22 Caliber vs 6mm

Open Carry Bullet'n Board
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Read a Post today by ‘orkan’ of Primal Rights in SoDak, his quote is below. It seems he is quite the 22 Creedmoor fan.

“Designed or not designed… an 80gr Berger VLD at 3450fps+ is one of the most versatile and lethal things I’ve ever used on anything. Prior to seeing it for myself, I too was skeptical… but experience is experience. 22 Creed with that bullet is a ruthless killing machine.”

I grew up thinking of the 22 caliber as a small varmint caliber, an idea reinforced, well everywhere really. Except for the 22-250 which seemed to be a good for ‘Stand’/‘Still’ or Close-in hunting, and a great truck back window choice for larger varmints.

For Deer and Antelope the 243Win and 6Rem were about the lower limit, and in the crowd I rolled with, they were considered to be Ladies and Kids rifles. Especially the .243, they were like a Moped or a Scooter. Fun, but you didn’t want to be seen using one.

Previously I considered the 6mm for hunting Antelopes, but didn’t like the barrel life issue. That is until the Tac6 for the AR15. I was intrigued by the 6mm in a AR because I always thought the M-16 should have been a 6mm. Coupled with modern bullets and the 6.8SPC or 6.5G cases I thought it made a viable cartridge with a more reasonable barrel life. Now the shooting world has the ‘Mini’ action 6mmARC, and the 22 has moved up to the short action.

In fact it seems the 22 Creedmoor is quite the Deer slaying machine, along with a few other 22 cartridges, the .224 has a growing list of aficionados. Some of these folks have decades of extensive hunting in the American West. Enough for me to take notice.

My discovery of Savages’ ‘easy and cheap’ DIY switch barrel trait, and the same for the AR; coupled with modern mono bullets was a slow rolling epiphany for me. The 6.8 SPC and Grendel cases seem to be the upper limit for the ‘Mini Action’, and 6.5 PRC’s and 6.8 Western’s short magnum cases the upper for the ‘Short Action’.

Here is the question I will be pondering at red lights, or standing in the check out line for the next few weeks. The 6mm vs 22 Caliber, which is best for what, and which action for what purposes?

Here is another quote in case you want to ponder too:
“As much as I favor low recoil cartridges, I find it hard to believe that the recoil of a 7.5 pound 6mm Rem. rifle (10.6 ft. lbs.) is beyond the ability of Texas deer hunters to control, while the recoil of a 7.5 pound .224 TTH rifle (10.2 ft. lbs.) is easily handled by the same guys. 0.4 ft. lb. of recoil energy must be more significant to Texas trophy hunters than it is those hunting in other parts of the country.” - Chuck Hawks
Note: The .224 TTH is a Wildcat from a necked down 6mm Rem case loaded with a 80gr .224 bullet.

Interested in hearing what others have experienced or concluded…

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Well i do love the thread but my experince with either cartridge is nonexistent. When i comes to the bolt gun i am infatuated with the 6.5 creedmoor really it is borderline inappropriate how much i love the 6.5. :grin:

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No experience with either, but my experience with high velocity, 4000+fps, tells me that velocity is magical when it hits something living. But it’s only one way to kill things. Other terminal ballistic theories also work and have for 200+ years. I think a high velocity .22 would work fine within it’s velocity window.

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I was hesitant to comment on this topic but, now that I’ve had a few lagers, I think I can join in.

IMPORTANT. It’s pretty much about shot placement.

Close range work, a pump, lever or semi- auto might be the ticket.

Longer range… use something you’ve already verified for the task, maybe a bolt gun?

Bullet design and velocity might be more important than caliber.

Also, recoil hurts at the range. In the field, I can’t remember ever feeling it. 'course, I can’t remember what I did yesterday.

OK, done.

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Agreed, bullet design and putting it where it counts are the key, and speed kills.

Biggest factor in accuracy is recoil I think. With these two calibers I am good. 300WM and bigger not so enjoyable for me. Even the 300WSM isn’t really enjoyable. Like what the 338WM does, but its not enjoyable. Besides I don’t like belted cartridges. Strangely the 375 Ruger wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. No belt and it is on the ‘need to acquire list’ now. The 300WSM is out of here. Sometimes it’s the rifle more than the caliber. As you said in woods or field you never really feel it, but I like to shoot, not just hunt.

Here is my thinking on this. The 6.5 PRC is a 1500 round barrel. That’s a 1 year barrel. It’s a Savage so no real pain. Barrels are cheap, and easy to change. More rounds per is better, but there are other costs though.

A 22 Creedmoor at 3,500 fps is almost in the same round count range as the 3,000 fps 6mm Creedmoor. The brass savings alone would probably buy new barrels since I have 2,000 cases of 6.5 Creedmoor. I will be able to start off with first getting a 6mm Creedmoor, size the cases, load and then do the same with half of them again for a new 22 Creedmoor barrel.

…I may never put that PRC barrel on.

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:rofl: :rofl:

Thats after you “pull” or “squeeze” and your choice is what I’d say affects accuracy more :slightly_smiling_face:

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lol More Correctly its the psychological effects of recoil that cause you to mess up your press. Shrinks call it ‘Anticipatory Anxiety Disorder’… we call it a ‘Flinch’ lol :wink:

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On a 15 frame, the grendel and 224 work for me with federal fusions. deer and hogs are no match for them.

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Copy that. We have the 6.8SPC ll, 223 Wylde, and TAC 6 all in AR-15 and like them all.

I really was wanting to build a AR10 in 270 WSM with a KAK bolt and mags. Got pretty into it there for a while, but now I am going to wait and focus more on the BAs.

When these 5.56x42 come around again I may get some barrels. It is kind of a 224 Valkyrie improved, a Wildcat that like the Valkyrie is based on the 6.8 brass but trimmed to 42mm. It’s about 250fps faster than a 5.56 and 150 fps faster than the Valkyrie. 75-80gr bullets run 3000-3100 out of a 20" barrel. The 5.56x42 was designed about 13 years ago (before the 22 Nosler or 224 Valkyrie) to shoot the 75-80gr Amax and Berger at mag length but it also shoots varmint bullets as light as 40gr. 55gr bullets run around 34-3450fps. It will also shoot the new 85 Bergers at 2.336 using windowed mags from PRI.

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