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.243 or 6 creedmoor?

Forward543

Dude
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 14, 2017
773
335
Idaho
I currently have a .243 with 1500 rounds through it. For my next barrel, should i run the 6 creedmoor to get a shorter loaded length and longer neck? Whatever i go with, it must have cheaper brass, and no fireforming. My thought was 6 creedmoor to run 105/110 bullets with hornady brass at 3000-3100 fps. There are alot of other 6mm rounds that im sure would be great. Lets look at these 2 please.
 
If you already have the .243 Win brass, it seems like that'd be the winner. Additionally, between the two, I'd expect long term availability and pricing on .243 Win brass to be more advantageous than the 6CM simply due to the amount of time it has been on the market.

I know that you said that you're not looking at alternate chamberings, but if you were, I'd suggest a look at 6SLR: http://www.6mmar.com/Super_LR.html
 
I went through this same delima. Stick with the 243. It will do the same thing the others will do. There are a lot of guys claiming better barrel
Life out of some of these other 6mm cartridges but I have yet to see any one I know that shoots a lot get it by switching from 243 to some other variant.
 
In grand scheme of things buying brass and dies isn't that expensive. Maybe it's just me but when I was shooting a 243 it seemed I had to trim brass alot. I think the 6creed case design might mitigate having to trim so often and for that reason alone I would go creed. Does anyone else find 243 case grows in length quickly compared to cartridges with sharper shoulders?
 
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I have always been a 243 fan but the 6mm Creed is just too easy, less trimming and they flat out shoot. H4350 is the easy (and popular) option but it is on the fast side for the heavies and has contributed to the short barrel life reputation. IMHO they dicked up the freebore on the SAAMI reamers but that is true for every SAAMI cartridge. If you are looking to just shoot the 110-115 gr bullets SAAMI freebore is GTG.
 
For those complaining about trimming brass, you should try trimming brass every firing with a trimmer that indexes off the shoulder like a Giraud or Frankford. I got a very nice drop in ES/SD and noticed erratic velocities drop out. I trim every firing now regardless so this is a complete non issue for me personally.

I've run 243 for years and it's a great round. No issues with piercing primers and barrel life can be very good especially if you run a longer barrel and H1000. I'm currently running a barrel with a steady diet of H4350 for my first time just because I'm curious and H1000 didn't give the velocity in this barrel like it has all my others. So far I'm at 1200 rounds on it and the velocity is still the same as it was once it sped up after about 200 rounds. No drop in velocity or loss of accuracy. I'm going to run in until velocity starts to drop. If it goes 1800 rounds (which I think it will) then I'll be calling BS on it being a barrel burner even with H4350 as that's right in line with the other 6mm's that shooters run.

I'm not switching from 243 for my 6mm because I'm so invested in brass and dies, and I don't have to worry about the large firing pin in my AXMC piercing rounds. I just don't see anything else doing anything any better. Not saying others choices are wrong either though.

6SLR has always interested me, but forming brass.... meh. If I was going to go to anything else it would be 6 creed or 6x47L, probably 6 creed.

BTW the new Starline 243 brass is excellent and only a little over $400 for 1000 pieces shipped.