Defending the 6.5 x 47 Lapua

[hpshooter]

Won our club level 300 yd F class match with a 198-10X score using my 6.5x47. Have won a few prior ones with 200 scores. 1754 rounds as of yesterday. Great cartridge IMHO. Easy to tune, easy on barrels and brass is still going strong after 8-10 reloads shooting 123 Scenars with RL-15.

 

[Northridge]

It isn't anywhere close to the 6br and variants, 6ppc, 6.5x284, etc. for proven history of accuracy across many guns is my point. It's really not been sussed out like the older stuff yet and the 6.5 creedmoor really hasn't been. Honestly, I think they are both too big for the limited benefits they give and that's why they're being dropped in all disciplines, including PRS. Not as good as a 7 or a 30, but not better than a 6.

I'm not going to be getting another 6.5. Mine will be rebarreled to a 6 or 22. For me, it simply gives no improvement over the 6BR variants to justify the extra powder, heat, recoil, and materials (copper, brass, lead, etc).

As I ponder this conversation and the variables within it considering long range competition is this, if we are considering “overall” wins everything shot “group”and “score” to secure said position that is quickly becoming more regularly done out of 6.5x47 Lapua than possibly any other version as things evolve… now if your “Less” driven to a overall win status over Raw “ group” agging at distance as I am for day wins even in the wind I’m still going to grab a 6mm version considering the group side… Current testing of different ways to go about things may change my opinions going forward but time I’ll tell…

Shawn Williams

 

[rkittine]

Now that I am back, my 6BR will be my go to 300 Yard rifle, my 6PPC for 100 Yards and my 6.5x47L will be on the bench for 1,000 yards. Though my FTR Rigke will remain my .308

 

[moondog]

Shot mine today, love it!

 

[FeMan]

My wife shot hers Saturday and placed 3rd in score and 3rd in group at our club's 600 yard benchrest match. Its her favorite rifle!

 

[nakneker]

6.5 x 47 doesn’t need defending, it defends itself. One of my favorite cases in 6.5, 6, 25 and 22.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

The 6.5 CREEDMOOR,. IS,.. "Close Enough" for, Me ( LOL ! ).
Slinging, 130 grain, ELD-M's @ 2,800 FPS thru, a 24", Braked Rifle, is SO,.. Pleasant and, Accurate !
BUT,. I Don't,.. compete, in BR.
Can someone, "Tell the Difference" in Accuracy between, the 6.5 x47 Lap and Creed ???
It's,.. Probably,.. Miniscule !

 

[Pawnee Bill]

I've had my 6.5x47 on an AR-10 platform for several years now. It does everything I want it to do. What is there no to like?

 

[X Count]

This year out at the BSWN the mid range event was won with a 6.5x47 shooting a 140 hybrid at 2886 fps with score of 600-49X. I'm sure there were all kinds of Creedmoors up and down the line and more than a few .284s of all flavors. I personally believe the little 6.5x47 will hang with anything at 600 until winds get tough and even then the better shooter might prevail. For me the recoil from the larger calibers makes it harder for me to shoot and although i started shooting F-Class with a Creedmoor it sets in the vault and i'm now on my 3rd 6.5x47. Years ago I even formed 308 Palma brass into Creedmoor to get the benifits of the small primers and that helped but the little 47 comes to the party ready to go and no matter how much i fiddled with the CM it just wouldn't group with the 6.5x47. To each his own I guess.....

Any idea what load they were running?

 

[hpshooter]

I've had my 6.5x47 on an AR-10 platform for several years now. It does everything I want it to do. What is there no to like?

How hard is the gas gun on the 6.5x47 Lapua brass? I have given some thought to doing this with a +2" gas system and an adjustable gas block.

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

I've had my 6.5x47 on an AR-10 platform for several years now. It does everything I want it to do. What is there no to like?

gosh, I would like to hear about your AR 6.5. I am a big fan of larger bore AR idea. semi heavy barrel?

 

[Evlshnngns]

I couldn't feed a gas gun x47L. At the range creedmoor brass is as common as 308 in the bin.

 

[1911mag]

My only regret was not building a 6.5x47 sooner.

 

[DHuffman]

That was just good luck , The wind gods blessed me . dave

Same thing at the Rendezvous I suppose

 

[North Fork]

I LOVE MIND

 

[M14AMU]

This is all I need to know about the 6.5 x 47 Lapua: This is the first 15 shots I fired with this rifle when I got it from Jon Beanland. Range 1000 yards. The white plate is
20" diameter. The nut that holds the plate on the tgt frame was hit so many times the plate fell off. This is the same target size as the Wimbledon Match is shot on at Camp Perry.

15shot by Sharps Man, on Flickr

 

[D the D]

Why defend the Lapua at all? It came before the Creedmoor, Lapua didn't steal its name to get marketing appeal, and Lapua didn't claim it was a new concept that hadn't been wildcatted before.
The Creedmoor can't honestly be defended for pretending to be an original idea and superior to all.

 

[MikeRu]

Could be misremembering but I think a 6.5x47 won either LG or HG at these 1k Nationals:
2022 IBS 1k at RWB in Tenille GA
2023 IBS 1k at WH in WV
2024 Freedom 1k at HJ in WV

 

[Sixgun]

This is my theory and my opinion only...Hornady designed the Creed to compete with the 6547. The 30 Thompson Center case was close enough in dimensions which they owned that case already so most of the work was already done. They just lengthened it for more velocity over the 6547. It would be more marketable. If there was no 6547..we may not have a 6.5 Creed now.

 

[Laurie]

This is my theory and my opinion only...Hornady designed the Creed to compete with the 6547.

Incorrect. It was developed to overcome the perceived failings of the 6XC in certain competition disciplines.

Lyman's paperback book Long range Precision Rifle Reloading Handbook has a five-page essay on the genesis and features of the cartridge and its 6mm stablemate by David Emary, Hornady's retired chief development engineer. Quote:

"Most competition shooters know of or have heard of Dennis Demille, a retired USMC warrant officer and NRA Match Rifle and Service Rifle national champion. Dennis is an extraordinarily good shooter! I am very privileged to know Dennis personally and to have had the opportunity to shoot with him numerous times. At the conclusion of the 2006 CMP Service Rifle matches Dennis, myself and Joe Thielen, the head engineer for cartridge case development at Hornady, were sitting around discussing the things shooters discuss. Dennis said he was getting really frustrated with his Tubb 2000 match rifle and the 6XC cartridge it was chambered in. I asked him what problems he was having and got an earful. To boil down a lot of conversation, there was no standardized loading data for the 6XC. Most of the loads being used were quite warm in order to get the performance needed to be competitive at longer ranges. He reported frequent hard bolt lift and pierced primers, both of which could be problematic in the rapid fire matches. Dennis stated he wanted a cartridge that was very accurate, was not loaded to problematic pressures, would have a load that would produce moderate recoil at 300 yards for rapid fire, would be as good as anything to 1,000 yards and had to go in a short action receiver. He also wanted this ammunition to be factory loaded, accurate enough to be competitive and have the loads written on the label so anyone could reproduce them. .................. "

and the eventual cartridge spec came from there (and is described in subsequent paragraphs) starting with the decision that 6.5mm calibre was needed to attain the required BCs for long range competitiveness.

Bearing in mind that the 6.5X47L is a smaller cased cartridge than the XC and the spec was for improved external ballistics with moderate pressures, it seems unlikely it ever came into any of these discussions.

People continually (and conveniently) forget that Lapua designed the 6.5X47L as a 300-metre cartridge in order to knock the 6mm BR Norma off its position as the go-to cartridge in northern European and Scandinavian ISSF competition which is very big in those parts of the world attracting much publicity, sponsorship etc. It failed totally in this role, 99% of competitors sticking with the BR. It can (and does) perform well as a longer range cartridge, but only at the cost of very high-pressure handloading, ie what Mr Demille complained about with the XC.