6 Creedmoor owners?

[LittleLebowski]

Talk to me about barrel life and reloading components.

[Grey]

Talk to me about barrel life and reloading components.All I know is that is seems to be the new hotness over 6.5 cm but the barrel life is worse than the 6.5 cm which made me lose interest.

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[ranger]

Talk to me about barrel life and reloading components.

I have been watching the 6mm Creedmoor and other 6mms after attending a long range training class last year. I have a 6.5 Creedmoor and so far barrel is still ok after about 2000+ rounds but I know eventually I will need to rebarrel. I just got a deal on a Tikka T3X Varmint in 223 with 1-8 so I am working up 75ELDM and 80ELDM loads to see if it is a viable long range rifle/round to 1000 yards. Truth be told, I spend most of my time less than 1000 so 223 in 1-8 may be enough for me.

Reduced barrel life seems to be changing the long range rifle industry - multiple vendors now selling prefit barrels or "REMAGE" style barrel nut barrels to facilitate barrel changes

My research on 6mm Creedmoor:
PRO
Factory ammo available
Easy to load with lots of data
Brass available and does not require fireforming or other case prep
Less recoil than 6.5CM and 308 - get back on target faster to see impacts or misses
Feed through magazines easily (as compared to some other 6mms)
6CM case design better for longer high BC projectiles

CON
Barrel life compared to other 6mms and of course 6.5CM/308
More recoil than 6mmBR and clones

Will look forward to lessons learned

Reloading components: Assume I would use some of my 6.5CM brass resized to 6mm CM, same primers, 105 - 115 projectiles. I get MIL discount for Nosler so I would try their 6mm Custom Competition or RDF projectiles in bulk.

[Clusterfrack]

6CM is a really effective gamer caliber. I took 3rd at the last match I shot with my 6.5 Grendel AR, and the guy who took 2nd was shooting a 6CM Sako TRG. He didn't have to do much more than dial, aim, and keep the rifle stable. But, I don't shoot many precision rifle matches anymore. If I did, I would probably buy whatever is the most competitive caliber: best BC, least recoil, etc. But currently, shooting at steel with buddies, I have the most fun with a caliber that does the following:

Stable trajectory to 1 mile.
Has enough energy to move steel, so you can tell you got a hit. And it's just more satisfying to hear a 'bong' instead of a 'plink'.
Isn't such a laser that wind calls at 400-800 yds are still important.
Good barrel life.

I have zero interest in 6mm.

[pyrotechnic]

Not a 6 Creed, but my foray into the 6mm world.

I had a barrel chambered in .243 on one of my bolt guns. I got right around 1800 rounds out of it before velocities started dropping, pretty much from range session to range session. No extremely long strings of fire or anything. I would bet money a 6 Creed would have a similar usable life when used similarly.

I loved the lack of recoil and the laser trajectory of a 105 gr pill around 3100 fps. However, my shooting is all just plinking at steel on the range, I also use the rig when
I harrass coyotes with my e-caller.(which I'm very bad at btw)

I've since gone to 6.5 Creed for a bit more barrel life and the availability of factory loaded ammo. This second point is moot with the 6 Creed.

If I was to build a dedicated coyote rifle the 6 creed would be high on the list. But since the rig pulls double duty for dicking around at the range I want to be able to hammer through a bunch of rounds and not have to worry if I'll have to redo my dope cards the next time I'm home and get to shoot.

[OlongJohnson]

One of the issues with .243 that leads to short barrel life is the very short neck, giving the burning powder access to the throat closer to where it's hottest.

It's kind of an oddball, but 6mm Remington has a nice, long neck. 6mm AI bumps up performance a little more. So you should get increased barrel life with greater performance. It's not super popular in the long distance shooting world, but there are a few advocates who argue that it's the best of the short-action choices. It does get long with the heavy bullets, though. I've read that if you want to run the 105+ bullets, a LA Rem 700 may work better than SA, but that a Howa SA receiver can be opened up a little and work well. If I was going to build a 6mm gun, it's where my money would go. Only the mouth for now, though. I have a Howa .308 that might get shot out one day far in the future. If I've run enough rounds through it to do that, I will probably be able to justify the 6mm build.

[ranger]

Saw this on a long range rifle forum and thought of this thread, I am quoteing from a thread on 6mms for PRS, etc. 6mm CM would be one of the "Hot 6s":

"All anecdotal. Everything has compromises.
308, great barrel life, what, like 5000 rounds pushing velocity so wind doesn't get yuh so bad, but recoil is up there??
7-08, bullets with great BC, slower speeds, what like 4000 rounds barrel life, and same recoil as 308??
260, 6.5Creed, 6.4x47L, bullets with great BC, good speeds, 2500 rounds or so barrel life, moderate recoil but not too bad.
Lower recoil for all the 6's...
Hot 6's, by 1500 or so rounds you better have another barrel ready cause time is short.
6GT, by the looks of things 1800???
6mm Dasher, yeah seems like people are watching out by 2000 rounds.
6mmBR, seems like 2500 to 3500 rounds barrel life??? Maybe a tad less for 6mmBRA, and I'm considering it for my next barrel.
223AI, with heavies might be a consideration, especially for inside 600Y, might get 3500-4000 barrel life?? The problem is the fireforming and seeing where you missed. A light load, 24.6gr Varget, with 88's/.545BC, in mine went 2814 fps. Pretty sweet except for bullets blowing up, lol. "

[OlongJohnson]

Reduced barrel life seems to be changing the long range rifle industry - multiple vendors now selling prefit barrels or "REMAGE" style barrel nut barrels to facilitate barrel changes

Per the previous post, I agree that's absolutely the way to go if you imagine a shooting schedule that will have you changing barrels every couple years or more frequently. If the parts cost is roughly the same, it makes no sense to me to pay hundreds in labor and wait weeks or months just to have someone with a lathe do their thing to fit your next barrel. If you can assemble ammo with the precision you require, you can install a nut-retained barrel with the precision you require.

On the other hand, once you're up and running with that, changing barrels isn't nearly as expensive nor inconvenient, and barrel life gets weighted less when selecting a cartridge that does exactly what you want ballistically.

[Duelist]

My one 6mm is a .243 Winchester. It’s primarily a hunting rifle (deer and coyotes), but most of its rounds are fired on the range.

Pros:
One reason I picked .243 is that factory ammo is everywhere. But I never use factory ammo in it, so i could be shooting literally any 6mm for the same basic cost in money and time reloading.
Factory brass: once fired brass is free from friends who don’t reload, and most everyone has at least one .243 “for the kids.” Virgin brass is available from most vendors.
Bullets: most are pretty good. Some are excellent.
Barrels: my rifle is a Savage, so changing barrels when necessary should be manageable even for someone who hates wrenching on cars.
Kids: both my kids and my wife can shoot it w/o complaint, like they would with any heavier kicking rifle. I can shoot it till I’m bored or out of ammo, which I can’t do with heavier kicking rifles.
Accuracy: loads for this caliber are pretty well established, and basically any book load spitting a bullet compatible with the twist rate of your barrel will be at least okay, if not just pretty darn good out of the gate.

Cons:
not really the best round for elk. Duh.

Friends who shoot .308 or .30’06 mock me for shooting a girls rifle. Bought a .270 for the elk and for added range on deer, not for worries about my manhood or dislike of getting mocked about the .243.

Barrel life isn’t much of a concern when you burn 100-200 rounds per year in a hunting rifle. If I were shooting matches, I’d probably be burning out the barrel every year or two, and that might get tedious.

6mm is really a nice place to spend some time. I don’t know much about the actual 6mm CM besides a couple of articles I read about it, but from what I’ve read, it’s essentially duplicating .243 and 6mm Remington with very minor differences. I’ll probably stick with .243 for my 6mm needs.

[pyrotechnic]

Quick note on the pre-fit thing. There are lots of actions out there now that allow for shouldered pre-fits that you can order. Just need an action wrench and a barrel vise.

[ranger]

By the way, Tikkas are built with the exacting standards that you can buy prefits. I picked up a cheap Tikka T3 as a potential host for a 6mm of some sort barrel.

[msstate56]

Quick note on the pre-fit thing. There are lots of actions out there now that allow for shouldered pre-fits that you can order. Just need an action wrench and a barrel vise.

This is definitely the way to go. I have a Zermatt Origin and can simply order a shouldered prefit, torque it on, and go shoot half MOA or better groups. I’ve done the Remage set up, and have 3 of them, but from here on out- actions held to a standard with available prefits is the only way to go. Plus, the Origin action is cheaper than a customized plain Rem 700 action.

[NGCSUGrad09]

I've smoked a few 6mm CM barrels and am a fan. It does hurt you for having to buy replacement barrels if you shoot a lot, particularly a PRS type match gun where you'll heat the barrel up a lot. My current plan is shoot to 1kish and pull it for varmint shooting or deer killing. The accuracy doesn't necessarily go away, but the speed can drop out unexpectedly due to unpredictable erosion at that point.

There are some really good factory 6CM ammunition options out, brass is cheap via Hornady or you can get Lapua/Alpha quality. 3,000 fps is a nice number for crushing steel inside 1k, especially if you're shooting field stuff with unknown ranges. The recoil is fairly light, even out of a lightweight rifle. I'll probably always have a couple 6CM barrels even as I dabble with some 6BR and other variants.

Finally, prefits are awesome. Replacement barrels are just an online order away and a swap in the garage with a vise. I've been running an Accuracy International and Bighorn/Zermatt TL3 prefits from Proof Research for almost 2 years now and love how simple it is.