I am looking at purchasing a 20" heavy barrel Howa in 6.5 Creed. Rifle will be used for hunting out to 400 yards. Funny, but the medium contour barrel is 22". I suppose Howa dropped down to 20" to save weight on the thick stick.

Does the round work well in a 20" tube at those distances?

will work fine in a 20" barrel

Should push a 140 gr at 2700 fps MV.

Elevation correction is irrelavant with the right scope. After that it comes down to your ability to drive the rifle and correctly adjust for wind.

Thanks for the info!

My 16.25" Creedmoor pushes a 120 Amax at 2715. 20" is plenty.

I shoot a 6.5 Creedmoor with a 20 inch barrel.

I took Firemans shooting class and had no problem hitting targets 800 yards out. Personally, I love short barrels, they are much handier.

I've been looking at the Ruger Predator in 6.5 and it has a 24" barrel. I like everything about it, except the length. Would it be that big of a deal to have it cut down?

Take it to a gunsmith and have them cut it down and re crown. Easy project.

I looked at Ruger's website, it says 22". I wouldn't bother to cut 2" off, but you could go 4" and still be at 18" overall.