Thread: 6.5 PRC what’s the point?!

The point is you will be able to probably get a fairly good factory shooter off the shelf of your preference brand, will be chambered to the hornady factory ammo so will shoot pretty good from box, you can then keep the empties to start reloading.
All above is valid but try buying a 6.5 x 284 off the shelf in NZ. I have one, a Savage but they are few and far between.
Just a few sutilties that made the 6.5 CR successful even though not really anything better than available but that a big brand pushed it and the rifle makers made the flavour of the month rifles to shoot it.

Originally Posted by jackson21

The point is you will be able to probably get a fairly good factory shooter off the shelf of your preference brand, will be chambered to the hornady factory ammo so will shoot pretty good from box, you can then keep the empties to start reloading.

You obviously haven’t used Hornady brass in a magnum...

Originally Posted by 300_BLK

So if you are buying a factory gun and don’t reload I get it....

But if your building a custom and/or reloading then why not the 6.5 SAUM and download if you want less performance.

At most matches in NZ we are restricted to boltface for the class you shoot, so you are in magnum already and facing the 338 lapua, 300 Norma and any other slick calibers out there.

Am I missing something or not getting onboard the hype?

That is the exactly same question that I asked when the 6.5CM came out, and still ask it.

The last time I brought a packet of factory loads was for my old 303, when I went back for some more they didn't stock what i had been using and suggested something else and they only had 1 box on the shelf. As anybody that has sighted in an old 303 with a 4x Tasco scope would know you would use most of the packet sighting it in. So I walked out of that shop brought reloading gear and have never looked back.
Anyway from there I progressed to a 6.5x55 (as many of us did back in the day) then ofter a very hot humid weekend up the Horomunga valley turned my nice black rifle into a red and black one I thought it was time to get one of these new fancy stainless rifles.
As it happens that was about the same time as the new fangled 7mm08 hit the NZ shelves, with marketing hype like "Shoots as flat and hits as hard as a 270W without the recoil" and i think another was something like "Hits the deer as hard as your 308 but not your shoulder". So you guessed it I fell for it, was it any better than anything else around at the time no not really and its no 270 and its not really better than a 308.
Same thing will happen to 6.5CM and PRC in 30 years, who knows what will be around then.

Originally Posted by 300_BLK

You obviously haven’t used Hornady brass in a magnum...

Was all I used in my Remmag, had great results and brass life. Better than the Norma I tried anyway.

One good thing that I can see about the 6.5PRC is that its going to be supported by rifle manufacturers and ammo suppliers which along with the Creedmoor will ensure a good range of rifles and decent ammo for the 6.5 caliber.

Also, some of the new rifles might have a faster twist to accomodate the excellent heavier 6.5 projectiles coming out on the back of the PRC?

The .260 and 6.5x55 have never been well supported and the ammo choice has been limited (and for the 6.5x55 anaemic).

Its sort of like mainstreaming the 6.5 which the Americans have never had a liking for.

I have a good 6.5x55 that I hand load for but not everyone can be bothered with the mucking around. Plus the PRC has a few more herbs.

Does anyone know what the price of 6.5PRC ammo is off the shelf here??

Thanks

I brought into all the Hype and got a Custom built 6.5Saum, deer are not any deader nor in danger further away. Always used Accubonds (and Partitions) and...........dead deer. Then I got carried away with those high BC projectiles like ELD-X
Have had to chase a lot more wounded ones since and currently switching back to accubonds. Still shot them at similar ranges (200m or less), last animal was 90m (small pig) blew a softball size piece of front shoulder and it ran away took a bit of finding again.

Would have been better looking back with a factory stock 6.5PRC, 308 or 30/06 or 270 and more $$ left in my pocket. The whole exercise was really a complete disappointment for various reasons.

For the reasons @300_BLK stated I can understand, LR events put you into big boys category. For a hunting rifle and the love of the 6.5mm, I see it has an appeal of being the new hot rod offering 3000fps with the 130-140gr high BC bullet off the shelf in various manufactures. This will be the appeal to most I would imagine, and why not..... it all adds to the fun of flinging lead down range.

Ouch!

Wilsons Hunting and Outdoors - 6.5 PRC

Pretty standard for this sort of ammo now.

The drawback is that it's not really 308 class as far as COAL is concerned. The PRC spec is 2.755 to 2.955" and we would be using the full 2.95 wouldn't we ?
It’s Official — SAAMI Approves Hornady 6.5 PRC and 300 PRC « Daily Bulletin
So it needs a 3006 length action. (3.340")

6.5 PRC Bolt face is 0.532" same as 7mm rem mag
308 0.4728"
270 and 300 WSM rim 0.532 but case 0.555" COAL up to 2.860"
It looks as if the 6.5 PRC would fit into a Sako short magnum action / mag feed system although you could be limited in length and need to load it down.

So what do you do with a cartridge that's just a bit longer than a WSM and a bit fatter than a 30-06 ?

OK if you make your own action or if you're happy to use a tikka and waste a bit of space ...

Unfortunately that is standard now. My 300wsm ammo is $95-$99 a box. I could reload, but by the time i buy the dies, brass, projectiles, powder and muck around i would have spent more than the ammo i will probably shoot out of it anyway. If i wanted Federal stuff it is closer to $120 per box

Originally Posted by Bagheera

The drawback is that it's not really 308 class as far as COAL is concerned. The PRC spec is 2.755 to 2.955" and we would be using the full 2.95 wouldn't we ?
It’s Official — SAAMI Approves Hornady 6.5 PRC and 300 PRC « Daily Bulletin
So it needs a 3006 length action. (3.340")

6.5 PRC Bolt face is 0.532" same as 7mm rem mag
308 0.4728"
270 and 300 WSM rim 0.532 but case 0.555" COAL up to 2.860"
It looks as if the 6.5 PRC would fit into a Sako short magnum action / mag feed system although you could be limited in length and need to load it down.

What about a med length Mauser ??

Originally Posted by Bagheera

So what do you do with a cartridge that's just a bit longer than a WSM and a bit fatter than a 30-06 ?

OK if you make your own action or if you're happy to use a tikka and waste a bit of space ...

They are 70 thou shorter case length than the wsm. Run the calcs for 300 wsm with a 208 for equivalence. It will be miles longer than the 2.86 coal or will suffer from reduced capacity.

Its 100thou shorter than the 6.5 284. With any of the better sa mag systems you should be about 2.95 coal so about perfet