Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5 PRC Crystal Ball Predictions

I'm contemplating getting a 6.5 PRC. I've always thought the 6.5x55, 260 Rem and the 6.5 Creedmoor were about perfect for general Whitetail hunting. But with that said I've been leaning towards the PRC.

Any predictions as to whether the 6.5 PRC will survive or go the way of the ultramags, super short mags and saum's and 6.5 rem Mag Etc.

Has a better chance than the ones you mentioned. IMO

I shot my first deer with a 6.5X55 a long while ago, and also built a 6.5-'06 that I used for hunting for a number of years. I look at the 6.5 PRC and the 6.5-'06 as ballistic twins, but the PRC has some design improvements (shorter, fatter case etc.). I see several factories now chamber the PRC and I bought one of those. There is also an active FB group for the cartridge, so I am thinking the PRC is in a growth phase. With that said I also have a 300 SAUM!

jim

Not sure about the PRC. I figure the more new 6.5’s that come out, the higher the chances of several falling by the wayside. Who knows.

As Hunter Jim noted, the 6.5 PRC is basically a short-action 6.5-06, but with some modern features. I got one a couple years ago by having gunsmith Charlie Sisk put a second Lilja barrel on the 9.3 Barsness-Sisk he put together on a stainless Remington 700 action for the SAUM rounds. The rifle with scope weighs under 8 pounds, and is perhaps the most accurate big game rifle of that weight I've ever owned, with its best load averaging 5 shots (not just 3) in half an inch or less.

I suspect the 6.5 PRC may be around a lot longer than some other newer 6.5 rounds, especially among hunters, partly because Hornady tends to do things right, but partly because the cartridge works very well, providing enough oomph for most big game with recoil that's very tolerable.

Plus it's available in some moderately-priced, yet very accurate, factory rifles.

Got a nephew who can now afford big game trophy hunting in NA. He asked me if the 6.5 CM is the way to go (since I dropped a big cow elk with one this year).

Based on what he wants to do, I told him to consider instead the 6.5 PRC. It would deliver the needed ft-lbs of smack down on bull elk a couple hundred yards farther than the CM, and on mulie bucks waay farther out than he can shoot. All the while with minimal "magnum" recoil and more than reasonable barrel life.

I told him to budget at the high end ~$5000:

- ~$2000 for a sub-moa OTC factory 'lightweight' rifle for climbing up sheep hills
- ~$2500 for a variable scope out to 20x+ with bases/rings
- ~$500 for factory ammo (he don't handload) 'cause he's gotta lotta learning to do about big game hitting beyond 300 yards.


Pud

Thanks for the input guys. I really like what I'm seeing.

personally, I don't like seeing shortages.....grin

I ran with a 6.5x284 for quite awhile, and I consider it about as good of an all-around hunting cartridge that you can possibly find. The 6.5 PRC is quite similar, and can probably handle bullets over 147gr a bit better due to its design. It would be hard to argue with your choice.

Having owned quite a few, I’ve long considered “fast” (but not over bored) cartridges from 6.5-7mm to be about perfect. The 6.5x284, 6.5-06, 6.5 Rem Mag, .264 Win Mag, 6.5 PRC, .270 Win, .,270 WSM, 270 WbyMag, ,280 Rem, .284 Win, .280 AI, 7 SAUM, 7 WSM, 7mm Rem Mag and 7mm Wby Mag are all wicked killers with outstanding trajectories and manageable recoil.

If shots are inside of 600 yards, even more modest cartridges like the 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Rem, 6.5x55, 7mm-08 and 7x57 are perfect. Even less recoil = even better shooting, and today’s bullets work wonders.

That's a pretty hefty budget. I question a $2,500 scope for shots to 300 yards.

On the 6.5 PRC what I do with any new rifle is to get enough brass to burn out a barrel. Usually 200-300 pieces will be enough in the hotter cartridges with good brass that can be loaded ten to twenty times. Then it makes little difference if the cartridge is a success and readily available or not. This way I am always shooting the same lot of brass and don't have to work up loads repeatedly. The PRC is an almost ideal deer cartridge and pretty damn close to the elusive AAR- all around rifle.

Hefty budget but I'd increase the $ for the OTC factory lw rifle just a little and go with the Seekins Havak Element in 6.5 PRC as it has a mag that allows up to 3.14" OAL. The OAL may be the biggest "con" on the round if people try to shoehorn it into standard short actions. Seekins took that into account. Regardless of which rifle you point him to, consider the OAL when making that decision.

[/quote] Hefty budget but I'd increase the $ for the OTC factory lw rifle just a little and go with the Seekins Havak Element in 6.5 PRC as it has a mag that allows up to 3.14" OAL. The OAL may be the biggest "con" on the round if people try to shoehorn it into standard short actions. Seekins took that into account. Regardless of which rifle you point him to, consider the OAL when making that decision.
[/quote]

Not a bad point, and I planned to install a Wyatt's box in my 6.5 PRC based on a SAUM-size stainless 700 action.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I had a rifle previously built by Charlie Sisk rebarreled to 6.5 PRC (by Charlie), in order do an assigned article for the 2018 Hodgdon Annual Manual. By the time this all got done, there wasn"t time to install another magazine, so I went ahead and shot the loads for the manual article.

The primary load development was done by seating bullets to the same depth as Hodgdon did, but afterward I decided to see what might happen if I seated them deep enough to fit in the factory magazine. The OAL length necessary was 2.860, and I tried it with three hunting bullets I tend to like. With two of the three accuracy got a LOT better, and with the third it didn't change. As of now, over two years later, I'm still using the factory magazine, and the rifle still shoots great.

MD...anyone. Could you look into your crystal ball and see when or where I might find some 6.5 PRC brass.

My two PRC riles are starving for some brass.


Lefty

Yea, those numbers I gave him were just a first pass at a planning budget. I gave him a half-dozen rifle brands to look at, some substantially less, and a few waay over the starting number. In the end, it's just gotta fit and ride right when launching out at 600+ yards. I lined up a couple guys who will let him try out their rifle/scope combos different from my Mesa so he can get an idea of what's available.

At least it'll make winter funner.

Pud

Yeah, that's a problem with lots of newer cartridges now.

You might look for some .300 RCM cases, which I recently seen for sale here and there. The body is slightly shorter than the 6.5 PRC's, but overall length is very similar. They could be partially necked down to 6.5 for a "crush fit", and fireformed in a 6.5 PRC chamber.

Ah heck. I'm just going to keep my 6.5-.284.
And my .260 Rem.
They worked pretty well before the PRC and the Creed. I'll just keep runnin' them.

Love mine....its a HAMMER!!!!!

The 6.5 PRC, is well thought of by the hunters and shooters I know, so much so that ammo and brass are hard to find, I enjoy mine and am thankful I bought a bunch of brass before it became hard to get. Rio7

I have considered adding a 6.5 PRC to my gun collection for a while, in spite of the fact that I do not need one!
I like doing ballistic comparisons between calibers, cartridges, etc., so I went on JBM, and entered data for both my .280 Rem., loaded with Hornady ELD-X 150 gr. bullets at 3020 fps, and a 6.5 PRC, using a Hornady advertised MV of 2960 fps with their 143 gr. ELD-X bullet. Rifle weights, all other parameters the same for both datasets. I also ran recoil data for the two cases, and JBM showed 20 ft.lbs of recoil for the 6.5, vs. 22 ft.lbs for the .280 case- a mere 2 ft.lbs difference. Anyway- here is the comparison chart, both rounds zeroed at 300, and data out to 800. As you can see, drop, wind drift, and energy at longer ranges are strikingly similar between the two.
So- given the fact that I already own the .280, have tons of brass and bullets available, and have a load worked up that is sub-MOA accurate, my 6.5 itch has subsided! As to the question of the popularity of the 6.5 PRC, or all other 6.5's, it is worth noting that the .280 has been pronounced dead for decades now, and still holds its own against many newer wonder cartridges.

Hornady's advertised velocity for 280 factory ammo with that bullet is 2925.

My last PRC shot 140 VLD's at 3100 in a 24" tube.