The Best 6.5 Creedmoor Rifles in 2023

1. Best Chassis Rifle: Ruger Precision Rifle

When Ruger debuted their Precision Rifle back in 2015, affordable chassis-based rifles weren’t really a thing. That all changed when the RPR hit the market and proved you could get sub-MOA (or sub-half-MOA) performance without shelling out four grand.

The Precision Rifle is a reasonably affordable, high-quality competition rifle for long-range enthusiasts (or aspiring enthusiasts.)

It combines AR features with the precision bolt action foundation, making it an approachable platform for not just bolt action shooters, but AR enthusiasts. It’s an incredibly well-designed product.

The 10-pound rifle, which is precision-machined, locks together solidly, helping to mitigate recoil surprisingly effectively.

It also includes an M-Lok handguard, full Pic rail up top, and Ruger’s Marksman trigger, a fully adjustable trigger giving you 2.5 to 5 lbs of range. It’s about as good as any you’ll find on a production rifle these days.

You can read our full review of Ruger’s Precision Rifle here.

2. Best Stocked Rifle: Bergara B14 HMR

The Bergara B14 HMR is a fantastic stocked rifle for the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge. While it won’t be the best bench rifle, nor the best hunting rifle, it occupies a real sweet spot between performance and price.

It’s sufficiently heavy to achieve excellent bench accuracy without compromising its suitability as a hunting rifle.

The long barrel comes threaded from the factory, making it easy to attach a muzzle brake or suppressor. This would soften the rifle and make it an even more approachable platform for basically any distance.

What we liked:

• Adjustable chassis, cheek weld & length of pull
• Detachable 5-round magazine for fast reloads
• Snappy three-pound factory trigger pull
• The muzzle is threaded from the factory
• Comes with a ton of sling mounting points.

What we didn’t:

• The finish may not be to everyone’s taste
• You’ll need to have it drilled and tapped for a scope mount

While these aren’t deal-breakers, we’d prefer to see a top rail for scope mounting and a bipod to maximize accuracy at longer ranges. However, this is still a more than capable rifle out of the box.

3. Lightweight Option: Savage Axis II

The Savage Axis is the most dialed-in rifle on this list for hunting specifically.

It comes with a 22” blued barrel and a four-round magazine. Add that to the two, and only two, sling swivels and you have a rifle that is meant to be taken out in the field and used rather than fussed over endlessly on the workbench.

What we liked:

• Ready for the range out of the box
• Matte black stock & blued barrel makes for a handsome rifle
• Barrel is bedded in the stock for maximum accuracy
• Designed to just work – no tacticool doodads needed

What we didn’t:

• Only comes with a four-round magazine
• Barrel isn’t threaded

One thing we really like about this rifle is the included scope. Savage delivers a complete package with a single purchase. All you need is some 6.5 Creedmoor ammo and you’re good to go out on the range or in the field.

4. Best Semi-Auto: Springfield M1A Precision

The Springfield M1A, the civilian version of the M14, was developed for NATO trials using the .308 Winchester cartridge.”

It’s fitting, then, that it gets an update to meet the modernized 6.5 Creedmoor round.

This one comes with all the National Match goodies including a great barrel and trigger. One thing we do wish it had are easier ways to mount optics, but you can buy adapters that fit right above the action for that.

Overall this is an excellent semi-auto rifle that would be more than capable of hunting as well.

What we liked:

• Ten-round magazines make this an ideal semi-auto tactical rifle
• Stainless steel, match-grade barrel
• Includes national match features like an upgraded trigger mechanism
• Comes with iron sights, which we always like on a rifle
• Stock is a modern update to the classic M1A design

What we didn’t:

• Semi-automatic rifles are generally less accurate than bolt-action rifles
• Will require a new handguard or adapter to mount a scope

5. Tactical Pick: S&W M&P 10

AR-pattern rifles and pistols come in every caliber under the sun, so we wanted to end this list with one of them in 6.5 Creedmoor. This one, by Smith and Wesson, is a great entry into the AR space for this new round.

Is this basically an AR-10 chambered in 6.5 instead of .308? Yes. But this means that all the training, familiarity, and accessories from other AR-10s will transfer to the M&P rifle – with the benefit of shooting much longer distances than an AR chambered in 5.56 or even 7.62.

We would have liked them to lean a little more in the tactical direction; including a set of iron sights or BUIS, and a folding stock, but those are things that you can remedy with relative ease.

What we liked:

• Easiest platform for mounting accessories
• Rifling in 1-10 twist ideal for 6.5 Creedmoor
• AR10 platform will be familiar to a lot of users
• Ambidextrous controls from the factory
• Threaded muzzle & thread protector

What we didn’t:

• No iron sights by default
• A little bit hefty at 9.5 pounds

Today, shooters have a choice between an increasingly large variety of calibers that are designed to be good at one thing or another. If you’re one of the people looking to do some serious, long-range precision shooting, the 6.5 Creedmoor is a round that you’re going to want to check out.

This cartridge is flat shooting from 100 yards out to 1000 in the right rifle, and we think it is likely to become the premier precision rifle cartridge.

6.5 Creedmoor rifles come in various configurations, ranging from bolt action rifles that will make excellent hunting rifles to semi-automatics that would be awesome for defense if you have a lot of land to cover. They’re certainly no slouches at the range, either. We’re going to take the time to walk you through what you need to know when picking a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle.

In this guide, I looked at various rifles, some meant for target shooting at extreme ranges others more tactically themed semi-automatic options.

While these rifles differ in terms of price point, looks, and functions, they all have the same general idea at their core: make long-range precision shooting a real possibility for more people. We think that any of the below recommendations will do that job impressively.

With a little bit of information at your disposal, you’ll likely find a rifle that fits your needs well. Or, if you’re like me, fill another few slots in your safe with rifles in the process.

Hornady rolled out the 6.5 Creedmoor for Across-the-Course, 1,000-yard long-range target shooting, and 3-gun competitors in 2007.

Dave Emary, Senior Ballistician at Hornady Manufacturing, worked with Dennis DeMille, general manager of Creedmoor Sports and two-time NRA National High Power Rifle Champion, to craft a premier match rifle cartridge designed specifically for longer ranges. Still, this new cartridge has found its way into the hands of many hunters as well.

The 6.5 Creedmoor is an update on the idea of the .308 round. At the end of WWII, when NATO was forming, the members wanted a flat shooting cartridge good out to seriously long-range, without the weight of a full-sized rifle round like the .30-06.

What they came up with, the .308 Winchester, was basically a shortened American round that was still more than capable in battle rifles and big game hunting but never quite kept its punch at extreme range.

The 6.5 CM uses a smaller, lighter round than the .308, with a case that’s 1.920 inches from base to mouth — smaller than a 260 Remington but larger than a 6.5×47 Lapua, so still it can still be chambered in short action rifles but with less recoil than similar cartridges. While the 6.5 Creedmoor is the smaller of the two cartridges, the bullet is longer — improving its ballistic coefficient, sectional density (the ratio of bullet weight to its diameter), and lowering wind drift by almost 30%.

That means that with the same amount of powder behind it, the bullet flies a lot faster, and thus a lot flatter, out to ranges in excess of 1,000 yards — all while offering softer recoil.

The 6.5 Creedmoor is on the cutting edge of long-range precision rifle rounds, packing unparalleled range into factory ammo –whether for target shooting or use in a hunting context.

1. Accessory Support

The 6.5 Creedmoor was engineered for long-range performance. So, we certainly understand that you might well want some tactical bench shooting rifle with a match-grade barrel, pistol grip, and polymer stock.

In such cases, adding a high-magnification scope and bipod will truly showcase the capabilities of the round. Your choice of rifle should allow you to add the kinds of accessories that will be necessary to fulfill its purpose.

2. Fit with intended use

A general-purpose rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor designed for hunting is ideal for those targeting medium to large game at long distances.

The weight saved compared to bench shooting models justifies the potential reduction in accuracy.

If you plan to carry your Creedmoor rifle into the backcountry, a lighter option is preferable to a rifle designed for bench shooting.

3. Type of Action

There are fantastic semi-automatic and bolt-action options in 6.5 Creedmoor. Some of these redefine the concept of the rifle while leveraging the ballistics of the 6.5 Creedmoor.

If you’re looking for the absolute maximum long-range performance, there’s no arguing with a bolt-action rifle’s ability to drive tacks at incredible distances.

However, if you’re more interested in the ability to execute follow-up shots quickly, reload with ease, and pack more than 3-5 rounds in a magazine then a semi-auto rifle will be a much better fit.

Here, I’ve tried to cover some of the best rifles in 6.5 Creedmoor that you can find today. I’m tough to convince when it comes to new ‘gee whiz rounds, but this one has some staying power thanks to its excellent ballistics, making it one of the more popular hunting rounds available today.

I recommend the Bergara H14 above the other excellent rifles we talk about here. Yes, the Smith and Wesson, as well as the Springfield, are excellent tactical rifles. But, their being semi-automatic does cut down on consistency and, thus accuracy just a little bit.

Similarly, the Savage and Ruger offerings are excellent and a little lighter than our winner, but we think that the 6.5 Creedmoor shines out of a heavier bolt action rifle that can soak up the recoil and really deliver rounds down range when you need them.

With that said, any of these rifles are more than capable of extreme distance shots in the hand of patient and trained long-range shooters, so we’d be more than happy to own any (or all) of them when it comes to taking advantage of one of the newest and most interesting long-range shooting cartridges out there.

1. John B. Snow, and Dave Emary, Evolution of the 6.5 Creedmoor, October 2019