With that last statement what's the point of anything then? With that logic the .30-06 is the only round we ever needed for anything and everything. Who needs new rifles when grandpas Winchester model 70 can do. Nightforce scope? Pssshh...my dads 1975 redfield scope killed more deer than any nightforce. Why have a hunting forum? The internet and iPhones? We had letters and rotary phones that work just fine!
The 6.5 PRC is around bc Hornady saw a demand. Their engineers created a round that met a lot of the requirements already stated more eloquently by other guys in this thread.
The main push back were from guys who reloaded and had other optimized rounds that beat the PRC or at least kept up with it (which I 100% respect). I understand them not supporting it because they have been doing it all along, so what's the big deal? But to say that guys who want newer, faster, more accurate are the same guys who's lives don't have meaning? That's uncalled for.
This is a hunting forum not Facebook or twitter.
Pick up a book and exercise your mind. Do you even know how to define the word logic?With out looking up the words definition I doubt you can define it clearly. Do you do any math mentally or with paper and pencil with regard to margin of return and opportunity cost?
You have obviously been drinking the "consumer society" Kool-Aid which is a polite way of saying you gave your mind away to marketing and sales propaganda. Which is almost as bad as gun writers that never come across a rifle they do not like! LOL
Those statements where meant to trigger introspection they where not meant to rope someone in or hurt their feeling. I do not pander to people that need a crying closet or that are easily triggered and offended by anyone that does not give them a pat on the back and agree with them 100%.
" This is a hunting form not Facebook or Twitter." Then take your own advice I call it a "long range hunting forum" since most hunting forums are not filled guys recommending wildcat's ever other breath or Nightforce Scopes to kill a Elk at long range. In fact Military Snipers From WWI-WWII-Korea-Vietnam did not have such extreme optics yet they killed humans at some pretty impressive distances with 4X, 6X and 10X optics. People have shot a lot of 300, 600, 1000m competitions over the years with iron sights as well.
Do the math and come back and tell me that you truly need a cartridge standardized/certfied with SAAMI post 1970 to kill any animal that is roaming around North America. Newer carridges than that do not make any significant improvement in ones ability to shoot at medium and large game even at rather long ranges.
Make a case against me and try using facts not novelty. You clearly must not know how many excellent hunting cartridges where developed before 1970's including a tone of Magnums and the cartridges whose parent cases where borrowed and how many dangerous game cartridges where developed pre-1970.
Just because you do not like the message is no reason to shoot the messenger. I also make a HUGE distinction between hunting and the anything to win mentality in targeting shooting. A lot of progress has been made in target shooting cartridges in the last 48 years that really have nothing to do with hunting. In competition any edge you can gain even if just in the mind of the shooter can help one win.
Their is no evidence that gaining 50fps-150fps amounts to anything in a hunting situation which is the norm for AI cartridges in short hunting length barrels that are handy in the field no matter if you are stalking or in a stand. If people want to play sniper with tacti-cool gear or take their F-Open rifle and go hunting fine so be it but do not think for one second you need that to go hunting! You do not need a $2000 scope and a $3000 rifle to hunt Elk at 1000m. Nightforce makes some great scopes but you do not need that much optic to go hunting and anyone that thinks they do is either selling you optics or they are not much of a hunter. On the other hand for competitive target shooting I would not bat an eye at someone driving home the advantage of top notch optics if you want to compete. Their is no comeptition in hunting the animals are not wearing body armor and do not shoot back and the animal does not go to the person that shoots the tightest groups into it's vitals! Total different paradigm. Nothing is more silly than when someone is trying to build a light weight mountain rifle and they put a #4 or larger barrel on it and it is not a Dangerous Game Magnum then they add steel tactical rings, steel 20-40MOA base, steel heavy bottom metal and top it off with HUGE heavy scope.
You know what trumps super wammy silly magnums when it comes to hunting at long ranges? Being able to accurately range your target, being able to read the wind down range, knowing the ballistics of your cartridge not from fantasy land ballistic calculators but from shooting it and recording the data. Knowing how your pet load behaves at different temperature and humidity levels, being able to read mirage, mastering the fundamentals of marksmanship. Our fairly recent ancestors where taking 1000-1800yrd shoots with black powder cartridges against buffalo and other human beings and in competitive shooting. You need to learn American History and the history of our sport of both hunting and target shooting.
When you do not know your history you can easily fall prey to marking and propaganda. "Just because it is old does not mean it is rare or worth a lot." and "Just because it is new, hi-tech, or expensive does not make it better."! If I give a fantastic hunter and target shooter or a miltary sniper a 10X mil-dot scope and a 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag, 50 BMG, 6x57, 7x57, 7,92x57, 30-06, 270, 6,5x55, 6,5x57, 6.5x68, 7mm Wetherby Mag, 7x65R, 7,5x55Swiss, 243 Win,25-06, 256 Win Mag, 257 Weatherby, 264 Win Mag, 270 Weatherby Mag, 270 Win, 275 H&H Mag, 280 Rem.........etc your trying to tell me that with todays powders, primers, bullets they could not do long range hunting and would be handicapped? There are a lot more cartridges developed pre 1970. You think that a used 8X Leupold could not get the job done or a 10X Unertl could not do the deed? What did people ever do before Nightforce came along?
The distinction is "need" it is almost as bad as what people think should be "rights" not understanding the meaning of the word in context. Fantasy and reality are often very different and very few people have realistic expectations.
