Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5 PRC throat question

Is the throat being longer the only difference between the Hornady round and the 6.5 SAUM wildcat?

Is the longer throat tight enough to keep the bullet straight when it can't be seated close to the lands? Like some rifles seem OK with this condition such as Tikka and Weatherby, is this the case with the Hornady chambering?

The 6.5 PRC is based on the Ruger Compact Magnum case, not the Remington SAUM case, so no, the throat is not the only difference And in fact there are apparently at least two different versions of the 6.5 SAUM, one with a shorter throat for use in 2.85-inch magazines, and one with a longer throat.

My 6.5 PRC was chambered with a SAAMI-spec reamer, which allows high-BC bullets to be seated to the SAAMI max overall length of 2.95". But it shoots every bullet I've tried so far at least as well when seated deeper, and usually shoots them better. It's most accurate loads, using 129-grain Nosler ABLRs and 143 Hodgdon ELD-X's, shoot best when seated well off the lands.

Thanks for all the info.

Would you estimate a reasonable moderate muzzle flash, or an explosive fireball from a muzzle trimmed to 23"?

Would not expect anything extraordinary. Essentially the 6.5 PRC is a short-action 6.5-06.

At 2.95" COAL, wouldn't it be more for an intermediate length (3") action or a modified SA, rather than a true SA (2.8")?

So, it must be pretty close to the 6.5-284 if it's ballistically similar to the 6.5-06.

I already have a 6.5 Creed and a 6.5-284, so probably not much need for the PRC, alhough it does sound like a nice round.

Thanks for the info.

DF.

The 2.95 OAL is due to a little longer throat, not case length, as it's the Ruger Compact Magnum case necked down. In my rifle, I found the best handload accuracy with bullets seated to around 2.85 inches, not 2.95--and my rifle has a 2.86 magazine, since it's a rebarreled "short magnum" 700 action. I decided to see how it shot before installing a longer magazine, and didn't have to. But Hornady Match factory ammo with the 147 ELD-M loaded to 2.95 also shoots very well when single-loaded.

The 6.5 PRC about 5 more grains of case capacity than the 6.5-284, which does not quite have the case capacity of the 6.5-06. Instead it holds about 5 grains less, which according to the 4-to-1 Rule means about 2% less velocity, when loaded to the same pressure. So in practical terms there's not much difference.