Dual Purpose Cartridge - 6.5 Creedmoor or the .243 Winchester?

Welcome to the Ron Spomer Outdoors Podcast!

All right, dual-purpose cartridge, the new 6.5 Creedmoor or the .243 Winchester? Mm, good one. You know, I wouldn’t say it's quite the toss up but here’s how I would spin it. For my personal uses, I would go .243 if it was mainly for hunting coyotes, and I'd go with the six-point Creedmoor if I was mostly going to be hunting deer and pronghorn and maybe elk, and only occasionally going for the fur. But even better yet, if you really wanna specialize in a fur cartridge, I would step down to the 22 calibers, 223, 22-250. Somewhere in that range or the new 22 Creedmoor if they’ve come out with it yet. I think they still have not made that a commercial round, but it's gotta be on the drawing boards here pretty quickly.

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Who is Ron Spomer
For 44 years I’ve had the good fortune to photograph and write about my passion – the outdoor life. Wild creatures and wild places have always stirred me – from the first flushing pheasant that frightened me out of my socks in grandpa’s cornfield to the last whitetail that dismissed me with a wag of its tail. In my attempts to connect with this natural wonder, to become an integral part of our ecosystem and capture a bit of its mystery, I’ve photographed, hiked, hunted, birded, and fished across much of this planet. I've seen the beauty that everyone should see, survived adventures that everyone should experience. I may not have climbed the highest mountains, canoed the wildest rivers, caught the largest fish or shot the biggest bucks, but I’ve tried. Perhaps you have, too. And that’s the essential thing. Being out there, an active participant in our outdoor world.

Disclaimer
All loading, handloading, gunsmithing, shooting and associated activities and demonstrations depicted in our videos are conducted by trained, certified, professional gun handlers, instructors, and shooters for instructional and entertainment purposes only with emphasis on safety and responsible gun handling. Always check at least 3 industry handloading manuals for handloading data, 2 or 3 online ballistic calculators for ballistic data. Do not modify any cartridge or firearm beyond what the manufacturer recommends. Do not attempt to duplicate, mimic, or replicate anything you see in our videos. Firearms, ammunition, and constituent parts can be extremely dangerous if not used safely.

[Threegunmaster]

Been using the 243 Winchester with 70 grain nosler ballistic tips for varmint and predator for years and 100 grain nosler partition on hogs and white tail for years with great success, outstanding accuracy and performance and low fun to shoot all day recoil. Thanks Ron for another great video.

[corbitbelflower]

Agree 100 % with Ron on this .
The 6.5 Creed will get put thru the paces this 2023 deer season . And the 243 has been a hero in my line up for over 30 years . If she ( .243 win M77 ) barks and the game is inside 300 yds someone bring the truck !

[boydsteenblock]

I would go with the .243. One, I’m more of a traditionalist. Two, I’ve owned a .243 and it’s taken multiple Deer and Antelope with a 90 grain ballistic tip bullet out as far as 370 yards. I’ve shot prairie dogs to 500 yards with a 58 grain V-max bullet, and the 65 grain V-max poleaxes coyotes.
I’m glad I found your YouTube channel Ron. I used to read your articles in magazines years ago. I really enjoy the content as well as the presentation.

[jody]

Ron, awesome information. I grew up in same time period as you, but out in the sticks with low wages. Sometimes we were given our first gun or bought the only one for sale in the valley. We shot that gun till we could afford the one we wanted, . Then we picked a weight of bullet and LEARNED how to shoot it. Gophers to grizzlies is what I always said.

[carloscastellano]

no doubt the 6.5 has been upand coming since its inception, even onto long range competitions but, the .243 has been doing it much longer and w/o the new technology to baby it along

[jackgriffith]

Imagine the gun room at this guys place!! 🤔😮😮😮😮☠️☠️☠️☠️
Holy smokes 😂!!

[ethanwilson]

243 on a doe at 150 yards is a wound u should see. It works.

[jfowler]

I've been reading Ron Spomer's stuff for what seems like forever. Really fun to start seeing some videos.

[MichaelRobertson-if]

Being born in California in 1950 the first deer I shot was with an 03 Springfield that my Dad had built. Being a ground squirrel hunter since I was 12 years old and living on a farm I had an Remington 62 pump rifle when I was young. As I grew up that gun was stolen and I replaced it with the Marlin 39A, I was starting to get a cataract in my right eye, which I inherited from my Grandmother, I put a 2-7 power scope on it and when CCI came out with the Stinger it changed everything. When I started deer hunting every year I bought the Ruger in 243 and have taken my deer with it for 45 years, generally making neck shots just below their skulls.

[kothliim]

.243 for me. 80gr power Shok ammo shoots .75" groups at 100, and is good for deer and coyotes. Have it in an AR-10 platform.

[johnagen]

243!!!! Bar none!! Hands down!!!! 243 all the way!!!

[jerrodabernathy]

220 Swift is a great fur round. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that round.

[michaelathens]

My grandpa had a lever action .243 Winchester and I absolutely loved that rifle.
We shot a LOT of coyotes with that thing, anyone out there who's never gone spotlighting coyotes has got to try it.
Many states even have a bounty on coyotes to where you can get a few bucks for each one you kill.

[donaldmartin]

My .243 has been getting everything done for me since 1977….. keep your Creedmoor. I never took an elk with it, because it is not legal here. But deer, wild pigs, even black bear, no problem

[taprackmiss]

I did a PRS match a while back where the first place guy used .22 creedmoor and won with a noteable difference from second. Absolutely blistering speed.

[rogermitchemjr]

I'd go with 6.5 Creedmoor, you can hunt deer and elk with the 140, 147, 156 grain bullets then you can hunt coyotes with the varmint 95 grain bullet, that's a multi purpose cartridge for me.

[troythompson]

Yeah, the 22-250 is an awesome cartridge

[AlexRixon]

I'd go 243 because in two years' time, when they have come out with a slight cartridge variation. I still want to be able to get ammo.

[phprofYT]

I used a 243 100 grain Federal power-shok (just plain lead soft point) on a white tail in 2022. I've never seen a 243 do so much damage. Both are fine. Pick your fav and go hunting.

[bryantbutlermf]

I agree I use 22 magnum for everything besides obviously large game