Kimber Hunter or Savage 116 Lightweight Hunter? .308 or 6.5 Creedmoor?

[Buckhunter28]

I'm purchasing a new rifle for this upcoming hunting season, and I'm making it a lightweight 500 yard minimum rifle(although as of now I cannot comfortable shoot that far), as I am going to hopefully be hunting in Wyoming again and my Browning Medallion is just too heavy for that. So, what I'm wondering is Should I go with the Savage or Kimber, and .308 or 6.5 Creed? I'm trying to keep the rifle $800 or less and under 6 pounds, so both these fit the bill. I already have a Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50, so that is perfect for long range. I understand there is a much larger variety and quantity of ammo for .308, but what would you guys say? Any input on which rifle and caliber will be greatly appreciated! Not only do I want to use this rifle build for longer range deer hunting, but long range target shooting as well. Thanks again everyone!

[CAMPMEAT]

6.5 Creedmoor all the way. It shoots long distances, bucks the wind better and will kill anything you put in front of it in the lower 48.

I have a 116 and love it. I had a Savage Model 10 in 308, that now is a 6.5 Creedmoor.

The 308 will work, but not as good at the longer distances.

[300rum]

At the ranges you mentioned, or even anything less then 1000 a .308 will do just fine.  Ammo will be easier to find, although we may not have to worry about that in the next four years, and brass will be easy to get and much cheaper if you want to reload. 

[Buckhunter28]

6.5 Creedmoor all the way. It shoots long distances, bucks the wind better and will kill anything you put in front of it in the lower 48.

I have a 116 and love it. I had a Savage Model 10 in 308, that now is a 6.5 Creedmoor.

The 308 will work, but not as good at the longer distances.

Awesome thanks! I have been leaning towards the 6.5 based of the ballistics and what I've read So it would be fine for mule deer at say 500 yards? Alos, what load are you using? Thanks again!

[Buckhunter28]

At the ranges you mentioned, or even anything less then 1000 a .308 will do just fine.  Ammo will be easier to find, although we may not have to worry about that in the next four years, and brass will be easy to get and much cheaper if you want to reload.

That's the definite benefit I know with .308 is variety and availability of ammo, do you think it will hold its accuracy well at longer ranges as well? Thanks for the reply!

[300rum]

Like a thousand yards?  Yes it will.     At 500yds the deer will never know the difference. 

It is fun to have a new cartridge but you have to be careful, there are a lot of wssm's out there or .30-338 or.....The list goes on and on.

At the ranges you mentioned, or even anything less then 1000 a .308 will do just fine.  Ammo will be easier to find, although we may not have to worry about that in the next four years, and brass will be easy to get and much cheaper if you want to reload.

That's the definite benefit I know with .308 is variety and availability of ammo, do you think it will hold its accuracy well at longer ranges as well? Thanks for the reply!

[CAMPMEAT]

6.5 Creedmoor all the way. It shoots long distances, bucks the wind better and will kill anything you put in front of it in the lower 48.

I have a 116 and love it. I had a Savage Model 10 in 308, that now is a 6.5 Creedmoor.

The 308 will work, but not as good at the longer distances.

Awesome thanks! I have been leaning towards the 6.5 based of the ballistics and what I've read So it would be fine for mule deer at say 500 yards? Alos, what load are you using? Thanks again!

I have 3, 6.5's and my next one I'm building is a 6.5x284..if that tells you anything about the 6.5 family.

[Buckhunter28]

Like a thousand yards?  Yes it will.     At 500yds the deer will never know the difference. 

It is fun to have a new cartridge but you have to be careful, there are a lot of wssm's out there or .30-338 or.....The list goes on and on.

At the ranges you mentioned, or even anything less then 1000 a .308 will do just fine.  Ammo will be easier to find, although we may not have to worry about that in the next four years, and brass will be easy to get and much cheaper if you want to reload.

Alright awesome thank you! That was my main selling point was the accuracy difference I'd read and heard about between the two calibers, being that the 6.5 held a great advantage, thank you! All the info is definitely helping, keep it coming everyone I love hearing new perspectives and personal experiences with each!

That's the definite benefit I know with .308 is variety and availability of ammo, do you think it will hold its accuracy well at longer ranges as well? Thanks for the reply!

[Duckslayer89]

https://www.huntinggearguy.com/general/6-5-creedmoor-vs-308-winchester/

I bought my 308 mountain ascent before they had the 6.5 creedmoor option a few years back. I'm not sure what I would do now. I like having ammo readily available anywhere and it is super accurate

[Buckhunter28]

6.5 Creedmoor all the way. It shoots long distances, bucks the wind better and will kill anything you put in front of it in the lower 48.

I have a 116 and love it. I had a Savage Model 10 in 308, that now is a 6.5 Creedmoor.

The 308 will work, but not as good at the longer distances.

Awesome thanks! I have been leaning towards the 6.5 based of the ballistics and what I've read So it would be fine for mule deer at say 500 yards? Alos, what load are you using? Thanks again!

I have 3, 6.5's and my next one I'm building is a 6.5x284..if that tells you anything about the 6.5 family.

That definitely does tell me something about them, if you've put that amount of money into them there must be something special what load are using for it? 

[Buckhunter28]

Also, @CAMPMEAT , would you say that the 6.5 would do just fine at 500 yards on a mulie with the proper load? Thanks again

[opdinkslayer]

Tikka superlite in a 7mm rem mag if your wanting a budget lw lr rifle with lots of factory ammo choices to make mule deer dead.

[CAMPMEAT]

Also, @CAMPMEAT , would you say that the 6.5 would do just fine at 500 yards on a mulie with the proper load? Thanks again

Yes it would, no problem. Ammo is not a problem like everybody says, you bring enough with you just like you would for a 300 RUM.

140 grn Berger handloads. Hornady 140 & 143 ELD - X if you can find them. If you do and you know 100% you're buying a 6.5, buy all of the 143 ELD-X's. Those are hard to find and would like freight train, from the pictures I've seen.

One other thing, IF, you're going to do shooting long range ALOT, buy a bull barrel. If you're going hunting for a month say, you might shoot you rifle once or twice, maybe 3 times. The model 116 barrel heats ups because it's a pencil barrel, skinny, if you think you're going to do quite abit of long range shooting.

Order one from Davidsons Gallery of Guns (Gun Genie ) and have it shipped to the FFL you choose from their list. You'll svae some money and the gun is guaranteed for life.

[headshot5]

I would take a hard look at 7mm-08. 

[Bob33]

https://www.huntinggearguy.com/general/6-5-creedmoor-vs-308-winchester/