6.5 PRC Build

[Holycity73]

I've got 2 PRC builds on deck. Funny, as much time as I spend shooting I rarely ever see a 6.5-284 or any of the other revered cartridges. What I do see is the .308, 6.5x47, 6/6.5Creedmoor, 6.5 and 7 SAUM etc and now the PRC. This leads me to believe that a majority of the reverence comes from the idea of rather than the practicality and availability of the ammunition as well as rifles chambered in said cartridges.
Hand loaders and custom rifle devotees will always have a niche for their older cartridge passions, but the future appears to be far more kind to the newer offerings.
Marketing or not, even the humble Creedmoor single handedly saved the precision rifle. Don't believe me? Google it. Fads, as the Creedmoor is often referred to as by "real experts" on line, are generally gone by the one year mark. We are now north of ten.
The 6.5 PRC opens the door to off the shelf precision ammunition in a platform that most folks have on hand. Short action, mag bolt face, screaming performance.

It's a real do-all that you can buy ammo for at most it box stores and soon, most gun stores I'm sure.

If I'm wrong, big deal. We won't know for a few years and no one ever admits it in forums anyway!

 

[Weatherby Fan]

Build the 6.5 PRC is the bestess new 6.5 Cartridge on the planet, and mine is accurate out to 2000 yards.........
All kidding aside its a dam fine cartridge and the Hornady factory ammo is beyond crazy accurate, not to mention it's readily available and reasonably priced.
Here's a few pictures of mine.

A picture from the gunsmith as it was being built..........

 

[WildRose]

A few? That's debatable... I've overheard so many morons in the gun stores talking about the CM's magical powers and how "anyone can just buy a gun and go shoot deer at 1000 yards"... That's scary. I've watched folks who are supposedly "avid hunters" at the range averaging 2-3 MOA at 100 yards, and feeling that's acceptable. That's how animals get maimed and wounded and long range hunters/shooters get a bad reputation.

I don't badmouth Hornady for the sake of it, I don't dislike Hornady as a company, it's the fact that we already had cartridges that did as much, and better than both the CM and PRC, but yet, the marketing hype, the timing, and all the advertising ******** got everyone believing how amazing and new and revolutionary they are...Which is bullcrap. They build up hype to boost sales. Yes, I know sales is what drives the industry, but it's so **** irritating.

Mud not all your points are bad here but the "hype" has been proven to be true at matches and hunts all over the country for the last decade.

The PRC will see it's share of success as well.

By partnering with gun manufacturers and designing a cartridge to their specs Hornady has gone from being a 2nd or 3rd tier company marketing reloading components to one of the most innovative leaders in the business and has created great success for the gun manufacturers smart enough to partner with them.

 

[WildRose]

Aaron Davidson flat out said he asked Hornady why they didn't load for -284 and that was their response, that there was too much variability in chambering for them to load for it with low enough risk ... as in insurance company said no.



This is more people now than ever, the weight chasing race is finally coming to hunting just as it came to backpacking.




I am interested in your stats for this. If its from mostly associating with others on specialized forums like these I think either you have a confirmation bias that most reload, or your idea of "serious" just rules out anyone that uses factory ammo... even if it was true I dont see how its bad to give options to people that don't



Are you saying Hornadys factory loads cant shoot? I hope not, because I've been told by multiple builders now to try PH and Match first on various calibers because customers are shooting absolute bugholes and deciding not to reload. The last was specifically about PRC.


My impressions of this statement is... the average hunter that buys box ammo is incapable of safety, and performance. Therefore, factory options designed for a common shooter are not only pointless but negative for the market.



This entire caliber exists because Hornady is in the business to make money. For some reason that a terrible thing now and means the caliber is useless even though it delivers what it was designed to do, and fills a niche that was open. Stupid people being stupid doesn't have anything to do with it and shouldn't be a reason to dislike a product, if so we are pretty screwed because there's quite a few of them. I swear more than ever people cant stand having extra options.

Edit* This comes off more negative than I meant it after re-reading. I don't mean it to do so.

Without the availability of quality factory ammo we'd have about 90% fewer hunters and shooters in the country and support for our gun rights would swiftly follow.

 

[Buzzsaw]

I'm In, will be my next rifle, I just took delivery of my CORE Solutions 6.5 Creedmoor. Guess I need to start them on a PRC..

Weathrby Fan, FIRST CLASS build there!!! I think you and I are the only ones who LOVE the Zeiss Scope!!!

Cant wait on youre range reports as you develop your load.....

 

[seidersjoden]

Guessing you're planning on building it on a long action already, the only reason I see not to try it is the lack of brass suppliers.

It looks like fun, little bit wider powder column than the 6.5x284, probably can push it a little faster, but not sure if hornady brass will limit your top end performance. I know a 6.5x284 will flirt with 3100 fps with 140 bergers.

A 6.5 PRC will flirt with 3100 with 147 ELDMs. Takes about 57.5g of H1000 which is definitely not overdoing it in the case, so far I've gotten five reloads to with hornady brass and still going

 

[PT1967]

hi guys,
I tried a search on the topic and couldn't find any threads so appreciate any guidance you can offer.

Long story short, I've been planning and saving for a 6.5-284 build and now wonder about a 6.5 PRC instead.

Thoughts?

Where should I go for latter if that is best path?

Thanks,

Jeff

Everyone on this 6.5PRC thread should go listen to Aaron Davidson's podcast on the 6.5 PRC. Ballistics are better with the 6.5x284. Still the best round for longrange and most hunting in the US. But those that say it doesn't meet spec are right. I personally don't care. I reload and I'm sticking with my 6.5x284. It's my favorite longrange round, easy to reload, easy to shoot and it kills fast. That's all I need to know. It's a bad *** round.

 

[stel67]

I had a 6.5-06 built recently on a 700 rem action and a Proof carbon barrel. Long story short ended up having an issue with the Proof barrel and they are sending me a new one. I have decided to now go with a 6.5-280ai you can get factory brass and it will push the 143 elds as fast as any 6.5 cartridge with out all of the fuss....

 

[skookum]

If you lean towards the PRC I'd go with Bertram Brass. I just made the switch to them myself and it is TOUGH brass. Sorry if someone already said this, I didn't feel like reading 5 pages of Ford vs. Chevy .

 

[hrnhntr]

I am currently in the process of a PRC build. Anxiously awaiting the remainder of the parts. I was going to do a 6.5x284, but the gunsmith said why not do a PRC and keep it short action. After some thinking and research I decided to go PRC for the short action as that is most of what I have and shoot regularly. Outside of that the only other difference is brass and ammo availability. Any other differences will be marginal at best.

 

[Matno]

Oh really???



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.5-284_Norma


As for your justification, most serious hunters and shooters reload their own ammo and don't ever buy factory ammo to begin with... So, your argument falls on mostly deaf ears, other than those who don't reload.

And no, nobody can go buy a box of ammo and a rifle over the counter and go shoot at 1000 yards. That is why I call it marketing HYPE! It's not realistic.

I call BS. Plenty of serious hunters reload, but it's not even remotely close to "most." I'd be willing to bet that it's less than 10% of "serious hunters."

And the marketing "hype" is real. Three different factory Hornady loads (the only ones I've tried) are sub half MOA from my 6.5 Creedmoor. When the wind is calm I can hit my 3" plate at 500 yards every time. I don't shoot at 1000 often, but it's easily capable of consistent hits at that range. The days of "Only reloads are accurate" are a thing of the past.

 

[george vasiliou]

hi guys,
I tried a search on the topic and couldn't find any threads so appreciate any guidance you can offer.

Long story short, I've been planning and saving for a 6.5-284 build and now wonder about a 6.5 PRC instead.

Thoughts?

Where should I go for latter if that is best path?

Thanks,

Jeff

Stick with 6.5x284

 

[Lee D]

I would really like to do a PRC build, custom action, 26" barrel. the expected 2500-3000rd barrel life is what sets it apart from the hoards of over 6.5 cartridges on the market.

 

[lee31]

I had a 6.5-06 built recently on a 700 rem action and a Proof carbon barrel. Long story short ended up having an issue with the Proof barrel and they are sending me a new one. I have decided to now go with a 6.5-280ai you can get factory brass and it will push the 143 elds as fast as any 6.5 cartridge with out all of the fuss....

I've been loading for my buddy's 6.5-280AI. Super easy to load for. Sends the 143s at 3200 with room to go