6.5 Creedmoor vs 6.5 PRC?

[Macchina]

I'm looking to get a stainless rifle for out to 500 yards hunting whitetails and bringing out West for Mule deer and Pronghorn. Possibly elk.
I have a 600 yard shooting lane on my property in Michigan but will most likely set up down range a bit next year.

I'm considering both 6.5 Creedmoor and PRC. I don't have a Tikka yet so I thought I might pick one up but they are only available in 6.5 Creedmoor. Should I be looking at the PRC and what rifle (has to be stainless) should I be looking at then?

 

[EmperorMA]

At that distance and those species I would go 6.5 Creedmoor all the way. Plenty of punch to 600 and many more rifles and quality factory ammo available. Anything from 140 gr on up that shoots well in the rifle should do the trick. I’d start with the 143 ELD-X and go from there.

If that long shooting lane is narrow, you may want to consider some sort of ranging reticle in addition to dialing. You may not always have time to dial in a narrow lane.

 

[davsco]

tikka t3x lite lefty here in 300wsm. awesome gun. tell you what, after getting a perfect elk shot/hit and it running a little and standing a little before finally falling over, glad i didn't bring a smaller caliber. with an area419 hellfire brake on it, pretty much no recoil; i do wear earpro while hunting. and yes i'm sure that folks have had elk drop with .223 down to 22 LR, but if you're buying a gun for out west, why not go 300 mag.

never shot one but christensens look good on paper and they come in prc.

 

[Kimber7man]

6.5 PRC ammo is getting very hard to source. Might not be an issue in a year, but it might still be...

 

[EmperorMA]

tikka t3x lite lefty here in 300wsm. awesome gun. tell you what, after getting a perfect elk shot/hit and it running a little and standing a little before finally falling over, glad i didn't bring a smaller caliber. with an area419 hellfire brake on it, pretty much no recoil; i do wear earpro while hunting. and yes i'm sure that folks have had elk drop with .223 down to 22 LR, but if you're buying a gun for out west, why not go 300 mag.

never shot one but christensens look good on paper and they come in prc.

Ironically, I’ve killed elk with a .25-06, 6.5 Creedmoor, 260 Rem, 6.5x284, 270 Win, 270 Wby Mag, 7mm-08, .284?Win, 7mm Wby Mag, 308 Win, 30-06, 300 Wby Mag and .338 Win Mag.

By far the longest tracking job was an elk hit through both shoulders and both lungs with 250 NPT from the .338 Win Mag. Every elk I hit with that combo covered real estate before expiring. Ditto for 300 Wby Mag, .30-06 and .308 Win. A bit less, perhaps, but they ran, nonetheless.

The 7-08 allowed a bit of running but I knew it would, as I had chosen the 120 TTSX for heavy timber hunting. Both bulls I shot with that load travelled about 50 yards before piling up. I neck shot a raghorn with the 7mm Roy, so no real report to give there.

Every single elk I’ve shot with the .270 Win, .270 Roy, 6.5 Creedmoor (1), .260 Rem (2) 6.5x284 (11) and .25-06 (2) were bang/flop, DRT.

If you had a bad experience with a 300 Mag, my experience would indicate that you need to move down.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Tikka in 6.5creedmoor is pretty solid.

 

[khuber84]

Tikka in 6.5creedmoor is pretty solid.

This is a good option. Every Tikka is slow with factory ammo due to the very long freebore Tikka puts in their rifles. Handoading you can get much better ballistic performance. I recently did a test with 143eldx in lapua SRP brass with RL26 and was above 2900fps w/ no psi signs. This rifle only has 100 rounds on it so it may speed up a bit more. A guy can always buy a Tikka 6.5 creedmoor and sent it to @Shooter71 Sahen Rifles and he will ream the Chamber to 6.5 prc, and open your bolt face. The price is pretty good and from the handful I've saw reviews on, they shoot as good as any tikka. I have one I've been meaning to send to him, but I've been having so much fun in the current config.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

I don't think there will be any practical difference in on game performance between the two. The extra velocity of the PRC may give you a pass through at the extremes where the Creed wouldn't. The PRC puts up marginally more fuss when you pull the trigger, but is easily manageable. I am of the opinion that everything the Creed is, the PRC is a little better. Ammo is hard to find right now and prices are obnoxious. Unless you anticipate taking your trek out west in the coming year, it's probably best to sit back and wait for the stupidity to subside. The Creed wins in the availability of a staggering array of factory offerings. Prior to the current rush, everyone from Wal-Mart to your local Ace Hardware had it.

 

[Iron ghost]

I’d throw the 7mm-08 into your consideration as well.

 

[Tahoe1305]

If you handload the tikka in 6.5C can be loaded pretty long out to the lands and gain some good velocity. You’ll get within 150fps of the PRC if I was a betting man. Won’t make a difference at those ranges. The tikka is an awesome rifle.

A buddy and I with same guns and different powders are both hovering around 2900fps with the 143 ELDX and no pressure signs with 1/2” groups. All we need for the hunting we do.

**added**

Opposite is true for factory ammo. It runs a bit slower than average. 2600fps for factory 143 ELDX fwiw.

 

[EmperorMA]

Come to think of it, out to 500 yards you are right in the wheelhouse of 130-class bullets in the 6.5 Creedmoor. They will be faster and a bit flatter-shooting than the 140+ plus bullets at those distances which will keep them comfortably within impact velocity windows.

Excellent bullets such as the 127 LRX, 129 ABLR, 129 BXR, 129 SST, 130 AB, 130 Bergers, 130 Gamechanger, 130 Scirocco II, 130 TBT and 130 Terminal Ascent are all loaded commercially to very high quality, and all will do everything you’re asking very well.

That is ten different outstanding choices in factory ammo at 130-class alone. There are at least that many more at both 120-class and 140-class in 6.5 Creedmoor. You will find nothing that even remotely approaches that in 6.5 PRC.

A few examples of high-quality, very effective factory ammo for the 6.5 Creedmoor: L-R Hornady 147 ELD-M, Winchester Expedition 142 ABLR (one elk DRT @ 208), Browning 129 BXR (one Muley DRT @ 265), Winchester 125 Deer Season XP (three deer all DRT @ 125 - 220). All the above are sub-MOA in my rifle.




Even with above success, I’m planning on developing a load for the 129 ABLR once the current “troubles” in availability die down. I have a buddy who has two 6.5 Creedmoor rifles, one each for him and his kid. Together they have piled up a rollaway dumpster load of elk, deer and pronghorn out to 650 yards with those rifles and they only shoot the 129 ABLR out of both. No issues, either, with all animals falling where hit or within a very short distance of same.

EDIT: Adding that I’d look at the Browning X-Bolt Stainless, Winchester M70 Extreme Weather, Winchester M70 Featherweight Stainless and Weatherby Vanguard Stainless if I wanted a reasonably-priced factory stainless rifle that I could be reasonably sure would shoot right out of the box and that I’d be reasonably sure I’d actually like the rifle. The M70 FWT would get my vote.

 

[Macchina]

Thanks guys. Great points and I do hate blast more than most anything. After shooting rifles in the field for 30 years now I really appreciate the difference between standard and magnum cartridges.

The 6.5 CM seems to fit my needs well...

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Here’s a tikka t3x superlite, mountain tactics trigger guard and swfa 6x with sports match rings. It’s a tack driver.

 

[davsco]

Every single elk I’ve shot with the .270 Win, .270 Roy, 6.5 Creedmoor (1), .260 Rem (2) 6.5x284 (11) and .25-06 (2) were bang/flop, DRT.

If you had a bad experience with a 300 Mag, my experience would indicate that you need to move down.

wow that's some serious elk experience, great job!!! i didn't have a bad experience, just was shocked at their ability to absorb a great hit from a serious caliber.

 

[EmperorMA]

wow that's some serious elk experience, great job!!! i didn't have a bad experience, just was shocked at their ability to absorb a great hit from a serious caliber.

I’m old.

I’ve been hunting for 45 years and have been blessed to be able to do so frequently in five Western states and three others a time or two.

I actually forgot to mention four more elk killed with a .284 Winchester. ALL DRT.

 

[Kimber7man]

Here’s a tikka t3x superlite, mountain tactics trigger guard and swfa 6x with sports match rings. It’s a tack driver.

I’ll take it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I’ll take it.

That’s my caribou rifle bro!!!

 

[cwashburn]

I'm looking to get a stainless rifle for out to 500 yards hunting whitetails and bringing out West for Mule deer and Pronghorn. Possibly elk.
I have a 600 yard shooting lane on my property in Michigan but will most likely set up down range a bit next year.

I'm considering both 6.5 Creedmoor and PRC. I don't have a Tikka yet so I thought I might pick one up but they are only available in 6.5 Creedmoor. Should I be looking at the PRC and what rifle (has to be stainless) should I be looking at then?

I have a Browning 6.5 Creedmoor. I shoot the 143 Gr. ELD-X Precision Hunters. That ammo is great I feel. Shoots sub MOA out to 600 for me and I don't know what i'm doing.

 

[palomarguru_actual]

6.5 CM for availability and barrel life. Less recoil and cheap-ish ammo (in normal times) is a plus, not to mention plenty adequate for your purposes.

 

[jpage1003]

Very new to western hunting and looking at the Tikka lite 6.5 creedmoor as I'm a smaller guy hunting elk and deer primarily. All good info, thanks everyone!