Compared: The 6.5mm Creedmoor and .260 Remington

By Chuck Hawks


There is a growing interest in 6.5mm (.26 caliber) cartridges in the US and Canada and Guns and Shooting Online has covered virtually all of the standardized 6.5s over the years. Most of the staff own rifles for various 6.5mm cartridges and many articles about these rifles and cartridges have appeared on G&S Online, which remains one of the best, perhaps the best, information resource about 6.5mm hunting rifles and cartridges online or in print.

The 6.5mm Creedmoor and .260 Remington, like most 6.5mm hunting cartridges before them, achieve their excellent killing power primarily due to the high sectional density (SD) of their hunting weight bullets. This is particularly true of the 140 grain bullet that is the "all around" bullet weight for the caliber.

Standard .264" (6.5mm) diameter bullets have outstanding SD compared to bullets of similar weight, type and purpose in the popular .270, 7mm and .30 calibers. This gives them the potential for superior penetration, other things being equal.

For example, a 140 grain .264 bullet has a SD of .287. This compares favorably with the .270/140 grain (SD .261), 7mm/150 grain (.266) and .308/165 grain (SD .248). Actually, the 140 grain 6.5mm bullet is equivalent in sectional density to a 7mm/162 grain bullet (SD .287) or a .308/190 grain bullet (SD .286).

No wonder the traditional 6.5mm hunting cartridges are so well regarded for their penetration and killing power with moderate recoil. The first requirement for any killing shot is to get the bullet into the vitals.

This is a comparison between two relative newcomers to the 6.5mm cartridges scene, the .260 Remington and the 6.5mm Creedmoor. The .260 Remington was introduced in 1997 and the 6.5mm Creedmoor was introduced by Hornady in 2008. Remington introduced the .260 primarily as a hunting cartridge, while Hornady introduced the 6.5mm Creedmoor primarily as a long range match cartridge. However, it has subsequently made the transition to hunting rifles.

Both cartridges are designed for use in .308 Winchester length, short action rifles. This makes them potentially suitable for use in a wide variety of bolt action, autoloading, lever action, pump and single shot rifles.

The 6.5mm Creedmoor

6.5mm Creedmoor
Not shown to scale. Illustration courtesy of Nosler.

The 6.5mm Creedmoor was designed by Hornady's Dave Emory and Dennis DeMille. It was specifically designed as a match cartridge to use long ogive, high ballistic coefficient match bullets, such as the Hornady 140 and 147 grain ELD Match.

Hornady literature claims, "One of the biggest advantages the 6.5mm Creedmoor has over cartridges like the .260 Remington and the 6.5-284 is the fact that it was designed from the ground up as a short action cartridge." This is simply not true, since in fact both the .260 and 6.5-284 were also designed from the outset as short action cartridges.

To accommodate bullets with a very long, tapered ogive in a short action (.308 length) rifle, the 6.5mm Creedmoor case was based on a necked-down .30 T/C case, another Hornady creation that was itself based on a shortened .308 Winchester case. The reality, therefore, is that both the 6.5mm Creedmoor and the .260 are based on cases derived from the .308 Win.

The rationale behind shortening the case (and thus reducing the powder capacity) was to allow more room forward of the shoulder for the ELD match bullets, which have an unusually long ogive, to protrude farther from the case. This allows such bullets extra room in the chamber of short action target rifles, which are almost always single shot, bolt action designs.

This approach is the reverse of modern hunting cartridge design, which generally strives to maximize case capacity in order to maximize ballistic performance. However, as previously stated, the 6.5mm Creedmoor was designed as a match cartridge, not a hunting cartridge. Competition target shooters and hunters have different requirements for both their rifles and cartridges.

The cartridge specifications call for a rim diameter of .473", rim thickness of .054", head diameter of .470", 30 degree shoulder angle and 1.920" maximum case length. The case measures 1.490" from the back of the rim to the shoulder and the neck is 0.285" long. The maximum cartridge overall length is 2.8", which is the same as the .260 Remington. The SAAMI maximum average pressure (MAP) limit is 62,000 psi.

Hornady supports their 6.5mm Creedmoor cartridge by offering no less than 10 match and hunting factory loads. The Hornady hunting loads use bullets weighing 120, 129 and 143 grains.

As with any 6.5mm cartridge, for big game hunters the money load is a bullet weighing approximately 140 grains. Hornady, Nosler and Winchester offer factory loaded ammunition using bullets in this weight class at MVs from 2650-2710 fps. (Federal and Remington do not load for the 6.5 Creedmoor at this time.) Using near maximum loads, reloaders can equal the velocities of the 140 grain factory loads and they can achieve up to about 2550 fps with the heavy for caliber 156-160 grain bullets.

The 6.5mm Creedmoor has gotten considerable attention from the outdoor media in the last couple of years. As this is written, Browning, Nosler, Ruger, Savage and T/C offer rifles in 6.5mm Creedmoor, so the cartridge appears to be catching on.

The .260 Remington

.260 Rem.
Not shown to scale. Illustration courtesy of Nosler.

A-Square applied first to SAAMI to standardize the then wildcat 6.5mm-08, but it was Remington's later application that was accepted. The 6.5mm-08 wildcat had come to the attention of both A-Square and Remington due to its success in the sports of metallic silhouette and NRA High Power competition.

The .260 is based on a .308 Winchester case simply necked down to accept .264" bullets. Like the .308, its rim diameter is the standard .473" and rim thickness is .054"; its shoulder angle is 20 degrees. The case length is 2.035" and the maximum cartridge overall length (COL) is 2.8". The SAAMI MAP is specified as 60,000 psi.

The .260 was designed for use in modern short action rifles, just like other members of the .308 family. The .308 family of cartridges are what modern short rifle actions were designed around and the .260 gets the maximum performance available from a standard diameter (.470" head), short action cartridge.

Federal, Hornady, Nolser and Remington offer .260 factory loads. Among the major US ammo companies, only Winchester does not support the .260.

The most common .260 hunting loads drive 140 grain bullets at muzzle velocities of 2700-2750 fps. In addition, factory hunting loads are available with 120 grain, 125 grain and 129-130 grain bullets. Remington even offers a reduced power Managed Recoil load using a 140 grain bullet at a MV of 2360 fps.

Reloaders can safely achieve velocities similar to any of these factory loads using canister powders. In addition, the heavy 156-160 grain bullets can be launched at up to about 2600 fps.

Among the major rifle makers in the U.S. market, Remington, Nosler, Ruger, Kimber, Browning, Nosler, Sako, Tikka and Cooper have offered or currently offer .260 rifles. These days, cartridges seem to appear and disappear from the various rifle models almost randomly and on an annual basis. This makes no sense to me, but the bottom line is you have to check to see what is available when you're ready to buy.

The Comparison

For the purposes of this article we will compare the 6.5mm Creedmoor and .260 Remington with 140 grain bullets. The hottest 6.5mm Creedmoor factory loads drives a 140 grain bullet at 2710 fps and the hot .260 factory loads drive a 140 grain bullet at 2750 fps, so those are the velocities we will use for this comparison.

Unfortunately, the various ammo manufacturers loading for these two cartridges do not happen to offer the same 140 grain bullet in both cartridges. We will make this comparison as fair as possible by using reloads with the 140 grain Nosler AccuBond bullet that duplicate the muzzle velocity of the best available factory loads.

The Nosler Reloading Guide 8 shows the maximum velocity with this bullet in the 6.5mm Creedmoor as 2731 fps and the maximum velocity in the .260 as 2830 fps, so reloaders can duplicate the factory loads for either cartridge. (In the case of the .260, reloads can easily exceed the best factory loads by up to 80 fps using Nosler data.)

The Nosler 140 grain AccuBond is a modern, plastic tipped, bonded core bullet with a high ballistic coefficient of .509. It is a good choice in either cartridge for all Class 2 animals and all but the largest species of Class 3 game.

Since the ballistic coefficient of the AccuBond bullet is the same in either cartridge, it is not a factor in this comparison. The cross-sectional area of all 6.5mm bullets is .0547 square inch and the SD of all .264", 140 grain bullets is .287, so neither is a factor here. We will, therefore, compare the 6.5mm Creedmoor and .260 Remington cartridges in velocity, energy, trajectory, killing power and recoil.

Velocity

Velocity is the most important component of energy. It also decreases bullet flight time and hence flattens trajectory and minimizes wind drift. Some hunters feel that high velocity per se contributes to killing power, but so far this has not been proven scientifically. Here are the velocities from the muzzle to 400 yards in feet per second for our selected loads.

6.5mm Creedmoor, 140 gr. AB: 2710 fps MV, 2531 fps at 100 yards, 2363 fps at 200 yards, 2202 fps at 300 yards, 2047 fps at 400 yards

.260 Remington, 140 gr. AB: 2750 fps MV, 2569 fps at 100 yards, 2399 fps at 200 yards, 2237 fps at 300 yards, 2081 fps at 400 yards

The .260 bullet starts faster and it remains faster at all ranges. No surprise there.

Energy

Kinetic energy is the measure of a bullet's ability to do work. The "work" in this case is expanding and penetrating deep into a game animal to destroy the maximum amount of tissue and kill quickly.

Energy is an important factor in cartridge performance and killing power. Kinetic energy is also a good indicator of the power of similar rifle cartridges. Here are the energy figures in foot pounds for our comparison loads from the muzzle (ME) to 400 yards.

6.5mm Creedmoor, 140 gr. AB: 2283 ft. lbs. ME, 1991 ft. lbs. at 100 yards, 1736 ft. lbs. at 200 yards, 1507 ft. lbs. at 300 yards, 1303 ft. lbs. at 400 yards

.260 Remington, 140 gr. AB: 2351 ft. lbs. ME, 2052 ft. lbs. at 100 yards, 1789 ft. lbs. at 200 yards, 1556 ft. lbs. at 300 yards, 1346 ft. lbs. at 400 yards

The .260 converts its superior velocity into greater energy when the bullet hits a target. The difference is not great with our factory equivalent comparison loads, but it is there. The .260's advantage would increase if both cartridges were fed maximum power reloads.

Trajectory

The flatter a bullet shoots the less the shooter needs to compensate for bullet drop and the better his or her shot placement is liable to be. The following trajectories (in inches) are computed for the maximum point blank range (MPBR) of each cartridge/load (+/- 3") and assume an optical sight mounted 1.5" over bore and standard atmospheric conditions. Bullet rise and fall in relation to the line of sight are given from the muzzle to 400 yards.

6.5mm Creedmoor, 140 gr. AB at 2710 fps MV: -1.5" at muzzle, 0" at 24 yards, +2.73" at 100 yards, 0" at 230 yards, -3" at 270 yards, -5.92" at 300 yards, -20.6" at 400 yards

.260 Remington, 140 gr. AB at 2750 fps MV: -1.5" at muzzle, 0" at 24 yards, +2.71" at 100 yards, 0" at 233 yards, -3" at 274 yards, -5.5" at 300 yards, -19.63" at 400 yards

As you can see, the .260 shoots slightly flatter downrange with the same bullet. This is because its larger case can hold more powder and therefore generate a higher starting velocity. However, the difference in MPBR, 270 yards for the 6.5 creedmoor and 274 yards for the .260, is only four yards.

Killing Power

The killing power of any rifle cartridge is, at best, an approximation. Many factors beyond the shooter's control enter into killing power, including such unknowables at the animal's state of mind, whether he has inhaled or exhaled when the bullet strikes and the amount of adrenalin in his blood stream.

We do know that bullet velocity, energy at impact, sectional density and cross-sectional area are key factors in estimating killing power. The G&S Online Rifle Cartridge Killing Power Formula takes all of these into account to derive a number useful for comparison. Unlike many killing power formulas, it has demonstrated a strong positive correlation with reality.

Killing power can be calculated for any range, but I normally calculate it for 100 yards for comparison purposes, a typical distance for shooting big game. Here are the 100 yard killing power scores (KPS) for our comparison loads.

6.5 Creedmoor, 140 gr. at 2531 fps (100 yds.): 31.2 KPS

.260 Remington, 140 gr. at 2569 fps (100 yds.): 31.6 KPS

Once again the .260 wins the category, but by an insignificant amount. In practical terms, given identical bullet placement in the same animal, one of these cartridges kills as well as the other. Nothing can live on the difference.

Recoil

Recoil is always an important consideration when comparing rifle cartridges, as anyone can shoot better with a cartridge that kicks less. Remember, bullet placement is the most important factor in killing power. Presumably, one of the reasons for choosing either of these cartridges over, say, an equally flat shooting 7mm or .30 caliber cartridge is to minimize recoil. Here are the approximate recoil energy (in ft. lbs.) and recoil velocity (in fps) figures for our comparison loads, measured in eight pound hunting rifles.

6.5 Creedmoor, 140 gr. at 2710 fps: 11.7 ft. lbs., 9.7 fps

.260 Remington, 140 gr. at 2750 fps: 12.2 ft. lbs., 9.9 fps

As with all the other categories we have compared, there isn't a lot of difference between the recoil of our two factory equivalent comparison loads. However, this time the 6.5 Creedmoor comes out on top by a small margin. It generates 0.5 ft. lbs. less recoil energy and 0.2 fps less recoil velocity. Subjectively, most shooters are unlikely to notice much, if any, difference.

However, for beginning shooters and those who are extremely recoil sensitive, Remington offers a .260 Managed Recoil load that launches a 140 grain Core-Lokt PSP bullet at a MV of 2360 fps. The remaining energy at 200 yards is 1232 ft. lbs., which is more than adequate for all Class 2 animals. This load cuts recoil approximately in half, making it the lightest kicking of all 140 grain 6.5mm cartridge factory loads.

Summary and Conclusion

This is one of the closest, and fairest, comparisons I can remember. Yet, the .260 won every performance category, except recoil. However, using the same bullet in loads equivalent to the best factory loads in muzzle velocity, not by enough margin to be truly significant.

Someone looking to decide between these two cartridges will need to look elsewhere (other than performance) to decide between them. Since rifles and loads for the two cartridges are not universally available from the same manufacturers, the availability of a particular rifle or brand of ammunition will probably be more important in a buying decision than the minor differences in performance between the two cartridges.

One exception might be when choosing a cartridge for a beginning or recoil sensitive shooter who does not reload. Remington offers the Managed Recoil .260 load mentioned above and there is no equivalent factory load for the 6.5mm Creedmoor. Cutting the recoil in half is a great advantage for a beginning hunter of Class 2 game (deer, pronghorn, sheep, goats, etc.) and, after they have grown in experience, full power loads are readily available, if needed, for Class 3 animals, such as elk.

For a hunter who reloads, the .260 is probably the better cartridge. Its greater powder capacity makes higher performance possible with maximum loads and the long for caliber 156-160 grain bullets don't protrude as far into the powder space. In addition, the .260's 20-degree shoulder and longer case body potentially feed smoother from the magazines of repeating rifles.




Back to Rifle Cartridges

Copyright 2017 by Chuck Hawks. All rights reserved.


HOME / GUNS & SHOOTING / NAVAL, AVIATION & MILITARY / TRAVEL & FISHING / MOTORCYCLES & RIDING / ASTRONOMY & PHOTOGRAPHY / AUDIO