6.5 PRC performance on deer

[Recon$$]

Running 140 bergers at 3050 FPS. Shot one mule deer last year at 522. Dropped him. The bullet punched through both ribs and ended up on stopping on his hide. Found it very easy to load for this cartridge.

 

[ajkellerusmc]

We took 2 Muley's with the PRC last year, both at close range 65 & 109 yds. closer one went 10 yds the second dropped in his tracks. Was hoping for some long shots but even at close range the 131 Hammer Hunter did the job but both shots were in the boiler rooms. Whatever I have used over the years I have always put them down in short order if the shot was in the BR. Bad shot placement has always made me lose the animal or deal with an extended tracking job.

 

[Greyfox]

I've seen a difference and you know I love the 6.5-284. The PRC just seems to out run it a bit. I see right around 150 fps in similar-ish loads and barrel lengths. My 24" 284 barrels liked to run 2920-2950 whereas my 22" PRC runs 3030-3050, 140 class bullets. I have a 18" PRC barrel to get broke in and it seems to be OK running a 140 at 3000 but I will back it off and run a 135 at 3025-3050, is the plan anyway. It's a wolf rifle anyway, no need for heavies, just run a 135 and send it

Thank for the info! I always enjoy your informative posts. Perhaps it's the chamber differences in my 6.5x284's. With a couple of them I've found accuracy nodes in the 3050-3100FPS range, one a 24" bbl, but Il run all my rifles in the 2975-3000FPS range. Same load for over a dozen years. Seems to be plenty for medium game, and of equal importance, I've been shooting them for so long that once I get a range, I can dial the elevation and windage from memory out to 1000+ yards.

 

[BrentM]

Thank for the info! I always enjoy your informative posts. Perhaps it's the chamber differences in my 6.5x284's. With a couple of them I've found accuracy nodes in the 3050-3100FPS range, one a 24" bbl, but Il run all my rifles in the 2975-3000FPS range. Same load for over a dozen years. Seems to be plenty for medium game, and of equal importance, I've been shooting them for so long that once I get a range, I can dial the elevation and windage from memory out to 1000+ yards.

Yeah the 6.5-284 is legit. I still have 4 barrels on the shelf and have no plans to get rid of them. I took a chance on the prc because I wanted a short action switch barrel set up to shoot comp with stuff like a dasher and 223. Swap and go after elk. I think it does what I wanted, mainly don't give up what I had for performance in the 6.5-284. I think the bonus is that it seems to run well in a short barrel. We'll see how that 18 does soon. My new suppressor will be 5.5" vs 7 so I'll lose around 5" on this hunting rig and hopefully still fling 140 class at 3000.