The 6.5 Creedmoor Versus the .26 Nosler - Which is Best? By Michael Deming
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his is somewhat of a loaded question, no pun intended! The talk about these cartridges on forums, social media and at the range has gotten a bit on the ridiculous side. Some of the statements are downright false like, “That the Creedmoor has the best long-range ballistics ever”. “That .26 Nosler is going to burn out that barrel in less than a season”. Between burning thousands of rounds a year at the range and fielding an equal amount of emails from various outdoor enthusiast, I felt the need to share some real-world testing data of these two cartridges to set the record straight. This isn’t really a comparison of two different .264 caliber cartridges because that would be a lot like putting a grizzly bear in the ring with a rabbit. It’s just not a fair fight. That being said, there is definitely a place for each of these cartridges. We are going to share some field data as well as four years of history with these two cartridges. Using premium ammunition is essential whenever you are testing or comparing loads. Long-range accuracy and precision can only be achieved with high quality components and DoubleTap Ammunition has delivered that for us time and time again. They are out of Cedar City, Utah and their premium rifle ammunition is hand-loaded just as I would at home. Both of the rifles used here have been in service with us for several years and shoot the 127-grain Barnes LRX the best and accomplish Sub-MOA groups from 100-yards out past 1,000-yards. The 6.5 Creedmoor load is coming out of the 26” Browning X-Bolt barrel at 2,950 feet per second which is quite a bit faster than most factory loads. The .26 Nosler
6.5 Creedmoor
2,950 fps 2,309 fps 1,724 fps 1,483 fps 18.8" 145" 273" 1,478 ft lb 838 ft lb 620 ft lb 1,450 Yards 15.7" 48.8"
14 October 2019 | SPORTSMAN’S NEWS
Testing with DT Hunter Barnes LRX 127 Grn. .26 Nosler Muzzle Velocity Velocity at 400 Yards Velocity at 800 Yards Velocity at 1,000 Yards Drop at 400 Yards Drop at 800 Yards Drop at 1,000 Yards Energy at 400 Yards Energy at 800 Yards Energy at 1,000 Yards Transonic Distance Wind Drift at 500 Yards (10MPH) Wind Drift at 800 Yards (10 MPH)
3,650 fps 2,886 fps 2,200 fps 1,941 fps 11" 89" 167" 2,343 ft lb 1,404 ft lb 1,062 ft lb 1,825 Yards 11" 32.8"
