Aloha Bradda Drck,
I think the key here is you mentioned possibly wanting factory match ammo. The creedmoor in that respect stands pretty much alone. Plus reloading components favor it also, meaning that it's available from many sources although reloading components right now is tight. But if you look hard enough you'll be able to find some.
As far as shooting barrels out, the new bartleins seem to be great in that respect. I have several of them on order for some of our fire breathers lol. But as in everything it mostly depends on your shooting regimen etc. Hunters most likely won't shoot a barrel out under normal hunting conditions etc in a lifetime. Target/competition shooting is where barrels usually get shot out although I'm sure you're aware of this. The throat is what gets torched and you can set the barrel back or do up a new barrel.
The creedmoor isn't a barrel burner like other overbore 6.5 cartridges. My 6.5 STW is one of those as is my 6.5x284. Even though I hunt mostly I ordered the new bartleins for those cartridges that are known barrel burners because l hunt alot. And do damage control at times and shoot alot of rounds in quick succession which is what hurts your rifles throat.
With all that said what you're looking for in a 6.5 the creedmoor meets what you want. Especially the factory match ammo which is the big difference between it and other 6.5 cartridges.
I have a lot of different 6.5 caliber rifles including creedmoor so speaking from experience. I'm just not a good writer lol it's easier for me to talk about it so if anything doesn't make sense you have my number lol
Take care my friend and have fun
Aloha
Thank you for the feedback. Always appreciated from folks with the real experience!
I sort of "backed into" the order of the 6.5 CM setup, where I didn't have as much time as I would normally for a purchase like this. That said, I've long wanted to go with a 6/6.5 mm setup, so I decided to jump right in. The factory ammo consideration has a lot to do with my relative inexperience with loading my own, where I want a solid baseline to test whether it's me or the gun.
The component availability of this popular cartridge is also a big consideration. At least in normal times, the availability would be good. I have time before the action & barrel arrives (probably 2+ months), so no rush. I'm still focuses on .308 for now as well.
Yup, noted on the shooting out barrels. Not a big concern of mine, but rather something I did consider in the overall scheme of things. If I end up shooting out barrels, that hopefully means I'm really enjoying it and shooting a lot. I'm not worried about burning out a barrel that is shooting super well either. Will just have fun with the next barrel. Not doing stuff like F-class where folks save their "hammer barrels" for the big matches and alternate barrels for the smaller matches. Too lazy for all that, plus not expecting that level of accuracy. At least not where the gun's capability would be the limiting factor over my shooting abilities.
At one point a while ago, I envisioned trying all sorts of calibers. Now that I've gotten into loading .308 for longer distance and (more) precision shooting, I will likely stick with .308 and 6.5 CM for a while. That said, the 6.5x284 stuff seems very interesting, but that's from the F-class folks.
Yeah, I'll hit you up next time I'm in Kaneohe. I was just there last week Friday, but that's was last minute plans. Would be great to have some beers with ya and talk story.