Thread: All round NZ hunting - 6.5 PRC or 7mm Short Mag

Originally Posted by Longbow

Purely considering ballistics and performance on game, would a 6.5 PRC or 7mm Short Mag (if you can get one) be your choice for all round NZ hunting calibre to start off with. This includes bush hunting as well as Alpine hunting and all sizes of game.

For me 7mm 100%. BCs on the 6.5s dont compare quite yet and the high bc bullets are typically softer so i prefer a heavier projectile going slightly slower. Id do a 7mm SAUM with 180s probably. Plus you have a marginally wider channel with a 7mm anyway so thats a perk.

Perks of the 6.5 are mainly recoil reduction and availability of factory ammo.

Both are more than enough for a pretty reasonable distance here.

Better is dependent on your goals and how important each attribute is.

6.5 PRC in a 22 inch barrel 2950-3000fps with a 147 ELD M - Muzzle Energy 2937ftlbs @700yards 2105fps 1445ftlbs
7 RSAUM in a 22 inch barrel 2800-2850fps with a 180 ELD M - Muzzle Energy 3246ftlbs @700 yards 2078fps 1725ftlbs

The Saum would have 1moa more drop at that range and 0.1moa less wind drift at that range. So as you can see both are very similar in everything except the SAUM has a bit more energy. I personally keep my projectiles of that 3000fps plus range typically as i find going slower usually means more consistent results in close but im sure plenty of guys have run the 147s in a prc in close without issue.