Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Campfire Rifle 2020 - New GAP 6.5 PRC Build for the Campfire - Your Input Please!

Rick, Have you been running the big 48oz scope? While I prefer a beefy scope, thats a boat anchor.

I’ve grown to like DBM setups too, even in my hunting rigs. That being said, if you aren’t going to be shooting in PRS type comps, you won’t miss it much, provided you have enough magazine COAL.

Freebore needs to be given some thought. There are plenty of guns that will shoot great with bullets seated not kissing the lands, but why rule out that option out if you don’t have to? You can always seat deeper if that’s where it wants to shoot but if you cut the freebore too long, you won’t be able to reach the lands if that’s where it wants to shoot. Soooo, get some brass and the bullets you are interested in and make some dummies. Seat the bullets so that the heel rides just a hair above the neck/shoulder or about .050” shorter than magazine length, whichever is shorter. Measure the cartridge base-to-ogive for each dummy and pick the one with the shortest base-to-ogive. Have George’s crew throat your barrel so you can kiss the lands with that dummy. This will allow you to reach the lands at magazine length with any of your desired bullets.

For twist, get on Berger’s website and play with their twist rate calculator. Go with a twist rate that gives a 1.51 or higher stability factor. Pretty sure JBM has that function available too. No way I’d go with less than 1:8.

Not sure how the Carbon wrapped Bartleins weigh out, but I’d go with as heavy as I could get and not have the overall package too muzzle heavy. I’ve Been through several custom builds with light barrels and have never gotten anything less than Bartlein’s #3 to shoot to my satisfaction. I know you’ll hear much to the contrary but that’s how it has worked out for me. Barrel length also affects balance. In the PRC, I’d personally go 24” but most of my hunting is in fairly open country.

Pick a stock with a high enough comb to give you both good cheek weld and scope alignment. For me, that means an adjustable comb, which does add some weight to the rear of the stock, which in turn affects the balance, which means a little more weight out front to counter it. Most folks seem to get by without an adjustable comb just fine. I’m in the minority in that regard.

Triggertech trigger. Period. End of story. At this point I won’t even consider anything else on my rigs. They are that good.

There are a lot of good Picatinny rings out there. I really like Seekins, but believe it or not, the cheap SWFAs have worked as well as anything. The APAs are really nice.

I like brakes for recoil reduction and more importantly spotting impact through my scope, but unless you are going to wear ear pro while hunting, I’d not do it. Your ears will ring for days... You could have your barrel threaded for a brake and also get a thread cap to put on while hunting but at a minimum, I’d recheck zero when switching between them, as well as grouping. Like any weight on the end of a barrel, a brake will affect harmonics, which means possibly a different POI and/or grouping when removing or adding it. I don’t have a brake on my hunting rig.

Give a thought to bipod use. I’ve found that prone bipod shots don’t present themselves nearly as much while hunting as I thought they would. That being said, I want the option to attach one if I need it. I went with a four inch section of Picatinny rail because it had the integrated flush cup in it, but if doing it again, I’d go with a two inch. I have flush cups on the side of my stock anyway, so never use that feature in the rail. Which brings me to sling swivels. Flush cups on the non bolt side make for a far more comfortable carry than the traditional belly mounted sling swivel studs. Additionally they allow for a tactical type in front carry which can be useful at times. I’ve not used the non-rotating type cups yet but can see the appeal.

Scope choice. Is this going to be a rig you’ll carry for long distances? Your Razor is a seriously heavy scope. Good but heavy. Might investigate other options. A certain amount of weight is the nature of the beast when it comes to reliable tracking and ruggedness, but it can be had at much lighter weights than the Razor.

John

Aalf,

If Rick has the freebore cut to the specs you found, Will they work in his magazine?

John

I'm not sure what max OAL is for the XM action w/o looking it up. I think they're around 3.2XX".

My OAL lengths with the 200" freebore are around 3.00" give or take.

My pic shows the hazards of throating for most Hornady bullets.

Rick,

Seriously, I’d wait for Pat Sinclair (scenarshooter) to post then build whatever he says.

aalf, not to butt in, but have you used the 150gr SMK on game? if so, how'd it do?

Gunner,

I didn't, as the first PRC was strictly a long range plinker, and those 150's were the cat's ass for playing long.

The 2nd PRC I built, I stuck with the 140 VLD's, as I had a bunch, and their reputation on game has been damn good, so no need to re-invent the wheel.

If anybody would bother to read the above link I posted, they go into good detail on Bergers.

Thanks gents.

Yep, hoping Pat will chime in as well.

As to bullets, I have Hornady 147 ELD-M and 143 ELD-X on hand, as well as Berger 156 EOL. The A-Tips have George's vote, but I don't have any on hand yet.

Magazine length on the XM action is 3.2 inches. That looks to be more than enough.

As to scopes, I have more than a few to choose from, but the Vortex is first on the list.

Thinking Trigger Tech as well here.

...

Thanks aalf, i'll check the thread out, just looking for the best 6.5 bullet out there for longer range hunting, I may just need to leave the 147 ELD's at 2960 alone and see for myself what they'll do, I read where someone said they weren't good for game animals, I have no experience with them.

Another good thread on bullet performance if you find the time:

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/6-5-156-eol.222920/

might be a few days. I imagine he's a bit busy this weekend.....

Thank you Sir.

Rick,

Since I couldn’t make Ice Breaker X, I’ve got time to chime in....

I believe I read the Bartlein CFW 6.5mm barrel is a 7.75 twist, should be fine for even the 156 at PRC speed.

Manners stocks, I’ve become fond of the EH-2. Got one inlet for a Bartlein #4 coming myself 😁

Brake? APA. Better yet, TBAC Ultra 7!!

Rings and trigger, I’m with Cinch. Seekins and Triggertech.


I’m more interested in your color choices! This baby should rock!

I'm not at Icebreaker either, and I can't agree with cinch and kimber7man on the rings. I'm too busy liking the ARC M-10's to fall for the Seekins(altho they're great). I do agree with them on TT triggers, tho. Make MY Manners the EH6A flavor, and hold the loudener. I slum an Omega and won't have the Tbac ultra 7 for a while yet...

Ya between my little brother passing away and my daughters surgery on Thursday I didn't make it up either... maybe next year...

Ditch the Vortex Rick....

Manners stock...open or closed grip?

I like open myself.

I'd go with a 7.5 twist.

Sounds good Rick.

Kinda funny there aint any bitchin or whinnin about glass choice....😂😂😂

Should be a great build.
Rick, I wish you the best with it. George and others on here are full of knowledge.