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1. With that kind of accuracy, that is not that much money. Hopefully is it just as reliable. In 6.5 Creedmoor, follow up shots will be even quicker as the recoil is very mild, You should be able to see the hit and adjust and be ready to fire again. It would be a very efficient rifle on the field. The barrel wear should not be as much of concern within 500 yard ranges as you only need 1.5 MOA, or so, to be accurate enough. Flatter shooting 123 grain Amax, and the SST has more than enough ballistic coefficient (.510), and the same ballistic coefficient, so they are interchangeable. It is plenty for those ranges, and it will be flatter as a result. The SST is just as accurate and a better performer on deer, yet the Amax pretty darn good on deer as well. However, the SST might be more reliable. Don’t know for sure, but the Amax make large holes for exit wounds.

   I run these bullets in a 6.5×55 M38 at reduced speeds to match the calibration on a turret scope set up for a 7.62 NATO 168 grain trajectory. Otherwise the old 6.5×55 is ballistically identical to the Creedmoor. And it is easier on the barrel as it runs at a max pressure of only 45,000psi, instead of 62,000psi for the Creedmoor. Brass in the M38 lasts forever. It is 9 pound rig with about 11 pounds of recoil, and even when it heats up, there is little change in the accuracy, that is right at MOA.
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   The Creedmoor is a very nice package, and the available ammunition from Hornady is impressive with advertised ballistic coefficients approaching an amazing .7 However, if they offered it in .260 Remington, which I doubt they will, the top speeds would be greater, 50 to 100 fps faster at a lower pressures that may improve barrel life. For example the newer 6.5mm 150 grain Serria BTHP can be run out a .260 Remingtion at 2,697 fps. That is impressive. But the big deal with .260 Remington is that is uses necked down .308 cases.

   It all makes for an interesting horse race…. I would love to have that rifle. I know just what to do with it.

   1. If anybody has experimented with the Swede loaded with the new bullets out there for the 6.5 Creedmore, I’d love to see their results. I no longer have any 6.5 Swedes, but an old man can dream.

      1. The Swede barrel that can match Creedmoor velocities is the long M96 barrel with a 1:7.8 twist that can handle most of the heavy 6.5 bullets the Creedmoor typically can with it ‘s 24” 1:8 twist barrels. The Creedmoor uses a smaller cartridge up to a maximum pressure of 62,000 psi, where as the Swede uses a larger case and slower powers at a much lower maximum pressure 46,000 cup (about 50,000 psi). Hodgden lists a load of 46.3 grains of IMR4831 at 2,700 fps at a pressure of 45,400 cup out of a 24” barrel, the length of a Swedish M38 barrel. In the 29” barrel of the M96, the bullet might be 50 fps faster. They are virtually identical, but the Creedmoor is a tad faster, and because it is a modern rifle, and sold as a precision rifle, and factory ammunition is tailored for accuracy at long ranges, the rifle will likely be more accurate straight out of the box. This makes it easy for anyone one to quickly get into the long range precision game. In the right hands, a 100 year old M96, or the M38 with the 23.8” good barrel can use the same bullets loaded with RL22 power, and will perform just as well, or almost as well, or perhaps better. My M38 is bedded and free floated with the old Timmey trigger. Even with a worn throat, it will do sub MOA. I haven’t used the heaviest new bullets that could be considered ‘Creedmoor; bullets, bullets over 142 grains, but have been reloading long enough to say stick with 140-142 grain bullets, SMK, Amax, Accubond etc, and RL22. If you can not find RL22, get these powers in this order: IMR 4831, Norma MRP, or H4350. Because the Swede uses it’s long barrel, and slow powders at much lower pressures the barrels, the brass lasts forever. 15 to 20 reloads for the brass if annealed every 4th time or so. Barrels should stay good for 10,000 plus rounds, and be might #3 bores at 15,000 rounds. After 84 years, the throat on my M38 worn, yet still shoots good. The Swedish Mauser tend to be accurate when they should not be, yet each one is different. It might be the Swedish steel, or because the bullet as a long bearing surface. Who knows for sure.

         The Swedish Mausers have unfortunately gone up in price, and they are not accurized, but some do surprisingly very well in military stocks. Yet a scope would have to be mounted. It might be better to get a ‘good to go’ Creedmoor, yet a .30-06 can duplicate Creedmoor performance ballistically using 200 grain bullets, but it will have 20 to 22 pounds of felt recoil, instead of 12 to 14 pounds for the Creedmoor. However it could be that you might already have an Ought Six that is scoped. It has the added advantage that it is a common caliber round. If to used as a precision rifle, add weight by adding a bipod, and bore a deep hole or two behind the butt plate, install lead shot to 3/4’s depth, and reattach the butt plate. Then add a Limb Saver, or a sand bag. The recoil should then be tolerable if you are recoil sensitive. It may not be a precision rifle for 1000 meters, but with the right loads, it be good enough and save you lots of money and hit almost twice as hard as the Creedmoor at extended ranges. The Creedmoor is a good deer rifle, the Ought Six is for everything else.

2. Hmmm, your comment about having sell your 300 win mag when newly married, struck a cord with me, as I did the same thing. Gave the landlord my Remington 700 bdl in a 22-250 for rent because I was short of money. Never got it back, oh well, history I guess. ( the new wife was happy I got rid of it )

3. My RPR in 338 Lapua broke after 38 shots of factory ammo. Couldn’t close the bolt all the way so I couldn’t fold stock and remove bolt to trouble shoot it. Had to go buy a large expensive gun case to return to ruger – couldn’t fold stock to get it back in factory box. They “fixed” it, told me what parts they replaced, but wouldn’t take the time to tell me what the problem was, even when I called service dept. to ask. POOR service in anyone’s opinion. Therefore DO NOT consider folding stock an advantage, but rather a hindrance to maintenance and repair – it’s a cool gimmick. Check the web – majority of those who compare it to the Savage prefer it to ruger, and it’s 20% cheaper.

4. I recently traded in my Ruger RPR .308 because of the excess weight and “lack” of accuracy (ie) 3/4MOA was the best I could get with Federal Gold Match) , for Ruger’s Magpul Hunter. Lighter, shorter and is actually a 1/2MOA rifle. I found the RPR stayed in the gun safe, while the Magpul Hunter actually gets put to use. The first thing I do is to remove the factory supplied muzzle breaks and install an A2 type flash hider….not nearly the muzzle blast.

5. I have two proven sniper rifles, one a savage axis 270, scoped with a redfield 4×12.
   Another a savage trophy hunter in 308, scoped with a Nikon 3×9.
   Both have proven to be excellent sniper rifles and both have taken down their targets with 1 shot. The proof is cut and wrapped up in my freezer. 🙂

6. Have the RPR in 6.5 Creedmoor…most 3-shot groups have been all shots cutting one another…muzzle blast and noise are brutal because of the muzzle brake… i wear ear plugs and muffs

   1. I have the same rifle. After barrel breakin, it is a consistent half inch gun out to 800 yards.
      I handload the 143 grain eld-x hornady bullet and the rifle likes them a bit fast.
      This rifle is a great, economical, and very accurate tool.
      I’ve got just under 3,000 rounds through it and am paying close attention to groups for any signs of throat erosion. So far, so good. I’m glad I bought it!

      Great write up Pat.

7. Jima and Texas Prepper stole my thunder… muzzle brakes SUCK. I see them in classes all the time, and they blind instructors and students alike during night shoots. An aircraft strobe isn’t that bright. And the blast is a non-starter. I’d rather be kicked, than deafened! So yes, remove that stupid brake and put a good flash HIDER in it. You’ll need it with that short barrel. The military flash hider on the M14/M1A is superb if you can arrange it.
   Glad that Pat included a bit of talk about shooting down people at long range. It’s very difficult to convince a detective, a prosecutor, a jury, and a judge, that the man you shot at 680 meters was a direct and immediate threat to you. Only the military can legally shoot down people at long range, and for nothing more sinister than wearing the wrong clothing. That’s war. In any event, we’ll all have to answer for our actions someday.
   Long range shooting is like golf. Only for men.
   If you need a muzzle brake on a .308, you’re in the wrong hobby.
   Accuracy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I have 12″ x 18″ steel plates up at the property out to 800 meters if I move back to a pasture to shoot. One day, my friend and I were shooting our Remington M700 Varminter Synthetic .308s with 168 grain match loads out to about 700m. Getting good hits became routine….and we ran out of 168s. The truck was a quarter mile walk, so one of us dug a couple of boxes of Czech 7.62 ball (144 gr) ammo out of a pack. The blue box stuff, probably 25 years old. We knew this was not going to work at this range with the different velocity and bullet weight, and the notorious 3 MOA accuracy of military ball ammunition. We shot some anyway, just to see how far off they would be. Uh, the Czech ammo hit the plate over and over again using the same come-up data. No adjustments were made to optics. We scratched our heads and called it a day.
   BTW, we didn’t know we couldn’t hit the steel with the old .308 round because the hot .264s (6.5CM, .260 Rem, etc) hadn’t been invented yet. It’s a good thing Bumblebees don’t know they can’t fly.
   Tunnel Rabbit, I’ve always wanted a 6.5×55 Swede because it looked so efficient. Maybe in the next life.

   1. Paul

      I’m old school like yourself. Submitted an very long and very boring article very early this morning about the virtues of the of the Old Ought Six, .30-06 vs. the 6.5 Creedmoor. You’ll see the old school vindicated. Good shooting 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser’s can still be found at a reasonable price, and I would prefer the well proven in battle Mauser actions to the more refined and accurate modern sporting actions and barrels. The 6.5×55 is the smarter choice in a sufficient environment, yet the popular 6.5 Creedmoor is well supported making, it easy for folks to get into the long range game. It is sweet, but why bother when .308 covers most of what is needed, and over all is the most common and smartest cartridge to own. But if you’ve got an .06′, don’t loose it, cause you’ve got more gun. That is the thrust of it, and perhaps I should used this paragraph to help wrap up article. I’m still revved up from last night….

   2. You are right, brakes suck. A suppressor (the trust route?) is a much better option. I have become a big fan of nitrided barrels from Criterion, a spinoff of Krieger. They make them for the RPR. They really shine with 3x the barrel life in a magnum rifle and you also gain some corrosion resistance. Not that I would want to get hit with the 6.5CM at 1000 yards or any distance for that matter, but what people discount at very long ranges is energy on target. Where the magnums are way ahead. God speed and happy shooting SIr

8. Hi Paul,
   Looks my earlier response got lost in the digital ether. Submitted at 03:40 hours today a,n article that compares the .30-06 to the 6.5 Creedmoor, vindicating the old school. However, as you well know, the 7.62 NATO works just fine, and is the smartest cartridge to own. However, if I had my .308’s piled up, and had the money to play, I would choose the 6.5 Grendel in a low cost rife from Palmetto State Armory, and that could my DMR platform after a low cost version in 5.56, or better yet, a 7.62 version that would cost much more in the AR-10. The AR-10 is also a much heavier rifle and ammo package. The 35% less recoil of the 6.5 Grendel as compared to the 6.5 Creedmoor, or full power 6.5×55, is about the same or less than in my heavier 6.5×55 sporterized and glass bedded M38. And because it is a box fed semi-auto in AR guise, it could be brutally efficient in the field. There just might another article in me on that, and several other gun related topics. I am indeed a gun nut, that was disguised as a radio nut, who, to poor to buy another gun, bot radios instead. When will the madness end?

9. Yes, I too love my .30-06.. I can tune a 175 grain bullet to do just about anything in that gun.

   I can hardly believe that at 56 I’m finally going to break down and get a .308.. Don’t ask me why. My 06 works just fine.

10. I have liked the RPR since it came out, but it does have some short-comings. The one thing I didn’t care for was the use of so much polymer/plastic on them. But how can you beat it at that price point – a question I have been asked by a number of fellow shooters in my area – and how can you improve on it. My answer has always been the same, and I have built several of these for friends and family.

    A Savage 10TR (may be only a Canadian offereing) These come from the factory with a threaded, heavy barrel in either 20″ or 24″. Oversized bolt knob. Accu-trigger and Accu-stock. I haven’t seen one yet that won’t shoot MOA easily out of the box. I buy them used for $450-$550 Canadian. Brand new you can still find them on sale for under $700. The only down-side is those 4 round Savage magazines. So lets drop it in a Chassis so that it becomes a “Wonder Rifle” Again, a Canadian Company, MDT offers chassis from that $400 range up to about $1000 depending on the features you want.

    No it’s not an RPR, and you actually have to put in a little work to get it, but that same 10 pound gun is now an accurate action mounted/torqued in an all aluminum chassis and will perform as good, if not better than the RPR. I have built this combo, with the ESS chassis and was still able to throw a nice 4-16 Vortex scope on it and come in at about $1700 CAD (about $1300 USD)

11. Another thing that I feel the need to point out, is that “Sniper Rifle” is another made up term by the anti-gun establishment, just like “Assault Weapon”. A sniper rifle is a rifle used by a sniper – it is not a specific type or caliber. Generally they are accurized, but no more accurate than many modern hunting or target rifles. Up until very recently the “sniper rifle” was just a re-worked Remington 700. In WW II they were ’03 Sprinfields and Garands. Canadians used .303 Lee Enfields. And the Germans used Mauser 98’s.

    I guess my point is that designating any rifle a “sniper rifle” does not imbue it with some strange and mystical power. It is now and always has been the “man behind the trigger” that makes them perform in extraordinary ways. What designating a rifle as a sniper rifle, or even counter-sniper rifle does do, is give the gun-grabbers one more thing to latch onto and try and ban. Take it from a Canadian. We’re in the middle of trying to fight a New-Zealand style ban right now.

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