Either will work for your described use. Both are more accurate than the loose nut pulling the trigger in almost every case.
If you want to stretch shooting out over 800 yards, the go Creedmoor. Much beyond that and 308 is dropping like a ball off a table. It can still be good enough though.
Many claim the heavier 6.5 will take an elk size animal humanely, and the SD and energy is there. Most folks like 150-180 in 30 cal, and the CM has great results in 140-147 grain, so not much to be lost there without going pretty heavy for the 308.
The Creedmoor will give you less recoil, the 308 will give you longer barrel life.
Happy shopping.

 

If you have the money to waste then get the 6.5, other wise just stay with the 762X51

 

6.5 CM all the way.

IMHO if you are a reloader the ammo scarcity issue is nil just keep stocked up with your components. Simple

 

I've never felt the recoil of any gun I've ever shot a deer with. I have a 450 BM AR that is brutal to shoot on the range. When I shot a deer with it last fall I never felt it at all. I hunted for years with a Win 70 w/20" bbl in 308. It has killed everything from woodchucks to deer to bear. It is my favorite rifle.

 

Thats funny how that works huh? But sitting at a Bench you do notice it

 

Ok dudes so the 308 wins out I believe. so What ammo do you like in 308 for whitetails around 150 lbs. I really like the Hornady in varmint calibers. I have had real good luck with the Winchester Ballistic silver tips for deer in my 280 rem. shots will be 100-300 yds typically in wide open country

 

Where I live, we are required to hunt with non lead bullets. I use Federal Premium 150gr Trophy Copper and Hornady Superformance 150gr GMX. Both cartridges are consistant and accurate out of My rifle.

 

If I were choosing, I'd take .308 for hunting applications. I Think, 6.5 creedmore is better suited for long range precision applications. If I were to do both, I'd probably settle on 6.5 creedmore. Since I don't, I chose .308.

 

For deer in a .308 I like Hornady Superperformance with the 150 gr SST. I've killed a few deer with that factory load and its a stomper. But then so is my 6.5 CM with handloaded 130 grain Sierra Game Changers. You don't need premium bullets for deer.... I've killed a semi-truckload of deer with plain old Nosler Solid Base bullets and Remngton Core-lokts. I also get better accuracy from a flat base bullet than a boattail. Boattail bullets and plain base bullets have virtually identical ballistics inside of 350 yards or so...

Last year's buck...287 yards with my 6.5 off my rucksack using the 130 gr Sierra Game Changer loaded to near max with Reloader 16. About 2,900 fps. He weighed over 200 pounds field dressed! Not the deer I thought he was off my game cams but it was dark and a long shot and I was pressed to make a decision. Bang flop... One thing I like about the 6.5 over the 308 is you can usually see the animal drop because the recoil doesn't pull you off the target.

 

For deer in a .308 I like Hornady Superperformance with the 150 gr SST. I've killed a few deer with that factory load and its a stomper. But then so is my 6.5 CM with handloaded 130 grain Sierra Game Changers. You don't need premium bullets for deer.... I've killed a semi-truckload of deer with plain old Nosler Solid Base bullets and Remngton Core-lokts. I also get better accuracy from a flat base bullet than a boattail. Boattail bullets and plain base bullets have virtually identical ballistics inside of 350 yards or so...

Last year's buck...287 yards with my 6.5 off my rucksack using the 130 gr Sierra Game Changer loaded to near max with Reloader 16. About 2,900 fps. He weighed over 200 pounds field dressed! Not the deer I thought he was off my game cams but it was dark and a long shot and I was pressed to make a decision. Bang flop... One thing I like about the 6.5 over the 308 is you can usually see the animal drop because the recoil doesn't pull you off the target.

I Really like the 117gr Hornady Superformance in my 25-06 too

 

Not a big hunter, but FWIW, 6.5 has about a 5-6k round life for the barrel, while .308 will go 40k. 6.5 will go out past 1000 yards, .308 is good out to around 600 yards.

Both have their place in the world, personally prefer 7x57 over both.

 

Not a big hunter, but FWIW, 6.5 has about a 5-6k round life for the barrel, while .308 will go 40k. 6.5 will go out past 1000 yards, .308 is good out to around 600 yards.

Both have their place in the world, personally prefer 7x57 over both.

The 7x57 id a great round and so is the 7mm-08 which is basically same thing, just as the 6.5 creedmoor is the ballistic twin of the magnificent 6.5 Swede.

The only difference is if you reload, both the 7mm Mauser and the 6.5 Swede can be "Magnumized" because they have a larger case capacity than the 308 based cases.

 

The 308 will go a lot further than 600 yards. If I remember correctly the longest confirmed sniper kill with 308 is around 3/4 mile. I'm not saying it's effective range is 3/4 mile but it will go 1000 yards with no problem.

 

T

The bullet hit it's target like a falling rain drop. Amazing shot.

 

.308

 

I`m an old 308 guy, that would be what i would buy if it were me doin the buyin. I dont shoot long distances where i live, so a 308 fills the needs perfectly fine for me.

 

Damn...somebody quick, call the US Palma team and tell them the .308 can't work at 1,000 yards... LOL

And here I was wearing out my .308 match barrels around the 5,000 round mark...anyone know where I can get a .308 barrel that lasts 40,000 rounds? For match purposes the throat in .308 barrel is shot out around the 5,000 round mark...you'll never see it at 200-300 yards. But at 600 and beyond the barrel will begin to throw rounds out of the 10 ring... Hunting accuracy? Don't know. Never shot a hunting rifle out before....but I'd guess 10,000 rounds.

I've never shot out a 6.5cm barrel but my friends who compete and own them say they begin to go south around the 2200-2500 round count. About the same as a 7mm rem mag in terms of match accuracy barrel life. Most of the serious HP guys these days shoot a 6mm something or other...a .243 will also burn out a throat pretty fast. None of this really matters to a casual shooter or hunter.

 

Damn...somebody quick, call the US Palma team and tell them the .308 can't work at 1,000 yards... LOL

And here I was wearing out my .308 match barrels around the 5,000 round mark...anyone know where I can get a .308 barrel that lasts 40,000 rounds? For match purposes the throat in .308 barrel is shot out around the 5,000 round mark...you'll never see it at 200-300 yards. But at 600 and beyond the barrel will begin to throw rounds out of the 10 ring... Hunting accuracy? Don't know. Never shot a hunting rifle out before....but I'd guess 10,000 rounds.

I've never shot out a 6.5cm barrel but my friends who compete and own them say they begin to go south around the 2200-2500 round count. About the same as a 7mm rem mag in terms of match accuracy barrel life. Most of the serious HP guys these days shoot a 6mm something or other...a .243 will also burn out a throat pretty fast. None of this really matters to a casual shooter or hunter.

There are 308 barrels that last 40,000 rounds but that's talking about military accuracy not match grade.
A lot of FAL barrels with the rifling half gone will still hold to 3 MOA which is what most will do brand new.

 

3 MOA is about 6 1/4 +/- inches at 200 yards. That is an irresponsible shot on a game animal.
Add the margin of error for most ammo not matched to a barrel and it increases.
That is why so many people send so much effort to match ammo to barrels.

 

How many hunters do you think can keep a group under 3 inches not shooting from a bench.
Twenty years ago 3/4 of the hunting rifles out there would do good to hold 3 MOA from a bench.

 

I've been shooting hunting rifles for more than 40 years and never and no where in my lifetime was 3 MOA from a hunting rifle considered "acceptable".... Even most lever guns with a max range of about 150 yards will do 2 moa out of the box.

But in this day and age you can buy a Savage Axis for $300 and its guaranteed to shoot MOA and most all of them will! Ditto for a Ruger American, a Mossberg, a Tikka, a Bergara etc etc...

 

Most people think they and their rifles shoot a lot better than they actually do. I'll bet half the hunters out there can't sit at a bench and shoot two 5 round groups under 3 MOA back to back.
Just like most who claim to have a 1 MOA rifle don't really.
If it's irresponsible to hunt with a rifle that shoots 3 MOA wouldn't it also be irresponsible to hunt if the shooter couldn't hold it under 3 MOA?

 

Most people think they and their rifles shoot a lot better than they actually do. I'll bet half the hunters out there can't sit at a bench and shoot two 5 round groups under 3 MOA back to back.
Just like most who claim to have a 1 MOA rifle don't really.
If it's irresponsible to hunt with a rifle that shoots 3 MOA wouldn't it also be irresponsible to hunt if the shooter couldn't hold it under 3 MOA?

Why 5 rounds? Looking for that flyer? Lol, just joking.

 

Where I come from less than 5 rounds doesn't count as a group. Also just because you once shot a MOA group doesn't make it a MOA Rifle.

To Border Bandit, I saw that, great shooting.

 

Most people think they and their rifles shoot a lot better than they actually do. I'll bet half the hunters out there can't sit at a bench and shoot two 5 round groups under 3 MOA back to back.
Just like most who claim to have a 1 MOA rifle don't really.
If it's irresponsible to hunt with a rifle that shoots 3 MOA wouldn't it also be irresponsible to hunt if the shooter couldn't hold it under 3 MOA?

I am glad I am in the 50% that can lol

 

Care to guess how many rounds went in this 100 yard group?

 

Or this 300 yard group?

 

I never said there weren't some really good shooters or extremely accurate rifles out there. Your average deer hunter who shoots a box and and a half of ammo a year probably isn't that good. Most still manage to put meat in the freezer though.

 

SO I got through most of page 1.

All the .308 reasons covered.

 

Most people think they and their rifles shoot a lot better than they actually do. I'll bet half the hunters out there can't sit at a bench and shoot two 5 round groups under 3 MOA back to back.
Just like most who claim to have a 1 MOA rifle don't really.
If it's irresponsible to hunt with a rifle that shoots 3 MOA wouldn't it also be irresponsible to hunt if the shooter couldn't hold it under 3 MOA?

If I can't shoot 1 MOA, then it must be the gun, the scope or the ammo. I'm a perfect shot. :dancingbanana:

 

I guess I've said enough but before I go just let me explain what I am trying to say.
First the 308 is a really good round. Second most people can't shoot as good as they think they can. Finally it really doesn't matter because you don't have to be a military sniper to deer hunt.

 

A buddy of mine got me into long range shooting a while back, and I started on a .223 which is a lot of fun out to 500 yards. Beyond that distance, I wanted more punch. My buddy runs a .308 that is a very close clone to the US Army's sniper system. We have instant access to 800 yards and can go to about 1200 when we have time to talk with his neighbor a day or two in advance to ensure that cattle are secured out of harms way.

After talking with my buddy about his .308, hearing his thoughts on the 6.5 Creedmoor, reading a lot about both rounds, considering that I wouldn't use either to hunt beyond a couple hundred yards anyway, loooking at ammo options, and considering that I didnt own anything chambered for either... I went with the 6.5 Creedmoor.

I feel that for a round to punch targets at very long distances, either will work but the 6.5 Creedmoor is more forgiving of a newer shooter's miscalculations at extended distances. I also figured that the lighter recoil of the 6.5 would be conducive to accuracy.

Truth be told, I also wanted something a bit different that what everyone else in my circle of shooting friends is running. I could not be happier.

I don't believe that you can make a bad choice between the two. Both are excellent long range cartridges, and both are now military cartridges.

 

A buddy of mine got me into long range shooting a while back, and I started on a .223 which is a lot of fun out to 500 yards. Beyond that distance, I wanted more punch. My buddy runs a .308 that is a very close clone to the US Army's sniper system. We have instant access to 800 yards and can go to about 1200 when we have time to talk with his neighbor a day or two in advance to ensure that cattle are secured out of harms way.

After talking with my buddy about his .308, hearing his thoughts on the 6.5 Creedmoor, reading a lot about both rounds, considering that I wouldn't use either to hunt beyond a couple hundred yards anyway, loooking at ammo options, and considering that I didnt own anything chambered for either... I went with the 6.5 Creedmoor.

I feel that for a round to punch targets at very long distances, either will work but the 6.5 Creedmoor is more forgiving of a newer shooter's miscalculations at extended distances. I also figured that the lighter recoil of the 6.5 would be conducive to accuracy.

Truth be told, I also wanted something a bit different that what everyone else in my circle of shooting friends is running. I could not be happier.

I don't believe that you can make a bad choice between the two. Both are excellent long range cartridges, and both are now military cartridges.

Why wouldn’t you use ether one past 200 yards???

 

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