6.5 PRC and 6.5 Creedmoor

[Packmansion]

I don't want to make a shitty post but due to a lack of self control I'm going for it.

6.5 PRC has started to make a name for itself. I can't help but wonder why a 6.5 PRC is getting so much positive attention from hunters when it really provides little if any improvement over the 6.5 creedmoor... The creedmoor is so effective to distances so ridiculous why would you need more speed? At my elevation a 20" 6.5 creedmoor is effective well beyond where I need to consider shooting. My opinion is that wind will almost always be my limiting factor and 150 fps really does not do much for wind. "Flat shooting is nice" but the lower recoil of the creed will inevitably make it a more effective rifle despite the 150 fps difference. Additionally due to lower recoil I can shave more weight. I'd love to corrected by someone who knows more than me but I just don't get the 6.5 PRC and why it is getting so much attention when the 6.5 creed does it better.

Feel free to make me regret this post.

 

[prm]

Stating “6.5 creed does it better” is an opinion. Clearly not everyone agrees on that. FWIW, I agree with you that the Creed is effective, and for me, more is not necessarily better. But we are both behind the times. Here on the ‘slide the 6mm is where it’s at!

 

[hereinaz]

What if I thought that all you need is the 6.5 Grendel?

That’s an opinion.

There are situations where the extra velocity makes a difference.

 

[Tahoe1305]

Yup. I wanted to get on board, but with good(fast) powders I’m getting within 200fps easily with 6.5C. And with bullets topping out at ~150 grains (I shoot 143s) I don’t need it leaving north of 3000fps so I never could justify the jump.

Only use case is a really short barrel PRC where you want 6.5C long barrel performance.

Put another way. At my hunting grounds I get 1000ft lbs out to 1000yds. Plenty of umph and velocity for my liking.

I have a Grendel too and it costs another 200fps….it is a fine gun for my purposes and will kill everything I shoot. But 6.5C strikes a solid balance. My kid will shoot the Grendel though.

 

[prm]

If the bullet arrives at the target with your desired velocity, it’s enough. More may, or may not, be an improvement. Dead is dead.

 

[BrentH]

I don’t reload, so I “stepped up” to a 6.5 PRC to get a little more speed to shoot the heavier 147’s and maybe Berger 156’s. I bet there are guys reloading the 6.5 CM that are getting close to the same velocity as my 24” PRC shooting factory 147’s. At the elevations I hunt it makes it so I’m not walking the line of the 1800 fps threshold of the ELDm.

 

[TaperPin]

Why would anyone want something larger than a 223? Seriously, do you not believe it’s an ideal 700 yard killer? Did you not read every post in the 223 thread?

Of course you haven’t bought into that. Just one more step further removed, many like the velocity and trajectory of the PRC - to 500 yards it’s nearly identical by any measurement to the 270, which has always been super popular.

 

[Packmansion]

Why would anyone want something larger than a 223? Seriously, do you not believe it’s an ideal 700 yard killer? Did you not read every post in the 223 thread?

Of course you haven’t bought into that. Just one more step further removed, many like the velocity and trajectory of the PRC - to 500 yards it’s nearly identical by any measurement to the 270, which has always been super popular.

223 does very poor in wind.

 

[Packmansion]

If you load a 6.5 creed with staball 6.5 it effectively becomes a 6.5 PRC...

 

[J.B.]

If you load a 6.5 creed with staball 6.5 it effectively becomes a 6.5 PRC...

What happens when you load a 6.5 prc with staball 6.5? Genuine question…

 

[Packmansion]

What happens when you load a 6.5 prc with staball 6.5? Genuine question…

You would have a bullet moving faster than you need it to. What more do you need than 2700 fps out of a 20" barrel with 143s? Is 800 yards not enough?

 

[bluetick78]

Since you asked, I'll give some real-world data out of a 20" creedmoor and a couple 24" PRC's. I handload for accuracy. The 6.5 sta-ball or rl26 will get you lots of velocity, but I couldn't get the accuracy or the temp stability I was after in those powders for the creedmoor. H4350 fetched 2665, with 1/4 moa accuracy so that's what the 20" Creed burns. My son's have killed mule deer, elk, and black bears with that load (along with a few hundred rockchucks). 140 Berger vld is the bullet.
The PRC's my family owns launch a 156 Berger at 2950 ish with rl25. 1/4 to 1/2 inch accuracy depending on which rifle, with very low standard deviation. Those 2 rifles have combined for an impressive number of 1 shot kills on mule deer, elk, and black bears.
To me, the PRC and the Creed are in 2 different categories. A 140 gr bullet at 2665, or a 156 gr bullet at 2950? The only similarity is the bullet diameter. I will hunt with either, but if longish shots at mulies or elk are likely, I'm carrying the PRC.

 

[Jebel]

What if I thought that all you need is the 6.5 Grendel?

That’s an opinion.

There are situations where the extra velocity makes a difference.

This.

 

[RWT]

I am feeling the same about my 22-250 vs a 22 CM. I am struggling with why I need to shoot the heavier bullets.

Curious to hear opinions

Right now I see it as a want and not a need.

 

[Maidenfan539]

My son has a short barreled 6.5 creedmoor (22") at 2650 fps and I have a 6.5 prc (22") at 2854 fps. He is shooting the 147's and I am shooting the 156 eol's.

At about 6700' and 700 yards, my 156 eol is only 218 ft/lbs difference.

At 700 yards elevation for the 147 is only about .66 mils lower than the 156.

 

[Packmansion]

My son has a short barreled 6.5 creedmoor (22") at 2650 fps and I have a 6.5 prc (22") at 2854 fps. He is shooting the 147's and I am shooting the 156 eol's.

At about 6700' and 700 yards, my 156 eol is only 218 ft/lbs difference.

At 700 yards elevation for the 147 is only about .66 mils lower than the 156.

Makes you wonder

 

[Maidenfan539]

Makes you wonder

I love my PRC, though. Haha

 

[Wapiti1]

My son has a short barreled 6.5 creedmoor (22") at 2650 fps and I have a 6.5 prc (22") at 2854 fps. He is shooting the 147's and I am shooting the 156 eol's.

At about 6700' and 700 yards, my 156 eol is only 218 ft/lbs difference.

At 700 yards elevation for the 147 is only about .66 mils lower than the 156.

None of those numbers mean anything in practical terms. Drop is easy to deal with. Energy is irrelevant. Where the rubber meets the road is wind drift. The 156 moving faster is always going to win in the wind and that is the why.

Any advantage you can get to nullify the wind is a positive.

Jeremy

 

[hereinaz]

My son has a short barreled 6.5 creedmoor (22") at 2650 fps and I have a 6.5 prc (22") at 2854 fps. He is shooting the 147's and I am shooting the 156 eol's.

At about 6700' and 700 yards, my 156 eol is only 218 ft/lbs difference.

At 700 yards elevation for the 147 is only about .66 mils lower than the 156.

What’s the velocity at 700 for them?

 

[J.B.]

You would have a bullet moving faster than you need it to. What more do you need than 2700 fps out of a 20" barrel with 143s? Is 800 yards not enough?

I haven’t run all the numbers yet, but I like to keep my impacts above 2000 fps. Just the paranoid part of me that wants 99% plus odds of full upset lol.
I want to be able to keep the 156 bergers above that to 600. Probably very close with a cm.
Im in the process of building a new hunting rifle, have not fully decided between cm and prc yet. I had full intentions of building a 7prc before listening to the exo podcast with form, so Im sipping the kool-aid in small doses haha.
Also hard to find alot of the less common powders here in Canada, and I have a reasonable stock of H1000, which is better suited to the prc…Can always load it down to cm velocities haha