6mm Creedmoor

Well over a century ago, quite a few cartridges were manufactured with their bullets protruding well out of their cases to leave room for powder.

- John Haviland

The 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser was one such cartridge. That concept faded over time, as cartridge design actually went the opposite direction with short-necked cartridges and bullets seated deeply into the case. The .300 Winchester Magnum was probably one of the worst offenders, if deep seating bullets is a ballistic sin. Over the last decade or so, that trend continued with short and super-short cartridges.

Hornady bucked the fashion and went old-school when it introduced the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge in 2008. The case is essentially based on a shortened and necked-down .308 Winchester. By seating long, 6.5mm bullets well out of cases, the Creedmoor contains nearly the same powder capacity as the somewhat larger .260 Remington, a favorite of target competitors.

In the last few years, various 6mm-caliber cartridges have been taking quite a bit of the target-shooting market away from 6.5 cartridges. To cash in on that popularity, Hornady narrowed the Creedmoor’s neck to hold 6mm bullets and called the new cartridge the 6mm Creedmoor. Hornady sells its Custom Grade 2 die set and cases to handload the 6mm Creedmoor. Cooper Creek Cartridge (www.coopercreekammo .com) sells cartridges loaded with 105- and 115-grain bullets. Other than that, the 6mm Creedmoor is a handloading affair. Brass is sold by various venders. The cartridge has not been standardized by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute, and little handloading data is available.