My brother just bought a Tikka T3x Lite Veil Alpine in 6.5 PRC. He’s got Nosler brass on the way and I ordered a die set. The case uses the same holder as 7mm Rem Mag so I’m good there.

Hornady show 3150 fps with 143 Eldx and 57.0 gr Reloder 26 so that’s the goal. Bullets are tough to find, though, so that’s probably the limiting factor.

Anyone else load for this cartridge?



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Pharm, I have used RL26 with 129 ABLRs for 3200 and Magnum with 139 Scenars for 3075. Both were easy as heck to make shoot. The only bullet I couldn’t make perk was the 150 ABLR, go figure but I only tried a few powders.

My CA Mesa likes handloaded 139 Scenars and 142 ABLRs. Likes factory 143 ELDX and 147 ELDm, too.

Have not been able to find the 143 gr eldx either. Best of luck on that..mb

Pharm probably has a stock pile.. ha ha.

I have a 6.5 PRC in a CA Ridgeline. It shoots great, I've only tried two bullets in it. 127 LRX and 140 grain Berger I only used RL26 and mag primers. Easy to load for nice small groups.

Add half a millimeter and yeah.





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My Mauser 6.5 PRC has been the easiest to load for. Both 140 NP and 139 Scenars like RL26 .

Pharmseller,
I don’t load for this cartridge but I have been wanting to build one. How do you view this cartridge to your 7mm rem mag?
Smallfry

I compared my existing load, 162 eldx at 2980, to a hypothetical load, 143 eldx at 3100. Twelve grains less powder (Reloder 26) and significantly better velocity. I don’t pay attention to energy figures so on paper the 6.5 PRC looks superior to the 7mm Rem Mag.

And this is my brother’s experiment. I’m just the a-hole with the reloading equipment. My 7mm-08 will do everything I need it to do at the distances within my skill level.




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There's a lot to be said for a good 7mm08. I really appreciate mine. In the last few years, I have grabbed it over most of my other rifles. With that being said, good luck with your brothers experiment and finding some good bullets to use. I have about 60 143gr ELDX and have not seen them anywhere, for a couple years. You may want to look for some 139 Scenar's or the 127 LRX. I've seen those locally and they are in stock at Mid South. That would be a great bullet for taking big game with your brothers PRC..

I have 4 boxes on the way thanks to Fire members.

Now I need some 156 Bergers.

I'm just starting playing with a 6.5 PRC Christensen Arms Mesa. I had some 143 edlx, but currently alliant magnum powder is the only suitable powder available around here. No problem with 3100 fps on my 24"

Here’s my data

It was an easy cartridge to load for. I have a pile of ADG brass I need to stuff with some loads. Amazing how nice it just works without a lot of messing around.

I’m using the 147gr eldm over r26. There for awhile last year 143gr eldx we’re the only thing I could find. Have a couple boxes of the Berger 156 EOL, but haven’t loaded them yet.

I'd be trying the RL26 and H1000, personally. I'm sure you guys will find a great load. Keep us posted. How's that 162gr ELDX prospect going with your 7mm08? Getting 2" groups at 500 yards yet? I saw your other 500 yard group you posted at 500 with your 150gr load. Looked like about a 6" group. Not happy huh?

I've been using Magnum with mine. I had a pile of it and figured why not!

Magnum was easier to find there for a while, where the others listed were a biotch to find. I think Ramshot has done a great job supplying us with powder during the shortage and the prices are still reasonable. It made me appreciate them much more. Now a fan of many of their powders.

Same here. Took me awhile to come around to them, but now I kinda look towards them for a bunch of my stuff.

Has this been brought up?


Is there a Lee Collet Neck Die work-around for the 6.5 PRC?

Less than 5” at 500 yards, I’m okay with that. Plus I suck at doping the wind so the lateral dispersion is on me.

And keep in mind the 6.5 PRC is my brother’s. I’m happy with the Mighty -08.






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Same here. I’ll take 5” at 500 all day long and be happy, especially shooting prone without rests and other stuff I wouldn’t have on the mountain.

I love my 7mm08 too.

Shooting off a pack makes it easy.

You and I agree on this. I just acquired a new 6.5 PRC and so far in my very limited loading, I can't see that it will do anything I can't do with a 7-08. I will be keeping up with your posts for info and see how this works out for you.



Norman, I'd be interested in your load data. I'm still in the break-in period with my Mesa, but so far it seems to be a little slow. I shot some factory Norma 143 ammo and the groups are steadily getting better (0.8 moa for 5 shots on Friday). Box says 2950? fps, but I'm getting just shy of 2800 with a 24" barrel.

I also ran some limited testing with 140 AB and Magnum powder. Found a very large velocity node at 2915-2925 fps and got sticky bolt lift at about 3015 fps. I had to load the Accubonds quite short due to throat length. Probably gonna try some other bullets for now. If 2925fps is all that I can do, I'll just stick with my 7-08.

I found some H1000 last week, so I may try it, but I'll give the Magnum a fair shake first as it should be faster across the board. I loaded some 120 TTSX this weekend and hope to shoot them soon. Just playing around for now with whatever I have on hand.

Ok, steel plate targets are misleading sometimes. Not like paper, which I prefer. The group looked big to me. But then again, this is a group shot at 400 yards with a 223 AR, and it looks "big" to me as well. Plate is 3" diameter:





Seems like you might have a lot to add to this thread, as you have tried factory ammo and also handload. That factory ammo sounds slow as hell, as I have creedmoor 143gr loads that run 50 fps less than that. I generally run 140's in the creed. Seems like the perfect bullet weight for that cartridge IMHO. I'd be looking at 147's and the like, if I was loading for a PRC. I can see some advantages of the PRC over the Creed at over 1,000 yards, but for actual hunting distances you are not going to see leaps and bounds better. I know a lot of guys I shoot with, still use fast 6mm's because there are advantages with those over the creed and other 6.5's. The PRC is interesting. I'll keep watching to see where the actual niche is. Wondering how Pharm is doing with his brothers rifle? Probably not much, since elk season is just around the corner for him..

I've only loaded for the 156 Berger in mine, otherwise have gone with factory Hornady 147 ELDM ammo
Lapua brass
Fed 210M primer
56.0 R26
2.950" COAL

Got 2,920 in a 24" barrel that has less than 50 shots on it, expect it will speed up a little. Suppressed with Ultra 7 6.5.

Tried same bullet, brass and primer with H1000
58.0 H1000 got me 2,830 fps suppressed.

I found a node at 61 gr magnum with the 143eldx I’m averaging 3050, but my ES is 40. I loaded some at different COAL to try but it’s well under a MOA. I plan on playing with the COAL and +/- 1/2 gr powder and see if I can find a happy place that’s consistent. I’ve only got about 25 -30 rounds through it so far

Same here, using Magnum in mine as well. Also using the 139 Scenar. It's a great shooting combo.

N565 worked best for me with the 156 EOL, fwiw.

3.1 COAL in an XM-length Defiance.

Lapua cases, Fed210M

Still in the development stages with mine but 55.5gr of RL-26 with a 139gr Scenar @ 2.900 with CCI-250's will shoot ragged holes for me at 100yds. The other load that is shooting well for me is 56.5gr H-1000 with 127gr LRX @2.865 and CCI-250's. Still plan on trying the 143 ELDX, 140 NAB, and 156 EOL's.

Thought I'd post an update if anyone is interested. Ran a velocity ladder test with Magnum and 120 ttsx. Topped out at 3182 fps with a book max load and found somewhat of a node around 3110.

I know.....very limited data..... but so far this 6.5 PRC is pretty disappointing. I think accuracy will be decent, but why would I burn 12-15 extra grains of powder with no real gains over a 7mm-08 or even a Creedmoor.....?

For both the 120 ttsx and the 140 AB, I had to load them at least 0.1" shorter than the book listing to get them to chamber. Could that have anything to do with the disappointing speeds?

Look up Alex Wheelers info on 6.5 and 300 prc issues. Apparently there were issues with the saami
Chamber not being big enough at the base causing sizing issues after several firings. There is a Finnish reamer to fix the issue. Not sure if ya’ll are seeing that. With R26 in 6.5 CM and a 26” barrel I can get 2950 easily and 3050 with a 140 eld if I’m not worried about brass life. With a 22” barrel 2900 is doable with a 140. Not bad for 47-48 grains of powder.

They fixed those original issues a few years back and it’s good to go … just get new reamers.

What powder do you use to get 2900 with a 140 in a 22” barrel?

Reloader 26. It’s 100-150 fps faster than H 4350. I ran a pressure ladder to 48.5 grains and got 3009 fps. Quickload had that at 3017 and 63k. Pretty close. 26” barrel. With about a 100 fps loss 2900 is doable at max from a 22”.

https://bergerbullets.com/pdf/6.5-Creedmoor-135gr.pdf

24” barrel.

I used 26 in Alpha brass and I couldn't get that much in the cases. Probably have to try some other cases to get that much in. Pretty danged quick.

I’m using Hornady. It’s not the greatest for quality but I can load max charges of R26 without vibrating the case or using a drop tube. In my 26” I backed off a bit to 2900 just for case life. For a 22” just hunting rifle I dont mind pushing it and living with shorter case life.

How many firings do you get?

So the brass has 6 on it so far. 1/2 was with a H4350 load the other with R 26 so jurys still out.

What barrel length? Are you seeing any sizing issues with the brass?

I called Lee, they’re happy to make one for me for $100.

Rick, what charge weight did you settle on with n565?

Well, I started the fun a couple of days ago. R26, WLR, 156 EOL, and new Nosler brass. I used the venerable Sharpie method to determine max length at 2.429” on the comparator, which equates to 3.130.” I’m using 7mm Rem Mag/30-06/300 Win Mag magazines instead of the 4-round magazine the rifle came with so I can load as long as I want.




I prepped and primed the brass then started on a pressure/velocity test. I started at 55.0 grains and went up in .5 grain increments, firing three shots of the same charge over the chrono. I ended up at 57.6 grains at 2955 fps, SD 1, ES 3. Brass looks good, no cratering, maybe the slightest hint of ejector mark, easy bolt lift. All rounds at 2.429.”





So now we’re ready for the seating depth test. I loaded 4 each at 5 different OAL, starting at 2.429” and working backward in 0.40” increments.



Somewhere in there I expect my brother to find accuracy, then I’ll fine-tune to maximize the load. I can still go shorter, since the shortest load is still over SAAMI max.





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Looking forward to what it does

That’s a great project! I’ll be following

So from the Hornady Manual page posted above, most reload data is showing me, that the PRC gives about 150 to 200 fps over what I see from a 6.5 x 57 with a 140 grain bullet... on a long action Model 70.

G1 is .679. It’s slippery as heck.

If that question is directed at me be advised I haven’t started on the 143 ELDX yet.

If anyone has more 156 EOL than they need, let me know, I’ll buy them from you or trade for 7mm bullets.

Range day this afternoon, I’ll report results.




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Cold 38F and windy. 100 yards off a bipod. Five targets, one shot at each target to maintain barrel consistency. Hey, my brother thinks it matters and it’s his rifle.

Longest load, just into the lands, won.



Chronoed suppressed at 2932.

Second place was pretty close, 0.04” off the lands.



He’s pretty pleased.





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