm Creedmoor was designed specifically for
long-range target shooting
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms ( firearms and airguns, in forms su ...
,
although it has been used successfully in
game hunting
Trophy hunting is a form of hunting for field sports, sport in which parts of the hunted wild animals are kept and displayed as trophies. The animal being targeted, known as the "game (hunting), game", is typically a mature male specimen from a p ...
.
Bullet-for-bullet, the 6.5mm Creedmoor achieves a slower
muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...
than longer cartridges such as the
6.5-284 Norma
The 6.5-284 Norma originated as a wildcat cartridge based on the .284 Winchester cartridge necked down to 6.5 mm.
History
The parent case .284 Winchester was created around 1963, but did not see extensive commercial use. The 6.5 caliber ...
or
magnum cartridge
A magnum cartridge is a firearm cartridge with a larger case size than, or derived from, a similar cartridge of the same projectile (bullet) caliber and case shoulder shape. The term derives from the .357 Magnum, the original cartridge with this d ...
s such as the
6.5mm Remington Magnum. However, due to its
overall length
The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...
of , it is capable of chambering in short-action rifles like the
6.5×47mm Lapua.
Design considerations
In general,
6.5 mm (.264 in) bullets are known for their high
sectional density
Sectional density (often abbreviated SD) is the ratio of an object's mass to its cross sectional area with respect to a given axis. It conveys how well an object's mass is distributed (by its shape) to overcome resistance along that axis.
Sectio ...
and
ballistic coefficient
In ballistics, the ballistic coefficient (BC, ''C'') of a body is a measure of its ability to overcome air resistance in flight. It is inversely proportional to the negative acceleration: a high number indicates a low negative acceleration—the d ...
s, and often have been used successfully in rifle competitions.
The 6.5mm Creedmoor was designed for target shooting at longer ranges, and as such, couples a sensible case volume (3.40 ml) to bore area (34.66 mm
2/0.3466 cm
2) ratio with ample space for loading long slender projectiles providing good aerodynamic efficiency and external ballistic performance for the projectile diameter.
For some loads, the 6.5mm Creedmoor is capable of duplicating the muzzle velocity
or trajectory of the
.300 Winchester Magnum
The .300 Winchester Magnum (also known as .300 Win Mag or .300 WM) (7.62×67mmB, 7.62x66BR) is a belted, bottlenecked magnum rifle cartridge that was introduced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963. The .300 Winchester Magnum is a m ...
while generating significantly-lower
recoil
Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force requ ...
, based on lighter projectile weight.
Cartridge dimensions
The 6.5mm Creedmoor has 3.40 ml (52.5
grains
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legume ...
H
2O) cartridge case capacity.
![6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/6.5mm_Creedmoor_dimensions.png)
6.5mm Creedmoor maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).
Americans define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 = 30 degrees. The common
rifling
In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the pro ...
twist rate for this cartridge is 203 mm (1 in 8 in), 6 grooves, Ø lands = , Ø grooves = , land width = , and the
primer type is large rifle or small rifle depending on the cartridge case manufacturer.
According to the official
C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives) rulings, 6.5mm Creedmoor can handle up to P
max piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries, every rifle cartridge combo has to be
proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers.
In CIP-regulated areas, 6.5mm Creedmoor chambered arms are proof-tested at PE piezo pressure.
The
SAAMI
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several Americ ...
Maximum Average Pressure (MAP) for this cartridge is piezo pressure
Performance
The 6.5mm Creedmoor is a medium-power cartridge comparable to the
.260 Remington
The .260 Remington (also known as 6.5-08 A-Square) cartridge was introduced by Remington in 1997. Many wildcat cartridges based on the .308 Winchester case had existed for years before Remington standardized this round.
Because 6.5 mm ( ...
and
6.5×47mm Lapua. Its energy at 300 yards using 129-grain Hornady SST bullets is listed by an independent reviewer as .
For the 140-grain bullet at initial velocity, another reviewer reports an
MPBR for a six-inch-high target of , and reports a manufacturer-claim of "almost " of retained energy at using a barrel.
SAAMI test data confirms 6.5 mm Creedmoor, from muzzle, velocity of for the 129-grain bullet and for the 140-grain bullet (which compares to
.300 Winchester Magnum
The .300 Winchester Magnum (also known as .300 Win Mag or .300 WM) (7.62×67mmB, 7.62x66BR) is a belted, bottlenecked magnum rifle cartridge that was introduced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963. The .300 Winchester Magnum is a m ...
data of for a 200-grain bullet and for a 210-grain bullet).
6.5mm Creedmoor can provide sub-half-minute of angle accuracy from factory ammo.
The cartridge stays supersonic and maintains its accuracy to past , while the .308 Winchester with 168-grain match bullets has a supersonic range of about .
A
semiautomatic sniper rifle with a 20-inch barrel, in 6.5mm Creedmoor, is capable of engaging military targets from
point blank
Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...
range to 1,100 meters.
Handloading
![Long Bullets](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Long_Bullets.jpg)
Handloading costs for the 6.5mm Creedmoor are roughly-equivalent to other 6.5 mm cartridges, such as the 6.5×47mm Lapua, due to the availability of Lapua small primer brass for both cartridges.
As of January 2020 Lapua is also manufacturing 6.5 Creedmoor brass with large rifle primers.
Norma makes brass for the cartridge, and Norma brass is available through several major-retailers at approximately the same cost as Lapua brass. Lapua brass for 6.5×47 lasts for about 12-to-20 reloads. Starline sells brass cases with either large or small primer pockets, with small pocket brass costing slightly more.
After the 6.5mm Creedmoor was introduced, it was advertised as a 60,000 psi capable case.
However, after it was placed into production, Hornady listed it as 62,000 psi, then registered it with SAAMI as such. For this reason, many hand loaders have poor experiences reloading for it. Blown primers on the first shot at 62,000 psi are not uncommon. Early shooting articles listed the ammo as loaded to 58,000 psi,
but later citings list it as 57,000 psi. Hornady reduced the loads in its factory ammo because of complaints it was often blowing primers.
Lapua delivered 6.5mm Creedmoor brass at Shot show 2017, and production quantities became available via major retailers in second quarter 2017. The Lapua version has a small primer pocket.
Thus, load data for small-primer brass are not interchangeable with those for large-primer brass. A smaller diameter decapping rod is required to size and decap. As of January 2020 Lapua also manufactures its brass with large rifle primers addressing concerns that some small rifle primers may not efficiently ignite the powder charge in cold weather conditions causing hang fires or misfires. Large rifle primer Lapua brass also allows the use of a standard size decapping rod.
The 6.5mm Creedmoor as parent case
![Creedmoors](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Creedmoors.jpg)
The 6mm Creedmoor is a
necked-down version of the 6.5mm Creedmoor using 6 mm (.243 inch) bullets, lighter than 6.5 mm bullets with similarly-reduced recoil. John Snow at ''
Outdoor Life
''Outdoor Life'' is an outdoors magazine about camping, fishing, hunting, and survival. It is a sister magazine of ''Field & Stream''. Together with ''Sports Afield'', they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publishing by Money (m ...
'' built a 6mm Creedmoor rifle in 2009 for a magazine article of the wildcat cartridge that appeared in 2010, but the first documented conception of the 6mm Creedmoor was by Lee Gardner, a Snipershide forum user in May 2009. As of May 2018,
Savage Arms
Savage Arms is an American gunmaker based in Westfield, Massachusetts, with operations in Canada. Savage makes a variety of rimfire and centerfire rifles, as well as Stevens single-shot rifles and shotguns. The company is best known for the Mo ...
offers three bolt-action rifles and one semiautomatic rifle chambered in 6mm Creedmoor. As of May 2018,
Hornady
Hornady Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of ammunition cartridges, components and handloading equipments, based in Grand Island, Nebraska.
History
The company is currently run by Joyce Hornady's son, Steve Hornady, who took over ...
offers 87-gr Varmint Express, 103-gr Precision Hunter and 108-gr Match ammunition in 6mm Creedmoor. Performance-wise, the 6mm Creedmoor is nearly identical to
.243 Winchester, with slightly less powder room but often loaded to slightly higher pressures. However since the cartridge was designed from the outset to better handle longer bullets and rifles are accordingly built with fast twist rates the 6mm Creedmoor will usually give better performance with heavy for caliber bullets than the .243.
The .22 Creedmoor is another even further
necked-down version of the 6.5mm Creedmoor using .22 (.224 inch) bullets, lighter than 6 mm bullets with even softer recoil.
Military use
In October 2017,
U.S. Special Operations Command
The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Arm ...
(USSOCOM) tested the performance of
7.62×51mm NATO
The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries.
First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first been introduced in U.S. service fo ...
(M118LR long-range 7.62×51mm NATO load),
.260 Remington
The .260 Remington (also known as 6.5-08 A-Square) cartridge was introduced by Remington in 1997. Many wildcat cartridges based on the .308 Winchester case had existed for years before Remington standardized this round.
Because 6.5 mm ( ...
, and 6.5mm Creedmoor cartridges out of
SR-25
The SR-25 (Stoner Rifle-25) is a designated marksman rifle and semi-automatic sniper rifle designed by Eugene Stoner and manufactured by Knight's Armament Company.
The SR-25 uses a rotating bolt and a direct impingement gas system. It is loose ...
,
M110A1, and
Mk 20 Sniper Support Rifle (SSR) rifles. SOCOM determined 6.5 Creedmoor performed the best, doubling hit-probability at , increasing effective range by nearly half, reducing wind drift by a third, with less recoil than 7.62×51mm NATO rounds. Tests showed the .260 Remington and 6.5mm Creedmoor cartridges were similarly accurate and reliable, and the external ballistic behavior was also very-similar. The prevailing attitude is there was more room with the 6.5mm Creedmoor to develop projectiles and loads.
As the two cartridges (7.62×51mm NATO and 6.5 mm Creedmoor) have similar dimensions, the same magazines can be used, and a rifle can be converted with just a barrel change. This led to its adoption and fielding by special operations snipers to replace the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge in their semi-automatic sniper rifles, planned in early 2019. In response to SOCOM's adoption,
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
also decided to adopt the round. U.S. Special Operations Command will convert their 7.62×51mm NATO M110 Semi-automatic Sniper rifle (SASS) and Mk 20 Sniper Support Rifle (SSR) rifles to 6.5 Creedmoor in 2019, a process that requires just a new barrel. In 2018, USSOCOM announced they would roll-out 6.5 mm Creedmoor in a long-range precision rifle, and use it in a carbine and assault machine-gun.
The US Special Operations Forces will use the same caliber for an assault rifle, light machine gun, and sniper rifle. That will give better penetration and terminal ballistics (because of high
sectional density
Sectional density (often abbreviated SD) is the ratio of an object's mass to its cross sectional area with respect to a given axis. It conveys how well an object's mass is distributed (by its shape) to overcome resistance along that axis.
Sectio ...
and retained energy) while providing longer range precision fire.
At the National Defense Industry Association’s annual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC), beginning May 20, 2019, FN unveiled a prototype of its
Mk 48 Mod 2 machine gun chambered in 6.5 mm Creedmoor to fill a USSOCOM requirement. American special operations forces are in the process of acquiring a lightweight belt-fed machine gun offering a better range than existing weapons. 6.5 Creedmoor has since received the designation of XM1200.
In November 2019, the U.S. Navy ordered 6.5mm Creedmoor conversion kits to upgrade the
M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System
The M110 Semi Automatic Sniper System (M110 SASS) is an American semi-automatic precision rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO round. It is manufactured by Knight's Armament Company, developed from the Knight's Armament Company SR ...
to the M110K1 variant.
In April 2020 the
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
decided to replace the
Mk13 .300 Winchester Magnum sniper rifle with a barrel, semi-automatic AR-10 platform chambered in 6.5 mm Creedmoor and ammunition for engagements from .
See also
*
.30 Remington
The .30 Remington cartridge was created in 1906 by Remington Arms. It was Remington's rimless answer to the popular .30-30 Winchester cartridge. Factory ammunition was produced until the late 1980s, but now it is a prospect for handloaders. Lo ...
*
6 mm caliber
This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets of a caliber between and .
*''Length'' refers to the cartridge case length
*''OAL'' refers to the overall length of the cartridge
Measurements are in millimeters then inches, i.e. ''mm (i ...
*
.276 Pedersen
The .276 Pedersen (7×51mm) round was an experimental 7 mm cartridge developed for the United States Army. It was used in the Pedersen rifle and early versions of what would become the M1 Garand.
Summary
Developed in 1923 in the United S ...
*
.277 Fury
The .277 Fury or 6.8×51mm Common Cartridge, (designated as the .277 SIG Fury by the SAAMI) is a centerfire rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge announced by SIG Sauer in late 2019. Its hybrid three-piece cartridge case has a steel case head an ...
*
6.8mm Remington SPC
The 6.8mm Remington Special Purpose Cartridge (6.8 SPC, 6.8 SPC II or 6.8×43mm) is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate rifle cartridge that was developed by Remington Arms in collaboration with members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and U ...
*
6.5mm Grendel
The 6.5mm Grendel is an intermediate cartridge jointly designed by British-American armorer Bill Alexander, competitive shooter Arne Brennan (of Houston, Texas) and Lapua ballistician Janne Pohjoispää, as a low-recoil, high-precision rifle cart ...
*
6.5×50mmSR Arisaka
The 6.5x50mmSR Arisaka is a semi-rimmed rifle cartridge with a 6.5 mm (.264 in) diameter bullet. It was the standard Japanese military cartridge from 1897 until the late 1930s for service rifles and machine guns when it was gradually repla ...
*
6.5×52mm Carcano
*
6.5×55mm Swedish
*
List of firearms
This is an extensive list of small arms—including pistols, revolvers, submachine guns, shotguns, battle rifles, assault rifles, sniper rifles, machine guns, personal defense weapons, carbines, designated marksman rifles, flamethrowers, multipl ...
*
List of rifle cartridges
List of rifle cartridges, by primer type, calibre and name.
File:Cartridge Sample 2.jpg, 350px, From left to right: 1 .17 HM2,2 .17 HMR, 2.5 .17 wsm, 3 .22LR, 4 .22 WMR, 5 .17/23 SMc, 6 5mm/35 SMc, 7 .22 Hornet, 8 .223 Remington, 9 .223 WSSM ...
*
Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
This is a table of selected pistol/submachine gun and rifle/machine gun cartridges by common name. Data values are the highest found for the cartridge, and might not occur in the same load (e.g. the highest muzzle energy might not be in the same ...
References
External links
Shooting and Loading the 6.5mm Creedmoor from ''American Rifleman''.
{{Hornady
Pistol and rifle cartridges
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2008