6.5 PRC Berger performance

[GreyBeck]

I use Berger 156 and my only complaint is 2650fps with a suppressed 18” barrel. They’re accurate but slower than I’d like but much of that due to opting for an 18" barrel

 

[nmarchr]

We have killed a handful of mule deer, elk, and oryx here in NM with the 156 EOL's from our PRC. We are getting right at 2900fps mv with our setup and we have no complaints. everything we have shot with this combination have been 1 shot kills. closest was 150 yard mule deer, furthest was 665 yard elk. All except the oryx have dropped at impact. Oryx was shot through the shoulder and destroyed the heart at 289 yards. That bull ran about 80 yards before tipping over. Most are tiny entrance wounds, but major internal damage. Only exits have been on close range mule deer.

 

[cole96]

Curious if anyone has any positive experiences with Choice Ammunition, Pendleton, or Henderson's? Not a reloader but also want to run the 140 Extreme Hunter and appears they offer some ammo there that is inline with Berger's pricing. Worth trying theirs?

I just shot two boxes of Choice 175 ABLR. Shot extremely consistent to 600. All drops seemed consistent or very close from numbers I imputed off of box. About to order more

 

[Timjohnson11]

I've shot the 140 Elite Hunters almost exclusively out of my 6.5x284. I've got over a dozen kills with that bullet from a frontal shot on a bull elk at 7 yards to mule deer out to around 800 yards. Pretty much everything was dead right there. I can't speak to visual performance within the cavity as I typically do gutless and get out of there as quick as possible but everything has died fast, even if my shot placement wasn't perfect.

I recently picked up a 6.5 PRC and was excited to see the Berger Factory Ammo in the 140 Elite Hunter w/ Lapua Brass. Unfortuantely though, speeds have been super slow for me. Hoping I have an outlier lot as i'm hopeful to run these and not have to reload them.

I want to follow-up on my prior comment on Berger Factory ammunition speeds. I got ~2,690 fps out of a new Havak Slam in 6.5 PRC (21" barrel) on rounds 10 - 20 down the barrel (still potential speed to gain after further break-in).

Yesterday I shot rounds 20 - 30 down the same rifle/barrel with Hornady's 143 ELD-X Precision Hunter ammunition and averaged 2,815 fps. So roughly 125fps faster in favor of Hornady despite Hornady using poor quality components and a heavier projectile... I don't want to criticize Berger too badly as my barrel is still breaking in and I should push clooser to stated numbers with more rounds down the pipe. That said, seeing how much faster Hornady's ammo was going with a heavier projectile didn't help ease my dissapointment here.. Especially in a time when Hornady offerings appear to be running notably slower in reality than what Hornady markets.

It's a bit weird as my Havak PH2 in 6mm CM (24" barrel) shots the Berger Factory ammo (108 Elite Hunter) ~75fps faster than it shots Hornady's Match ammo (108 ELD-M). The 6CM Berger Factory ammunition has always been dead on the velocity listing noted on the box as well (adjusting for the 24" barrel relative to teh 26" barrel used by Berger in velocity publishing).

 

[DallyB09]

I harvested a whitetail doe, be it only at 120 yards with the 156 berger out of my 6.5 PRC. Pinhole entrance, but absolutely liquified the entire chest cavity, no exit. Wasnt a 'bang flop', but she took 3-4 steps and tipped over. My handloads are very mild, 56 gr of H1000 pushing them 2820, but its just barely over a half minute gun.

 

[Article 4]

I shot the parent case - 6.5 GAP 4s and use Berger VLDH's running 3190. IME, having taken 3 Antelope and a few deer, is that the bullet and round are devastating. Not only does it punch a good hole, it also creates massive internal damage through energy transfer. A few of the animals that were shot quartering had their entire chest cavity completely liquified, which is exactly what a Berger hunting bullet is supposed to do.

 

[83cj-7]

I wouldn’t call this “typical” but this was a 135 Classic Hunter out of a 6.5 SAUM at 3050fps, 80 yards. Deer don’t go very far.