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

G'day @Longbow
I currently have a 6.5 prc and 7mm Blaser. In the past I have owned and shot a heap of game with 708, 308, 7mmRM and 7mmwsm.
My most recent cal is the 6.5 prc, this has been the lest finicky caliber I have ever reloaded. Stuff any powder and any pill in there, test them side by side and each 3 shot group will go into the same shreaded hole! It's crazy. Asides from the awesome accuracy I like that it is a light short package at 20 inch barrel.
I have shot roughly 15 deer and 80 goats with it but I am not convinced with the 6.5 yet. I don't think the 6.5 compares to a 7mm for terminal knock down performance. Simply my observations.
The 7mm Blaser Magnum is an unreal cartridge. Paired with a 180 eldm getting spat out at 3060fps it is an absolute thumper and cheater of wind! This is my go to for the roar. The down side to this absolute beast is the longer barrel and extra weight.
If a short and light setup is what you are after I would look at a 7mm wsm, or a 7saum. I wouldn't discount the 300wsm either as IMO there is way more selection in projectiles that are suitable for hunting deer.
The great thing about the short magnums in general is that they don't mind a short barrel due to there short powder column and you can also load them accordingly to what you are chasing.
Good LUck with the search. The struggle is real, LOL

I love these debates. I'm a 270 guy. Ay? I think if i had to have 1 rifle, that would be it. I agree with the recoil/blast comments above, but I think they are more than offset by the long range performance advantages. Plus I'm a solid guy who can soak it up. Simply suppress for Bush hunting if you want, then it's a pussycat. Tops matters less, plenty of time to set up usually. It bothers me a bit that apart from the 270wsm (finicky) there has been little development of this dia. I doubt the 6.8 Western will change that but anything is possible. Speed & bc's matter out past 300m on a windy NZ tops day, which is why 308 and 7mm08 are at a disadvantage. I've always been keen on a pill going around 3k fps.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Not really answering your question, but if you just want a plain old NZ hunting rifle I'd go 308 and learn how to use it. If that's not good enough, 3006.
New fangled gadgets often come with inflated price tags and not many advantages.

My plain old NZ hunting flavour is the mighty .243, everything big, small, near and far dies. Not in the habit of trying to kill stuff at 900yds though, I just get closer....

Ay....plenty of options..Ay why dont you work it backwards...Ay,decide what you really need cartridge to achieve and look at what cartridges will do that.Ay the older plain jane ones have been doing it for years,Ay the dirty 06 with modern rifle and modern loadings would be a force to be reckoned with too...Ay with suppressor fitted many previously considered hard recoiling cartridges are much more user friendly .Ay Im told a 145grn hornady fancy new sleak new named SST at just over 3000fps goes rather well to and kills very well......Ay wonder what hundred year old case would do that???

I would choose the 7mm hands down. You could argue I’m 7mm biased (and I am haha) but don’t get me wrong I am loving my little 260 atm. The larger 7mils to me are the ultimate compromise of everything, ballistic performance, recoil, terminal performance etc etc for hunting. The further and bigger you go the more the 7 will out perform the 6.5. The 6.5s only real advantage IMO is a little less recoil. Gunwerks (USA) have a real good podcast on this. It’s called something like “Long Range Pursuit: EP60: Get SAUM”

I’m talking myself into some sort of 7mm magnum bush pig variant now. The more I think about the more it’s a good idea.

My next rifle project is a 7mm saum based on a rem 700 short action. Will run a 20” suppressed barrel pushing out 160gr pills at more then enough poke for all things hunting. The ultimate do everything one rifle to cover everything setup I am thinking.

Agreed with @stagstalker. I first chose .270 as the do-it-all NZ cartridge, but when I was gifted a .243 with sentimental value, I passed the .270 on to my bro in law and started researching the best complimentary rifle. Settled on 7mmWSM due to ballistics and availability of pills. If I didn’t reload it would be a different story, but I’m loving my new Mod 7.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Not really answering your question, but if you just want a plain old NZ hunting rifle I'd go 308 and learn how to use it. If that's not good enough, 3006.
New fangled gadgets often come with inflated price tags and not many advantages.

I thought the exact same thing when I started reading this thread. A suppressed 7mm08 or 308 with a barrel length around 20in is a very effective setup out to 400yd, and arguably further. And they get the job done with moderate recoil/muzzle jump. A PRC or similar looks like a very good option for an experienced hunter who is regularly shooting at 400+, but I hunt some pretty open country and can’t justify getting one, as the old Plain Jane 308 still gets the job done for me