By now the release of the 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak ammunition by Federal is well underway. This is an exciting new development with huge implications all across the shooting space. To be transparent, I have not had the opportunity to shoot this new ammunition yet. However, here are my thoughts about this new ammunition and whether it is a fad or the beginning of a paradigm shift.
What is +Peak?
First of all, what is this new technology and how does it actually improve on conventional ammunition? The +Peak technology is a steel alloy cased ammunition. While steel cased ammo has been around for a long time, the +Peak ammunition is unique in that it allows conventional firearms to handle 80000 PSI of pressure, compared to the maximum 65000 PSI for brass cased ammunition.
What this means is that +Peak cases allow significantly higher velocities per case volume vs brass cased cases. For example, the new 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak is advertised as pushing a 130 grain bullet at 3150fps. This is well into 6.5 PRC velocities, but the 6.5 PRC requires around 15 grains more powder to do so. This allows for magnum performance with standard cartridge weight actions, magazine capacities, and recoil levels.
Benefits
The benefits of this new technology are fairly obvious. For one, extra velocity never hurts, improving terminal performance as well as external ballistics. Also, this performance comes with less recoil than a magnum cartridge. While recoil in the 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak will be more than traditional 6.5 Creedmoor loadings, it will still be less than achieving the same ballistics with a larger cartridge. This is because powder charge also contributes to recoil, and due to the higher pressures less powder is needed to achieve the same results with +Peak technology.
Another benefit is rifle weight and capacity. The 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak cases will permit 6.5 PRC velocities with a standard bolt face. This means ultra trim rifle designs like Weatherby’s 6-lug Mark V and the Kimber 84M can handle the cartridge. These specialized actions are ultra light, and a favourite of dedicated mountain hunters. Furthermore, the smaller case heads permit high magazine capacities. While many designs such as the Winchester Model 70 can only hold 3 magnum cartridges in the magazine, standard bolt face cartridges allow 5 rounds with a flush fit magazine. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never wished that I didn’t have an extra round or two on tap when a situation gets western.
Potential Drawbacks
Despite these benefits, there are still potential drawbacks to this new technology. First of all, the ability to easily reload this ammunition remains to be seen. While Federal is claiming that these cases are reloadable, due to the much harder necks on steel cased ammunition I am skeptical of the ability to make top shelf precision ammo by handloading these cases. Federal themselves have admitted that neck tension is key to accuracy due to the hardness of the alloy.
Another potential drawback is decreased barrel life. Because of the increase in pressure there is no way that there is not some decrease in barrel life. That said, I speculate that the increase in barrel wear will be very minor because the powder volume is largely unchanged. However, that remains to be tested and I may be proven wrong.
Lastly, accuracy may be worse than traditional brass cased ammo. Anecdotally, the harder you push brass cased ammunition the larger your dispersion becomes. Bryan Litz and the Hornady guys have also observed this in their large sample size testing. Whether or not this phenomenon translates to steel cased ammunition is unknown. Let’s just say I’d be shocked if accuracy improves with an extra 15000 PSI of pressure.
Closing Thoughts
In closing, the 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak introduction is an exciting advancement in ammunition technology. It allows shooters to get 270 Winchester or 6.5 PRC performance out of their existing 6.5 Creedmoor rifles, all with lower recoil. While it has yet to be seen if these new cases are accurate, easy on barrels, and simple to handload, but this new technology shows a lot of promise. I will be sure to post an update once I am able to get my hands on some +Peak ammunition and gather accuracy and velocity data.
The biggest implication of this introduction is the potential for future releases. The 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak release shows Federal will introduce this technology in existing cartridges. This means there may be a whole family of high pressure +Peak cartridges to come. The potential for a 308 Winchester +Peak or a 6 Creedmoor +Peak is an exciting prospect indeed.