6.5 PRC or .300 PRC

[NMMerriam7401]

I love my Christensen Arms Ridgeline in 6.5 PRC. Shooting factory Ammo 143 ELD-x grouped great! I only shot a three shot group because I thought was missing the mark. I didn't have a spotting scope. Recoil as stated above. I wanted a round that gave me ok throat life with good down range energy without hammering to death over a pack for a rest. Well thought out round. Round Carrie's ample energy for elk size animals out to 500 yrds and deer size well beyond.

 

[tobnpr]

Bullet splash will be much easier to see with a 225 or 250 grain bullet.
300 PRC for that reason, BTW guys are driving the 250 Atip around 2800 fps

This. Seems a lot of conversation is centered around 1000 yards and even less here, which is not ELR.
Dunno- maybe the guys that shoot past 1K with little boolits don't have mirage, and don't miss.
We were out today, my son shoots .338 LM, I shoot a .300 WSM. My son's friend joined us today with his 6.5 Creed.
Solid hits at 800 with his 6.5, beyond that...couldn't spot splashes.

One can point the muzzle towards the sky and lob a tiny bullet as far as ya'd like.
Seeing it impact though, is a different story.

With the mirage we live with most days in FL, trying to spot impacts from 6's and 6.5's is highly difficult at ELR ranges.
Doesn't matter if you're using a Tasco spotting scope, or a Swarovski. Both are equally impotent in heavy mirage.

Any round will easily run under 1k yards. We were shooting .223/69 grain out to 600, 6.5 Grendel out to 800 without issue.
But there's a WORLD of difference between 800 yards, and well beyond 1,000- and difficulty spotting impacts increases exponentially.

As a riflesmith, when I'm asked to recommend a dedicated ELR chambering, it's a magnum- period.

 

[VLD Pilot]

This. Seems a lot of conversation is centered around 1000 yards and even less here, which is not ELR.
Dunno- maybe the guys that shoot past 1K with little boolits don't have mirage, and don't miss.
We were out today, my son shoots .338 LM, I shoot a .300 WSM. My son's friend joined us today with his 6.5 Creed.
Solid hits at 800 with his 6.5, beyond that...couldn't spot splashes.

One can point the muzzle towards the sky and lob a tiny bullet as far as ya'd like.
Seeing it impact though, is a different story.

With the mirage we live with most days in FL, trying to spot impacts from 6's and 6.5's is highly difficult at ELR ranges.
Doesn't matter if you're using a Tasco spotting scope, or a Swarovski. Both are equally impotent in heavy mirage.

Any round will easily run under 1k yards. We were shooting .223/69 grain out to 600, 6.5 Grendel out to 800 without issue.
But there's a WORLD of difference between 800 yards, and well beyond 1,000- and difficulty spotting impacts increases exponentially.

As a riflesmith, when I'm asked to recommend a dedicated ELR chambering, it's a magnum- period.

I agree. That said, a magnum won't reduce mirage. I have the same issue being close to the great lakes and shooting in hot weather with full sun, seems mirage is always present and no glass will tame it. It wrecks shooter accuracy and makes it tough to get the rifles potential. Even the 6.5/7mm non-magnums make tiny groups on paper at a mile which I'd say is ELR. As I complain about mirage, I've been known to do the same when the wind gets gassing. When I can find days that have low mirage and low wind, I love shooting the non-magnums at those ELRs. When wind starts getting cocky, the big Mags come out to play. It's amazing how my heavier 7mm bullets having the same ballistic coefficient as my heavy 338 Lapua improved bullets but the Lapua just seems to keep the bullets all on the target. It goes against the whole BC, Velocity game but it is what it is. I prefer magnums also at the ELR distances 90% of the time.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Not that it is irrelevant, but pretty sure the OP made his decision in the last 2 years since the thread was started.



That being said, it depends on what "shooting steel to a mile" means. Shooting AT steel to a mile? Or consistent high hit percentage at a mile? And what size steel? If high hit percentage at a mile on 2/3 IPSC is needed, in windy conditions, I would be thinking a 230 Hyb, 245 EOL, 250 A Tip, or getting into .338 300SMK/300 Hyb run a bit faster would be in order.

I would have gone 6.5PRC w. 153.5 LR Hyb. BC is BC, and the 6.5mm 153.5 G7 .356 is identical for all purposes to a .308 215 Hyb G7 .354. So flight is equal if velocity is equal. Wind drift and drop should be nearly identical, but the 6.5 is going to recoil significantly less, and be a slight bit cheaper to shoot, but far more pleasant.

I shoot out to 1+ mile with my 6.5SS often (156 Elite or 144 LR Hyb usually). I am in AZ, so I know what mirage is like. And wind. Out to 1400, it is awesome. 1400-1800 is where a good spotter comes in handy. Splash is not much to see, depending on where your target is set. But following trace helps a lot.

Heck, I shoot my 6CM out to 1500 monthly. Heading out in a bit to do so today.

 

[VLD Pilot]

I believed all that BC being equal if velocity is the same myself until I built some bigger 30/338s. Heavy bullets ALWAYS beat lighter bullets of equal BC and velocity at long range in bigger winds. Theory says no but fact shows it does.

 

[lancetkenyon]

I believed all that BC being equal if velocity is the same myself until I built some bigger 30/338s. Heavy bullets ALWAYS beat lighter bullets of equal BC and velocity at long range in bigger winds. Theory says no but fact shows it does.

Depends on WHAT big/heavy bullets you are referring to. A big fat round nose sure won't beat many of the higher BC 6.5mm bullets.
A .308 245 Hyb @ G7 .413 will definitely have less drift than a 6.5mm 153.5 @ G7 .356 if pushed at the same velocity. But, you can't get the highest BCs out of a 6.5mm bullet, as weight plays a factor in BC too, so does length, shape, etc.

So it is really hard to compare a .308 or
.338 heavy to a 6.5mm heavy. Apples to oranges.

 

[VLD Pilot]

Depends on WHAT big/heavy bullets you are referring to. A big fat round nose sure won't beat many of the higher BC 6.5mm bullets.
A .308 245 Hyb @ G7 .413 will definitely have less drift than a 6.5mm 153.5 @ G7 .356 if pushed at the same velocity. But, you can't get the highest BCs out of a 6.5mm bullet, as weight plays a factor in BC too, so does length, shape, etc.

So it is really hard to compare a .308 or
.338 heavy to a 6.5mm heavy. Apples to oranges.

It is apples to oranges but it's believed by many that a .8 BC 195 .284 bullet has the exact same resistance to wind that the .8 BC 300 .338 bullet does. That's fairly true until wind gets crazy. Then as I and many have realized, Apples to Oranges in real world testing. It's 100% true in zero wind conditions. In fact, it's probably only wind that has that negative effect on the comparison. I'd much rather shoot my 7mm cartridge than my 338 LM cartridge. I shoot it better and it's generally more accurate.