Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 264WM vs 6.5PRC

T O M,

I had a 6.5-.300 Weatherby Magnum for a while, along with my 26 Nosler. As far as velocities go they were just about identical, not surprising since powder capacity is just about exactly the same. (Barrels were 26" on both rifles, a Mark V Ultra Lightweight, and a Nosler Patriot.)

Accuracy was kinda touchy with the 6.5-.300, probably because of the thin, fluted barrel--but the rifle really shot the load it "liked." (Have found Weatherby Magnums have shot very well since around 2000, probably partly because they tightened the "freebore" diameters to just above bullet diameter.) It's most accurate load was the 140 Nosler Partition with US869 powder, with also worked with the 130 Swift Scirocco II, but it also grouped 143 Hornady ELD-Xs nicely with IMR8133 (which of course was recently discontinued).

Both the "big 6.5s" easily got 3300 fps with bullets in the 140-grain range.

That is certainly true regarding Weatherby throats. One early 300 Weatherby (mid-sixties) I measured was .313" in diameter and about 7/8 inch long. That rifle shot Hornady or Nosler bullets reasonably well, but Sierra Boattails would barely stay on the paper. On the other hand, I built one in the late eighties which I chambered with a conventional throat, 3085 dia. and .300 long. It shot great but he wasn't getting the velocity he hoped for, so he asked me to cut more freebore. I did so and made the throat .625 long, but still .3085 dia. His velocity dropped and he added powder until he was at his max and the velocity was just the same as before. Accuracy was still excellent. This was repeated with other chamberings over the years GD

i did some research on the 6.5 PRC and yes its a great cartridge but for me at 69 years of age its to late for me to change cartridges i have plenty other good cartridges that will still get the job done. i thought about 6.5 PRC but do i want more recoil or a ported rifle , more new reloading stuff at my age ? if i shoot at the bench a lot i really am liking my 6 BR rifle no recoil , tiny little groups , cheap to shoot too. the 6 PRC does sound interesting i wish you guys great enjoyment with this cartridge, Pete53

Cobbled this one together last year. Howa 1500 that started life as a 7mag. Pulled the tube and put on a Preferred Barrels 7.5 twist with a long throat. Shoots a 147 ELDM into nice tight groups at 200 yards at around 3100. Made shooting the elk at 250 yards a little too easy.

You CAN make other cases work “just as well” in some cases but it requires work and modification; usually not a standard reamer.

When you choose something like the 6.5 PRC, the default is already the way it should be. As you said, better gasket. It sounds more like you agree than disagree.

And yes, quality brass is very important.

But here we sit and the .264 Winchester has never been something in the winners circle nor been of any significant notoriety as a precision cartridge.

Did the men named above (or anyone else) also test Wby's double-radius shoulder as well? Any idea if they formed any opinions regarding that point? Just idle curiosity on my part. My grand total of 1 257Wby and helping a friend with his 240Wby is the extent of my Wby case involvement so I'm hardly a zealot, just gacking.

horse1,

Ron told me the double-radius shoulder works about like a 35-40 degree "normal" shoulder. Nothing special, but not bad.

A lot of how accurately a particular cartridge shoots is due to the throat/leade. This is why I started becoming fascinated with the 6.5 Creedmoor after buying my first one in 2010 at a local store, a Ruger Hawkeye. Also bought some Hornady factory ammo--and the very first group at 100 yards with the 140 A-Max ammo measured .63 inch--for FIVE shots, not just three.

The only reason I'd bought the rifle was to do an article an editor wanted, and after writing it thought I was "done" with the 6.5 CM, so sold the rifle. But eventually had to buy others, because editors kept wanting more articles on it--even one who for a while said he wasn't going to run any more 6.5 CM stuff. Turned out the magazine's readers kept demanding more....

Have now owned a total of six factory 6.5 Creedmoors, partly due to wanting to know if they all shoot well. The worst-shooting (a $299 rifle) would still put three shots of just about any factory ammo in less than an inch. The MOST accurate was probably one of two Ruger Americans, a Predator model. After acquiring it I loaded some ammo with a combination that had worked in other 6.5 CMs, the 140 Berger Hunting VLD and 41.5 grains of H4350. The first 5-shot group at 100 yards measured .33 inch....

Have also shot a few borrowed 6.5 Creedmoors, including a semi-custom rifle that retailed for $3500. None shot any better than that RAR. All of this is why I eventually concluded the design-features of the 6.5 CM do indeed contribute to "inherent accuracy." Yes, any cartridge can shoot very accurately in a custom "precision" rifle, but the only other factory rounds that have come close to the 6.5 Creedmoor in factory rifles have been the .222 Remington and 6mm PPC.

The 6.5 PRC shares the same basic accuracy features as the 6.5 Creedmoor, but in a larger case. Have only fooled with two so far, the one Charlie Sisk barreled for me when the cartridge was announced. Was assigned by Hodgdon to do an article on it in their Annual Manual, but no factory rifles had yet appeared. So I bought a Lilja barrel and a PT&G reamer, and sent them to Charlie, and the rifle of course shot very well. It's best hunting-bullet handload groups FIVE (not just three) shots into half an inch, and this is a hunting rifle that weighs a little over 7-1/2 pounds scoped.

The other 6.5 PRC I've wrung out was a semi-custom from a company in Idaho, which guaranteed 100-yard, 3-shot groups of half an inch with factory ammo. They sent along several boxes of Hornady Precision Hunter 143-grain ELD-X ammunition, and the rifle easily beat their guarantee. It wasn't a heavyweight either, a carbon-wrapped barrel model that weighed 8-1/2 pounds with a Nightforce 2.5-x20x50 NX8. Its first 3-shot group was under .3.

But I probably will have to buy a relatively inexpensive factory 6.5 PRC just to see how well one shoots--as I've done with a series of 6.5 Creedmoors.

Darn. I was hoping for some sort of venturri, Ram-jet, Scram-Jet, afterburner super-swirl that would make the projectile begin to rise again @ the 300 yd mark and keep it flat to 600 or so.

MD, your answer was kind of a buzz-kill.

You mean you never got a rifle built for the legendary B-29 cartridge?

Yawn, another endless thread debating the merits of two 6.5s either one of which will kill anything in the lower 48 very dead.

Just had a fast twist 264 bbl made for my Blaser TAC-2 (300 Win Mag) as it fits the magazine and feed fine.

100% confident that it would do anything any newer 6.5 will do with one exception.

The Blaser.



The exception. 6.5-300 BEE 30" barrel.