Opinions on the 6.5 PRC

[0002S]

The 7mm Rem Mag is a great old classic and has great factory support but if the 7mm PRC ever gets near the factory support I believe it will overtake the 7mm Rem Mag in popularity and would be my choice at that point for a fast 7mm cartridge.

It's a guarantee it gets hold. Hornady is 100% behind it. Rifle manufactures want to sell new rifles so they will produce what they know there is ammo for. Other ammo manufactures will follow suit because of rifle sales. It's the 6.5CM formula. All the PRCs will take off.

The 7 Rem Mag is here to stay, but more new 7mm rifles will end up being 7 PRC as time goes on.

-jm2c

 

[0002S]

Projectile selection makes a huge difference as well. What have you been using in your 7 mag and 6.5 PRC?

I killed a pronghorn with a 147 gr ELDM out of a 6.5 CM in 2022 and it dropped him like lightning. I’ve since decided I prefer something with more reliable penetration, especially for the possibility of up close shots. Interested to know what you’ve been using.

Try the 120 gr TTSX in the 6.5 PRC @ around 32xx fps. You will be surprised

 

[WAB]

I’m using the 142 gr ABLR in my 6.5 PRC.

 

[Daisy]

130gr federal terminal ascent. Done.

 

[375Ruger416]

130gr federal terminal ascent. Done.

I’d like to try these these, but I haven’t been able to find any yet

 

[Daisy]

I’d like to try these these, but I haven’t been able to find any yet

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/federal-premium-terminal-ascent-65-prc-130-grain-centerfire-rifle-ammo

 

[albravo]

I have a 21" light contour Benchmark barrel on a Kimber action and shoot 140AB over RL26 at just under 3000 fps. It handles like a dream and is one of the reasons I was attracted to the Blaser R8-- short rifles are easier in almost every situation.

 

[biohound]

According to my PH, he said 6.5 PRC will work fine for plains game with good shot placement. He was correct. This 800-1000 kg bull Eland was taken In Namibia at 155 yards, with 130 grain Federal Terminal Accent. Shot went through and broke the shoulder with whatever remained of the bullet passing into the vitals, the animal went about 40 yards, stopped to die, then as we approached limped another 20 yards and collapsed, dieing. I then shot it in the back of the neck at close range to keep it from suffering. I also took an impala at 80 yards with the bullet hitting the heart and passing through.

I only have one rifle, so I took what I had. Hindsight I am very happy with the performance of 6.5 PRC in Terminal Accent. If I knew most of my hunting would not exceed 200 yards, probably would have went with an all copper bullet vs Terminal Accent. If buying a new rifle for plains game in the bush, maybe a 7mm PRC or 30:06, leaning towards the PRC.

 

[Muskox]

Resource the 6.5-284 which has been around for awhile. The PRC is it’s twin

Ballistically yes!

Not physically. The 6.5 PRC was built to fit in a short action. The 6.5-284 as spec'd by SAMI or CIP is actually a challenge to fit into a short action.

The PRC, Creedmoor, and ARC family of cartridges are all similar in that they have a certain amount of marketing hype, they all are optimized to fit into the actions they were created for. At velocities that work for most rifles and deliver good speed and accuracy over the intended replacement.

300 PRC versus 300 Win. Optimized for VLD bullets and higher twist. Gets rid of belt.

7mm PRC versus 7mm Rem Mag, similar velocity gets rid of the belt and optimized for VLD bullets.

6.5 PRC versus 6.5-284/264 Winchester. optimized to fit short action. Hopefully better feeding. No wonky rebated rim.

6.5 CM versus 6.5x55. Takes care of usage in 1890's era Swedish Mauser rifles, and optimized between the 260 Rem, 6.5x47 Lapua, and 6.5-284 to be more accurate and not worry about pre-war rifles. Also fits really long bullets in the short action that the 6.5-284 and 260 can not do.

6mm CM versus 243. lower velocity to make the barrel last longer, spec for heavier bullets at higher bc.

22 CM versus 22-250. meant for heavy twist bullets spec'd to stabilize heavier bullets than most 22-250 varmint barrels.

22 ARC/6mm ARC versus 6mm PPC and 22 PPC standardized round dimension that work in both an AR and a bolt rifle.

 

[WAB]

I’m using the 142 gr ABLR in my 6.5 PRC.

I have switched from the ABLR to the Norma Bondstrike. Although I don’t hunt at long range, I like to play at long range. The 142 gr ABLR became unstable past about 1,250 yards. The Bondstrike is stable out to a mile.

 

[DJStang]

My wife recently used it in New Zealand to take Chamois and Tahr. Used the factory Hornady ELDM 147 grain bullet. Can't seem to load the pictures though.

 

[sureshot375]

I have switched from the ABLR to the Norma Bondstrike. Although I don’t hunt at long range, I like to play at long range. The 142 gr ABLR became unstable past about 1,250 yards. The Bondstrike is stable out to a mile.

I just sent my 6.5 to Africa with a friend of mine for his son to shoot. I had it set up with Bondstrikes.

They reported terrible performance on wildebeest and gemsbok. According to my friend the shots were “perfect” and 2 wildebeest and gemsbok went 800+ yards with little blood before being recovered. There were no exit wounds.

I haven’t been able to talk with the PH yet to see if any bullets were recovered.

I wasn’t there so I’m having to rely on my friends account. He is a reasonably experienced hunter, but this was his first trip to Africa.

I’m good friends with the Ph so I’ll report back after I get more info from him.

 

[WAB]

I just sent my 6.5 to Africa with a friend of mine for his son to shoot. I had it set up with Bondstrikes.

They reported terrible performance on wildebeest and gemsbok. According to my friend the shots were “perfect” and 2 wildebeest and gemsbok went 800+ yards with little blood before being recovered. There were no exit wounds.

I haven’t been able to talk with the PH yet to see if any bullets were recovered.

I wasn’t there so I’m having to rely on my friends account. He is a reasonably experienced hunter, but this was his first trip to Africa.

I’m good friends with the Ph so I’ll report back after I get more info from him.

Let me know. Greatly appreciate the feedback.

 

[375Ruger416]

I took my gemsbok and blue wildebeest last year with a 300 PRC and 208 Barnes LRX at 2850. The gemsbok didn’t go far and it went down after two shots - first shot through the lungs (though not the shoulders) and a quartering away shot as it was running in a half circle. Took two more shots to finish it though when we approached it - they are tough!

I took another 7 animals - baboon, eland, impala, kudu, jackal, blesbok, and springbok. As you might expect, the jackal, baboon, impala, and blesbok were DRT. Unexpectedly, the wildebeest was as well on a frontal shot at about 125 yds that went through the heart and ended up in the pelvis. I hit the springbok a second time on the run before it went down, though upon examination it was clear the first shot was deadly. The eland and gemsbok took 3 and 4 shots respectively despite initial shots being through the lungs. My PH did instruct me to keep firing on the gemsbok and the eland as long as they were in their feet.

A couple of conclusions I drew: for anything larger than an impala in Africa a 30 cal magnum is not anything close to too much gun, monometals provide reliable penetration but not the fastest kills, put it on the shoulder (I knew this but did not always do it despite studying the Perfect Shot 2), and gemsbok are as tough as advertised. My impression is that eland aren’t that tough, but they are HUGE so you might as well consider them the same.

My light rifle is a 6.5 PRC though it hasn’t been to Africa with me. From what I’ve seen, the 6.5 PRC (and CM for that matter) are a sensible MINIMUM for Africa, but hardly ideal for any of the plains game. Also, bonded bullets and monometals are a double edged sword guaranteeing penetration and ADEQUATE expansion and are deadly, but do not result in catastrophic tissue damage and fast kills.

Know your bullet and it’s performance window. Using a deep penetrating bullet in a marginal caliber for the game size and toughness you’re targeting will result in reliable, but slow(er) kills. I’m not surprised at all by your friends experience with the 6.5 PRC. A bigger cartridge with a lead bullet will kill faster (as long as you can shoot it well and it can be expected to penetrate through the vitals.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I took my gemsbok and blue wildebeest last year with a 300 PRC and 208 Barnes LRX at 2850. The gemsbok didn’t go far and it went down after two shots - first shot through the lungs (though not the shoulders) and a quartering away shot as it was running in a half circle. Took two more shots to finish it though when we approached it - they are tough!

I took another 7 animals - baboon, eland, impala, kudu, jackal, blesbok, and springbok. As you might expect, the jackal, baboon, impala, and blesbok were DRT. Unexpectedly, the wildebeest was as well on a frontal shot at about 125 yds that went through the heart and ended up in the pelvis. I hit the springbok a second time on the run before it went down, though upon examination it was clear the first shot was deadly. The eland and gemsbok took 3 and 4 shots respectively despite initial shots being through the lungs. My PH did instruct me to keep firing on the gemsbok and the eland as long as they were in their feet.

A couple of conclusions I drew: for anything larger than an impala in Africa a 30 cal magnum is not anything close to too much gun, monometals provide reliable penetration but not the fastest kills, put it on the shoulder (I knew this but did not always do it despite studying the Perfect Shot 2), and gemsbok are as tough as advertised. My impression is that eland aren’t that tough, but they are HUGE so you might as well consider them the same.

My light rifle is a 6.5 PRC though it hasn’t been to Africa with me. From what I’ve seen, the 6.5 PRC (and CM for that matter) are a sensible MINIMUM for Africa, but hardly ideal for any of the plains game. Also, bonded bullets and monometals are a double edged sword guaranteeing penetration and ADEQUATE expansion and are deadly, but do not result in catastrophic tissue damage and fast kills.

Know your bullet and it’s performance window. Using a deep penetrating bullet in a marginal caliber for the game size and toughness you’re targeting will result in reliable, but slow(er) kills. I’m not surprised at all by your friends experience with the 6.5 PRC. A bigger cartridge with a lead bullet will kill faster (as long as you can shoot it well and it can be expected to penetrate through the vitals.

@375Ruger416
That's why I like the Whelen.
Gemsbok bull 120 yards 250gn Hornady Round nose, shoulder shot and golf ball size hole out the other side. 20yd run and nose dived into the red Kalahari sand.
That's why I like the Whelen.
Bob

 

[375Ruger416]

That’s why a bought Blaser with a 375 for a ‘medium’ and a 300 wm barrel for a ‘light’ to travel with. Now I find myself pondering a 416 - where does it end!!?!? Love my 300 PRC, but it isn’t the lightning fast killer I kind of thought it would be. Starting to suspect that nothing is.

That Whelen with a 225 or 250 gr should be a great hunting caliber though for damn near anything. You tried any flat faced bullets in it? I’m impressed with what I’ve read of cup nosed solids as well as flat faced solids and wonder if flat faced lead bonded bullets don’t also have better terminal performance than the ultra-aerodynamic bullets that are all the rage these days.

I have a bunch of 300 gr TSX for my 375 because I only find 50 rounds of Swift A frames loaded by Norma. Would like some A-frames for my 300 WM too, but am trying some 200 gr terminal ascent since it’s what I could find along with the usual suspects. Since it’s basically a more aerodynamic trophy bonded tip I’m hoping it does more tissue damage than the LRX, but still penetrates deep. We shall see.

For terminal performance at traditional hunting ranges it’s probably hard to beat an A-frame or Partition, and this long range practice I’m so enamored with is probably overrated. We are blessed with more choice and better options than ever, but all designs have their strengths and weaknesses.

 

[HWL]

Yank version of the 6.5x68, only shorter.

....and 85 years later!

HWL

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

That’s why a bought Blaser with a 375 for a ‘medium’ and a 300 wm barrel for a ‘light’ to travel with. Now I find myself pondering a 416 - where does it end!!?!? Love my 300 PRC, but it isn’t the lightning fast killer I kind of thought it would be. Starting to suspect that nothing is.

That Whelen with a 225 or 250 gr should be a great hunting caliber though for damn near anything. You tried any flat faced bullets in it? I’m impressed with what I’ve read of cup nosed solids as well as flat faced solids and wonder if flat faced lead bonded bullets don’t also have better terminal performance than the ultra-aerodynamic bullets that are all the rage these days.

I have a bunch of 300 gr TSX for my 375 because I only find 50 rounds of Swift A frames loaded by Norma. Would like some A-frames for my 300 WM too, but am trying some 200 gr terminal ascent since it’s what I could find along with the usual suspects. Since it’s basically a more aerodynamic trophy bonded tip I’m hoping it does more tissue damage than the LRX, but still penetrates deep. We shall see.

For terminal performance at traditional hunting ranges it’s probably hard to beat an A-frame or Partition, and this long range practice I’m so enamored with is probably overrated. We are blessed with more choice and better options than ever, but all designs have their strengths and weaknesses.

@375Ruger416
Haven't personally tried any of the flat point solid in the Whelen but I think the Woodleighs 225gn hydrostatic stabilised cup point solid started at 2800-2900 fps would have some serious penetration.
Bob

 

[62flint]

I enjoy my 6.5prc. Driving a 156 Berger at 2950fps at the muzzle. That being said. It doesn’t do any thing a host of other similar calibers will do.
Mine is pretty accurate. Do not regret getting it at all.

 

[VAHunter]

My 6.5 PRC will be with me when I visit the Eastern Cape in September. I have developed several loads which print similarly out to 400 yards. I have a 142 ABLR load and a 143 ELD-X load that will allow me to do some experimenting on the smaller game I will be chasing. The comparisons should make for a good post hunt report.