It’s powerful to be the brand new child on the block. Simply ask the 6.5 Creedmoor. Now, the Fudds have one other Scorching New Thang to dismiss with a wave and a grunt: the 25 Creedmoor.
Introduced late final month, the 25 Creed has garnered a wholesome quantity of reward together with its justifiable share of chilly water. It’s early days for this cartridge, and we’ll know extra within the months and years to come back, however I nonetheless needed to do a deep dive into the information to see the way it stacks up in opposition to its extraordinarily common 6.5mm predecessor.
Ballistics
Hornady payments the 25 Creedmoor as filling a “hole” between the 6mm and 6.5 Creedmoor. I don’t know what number of hunters had been clamoring for that hole to be crammed from a ballistic perspective, however the nostalgia is robust on the subject of .25-caliber cartridges. The .257 Roberts and the .257 Weatherby Magnum (to not point out the .25-06) are beloved by deer hunters from coast to coast, and I’m positive many will leap on the likelihood to make use of a extra trendy quarter-bore.
However we’re not right here to speak concerning the feels. We’re right here to investigate the information. And the information means that, in most comparisons, the 25 Creed has the 6.5 beat.
Proper now, the 25 Creedmoor is just obtainable in two factory-loaded bullet choices: a 128-grain ELD-X for searching and a 134-grain ELD-M for competitors. That 128-grain bullet leaves the barrel at 2,850 feet-per-second (fps) and boasts a fairly spectacular .633 ballistic coefficient.
For comparability, this 140-grain 6.5 Creedmoor leaves the barrel at 2,700 fps. The bullet is heavier than the 25 (and in addition barely wider), so on the muzzle it delivers 42 further ft.-lbs. of vitality. However that slight vitality benefit is erased at simply 100 yards, the place the 25 hits with virtually 100 further ft.-lbs. of vitality. It by no means loses that vitality benefit, and at 600 yards has elevated it to over 200 ft.-lbs.
Drop can also be within the 25’s favor. With a 100-yard zero, the 25 drops 3.3 inches, 11.8 inches, and 26.3 inches at 200, 300, and 400 yards, respectively. The 6.5 is in the identical ballpark, dropping 4, 14.2, and 31.7 inches at these distances. However the 25’s benefit jumps to 10 fewer inches at 500 yards and 17 inches at 600 yards.
Similar story on wind deflection. The 6.5 sticks with the 25 till about 500 yards, the place the newer cartridge opens up a six-inch drift benefit. Each cartridges do an ideal job bucking the wind, however on this comparability, the 25 wins the battle.
A part of these benefits are because of the increased barrel twist charges beneficial for the 25 Creedmoor. Whereas the 6.5 Creed’s 1:8 twist barrels are quick by historic requirements, the 25’s 1:7.5 twist can stabilize high-ballistic coefficient (BC), heavy-for-caliber bullets at increased velocities, which promotes bullet stability and long-range consistency.
25 Creedmoor (128-grain ELD-X)
6.5 Creedmoor (140-grain Accubond)
In fact, the Accubond bullet used within the comparability above is a wonderful projectile, and lots of hunters would relatively use that time-tested design than chase the very best BC and best vitality.
Nonetheless, even when we go along with the higher-BC 143-grain ELD-X projectile within the 6.5 Creedmoor, the 128-grain 25 Creedmoor nonetheless beats it. As you may see within the desk under, the 25 continues to carry an vitality benefit, and trajectory and wind drift are additionally within the 25’s favor. The margins are smaller, however they’re there.
6.5 Creedmoor (143-grain ELD-X)
At this level, you may pretty level out that hunters care about rather more than bullet drop and wind drift. While you need to kill an animal, particularly an enormous one, it helps to have a wider bullet, and the 6.5 Creedmoor makes use of a bullet that measures .264 inches in comparison with the 25’s .257 inches. That added width provides the 6.5 a higher sectional density (0.293 vs. 0.277) within the ELD examples talked about above.
However that’s solely a 5% distinction in width and sectional density, which in my thoughts isn’t sufficient to outweigh the 25’s slight, however very actual, benefits within the different ballistic classes.
In truth, after I spoke to Derrick Ratliff of Horizon Firearms, he mentioned the one actual knock on the 25 Creedmoor is that Hornady might not be getting all the things it may well from their new cartridge.
Ratliff and his workforce have been taking pictures the 25 Creedmoor for nearly a yr, and he says their handloads had been producing 3,100 fps from a 134-grain bullet whereas the present manufacturing facility providing solely clocks in at 2,800 fps. If that’s true (and I’ve no purpose to assume that it’s not), the 25 Creed leaves the 6.5 even additional within the mud.
“In case you like new calibers, and you’ve got a nostalgia issue, and also you didn’t get on the 6.5mm bandwagon, that is the factor for you,” Ratliff mentioned.
Shootability
I normally make an enormous deal about recoil within the “Shootability” class, however the 25 Creedmoor is so new that we don’t have nice information on how a lot recoil it produces. However from what’s been reported, and from what Ratliff informed me, I’m assured in saying that it produces barely much less recoil than the 6.5, however not sufficient much less to actually matter. Each cartridges are nice to shoot, and with a suppressor or muzzle brake, you’ll be capable to see your hits.
The extra necessary query is ammo and rifle availability. The 6.5 Creedmoor is totally in every single place, so I can let you know proper now (spoiler alert) it’s going to win this class. However how onerous is it to seek out the 25 Creedmoor a mere six weeks out from its unveiling?
So far as I’ve been capable of finding, these Hornady choices linked above are the one two manufacturing facility masses. I’m positive different firms have their very own 25 Creeds within the works, however proper now that’s the one recreation on the town. A search on AmmoSeek reveals one Hornady match-grade possibility in inventory from a California firm, however there is likely to be roughly once you hit that hyperlink.
The excellent news is that when you’re prepared to roll your individual, you’ll have higher luck. MDT’s Marcus Hom factors out that the 25 Creedmoor has truly existed as a wildcat cartridge for a very long time. Reloading dies and brass can be found from a number of firms, and Berger, Sierra, and Hornady provide .25-caliber bullets within the heavier weights the 25 Creed was designed for.
On the subject of rifles, Hornady has posted a listing of gunmakers who’re presently or plan to supply lengthy weapons chambered in 25 Creedmoor within the close to future:
Carbon Six
Christensen Arms
GA Precision
Helix 6
Horizon Firearms
HS Precision
MOA Rifles
Most popular Barrels
Proof Analysis
Seekins Precision
Straight Jacket Armory
Stuteville Precision
TS Customs
Uintah Precision
Weatherby
West Texas Ordnance
Many of the weapons from these firms are, sadly, costly. The 25 Creed gained’t value greater than the opposite Creedmoors, however proper now a rifle will take a superb chunk out of your trip fund. I wouldn’t be stunned to see the Rugers and Savages of the world leap on board (they might have by the point you learn this), however that’s nonetheless up within the air.
Ratliff, whose firms produce rifles within the 25 Creedmoor and promote the cartridge itself, stories that demand for the 25 has been stout.
“We’ve seen it take off. We’ve bought exponentially extra 25’s than 6mm Creedmoors, already,” he mentioned. “There are loads of firms that make this and shall be making this. There’s no purpose to observe and see whether or not ammo goes to be obtainable for this one.”
Nonetheless, because it presently stands, availability ought to give hunters pause in the event that they’re eager about going all-in on the brand new Creedmoor. Once I lined the brand new 7mm Backcountry final month, many commenters mentioned they deliberate to take a wait-and-see method. I believe that’s clever. The Creedmoor line clearly has endurance, and there’s a devoted cadre of quarter-bore followers who could very nicely maintain the 25 Creed afloat. However early adopters all the time run the danger of getting caught with a rifle and no ammo to shoot via it. For that purpose, the 6.5 wins this spherical.
Versatility
Most 6.5mm and .25-caliber rifle cartridges excel on deer-sized animals, and that’s true of those two as nicely. Each are nice for deer and antelope and would additionally do a wonderful job on coyotes, wolves, hogs, black bears, mountain lions, and different similarly-sized critters.
The true query is whether or not the 25 Creedmoor can step as much as bigger recreation like elk and moose. The 6.5 has been round lengthy sufficient that we all know the reply to that query. It might not be the right alternative for big recreation, particularly at longer distances or awkward angles, however it’s greater than in a position to get the job executed with a broadside shot inside 300 yards and a superb searching bullet.
In accordance with Hornady, the 128-grain 25 Creed is appropriate for medium recreation between 50 and 300 kilos, whereas the 143-grain 6.5 Creed can even step as much as recreation between 300 and 1500 kilos. Ammo makers have an incentive to be cautious about these suggestions, however it’s value taking significantly what the inventor of a cartridge says about its limitations. If Hornady’s engineers are to be believed, the 6.5 Creedmoor is the extra versatile cartridge.
Nonetheless, I do marvel how they justify their differing suggestions. As we lined within the Ballistics part, the 25 Creed hits with extra vitality at each distance regardless of its lighter bullet. The bullet is barely narrower, however I don’t see 0.007 inches making all that a lot distinction.
It’s additionally value declaring that the 25 Creedmoor could find yourself providing a wider vary of bullet weights loaded in manufacturing facility cartridges. Proper now, solely the 128- and 134-grain choices can be found, clearly as a result of Hornady needed to focus on the brand new quarter-bore’s potential to shoot these heavier bullets. However wildcatters who’ve been necking down 6.5 Creedmoor circumstances to simply accept .257 bullets report that the 25 Creed will be loaded with bullets as gentle as 70 grains to create a super-fast varmint cartridge. That’s a 68-grain vary for the 25 Creedmoor, which does certainly rival the 6.5 Creedmoor, which will be had from the manufacturing facility with bullets between 90 and 156 grains.
Ratliff additionally identified that the 25 Creedmoor could possibly be a greater competitors spherical than the 6.5. Opponents in NRL Hunter matches (shout out to present nationwide champion, MeatEater’s Garrett Lengthy) attempt to use cartridges that meet the minimal energy necessities however nonetheless enable them to see their impacts.
“Simply by sheer math coincidence, you possibly can run a 25 Creedmoor with that 134 and scorching rod it simply barely above minimal energy issue. It was the smallest succesful cartridge to do the NRL,” he mentioned. “You get higher wind outcomes with much less recoil than you do with the 6.5.”
Whereas all that could be true, it’s onerous to argue that the 25 is extra versatile than the 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5 Creed has already gained its share of competitions, and whereas Ratliff says he could be comfy taking the 25 on an elk hunt, the 6.5 has already confirmed itself within the area.
And the Winner Is…
Once I select a winner, one of many questions I ask is, “Which cartridge would I like to recommend to my searching buddies?” I’d be more than pleased to wax eloquent concerning the 25 Creed’s ballistic capabilities, however given the vary of rifles and masses presently obtainable (to not point out the uncertainty of any new cartridge’s endurance), I’d have a tough time recommending that one other hunter exit and purchase one.
On the identical time, regardless that the 6.5 Creedmoor is extra broadly obtainable and barely extra versatile, I can’t fault the 25 Creedmoor for being new. The 25 is much less obtainable and fewer confirmed within the area merely attributable to the truth that it’s solely been out for six weeks. And even with the masses which can be obtainable, it nonetheless beats out the 6.5 from a ballistic perspective.
For that purpose, I’m calling this one a draw. The 25 Creedmoor is all the things a contemporary quarter-bore needs to be, however proper now, it’s too early to attract any agency conclusions about the way it will stack as much as the 6.5 Creedmoor in years to come back.
