6.5 PRC and 7mm PRC

[Durable Gun]

My 1st rifle was in 6.5cm. My second was in 6.5prc. My third rifle I got the 7prc. I got the 6.5prc to blast 156gs. Got the 7prc to hammer 195gs.
My loads-
6.5cm- 143eldx, 41.5g h4350 = 2789fps out of a 24” Proof Research barrel.
6.5prc- 156 bergers, 61.1g n570 = 2906fps out of a 20” Seekins PH3
7prc- 195 bergers, 74g n570 = 3071fps (too hot for most rifles) out of a 26” Seekins PH2.

I love ‘em all but I can kill anything I set my mind to with my beloved Creedmoor. (At the appropriate distance). Now if I wanted the long distance kill- 7prc all day~ but my 6.5prc could still easily do it with less meat damage. Just depends on how big of a round one needs to compensate for their balls.

 

[CAV1/8]

Yes. Exactly. And honestly, I think the 7PRC is awesome. If I was a newbie looking for a first rifle, the 7PRC would be a dang near perfect choice, far better than the 6.8 Western given the PRC's increasing popularity compared to the Western's fizzle, and certainly better than the belted 7RM. But for those who already have a 6.5PRC, just don't see enough difference to motivate. And what's next? I would hope to see a future PRC in 338 or, even better, something in 35 caliber... now that would be motivation!

 

[CAV1/8]

I would love to see a 35 cal!!! Preferably a 358 re-engineered!

 

[CAV1/8]

My 1st rifle was in 6.5cm. My second was in 6.5prc. My third rifle I got the 7prc. I got the 6.5prc to blast 156gs. Got the 7prc to hammer 195gs.
My loads-
6.5cm- 143eldx, 41.5g h4350 = 2789fps out of a 24” Proof Research barrel.
6.5prc- 156 bergers, 61.1g n570 = 2906fps out of a 20” Seekins PH3
7prc- 195 bergers, 74g n570 = 3071fps (too hot for most rifles) out of a 26” Seekins PH2.

I love ‘em all but I can kill anything I set my mind to with my beloved Creedmoor. (At the appropriate distance). Now if I wanted the long distance kill- 7prc all day~ but my 6.5prc could still easily do it with less meat damage. Just depends on how big of a round one needs to compensate for their balls.

I like the tikka T3X 6.5 prc. Allot of customization options for that rifle for guys on a budget!

 

[txtransplant]

I’m no expert rifleman, but I’ll echo that 6.8 Western is fundamentally a better cartridge than the anemic uptake suggests. I have an X-Bolt with a standard radial brake, and although the round has a good amount of energy, the recoil is a non-issue. I’m sure moose have been shot with it; I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to shoot an elk with it.

They should have named it 6.8 PRC. Probably would have had a lot more fans jumping on the bandwagon.

 

[CAV1/8]

68 western is definitely an interest in caliber. It’s such a shame that it is fizzling out.

One of the first things I do we considering a bullet is to go on the Internet to see the availability.

I couldn’t find 68 western at all.

 

[txtransplant]

68 western is definitely an interest in caliber. It’s such a shame that it is fizzling out.

One of the first things I do we considering a bullet is to go on the Internet to see the availability.

I couldn’t find 68 western at all.

It’s not hard to find. I even saw it on shelves at a small outdoor store in Glenwood springs last week.

6.8 Western Ammo

In-stock best prices for 6.8 Western Ammo | Best 6.8 Western Ammunition - AmmoSeek.com

ammoseek.com

 

[CAV1/8]

It’s not hard to find. I even saw it on shelves at a small outdoor store in Glenwood springs last week.

6.8 Western Ammo

In-stock best prices for 6.8 Western Ammo | Best 6.8 Western Ammunition - AmmoSeek.com

ammoseek.com

 

[CAV1/8]

Does 6.8 Western require a longer barrel?

I know 6.5 PRC works well with shorter barrels

 

[txtransplant]

Does 6.8 Western require a longer barrel?

I know 6.5 PRC works well with shorter barrels

I think my barrel is 24”? It’s a stock X-Bolt.

I’m pretty sure the round requires a tighter twist than a lot of old school rounds. Like 1:7, IIRC. Maybe that’s the case with 6.5 PRC and 7 PRC, I don’t know. Im not an expert rifleman, I just buy factory ammo.

I really like the round, though. Before that, I had a .308. Definitely prefer the 6.8 Western over .308.

I can’t speak to the differences between 6.5 PRC and 6.8 Western. I think the 6.8 shoots higher weight bullets. I saw it as the best cartridge if you want to stick to short action. It’s supported by both Winchester and Browning, and other niche gunmakers are starting to make them, so I think they’ll be around for the long haul. It may just never pick up the wide adoption of a PRC round - again, I think going with “Western” instead of “PRC” was a mistake, probably would have gotten more traction with the latter. Check out ballistic charts, though. It’s a pretty solid round. I think I even posted my research a few years back when I bought the rifle.

 

[txtransplant]

It’s here, but I don’t think 7 PRC was out yet at that time. Also, my primary point was that it’s a top contender among short action calibers. If you want long action, magnum performance, 7 PRC is certainly better.

I'm guessing most of the folks still tuning into a thread this long are already fans of the 6.8 Western cartridge, but I figured I'd share this data for anyone that is interested.

I was trying to select the cartridge for a new rifle and in doing so I created a spreadsheet to compare different loads across most of the important characteristics. I have not included every load under the sun here, but if you're hunting elk, these are the primary loads you'd be looking at.

First, I input data for as many Hornady ELD-X loads as I would consider. My goal was to make the comparisons as apples-to-apples as I could. Many of the cartridges are not loaded by Hornady (looking at you, Nosler). For those, I selected the type of bullet I might hunt with.

Finally, I conditionally formatted several of the columns to color code from best to worst.

Looking at a chart like this, you can really see how well 6.8 Western shines. It's got 300 Win Mag energy in a short action with less drift. More power than .30-06, 7mm Rem Mag, 280 AI, 270 Win, and 308 Win.

Particularly if you want a short action do-it-all round, this looks like a the best choice as far as ballistics are concerned.

I'm not typically an early adopter, but I do plan to pick up a 6.8 X-Bolt this year.

See attachments. This is all the same data sorted in several different ways. Footnotes at bottom. The 6.8 Western cartridges are in the blue rows.