18" 308 or 6.5 Creedmoor Bergara Extreme Hunter

Hey Team just trying to decide on a calibre to replace my rifle I just sold.

I have one of the new fluted Bergara Extreme Hunter's on pre order which are coming in hopefully next month.

They have two versions which are both factory threaded 18" cerakoted and are going to suit my budget as they have what I want out of the box.

The rifle will be used from 0 to a max of about 400 yards. I am leaning towards the 6.5 Creedmoor simply because of the low recoil as It may be used by a young fella at some stage - in saying that the consensus is the Bergara Extreme Hunter has unusually low recoil even with a 308. Obviously the Creedmoor gets a tick for the higher BC too.

I'll be running factory ammo, probably that Hornady White tail stuff as it does seem to come in the country a fair bit still.

I know the 308 probably has more knock down up close but am I really going to notice that on deer?

I don't have the time to reload at the moment so I will really be stuck to using factory loads. I'll likely get a 7RM for tops eventually so it isn't going to be a do everything rifle.

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/r...ican-whitetail

.308 ALL DAY LONG...you have basically described its niche above.......factory loads are good,there are still lots of options available (you even tried to find creampuff amunition lately?) young fells will be fine if you suppress it....same deal with both...and there are options to have loads taylored for you...pretty sure MOST on here would be more than happy to poke together light loads to get your young person going...151grn cast and case of trail boss for plinking and close range stuff and maybe a 125-130grn soft projectile going at slower speeds for close deer...too easy to make up,you wont need 1/4" accuracy as you will be keeping his shots to under 150yards....if you want him to shoot past that he best be up to full power loadings......

I have had 2 of these in 308 and a 10 year old could use it and shoot a deer.
Unless you want a different calibre go with what you are familiar with.
Mine didnt like superformance but shot under an ince with most other ammo

I’d say 308 because of ammo shortage but both do say job


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if it was in a decent fast twist barrel, a 264 win mag would be mint. But no they leave the fast twist barrels for the Creedmore's.
How hard is it to leave the barrel long and put it on a magnum action.
Otherwise 308 gets the tick

6.5

2700fps with factory 129s from 18", no recoil, kills great. Bit hard to find ammo at the moment.

308. I've got a mate with one.

His 14 year old son can shoot it suppressed and get 1inch groups at 100y.

Plus factory ammo leaves the 308 a clear winner

My Tika308 18'' barrel,suppressed.Knock the head off a mouse at a hundy 1st shot most times.No shot deer have run away.Good reliable rifle without spending thousands of a hunting rifle.

6.5, more than enough energy, less recoil better, and ballistics all round.

In saying that under current conditions what ever you can get ammo for will be your biggest concern.
I'd stay with buying 1 box of ammo to sight in and check for accuracy, if all is good buy 100 rounds or at least enough to keep you shooting for 12-24 months.

@gimp @Beetroot Yeah sorry should have mentioned I have access to 100 of these, so my question is more about performance rather than ammo availability. I've not tried this stuff before if I do go for the Creedmoor hopefully the Bergara likes it. That ammo also seems to come regularly in the county.

https://broncos.co.nz/ammunition/cen...reedmoor-129gr

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Originally Posted by Beetroot

6.5, more than enough energy, less recoil better, and ballistics all round.

In saying that under current conditions what ever you can get ammo for will be your biggest concern.
I'd stay with buying 1 box of ammo to sight in and check for accuracy, if all is good buy 100 rounds or at least enough to keep you shooting for 12-24 months.

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@308mate - bit of a thread hijack, but looking at getting a bergara extreme hunter hopefully in the next few months as I have heard great things on them, and feel like great quality in the shop etc. I hadn't heard about a new fluted model coming out - can I ask who you are sourcing it through and rough price? Cheers!

@JoelA

No problem, any gunshop can pre order one for you through the importer NZ Asia (same crowd who do Leupold, good group of guys) They arrive in the next month or two hopefully, they are in 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor both 18", both fluted.

Video below of the 308 model. Not sure on price but it will be more I'd say.

https://youtu.be/Dpjl0VhU7x0

I hate 30 cal with a passion but if i was going shorter than 20
Id be running a 308
As it stands I run all my modern Center fire barrels at 20”
Because i run 6.5’s and believe that is the minimum for performance the loss of performance starts to out waigh the gains of going shorter imo…. at 20” I still get a 130 doing 2900 out of my creedmoor
But i had an 18 inch 260 for a bit and the same bullet was down in the high 2600’s
A 308 with 18 inch can push a 165 in the same sort if range (within 100 fps or so anyway)
And a 165 going slow will be better than a 130 going slow just my 2 cents

@rambo-6mmrem

Granted - but how much of a difference is 165 vs 130 going the same speed going to make on deer up to 400 yards? More knockdown power? wouldn't either be more than enough for deer at those speeds?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

I hate 30 cal with a passion but if i was going shorter than 20
Id be running a 308
As it stands I run all my modern Center fire barrels at 20”
Because i run 6.5’s and believe that is the minimum for performance the loss of performance starts to out waigh the gains of going shorter imo…. at 20” I still get a 130 doing 2900 out of my creedmoor
But i had an 18 inch 260 for a bit and the same bullet was down in the high 2600’s
A 308 with 18 inch can push a 165 in the same sort if range (within 100 fps or so anyway)
And a 165 going slow will be better than a 130 going slow just my 2 cents

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by 308mate

@rambo-6mmrem

Granted - but how much of a difference is 165 vs 130 going the same speed going to make on deer up to 400 yards? More knockdown power? wouldn't either be more than enough for deer at those speeds?

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@308mate it may even itself out a bit 6.5 being higher bc might retain more ftlb than the 308 regardless of the lighter bullet
haven't done the numbers tbh but i know if i was going to go shorter than 20 it would not be 6.5
just from my experience which is alot when it comes to 6.5
but at slower speeds the bigger the hole the better i think more bleeding
since the shock/temporary wound cavity is a little reduced

would probably go 7-08 or 308 in a short barrel

lucky a 20" 260 or Creedmoor is prefect for my needs so i don't need to

308

If deer could vote it would probably be split 50/50.

Creedmoor all the way no need for a brick chucker .308.

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Flip a coin because this thread sure won’t help you decide haha.

Shorter than 20 inch 308, 20 to 22 inch 708, longer than 22 inch, 260 or creedmoor.

308.

.308, At 400 yards, the advantage of higher bc bullets is really irrelevant. 30 cal has proven itself adequate for over 110 years as have the 6.5 and 7mm, but it took the Americans till the 90s to realise that.
Ammunition and component availability is surely the most important criteria in my opinion.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stagstalker

Flip a coin because this thread sure won’t help you decide haha.

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tell that to the poll results
90%
vs
10% not even close

In current times i would buy the 308.
Always easier to find either loaded ammo or components
6.5 components at moment are like rocking horse poo!

I mean, the real answer is .223

Creedmore bro. Running a 16 inch barrel on my Savage lightweight hunter in 6.5CM and take reds and sika out to 300m without fuss.

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you'll have to change your handle and gender if you stray from the 308:thumbsup:

I would be reluctant to use my 6.5 CM on the ginormous red stags in my local pine forest Use my .308 with 180 bullets for that. The CM is great in the open tussock country on the japs.

Greetings 308mate,
In normal times I would probably go with the 6.5 Creedmoor but would prefer a longer barrel than 18 inches. One of my two go to rifles is a standard T3 Lite in 6.5x55. These are not normal times so would probably go with the .308 due to the availability of components. Really good low recoil loads can be created with the excellent 125 and 130 grain projectiles available. If you don't handload at this point now would be a very good time to start to provide a secure supply of ammo through future panic buying sprees in the US.
Regards Grandpamac.

Cheers for all the input everyone, lots to think about.

Just for anyone else who looks at this thread in the future, I have found a video by Bergara with an 18" 6.5 Creedmoor vs a 24" using 130TMK (doesn't say what the load is). The 24" got 861 m/s (2824fps) the 18" got 808 m/s (2650fps) which I would think is not bad for a 18" Creedmoor especially if it's intended use is 500 yards and under with low recoil. The 18" shown in the video is the Extreme Sporter, it has essentially the same barrel and action as the Extreme Hunter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chH2dtr23MM