[Jack Black]

Ballistics wise they are pretty similar. The 140 grain is the most popular 7mm round whereas the 6.5mm it's around 125 grain, not a whole lot of difference.

The Creedmoor appeals to long-range paper punchers with some super-high BC bullets. 6mm and 6.5mm are the favorite for most long range shooting these days.

The 7mm with slightly heavier bullets will be preferred by hunters. The 7mm Rem Mag is the "one rifle" of a lot of very successful big game hunters, and the 7mm-.08 while not as fast does deliver the same bullets at a respectable speed.

One advantage of the Creedmoor is that a lot of AR-10 rifles are being chambered for it. So, if you want a semi-auto it might be the obvious choice.

[Jack Black]

Another advantage of the 7mm-08 is that it can be easily made from .308 brass. An alternative to the Creedmore is the .260 Remington, which is also a resized .308, and might be better if you are a reloader with a lot of .308 brass lying around. Like the Creedmore it shoots the 6.5mm bullet.

The author mentions the .243, but leaves out the bigger than .30 caliber bruisers based on the .308 cartridges, which if you want a short action hunting rifle might be a better choice than either the Creeedmoor or the 7mm-08.

First up is the .338 Federal. Here is an article from when it was introduced in 2008, extolling its virtues:

The .338 Federal: A rare moment of sanity, cartridge-wise .

The .338 Federal fires a 210-grain bullet at 2600 fps, and 180- and 185-grain bullets at 150 to 200 fps faster

There is also a .35 caliber .308 based cartridge that's been around for years and is still favored by some, the .358 Winchester.

I have a friend in Wyoming who swears by that cartridge and uses it for deer and bear. If you are going in bear country it's probably a better choice than the Creedmore, as the 250 grain bullet is available and works well in this caliber. The lighter 200 grain attains 2500 ft/sec.

Wikipedia: .358 Winchester.

Browning still chambers their lever-action, the BLR, in .358. Compared to the classic .35 Rem lever cartridge the .358 is clearly more powerful, and there are still a lot of lever-action .35's out there, and people who swear by them.

The BLR is a little weird looking compared to the more typical 19th century style lever action rifle. It's not "the gun that won the West", but it's been around since the 1960s, and was designed by John Moses Browning's grandson, Val. There is a handy takedown version, too.

It's an old Free Republic tradition that gun threads have to have pictures on them, some of you know this and are slipping up!