6.5 Swedish Mauser, or 6.5×55, is the oldest smokeless powder 6.5 cartridge, the OG. It was developed in the early 1890’s.
6.5 Creedmoor is one of the newest 6.5 cartridges being developed in 2007. So how do they compare?
Overall: the 6.5 Creedmoor is more efficient and is loaded to higher pressure. It makes the same or more velocity as the 6.5 Swede in a shorter case with less powder because it uses a short, wide powder column.
- 6.5 Creedmoor has a 1/4″ shorter case and shorter OAL so it fits short actions
- 6.5 Creedmoor has a straighter case: .473 at rim, .463 at shoulder (only tapers .010″ from back to front)
- 6.5 Swede has more taper to case: .479 on rim vs .437 at shoulder (tapers .042″ from back to front)
- 6.5 Creedmoor uses a 30 degree shoulder vs 25 degree shoulder on Swede This should allow for more reloads on 6.5 Creedmoor brass
- Swede has more case capacity: 3.68cc vs 3.12 on Creedmoor: that allows the Swede to use heavier 150-160 grain bullets if you want
- 6.5 Creedmoor has higher max pressure
Practically speaking, they do the exact same thing. They’re both best paired with 140 grain bullets, and they both spit em out at 2500-2700 fps. Factory 6.5 Swede loads may be a bit slow because they might be used in 130 year old rifles so manufacturers keep them loaded a bit lighter.
The shorter action of a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle should be slightly more compact and lighter but since so many rifle manufacturers just use 1 action length (long), it may not matter.
Cartridge dimension pics are from the LEE Reloading manual:
