Lapua 6.5 Creedmoor Brass- The Best Round for Long Range Competition?
Lapua cartridge brass is considered some of the highest quality available for the reloader. If the brass is available for the round in choice, most serious competitors will seek out the Lapua brand. Many of those shooters cite superior consistency, uniformity and brass life as reasons to shoot the Lapua brand. One of the 6mm Dasher shooters that I know has reported over 20 firings on Lapua 6mm BR brass that was converted to the Dasher wildcat.
Introduced by Hornady in 2007, the 6.5 Creedmoor has become a very popular cartridge for long range shooting and hunting. Hornady sought the input of long range competitors and set out to design a round that could be chambered in a short action rifle, use high Ballistic Coefficient 6.5mm bullets in a standard length magazine, cost no more than good match 308 Win ammo and was made with components that the handloader could easily duplicate. In fact, the early ammo from Hornady was printed with the load recipe right on the box, allowing reloaders to exactly duplicate the factory load with their once fired brass.
One of the biggest complaints about the Creedmoor that I have heard to date is the lack of quality brass. There have been mixed reviews about the factory Hornady brass. Some shooters have reported only being able to get four to five reloadings out of the brass. Even though it costs less to initially purchase, the decreased case life may actually bring the long term brass cost closer in line to higher quality brass. More recently, as the cartridge continues to become more popular, more companies have started to step up and make brass. Nosler and Norma currently offer brass, I have heard mixed reviews on whether these offerings are worth the extra investment, but have not tried them myself.
Enter Lapua:
For several months now I have seen online forums talking about how Lapua should start offering a 6.5 Creedmoor option. Many shooters speculated that they would sell more Creedmoor brass than 260 Remington or 6.5x47 Lapua. Others argued that it wasn't in their best interest to introduce brass that competed so directly with others that they already manufacture.
While scanning through my e-mail recently I noticed one from Lapua announcing that they will in fact be offering a 6.5 Creedmoor brass option in the first quarter of 2017. The brass is said to use a small rifle primer similar to the 6.5x47. I haven't seen a projected price yet, but I definitely think this is good news for 6.5 Creedmoor shooters.
Now shooters of the Creedmoor will not only have the option to buy lower cost factory match ammo, but high quality brass. The Hornady factory ammo has been getting excellent reviews for accuracy and can often be found for less than match 308 ammo costs. This gives a shooter that isn't set up to reload, or just doesn't want to take the time, the ability to buy ammo at a reasonable price. They can then save the once fired casings to reload, or recoup some of their cost by selling the brass to someone else that can use it.
For the more experienced reloader, or those that are wanting to graduate beyond the Hornady ammo and brass, they can now choose to use high quality Lapua brass.
The 260 and 6.5x47 will still have their following, but I think the availability of Lapua brass for the Creedmoor will make the round even more popular.
The 6.5mm cartridges have been dominating long range competition in the last few years. The three top choice are typically the 6.5 Creedmoor, 260 Remington and the 6.5x47 Lapua. Each of these cartridges have advantages and disadvantages, but performance wise, they are very similar and all offer superior ballistics to the typical 308 Win loads.
The 260 Remington has been around the longest, but has not been a real popular cartridge, having mostly a moderate following of hunters. It was one of the cartridges that shooters first turned to when exploring the 6.5mm family of bullets. Initially, cheap Remington brass held the 260 back, but some shooters were converting Lapua 308 or 243 Winchester brass. Of the three most popular rounds it offers the most case capacity, allowing for slightly faster bullets speeds, but at the cost of increased length. Many rifles cannot handle high B.C. bullets loaded long and still fit in standard magazines. With Lapua brass, this is still a viable long range cartridge, in fact that is what I am using in my match gun as of this writing. I have met several competitors that switched to the 260 before the others were available and have felt like there has been no reason to change.
The 6.5x47 Lapua was originally designed as an accurate, low recoil round for 300 Meter competition. It was designed to use a small rifle primer, thought to increase consistency. It has the smallest case capacity of the three mentioned here, but with high quality Lapua brass, some shooters are reporting that they can load the ammo to higher pressures, allowing for velocities that approach the 260, while still maintaining case life. Many of the shooters that I have met that choose the 6.5x47 say that it has an intrinsic accuracy that is hard to beat.
I won't get too in depth into all of the advantages of the 6.5mm cartridges in this post, but the high B.C. of these bullets provide a flatter shooting trajectory and less wind drift than a 308. In fact, the trajectory of these cartridges are very similar to that of the 300 Winchester Magnum, while using substantially less powder and with less recoil. The 300 Win Mag would have the upper hand when it comes to energy down range, so hunters may not want to discount the round. But, for target shooting, the reduced recoil allows shooters to spot their hits and misses more easily and will lead to less shooter fatigue when firing 100+ rounds in a match.
What are your thoughts about Lapua brass for the 6.5 Creedmoor? Will you be more likely to choose the Creedmoor, or stick with it? Let me know in the comment section below:
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| Lapua just announced 6.5 Creedmoor Brass. |
One of the biggest complaints about the Creedmoor that I have heard to date is the lack of quality brass. There have been mixed reviews about the factory Hornady brass. Some shooters have reported only being able to get four to five reloadings out of the brass. Even though it costs less to initially purchase, the decreased case life may actually bring the long term brass cost closer in line to higher quality brass. More recently, as the cartridge continues to become more popular, more companies have started to step up and make brass. Nosler and Norma currently offer brass, I have heard mixed reviews on whether these offerings are worth the extra investment, but have not tried them myself.
Enter Lapua:
For several months now I have seen online forums talking about how Lapua should start offering a 6.5 Creedmoor option. Many shooters speculated that they would sell more Creedmoor brass than 260 Remington or 6.5x47 Lapua. Others argued that it wasn't in their best interest to introduce brass that competed so directly with others that they already manufacture.
Now shooters of the Creedmoor will not only have the option to buy lower cost factory match ammo, but high quality brass. The Hornady factory ammo has been getting excellent reviews for accuracy and can often be found for less than match 308 ammo costs. This gives a shooter that isn't set up to reload, or just doesn't want to take the time, the ability to buy ammo at a reasonable price. They can then save the once fired casings to reload, or recoup some of their cost by selling the brass to someone else that can use it.
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| Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor Brass, lower price, but shorter case life. |
For the more experienced reloader, or those that are wanting to graduate beyond the Hornady ammo and brass, they can now choose to use high quality Lapua brass.
The 260 and 6.5x47 will still have their following, but I think the availability of Lapua brass for the Creedmoor will make the round even more popular.
The 6.5mm cartridges have been dominating long range competition in the last few years. The three top choice are typically the 6.5 Creedmoor, 260 Remington and the 6.5x47 Lapua. Each of these cartridges have advantages and disadvantages, but performance wise, they are very similar and all offer superior ballistics to the typical 308 Win loads.
The 260 Remington has been around the longest, but has not been a real popular cartridge, having mostly a moderate following of hunters. It was one of the cartridges that shooters first turned to when exploring the 6.5mm family of bullets. Initially, cheap Remington brass held the 260 back, but some shooters were converting Lapua 308 or 243 Winchester brass. Of the three most popular rounds it offers the most case capacity, allowing for slightly faster bullets speeds, but at the cost of increased length. Many rifles cannot handle high B.C. bullets loaded long and still fit in standard magazines. With Lapua brass, this is still a viable long range cartridge, in fact that is what I am using in my match gun as of this writing. I have met several competitors that switched to the 260 before the others were available and have felt like there has been no reason to change.
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| Lapua brass from Midwayusa. |
The 6.5x47 Lapua was originally designed as an accurate, low recoil round for 300 Meter competition. It was designed to use a small rifle primer, thought to increase consistency. It has the smallest case capacity of the three mentioned here, but with high quality Lapua brass, some shooters are reporting that they can load the ammo to higher pressures, allowing for velocities that approach the 260, while still maintaining case life. Many of the shooters that I have met that choose the 6.5x47 say that it has an intrinsic accuracy that is hard to beat.
I won't get too in depth into all of the advantages of the 6.5mm cartridges in this post, but the high B.C. of these bullets provide a flatter shooting trajectory and less wind drift than a 308. In fact, the trajectory of these cartridges are very similar to that of the 300 Winchester Magnum, while using substantially less powder and with less recoil. The 300 Win Mag would have the upper hand when it comes to energy down range, so hunters may not want to discount the round. But, for target shooting, the reduced recoil allows shooters to spot their hits and misses more easily and will lead to less shooter fatigue when firing 100+ rounds in a match.
What are your thoughts about Lapua brass for the 6.5 Creedmoor? Will you be more likely to choose the Creedmoor, or stick with it? Let me know in the comment section below:
When I saw that Lapua was making brass I bought a rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor Later that week.
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