Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters New Hornady 6.5 PRC?

A Kimber 8400 WSM looks like a great rebarrel candidate, maybe with a #2 contour Rock Creek 8 twist

It’s been an interesting transition for the 6.5 in America.

From a “red headed stepchild” to a place at the table.

Europe has been there for decades, we’re now starting to catch up.

Seems to me target shooters were setting the pace, hunters following in the wake of their progress and success.

DF

is any manufacturer going to chamber rifles this upcoming year, how about ruger american predator with a threaded barrel for a less expensive way to get into this hotter 6.5 craze,

Which I'll argue covers most facets of the custom rifle we enjoy today......actions, barrels, triggers, scopes, etc......

Perhaps a little slow here.... but how is this better than a 6.5-284 Shehane?

This makes a heap of sense to me.

I'd add, in addition to working in the fine Kimber 8400 action (among the best designed for the WSM case IME), any of the USRAC WSM actions, including the BACO "Extreme Weather" WSM, would be able to utilize the 6.5 PRC to its fullest OAL.

Well the Shehane is a wildcat, with the need for custom dies.

The regular version has less capacity than the PRC, with resulting velocity loss at equal pressures.

Be interesting to see if Tikka chambers the T3 in 6.5 PRC!

Just waiting for this to get a little more mainstream and I have a 300WSM montana that is primed for a new tube.... thinking of a Proof research carbon wrapped in light sendero, light, and thick/ stiff barrel.

Yep.

Back in the days of Roy Weatherby, seems he was building rifles mostly for hunters, although LR shooters were using them, actually developed the 6.5-300 long before Wby rolled it out as a factory round. The big 7 story was similar.

Today's hot rounds are mostly from the target side of the family, adopted by hunters. With tight shooting rounds, range finders, ballistic reticles and turrets, big blasters aren't as important. They're still nice in a cross wind....

You're right about actions, triggers, scopes, etc. I see NF and target type scopes being used by hunters, especially LR hunters.

It's all good.

DF

A 6.5 PRC in a Winchester Model 70 EW or FWT with 24” barrel is really in my sights. I doubt they’d offer it in factory guise so as to avoid competing with the many WSM offerings they already have, but I’d be on either (or both) as soon as they hit the street.

I think it is a mistake by Hornady to produce another 6.5 that is close to the 6.5CM. Fractionally faster and looks to be a barrel burner. Why introduce a cartridge to compete with your already successful CM? I say its more commercial hype than ballistic necessity. But hey, its all loonyism and the market will decide.

Does it fit in an AR-10 magazine?

220 fps same bullet, same pressures. And the Gap 4s claims tremendous barrel life.......

6.5 creedmoor: 52-53 gr case capacity
6.5 SLR: 55-56 gr
6.5 PRC: 66-67 gr
6.5 SAUM: 70-71 gr

The PRC has 25% more capacity than a creedmoor, and 5-6% less than a SAUM. In quickload, holding pressure constant at 57k psi in a 26" barrel with 140 hybrids, a 6.5 SAUM (H1000) is about 30-40 fps faster than a 6.5 PRC (H1000), and the PRC is 220 fps faster than a 6.5 creedmoor (H4350).



From GAPs FB page:

George Gardner
Admin · March 7
Been testing the new 6.5 Hornady PRC all morning, The brass is Excellent, Passed the test of 10 Loadings with a stiff charge on the 135 JLK and 147 ELD with ease. Pockets are still tight and the neck only stretched about .015". For the 135 a charge of 60.3 grains of RL26 yields 3200 fps. No pressure The 147 does 3000 with 58.2 grains H1000, light pressure . These are out of a 24" Bartlein 1-8 twist 5R. Loaded to 2.945

Good info.

I think 220 fps puts the PRC in another category from the CM.

The 6.5-284 with 140's, according to Nosler data, has 58.4 gr H2O case capacity.

So, the new PRC will be real close to the SAUM and in a SAAMI round with first class brass.

Hornady doesn't make many mistakes, they're not Remington...

DF

To put it in perspective, the 26 Nosler with 140's has 93 gr. H2O, the .264 WM with 140's has 79 gr.

DF

Has the 6.5 PRC been standardized by SAAMI? I thought it was like the 6mm Creedmoor and not yet made official...

So there are already two "official" reamers with enough different freebore to make a mess of factory ammo.

And the Hornady factory OAL is 2.945, longer than a Remington mag box, and also longer than can be loaded in a commonly-used AICS mag.

???

We need more 3" actions. The 6.5-284 needs one, mine in on a LA.

SA limits some fine rounds to 2.8" COAL. The CM's address this very well.

7x57, Swede, Roberts and others do well at 3". My 257R and Swede are LA's.

IMO.

DF

Sierra refers to the 6CM as the 6mm/6.5CM (a wildcat). Hornady refers to it as the 6CM, so I don't know.

Not sure about SAAMI for the PRC, would think it's in the works if they're gonna roll it out as a factory round. They'll have to put it in a SAUM or WSM action I would think.

DF