Thinking of going 6.5 PRC thoughts

[Quintus]

I have run through many of the different 6.5s. The 260 has always been my favorite, but I also love the 284Norma, 06', Win Mag, WSM and Grendel. I have never owned a Christensen Rifle and had a great opportunity to get one in 6.5PRC on the Mesa configuration so figured why the heck not? I intended to use it as a hunting rifle and topped it with a Leupold VX-5HD 3-15. I got some of the dreaded "kissing your sister" Hornady brass, a set of dies and went to work. Now I have never been the sharpest bulb in the drawer, but I set out with 130 grain bullets and a goal to reach 3200FPS. Accubonds, Gamechangers, and VLDH. I am only comfortable to 600 yards and try to stay under 500 shooting game so I figured the velocity would offset the "low" BC within that window. 3200FPS was easily attained as was .5 to .75 MOA accuracy from all three bullets. I won't get into the goods and bads of the Mesa, but if it is anything, it is a very accurate at least hunting rifle. I have had zero issues with the brass to this point and have found the PRC awefully easy to load for and the factory loads shot very well as well. I do appreciate a short action and am very impressed with this as a hunting cartridge. I am working on a 140gr partition load and will be moose hunting with it next year. I won't say it's better than any of the other 6.5s but its more comfortable to tote all day than my long actions and is noticeably better in the wind with like bullets over the .260. I will build another in a rifle a little more comfortable to me if I don't get tied up playing with the RPM.

 

[Quintus]

I have run through many of the different 6.5s. The 260 has always been my favorite, but I also love the 284Norma, 06', Win Mag, WSM and Grendel. I have never owned a Christensen Rifle and had a great opportunity to get one in 6.5PRC on the Mesa configuration so figured why the heck not? I intended to use it as a hunting rifle and topped it with a Leupold VX-5HD 3-15. I got some of the dreaded "kissing your sister" Hornady brass, a set of dies and went to work. Now I have never been the sharpest bulb in the drawer, but I set out with 130 grain bullets and a goal to reach 3200FPS. Accubonds, Gamechangers, and VLDH. I am only comfortable to 600 yards and try to stay under 500 shooting game so I figured the velocity would offset the "low" BC within that window. 3200FPS was easily attained as was .5 to .75 MOA accuracy from all three bullets. I won't get into the goods and bads of the Mesa, but if it is anything, it is a very accurate at least hunting rifle. I have had zero issues with the brass to this point and have found the PRC awefully easy to load for and the factory loads shot very well as well. I do appreciate a short action and am very impressed with this as a hunting cartridge. I am working on a 140gr partition load and will be moose hunting with it next year. I won't say it's better than any of the other 6.5s but its more comfortable to tote all day than my long actions and is noticeably better in the wind with like bullets over the .260. I will build another in a rifle a little more comfortable to me if I don't get tied up playing with the RPM.

 

[Bigeclipse]

I have run through many of the different 6.5s. The 260 has always been my favorite, but I also love the 284Norma, 06', Win Mag, WSM and Grendel. I have never owned a Christensen Rifle and had a great opportunity to get one in 6.5PRC on the Mesa configuration so figured why the heck not? I intended to use it as a hunting rifle and topped it with a Leupold VX-5HD 3-15. I got some of the dreaded "kissing your sister" Hornady brass, a set of dies and went to work. Now I have never been the sharpest bulb in the drawer, but I set out with 130 grain bullets and a goal to reach 3200FPS. Accubonds, Gamechangers, and VLDH. I am only comfortable to 600 yards and try to stay under 500 shooting game so I figured the velocity would offset the "low" BC within that window. 3200FPS was easily attained as was .5 to .75 MOA accuracy from all three bullets. I won't get into the goods and bads of the Mesa, but if it is anything, it is a very accurate at least hunting rifle. I have had zero issues with the brass to this point and have found the PRC awefully easy to load for and the factory loads shot very well as well. I do appreciate a short action and am very impressed with this as a hunting cartridge. I am working on a 140gr partition load and will be moose hunting with it next year. I won't say it's better than any of the other 6.5s but its more comfortable to tote all day than my long actions and is noticeably better in the wind with like bullets over the .260. I will build another in a rifle a little more comfortable to me if I don't get tied up playing with the RPM.

This x2. I also purchased a 6.5prc Christensen arms mesa. So far im liking the 6.5prc. Still relatively low recoil but gives you a bit more oomph over a 6.5creedmoore. The factory ammo ive tried has been very consistent shot to shot with decent ES. I have not had to reload for it since it is shooting so well with factory ammo but that is more the gun manufacturers plus and not the round itself.

 

[Weatherby Fan]

So here we are 18 months later from the start of this thread and by all accounts the 6.5 PRC is crazy popular and still growing, we have brass options from, Hornady, ADG, Bertram and Gunwerks (ADG), I hear rumours of Lapua in 2020 as well as Alpha Brass,

Hornady has confirmed they will be loading a GMX bullet for the 6.5 PRC factory ammo in the near future.

A young fellow I know asks about the cartridge and says he ordered a Fierce 6.5 PRC, he receives the rifle and doesn't have a scope so I loan him a Zeiss V4 4-16x44,

After a cpl range sessions its shooting consistent 3/8" groups with factory Hornady 143gr ELD-X ammo and at times smaller, he's shot out to 1400 yards and I'm not sure Ive ever seen a bigger smile on someone with a new gun, he reminds me of a 5 year old Christmas morning !

Fad cartridge, flash in the pan.......?? one can't say for sure in its early life but I can say after building three of them for myself and a friend, 3 more on the way, one for my son, an ultralight for myself and one for a donation rifle to the WSS of BC I certainly love the cartridge, if I had to pick just two rifles I would be very happy with a 6.5 PRC and a 300 PRC, great cartridges for sure.

I have 4 reloads on Hornady brass with no issues and a fellow I know has 7 & 8 reloads on Hornady brass without issue so there goes the poor quality Hornady Brass issue, but again lots of brass options already.

 

[Bigeclipse]

So here we are 18 months later from the start of this thread and by all accounts the 6.5 PRC is crazy popular and still growing, we have brass options from, Hornady, ADG, Bertram and Gunwerks (ADG), I hear rumours of Lapua in 2020 as well as Alpha Brass,

Hornady has confirmed they will be loading a GMX bullet for the 6.5 PRC factory ammo in the near future.

A young fellow I know asks about the cartridge and says he ordered a Fierce 6.5 PRC, he receives the rifle and doesn't have a scope so I loan him a Zeiss V4 4-16x44,

After a cpl range sessions its shooting consistent 3/8" groups with factory Hornady 143gr ELD-X ammo and at times smaller, he's shot out to 1400 yards and I'm not sure Ive ever seen a bigger smile on someone with a new gun, he reminds me of a 5 year old Christmas morning !

Fad cartridge, flash in the pan.......?? one can't say for sure in its early life but I can say after building three of them for myself and a friend, 3 more on the way, one for my son, an ultralight for myself and one for a donation rifle to the WSS of BC I certainly love the cartridge, if I had to pick just two rifles I would be very happy with a 6.5 PRC and a 300 PRC, great cartridges for sure.

I have 4 reloads on Hornady brass with no issues and a fellow I know has 7 & 8 reloads on Hornady brass without issue so there goes the poor quality Hornady Brass issue, but again lots of brass options already.

I hope it stays for the long haul. For my deer hunting needs a 6.5cm and a 6.5prc are really all I need. 6.5creed gets me out to 300 on deer comfortably (I know it can go further) and 6.5prc gets me out to 500 comfortably (again I know it can go further). Should I ever go out west on a mulie or Elk hunt, the 6.5PRC should due the trick.

 

[Michael O'Connor]

I hope it stays for the long haul. For my deer hunting needs a 6.5cm and a 6.5prc are really all I need. 6.5creed gets me out to 300 on deer comfortably (I know it can go further) and 6.5prc gets me out to 500 comfortably (again I know it can go further). Should I ever go out west on a mulie or Elk hunt, the 6.5PRC should due the trick.

I have a 6.5 Creed, but the 6.5 PRC is not an ideal case. It really is too long for a short action. I would choose a 6.5 SST over any of the other 6.5's. It is a far superior and efficient design.

 

[Bigeclipse]

I have a 6.5 Creed, but the 6.5 PRC is not an ideal case. It really is too long for a short action. I would choose a 6.5 SST over any of the other 6.5's. It is a far superior and efficient design.

I own a 6.5 prc and a 6.5creed and the prc case is just fine for short action. Allows heavies to be loaded long enough in my action and keeps it a nice handy rifle. The whole point of the 6.5prc was to make a nice small handy powerful rifle cartridge that is the bigger brother to the 6.5creed. If they made it a long action, it would definitely had not been as appealing to the general masses who are going towards short action lighter weight rifles. There are already TONS of cartridges in long action format which are more powerful than the creed so it would kind of defeat the purpose. The 7prc will likely be on a long action like the 300prc for those that want a long action. Not sure what your issue is?

 

[Michael O'Connor]

That is fine, but I measure where the top of the boat tail is at the neck and shoulder junction. Hornady is a hit and miss on efficient cases and brass quality, and Ruger doesn't remember what Remington learned from cartridge boondoggles. As far as I am concerned, the SAUM is the beginning of most efficient short action cases, and the 7mm Blaser Magnum is the beginning of most efficient long action cases. The WSM was such a loser for military development because of weak webbing, that the 50 fps less SAUM turned into the ultimate winner by powder development. You truly have my ear, prove me wrong ?

 

[Michael O'Connor]

I studied the 375 Ruger case since they developed it. The 300 & 338 RCM next. Then the 7mm LRM. The 6.5 PRC and next the 300 PRC. I see a jumble of broad stroke ideas but nothing ideal with engineering design. The only long neck case was the 7 LRM and maybe that was too long at .382". That is a neck to bore ratio of 1.345. Who finds these engineers of design ? The only thing that came from good design of this case was the 30° shoulder. Any neck longer than .341 is certainly out of the sweet spot ratio of 1.1 to 1.2 neck to bore ratio. Anything longer than that doesn't consider other factors, such as standard magazine lengths and such. You certainly don't want to go past the ogive in clamping from the case in a hybrid bullet. So, you take the second longest high B.C. bullet from there and design the case. You have to basically take two commonalities in COAL for magazines of 2.86" for short actions and 3.34" for standard long actions. We won't observe the magnum long action magazine lengths as there are several different custom lengths, sometimes depending on manufacturer. More often than not these lengths are standardized by one manufacturer by a certain cartridge case and bullet. New high B.C. bullets are developed quite often and so this is not part of the scope of our study in long action magnum magazine lengths as the military drives that development more than the other markets of users.

 

[Bigeclipse]

That is fine, but I measure where the top of the boat tail is at the neck and shoulder junction. Hornady is a hit and miss on efficient cases and brass quality, and Ruger doesn't remember what Remington learned from cartridge boondoggles. As far as I am concerned, the SAUM is the beginning of most efficient short action cases, and the 7mm Blaser Magnum is the beginning of most efficient long action cases. The WSM was such a loser for military development because of weak webbing, that the 50 fps less SAUM turned into the ultimate winner by powder development. You truly have my ear, prove me wrong ?

The SAUM and 7mm blazer may be better designs but facts are facts. Those two are not popular nor will they ever be. The 6.5prc has the opportunity to be a very good 6.5 short mag type option for the everyday hunter with good factory ammo support and rifle options.

 

[Michael O'Connor]

The SAUM and 7mm blazer may be better designs but facts are facts. Those two are not popular nor will they ever be. The 6.5prc has the opportunity to be a very good 6.5 short mag type option for the everyday hunter with good factory ammo support and rifle options.

They only have to be popular with some of us, who think the best is good enough.

 

[Bigeclipse]

They only have to be popular with some of us, who think the best is good enough.

Understood. I'm just saying not every long range shooter wants to shoot a rare caliber or a wildcat. The 6.5prc, assuming it takes off, will fill that void of an over the counter 6.5 magnum cartridge.

 

[TexasCub]

Wildcats don't sell, rifles that have quality ammo readily available in most places at a reasonable price as well as readily available reloading components sell, it's that simple. A lot of guys see/saw the Creedmoor as kind of a mehh caliber. Good bullets and lots of ammo and components but anemic in the velocity dept. The 6.5 PRC to me is what the Creedmoor should have been. Gotta give Hornady credit, you produce a product that's appealing and you quickly provide ammo and components to support it and walah its a success.Several other companies could have learned a thing or two from Hornady. Now if we could just get the bullet makers to create a high BC bullet that would at minimum give Partition performance from 0-600 yards we'd be set.

 

[Iron Worker]

What ever you do ,don't buy a Browning X Bolt Max long range. Syarted out as an awful shooting rifle,had a local gunsmith re-bed it,resulting in a Deer rifle accuracy. But then discovered that the only way to keep the Detachable magazine from falling out of rifle was to loosen the action screws. Anyhow that rifle is now history. I moved it took a loss,but now I just bought a 6.5 PRC chambered in a Bergara Premier Ridgeback ! What was I thinking,why didn't I buy this first ?(Browning had the look,and $600 bucks cheaper) Anyhow its a entirely different animal ,beautiful piece of engineering .