Has the 6.5prc peaked in interested?

[308stillbrass]

I have both a 6.5cm and a 6.5prc. the 6.5cm is 24" barrel and shoots hornady factory 140gr ammo at 2688fps (i think this is a little slow as barrel isn't broken in yet)

6.5prc 147 factory horandy ammo is 2942 (barrel also is brand new with less than 50 rounds down it)

Unless you can get a 6.5cm to shoot a 147gr bullet at 2900fps then the PRC is much faster then 50 fps over 6.5cm. Also note that in my test the 6.5prc is shooting 147gr bullets, not 140. I have found not only to be accurate but with Horandy factory ammo i'm getting and SD of 15. Pretty good in my book.

 

[Blue Ridge Rifleman]

I've had great success with RL26 with 143s and 147s. My Ridgeline stacks 147s together at 200 yards with 55.7 grains of RL26 with a Fed210M loaded in Hornady brass. It's going 2975 fps from a 24" bbl.

I'm tempted to call you a liar for saying that you have some RL 26, but maybe it's you that has bought all that Alliant had. JK

 

[Ranger Rick]

There is no way any opinions on if this cartridge has peaked can be anything but conjecture at this point.

Unless you have shot another 6.5 variable and the 6.5 PRC. I have and I'm very impressed. It takes the other 6.5mm's to the next level. I would be stunned if it failed. My 270 led to an opening day morning elk. Next year, I will hunt with the 6.5 PRC.

 

[oldpilot]

Although I have a number of "favorite" rifles, I did get a 6.5-300 Weatherby Mag in a Vanguard II, 26" barrel. I have set the trigger to 2.25 lbs, no creep and had an accubrake added. I really like it, performance is fantastic, and recoil is about like a 6mm. It really likes the 130 Gr Swift in factory ammo, and I have added four boxes of Weatherby brass. I have loaded 130 grain Swifts and 140 Bergers and both exceed the factory stuff by about 70 and 35 fps respectively. Bergers are .6" and Swifts .4" groups. If it is anything like my other WBYs the Brass will last a long time (one box of 7mm Wby Mag has 11 reloads on it). I will use this on my up coming Coues deer hunt. Really a nice performer in a really inexpensive rifle.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

Unless you have shot another 6.5 variable and the 6.5 PRC. I have and I'm very impressed. It takes the other 6.5mm's to the next level. I would be stunned if it failed. My 270 led to an opening day morning elk. Next year, I will hunt with the 6.5 PRC.

Whether the PRC is good or not is not the question. The question is if it has peaked in popularity. Plenty of great cartridges die off and plenty of mediocre ones gain popularity.

Not saying the PRC is either. Only that people are basing the answer to this question on how emotionally invested they are in the cartridge or thinking it's asking if the PRC has a niche/ is better than something else. Which unfortunately is not always what the market cares about.

 

[oldpilot]

The 6.5 or 26 inch is the hot topic. The 6.5 CM, PRC, WBY RPM are in the market spotlight, and not going to fade rapidly. Back in the last century the 7mm fad was the same way. Whatever new flavor of koolaid comes out will either rapidly not go anywhere, or will gather a following and live on. Belted Magnums were virtually an unknown a hundred years ago. Almost all of us oldtimers started on was the old 30-30 Winchester, and it's still the old reliable saddle gun for most farmers/ranchers. Peaked, I doubt it.

 

[SFC TONYM]

I don't think it's peaked, however if more big gun manufacturers(besides Savage) would offer an affordable sporter weight rifle(Tikka, Ruger, Weatherby, Browning, Remington, etc.., it'd takeoff. For now, you can only buy heavy, expensive long range guns in the PRC from the bigs. Quite honestly, if Ruger would offer the PRC in an American and or Tikka in the T-3, I think PRC sales and popularity would explode. I'd buy either in a heartbeat. The Sauer and Mauser offerings are interesting, especially at their price point, but they're not sold at enough big box stores to have an impact on popularity, imo.

Took awhile for the 6.5 Creed to takeoff so I'm not giving up on the PRC. That being said, if Weatherby chambers their new 6.5 RPM in the Vanguard before the others bigs offer a PRC option, I'm jumping on the Vanguard.

Start something new!

 

[Tangent]

My interested hasn't peaked, but I am one of the guys sitting on the sideline waiting to see if the PRC has any legs.

What interests me is a 20" PRC that has velocities similar to, or maybe a little faster than, a 26" CM. A 20" carbon barreled PRC with an Ultra-7 6.5 can sounds like a pretty sweet antelope gun!

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Whether the PRC is good or not is not the question. The question is if it has peaked in popularity. Plenty of great cartridges die off and plenty of mediocre ones gain popularity.

Not saying the PRC is either. Only that people are basing the answer to this question on how emotionally invested they are in the cartridge or thinking it's asking if the PRC has a niche/ is better than something else. Which unfortunately is not always what the market cares about.

Good point - I think when you look at Hornady's track record we are going to be talking about the 6.5 PRC and 6.5x284 like we talk about the 6.5 creedmoor and 260 rem. Does the PRC bring anything to the table that isn't already out there? No. Is hornady going to make people believe its the next best thing since sliced bread? Yes. Everybody who bought into the creedmoor hype that is looking for a little more ooomph is going to own a 6.5 PRC. Ammo and brass manufacturers are are already getting in line - it won't be long before support increases for the round. If rifle and ammo manufacturers would have gotten behind the 6.5x284 there wouldnt have been a need for the PRC.

 

[okie man]

My next hunting rifle will be a 6.5 prc, or equivalent!

 

[Deleted member 103481]

Good point - I think when you look at Hornady's track record we are going to be talking about the 6.5 PRC and 6.5x284 like we talk about the 6.5 creedmoor and 260 rem. Does the PRC bring anything to the table that isn't already out there? No. Is hornady going to make people believe its the next best thing since sliced bread? Yes. Everybody who bought into the creedmoor hype that is looking for a little more ooomph is going to own a 6.5 PRC. Ammo and brass manufacturers are are already getting in line - it won't be long before support increases for the round. If rifle and ammo manufacturers would have gotten behind the 6.5x284 there wouldnt have been a need for the PRC.

It's possible.. but on some other let's call it "prs wannabe" forums I peruse people are being steered away pretty sharply by actual shooters because for the not hunting people it doesn't give you anything over a creed but recoil and a tiny bit of wind.

Hornady went after the prs market it seems at the exact time the prs market shifted to even smaller caliber cartridges with less recoil the opposite of a prc compared to a 6.5cm. To me, it's benefits lie purely in the hunting field, with the 300 as a much better ELR option, and the little creed as a much better tactical option. I think they botched the name a little bit with the nod at prs that reacted with a solid "meh" to it at best.

While it's an awesome niche relying purely on the hunting community to support a cartridge that's not got any foothold at all compared to the absolute giants (308,3006,7rm,300win) that are already established is a tough road to pave.

I don't think it will flop, I think it will have much less success than the creeds and the 300 prc though. It's a nice little cartridge, and I hope it succeeds. Tikka chambering in it would be huge, a vanguard chambered in the RPM before a working class rifle gets the PRC is huge in a bad way.

There are avenues this cartridge will rocket in popularity and there are avenues this cartridge will stagnate. We will get to watch and look back on this thread in 5 years knowing what happened and laugh at ourselves.

 

[okie man]

The 6.5 prc vs 6.5 creed is no different than the 7mm/08 vs7 mag or 308win vs 300 win mag conversation! More powder, more recoil, shorter barrel life for 250-300 FPS. For deer at normal ranges all work fine. Stretch the ranges out past 600 yards on critters bigger than deer, 3 out of the 6 are no longer in my consideration! If a long action magnum is more than you can shoot comfortably, a short mag you can makes a lot of sense, and the 6.5 prc fits that bill, along with lots of similar short mags out there now. I have a nice 6.5 creedmoor, Christensen Mesa long range, it's fun to shoot, very accurate. But for serious big game hunting It's a little anemic for my tastes!

 

[DUNEZRUNNER]

I have a Winchester model 70 in 264 Winchester mag that has the barrel shot out of it right now. I was going to re-barrel it and keep it a 264 WinMag but I wanted something in a little less than the big belted case of the Winchester mag. Something around a 6.5 Remington mag was what I was looking for but I haven't seen a whole lot of components out there for them. I was looking for a rifle that I could shoot more without worrying about burning up the barrel but still wanted a little bit of speed. It seems like 3000 ft./s is the magic number. Much more than that and you have a barrel burner and less than that just doesn't excite me. The 6.5 PRC fits right in this gap and on top of that, it has match factory ammo available at just about any sporting good store. I reload but it is nice to be able to pick up some factory ammo that shoot almost as good as your reloads.

 

[djm670]

It's possible.. but on some other let's call it "prs wannabe" forums I peruse people are being steered away pretty sharply by actual shooters because for the not hunting people it doesn't give you anything over a creed but recoil and a tiny bit of wind.

Hornady went after the prs market it seems at the exact time the prs market shifted to even smaller caliber cartridges with less recoil the opposite of a prc compared to a 6.5cm. To me, it's benefits lie purely in the hunting field, with the 300 as a much better ELR option, and the little creed as a much better tactical option. I think they botched the name a little bit with the nod at prs that reacted with a solid "meh" to it at best.

While it's an awesome niche relying purely on the hunting community to support a cartridge that's not got any foothold at all compared to the absolute giants (308,3006,7rm,300win) that are already established is a tough road to pave.

I don't think it will flop, I think it will have much less success than the creeds and the 300 prc though. It's a nice little cartridge, and I hope it succeeds. Tikka chambering in it would be huge, a vanguard chambered in the RPM before a working class rifle gets the PRC is huge in a bad way.

There are avenues this cartridge will rocket in popularity and there are avenues this cartridge will stagnate. We will get to watch and look back on this thread in 5 years knowing what happened and laugh at ourselves.

I think your comments are pretty much spot on. Need economical rifles from the likes of Ruger, Savage, Thompson Center, Tika, Howa and Remington for it to follow in the Creed's footsteps. Howa (Vanguard) is releasing the .300 PRC December 1 of this year and the 6.5 PRC the first of 2020. Since more rifles are coming, it would indicate the 6.5 PRC has not reached it's peak but it will be awful hard for it to reach the level of the Creed's popularity.