Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 6.5 PRC. Vs 6.5 CR

What does the PRC offer that the Creedmoor can’t. A nice case and 200 FPS-225 FPS. What does that buy you? I get flatter trajectory, but the CR already has very flat trajectory. Is the PRC purely a western hunters cartridge, better than CR after 400-500 yards? Please educate me.

6.5 CM*

Some folks just want a bit more power than the Creedmoor or Swede can muster. Sort of like a 6.5-06 with factory ammo.

Less drop, less time of flight, less wind drift, more energy at the target to name a few, and not beat you up doing it.

225 extra fps is nothing to sneeze at.

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).

The PRC and SAUM are more finiky to load, have more recoil, more muzzle blast, more consussion, shorter barrel life, and more expensive brass. The PRC and SAUM also have far fewer factory ammo options available.

The PRC loaded with high BC bullets at ideal COALs is too long to feed from a standard SA length magazine.

A CM achieves a velocity sweet spot with barrels shorter than 26".

I can't think of a scenario in the East where the PRC or SAUM offers an advantage over the CM.

I'm a big fan of the CM. I sold my PRC (Seekins Havak PH1) and have a 4S being built.

IME it’s more like a 250-270 FPS difference between the two with factory ammo. That’s not something to sneeze at. Guys are getting 3000 + with 156 Berger’s with several powders, that’s pretty damn impressive too.

I had thought of a prc got to checking , no ammo, no brass, so no buy. anyway got a 6.5-06, 6.5 x 57, 6.5 creedmoor , (3) 6.5x 55, so guess I'll let it slide till there is more makers of the ammo/brass.

My 6.5 SAUM has shot bug holes from day one. Finicky to load, I think not.

No experience with the PRC. I do have a Creedmoor.

When the PRC came out, some claimed it was a magnum class 6.5.

The ballistics do not bear that out. The PRC is on par with the 6.5-06 and the 6.5-284, neither considered a "magnum". People getting giddy about a a 140 6.5mm bullet getting 3000fps.

I find the 6.5RPM Weatherby much more intriguing. Only downside to it is it requires a standard action rather than a short and as far as I am aware, only Weatherby chambers for it. It could be a good one to rebarrel a Kimber 84L to.

But I'll state again, that a Kimber 8400 Montana in 270WSM is an outstanding western combo and deserves more love.



Barrel life between a CM and a PRC would be inconsequential to most shooters. Hornady designed the PRC to work out of standard short action rifles. Who has problems with it in SA rifles? A PRC would have an advantage over a CM in the East when covering; a power line or pipeline right of way, a young logged area, or a large field.

The handloader can make a PRC behave like a manbun, but not vice versa.

For a hunting cartridge what does the 6.5 Creedmoor or PRC offer that the 6.5 Swede or 6.5/06 hasn't been offering for many years

Trystan

I'd say yes. The PRC will be better further out. I'd say past 600 yards. Is the PRC touted as an extremely accurate cartridge design like the CM is? To give you an example, I nail a 2" diameter steel plate at 400 yards with my CM using 140gr pills. Would the PRC be able to do that? You get more recoil with the PRC, so you won't be shooting it all day like you could the Creedmoor. There's an advantage with the creedmoor when you think about shooting volumes of ammo in a day. From a hunting standpoint, one will work just as well as the other out to 1000 yards, but the PRC has the definite advantage when it comes to better trajectory and downrange punch. The downsides to the PRC is ammo availability and components for reloading. I'll be heading to Nevada at the end of the month and I'll take my creedmoor, maybe 2. If I run out of ammo, I can go to the local hardware store there and buy pretty good match grade ammo for a reasonable cost. Try that with the PRC. Here's where I'll be shooting:

Thats the 400 yard backstop at that particular range. Here's the shooting tree I copied:


The one I built is a little nicer though and the targets range from 2" diameter to 12":


The rifle I use for longer range shoots very near an honest 1/2 moa at any sane distance you are going to be shooting:

I'm not talking 3 shot groups either. Thats a waste of time..... Another plus the creedmoor has going for it is you can use it in an AR type rifle:


Try making the short stubby PRC work right in an AR platform. For my type of shooting/hunting, there are more pros for the creedmoor than there is for the PRC...

Off the shelf rifles and ammo at reasonable prices. Not everybody wants to go the custom rifle route and develop pet loads.

Let’s start with the 6.5-06 and dispense with it. The 6.5-06, while a fine and very capable cartridge, has never gained much success in the marketplace. Factory ammo is extremely limited. SAAMI no longer lists the 6.5-06 in any form, Nosler was one of two manufacturers of ammo and no longer lists it, and A-Square, the company that standardized the cartridge, doesn’t show up on a Google search. That makes the 6.5-06 pretty much a handloader’s cartridge even though you might find some old ammo available somewhere. You might be able to find a factory rifle somewhere as well. Good luck on that.

Pretty much every rifle manufacturer makes a CM and often in multiple flavors. Swede rifles are harder to come by and there are far fewer options. The PRC is new so ammo and rifles are limited but it is being well accepted my manufacturers and I expect that support to continue. Ruger, Winchester, Remington, Savage, Bergara, Christensen, Howa and Mossberg all offer 6.5PRC rifles.

Midwayusa.com lists 17 ammo types for the 6.5 Swede, 83 for the Creedmoor and 6 for the PRC. Nosler, Hornady, Federal, Remington and Barnes are all making 6.5PRC ammunition. Winchester and others can be expected to follow.

For most people, and for the reasons cited above, the 6.5CM is an easy choice over the 6.5 Swede. The PRC was designed for hunters who need or want a longer range option. The extra 260fps or so provided by the PRC means the PRC adds about 200 yards to what the CM can do in terms of retained energy and velocity.

My CM and 6.5-06AI are both heavy barrel rifles. A Savage 111 action/stock sits in my safe with no barrel as I removed the rustyed and pitted out 7mm RM barrel it came with. Chances are very good it will become a sporter-weight 6.5PRC.

Can't understand why people seem to think it's an either/or proposition........

yeah. I have multiples of both....

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What Don, Said. Rio7

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Not very familiar with the 6.5 CM, PRC, or RPM. I recently acquired a 6.5-300 Weatherby which should win the velocity war over all but a close 26 Nosler. Happy Trails