6.5 PRC

[Ninthwonder]

No issues with 6.5prc here. Dumped a decent 5x5 around 400yards. Shooting 147eldm.

 

[ohiodope16]

Currently using my .270 for deer elknand bear I've been considering switching to 6.5prc but ammo is almost double in price.

 

[Davisjj8]

Currently using my .270 for deer elknand bear I've been considering switching to 6.5prc but ammo is almost double in price.

Just use ammo seek and they’re pretty close to the same price.

 

[Darryle]

How many are using an 8 twist 20" 6.5 PRC?

Will the 8 twist stabilize the 156gr Bergers?

 

[Bearded Bowhunter]

How many are using an 8 twist 20" 6.5 PRC?

Will the 8 twist stabilize the 156gr Bergers?

berger has a twist rate stability calculator on their site that will answer this. Basically as long as you aren't hunting at sea level, you should be fine I'd think

 

[TheViking]

Has anyone used 140 Berger Classic Hunters on elk out of their 6.5 PRC?

How would you same that round compares to a ELDM?

 

[Kimber7man]

Has anyone used 140 Berger Classic Hunters on elk out of their 6.5 PRC?

How would you same that round compares to a ELDM?

Berger doesn't have 140 grain classic hunters. They have:
135 grain classic hunter
140 grain VLD (target and hunting)
140 grain hybrid
140 grain elite hunter

 

[TheViking]

Berger doesn't have 140 grain classic hunters. They have:
135 grain classic hunter
140 grain VLD (target and hunting)
140 grain hybrid
140 grain elite hunter

I meant the elite’s, sorry.

 

[Kimber7man]

10-4, I'd have no problems using the 140 elites out of a 6.5 PRC on an elk where I hunt, given you can drill the vitals with adequate velocity at impact.

 

[6.5x284]

6.5 SAUM but extremely similar. 156 Berger at 3003 fps. Both 1 shot kills, both died 15 yards from where they were shot. Both hit where I was aiming. A pile of deer as well. All 1 shot and quick death as well. I’ve been so pleased I’ve moved along all my big caliber rifles. Love the reduced recoil. Taking on my LE bull hunt for 2023.

*1:7.5 twist @ 22”

** 380 yards at 33 degrees uphill behind shoulder, 351 yards down hill hard quartering too into side of throat exit behind offside shoulder, *UPDATE and 554 yards high shoulder. All deer have been pass through and just plain wrecked.

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[TheViking]

6.5 SAUM but extremely similar. 156 Berger at 3003 fps. Both 1 shot kills, both died 15 yards from where they were shot. Both hit where I was aiming. A pile of deer as well. All 1 shot and quick death as well. I’ve been so pleased I’ve moved along all my big caliber rifles. Love the reduced recoil. Taking on my LE bull hunt for 2023.

*1:7.5 twist @ 22”

** 380 yards at 33 degrees uphill behind shoulder, and 351 yards down hill hard quartering too into side of throat exit behind offside shoulder. All deer have been pass through and just plain wrecked.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What distances where shots

Edit - sorry I can’t read

 

[Lamiller]

How many elk hunters use a 6.5 PRC ? If so, what is your experience with it?


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1 for 1 on my bull last year.

 

[Rrobason]

I killed my two latest bulls with my 6.5 PRC. The larger was at 885 yards and the smaller was at 550 yards. Shoot them in the boiler room and they go down. Hands down my favorite gun.

Awesome!! What bullet are you using?

 

[208Logan]

Awesome!! What bullet are you using?

143 ELDX, Lapua Brass, H1000 for the powder.

 

[DisplacedHusky]

Wcarper,
What did you end up choosing? I‘m in a similar situation. I need to order a barrel soon for a Tikka build I am doing and trying to decide on 7PRC vs 6.5 PRC that I will use as my one rifle for both deer and elk.

I think the question for me is if I believe the 6.5 PRC is adequate for elk, will the benefit of the terminal benefits of the 7PRC be outweighed by any potential decrease in shooting ability in hunting situations. Rifles aren’t like cars, where you can test drive before you buy. So, I don’t know if I can shoot a 7PRC as well as 6.5 PRC in the same rifle.

I have mostly archery hunted and I haven’t shot a lot of bolt action hunting rifles. To try and give myself some perspective, I have been playing around with an online recoil calculator and comparing it to my previous Tikka T3X 30-06 that I shot okay but there was no way I was staying in the scope with that rifle to spot impacts. I will be shooting suppressed with the new rifle so I calculated a 20% decrease in recoil because of this.

Old Tikka T3X 30-06 (unsuppressed) - 25.58 ft/lbs
Tikka 7PRC build (suppressed) - 20.6 ft/lbs
Tikka 6.5 PRC build (suppressed) - 14.8 ft/lbs

The recoil numbers give me some perspective in comparing potential new rifles with one I have experience with, but I still haven’t been able to decide which cartridge to go with.

It seems that Hornady has walked back the velocities in recent runs of 7PRC so the gap between the two in terminal performance appears a little narrower now.

I hope your decision has been a little easier.

 

[Steve from GA]

Sample size of 1, but I switched to 6.5 PRC and killed a cow elk at 130 yards with a 143 grain bondstrike. It absolutely smoked the elk in its tracks. I downsized from 30-06. I shoot the 6.5 PRC better than 30-06 and am generally more confident with it. I am also aware of its potential limitations, so I have really focused on my technique. I absolutely think that 6.5 PRC can do everything I need it to do, but I also limit my shots to less than 500 yards.

It seems like most of the guys on the internet insisting that 6.5 PRC isn’t adequate have no experience with it, while it continues to stack elk. Time will tell. I appreciate the reduction in recoil, so I will likely stick with 6.5 PRC rather than switching to 7 PRC. Shoot well, work up accurate DOPE and the world is your oyster.

 

[StupidLightweight]

6.5 PRC is an excellent elk cartridge. This bull was 480 or so with 147 ELD-M. Perfect hit, went 5 feet, down in 3 seconds. In the 2022 season, between my friends and me, this rifle took two aoudad rams and a whitetail buck all between 300 and 407. All were a single shot. All were down in their tracks. I'm happy as hell with the performance.

 

[DisplacedHusky]

Wcarper,
What did you end up choosing? I‘m in a similar situation. I need to order a barrel soon for a Tikka build I am doing and trying to decide on 7PRC vs 6.5 PRC that I will use as my one rifle for both deer and elk.

I think the question for me is if I believe the 6.5 PRC is adequate for elk, will the benefit of the terminal benefits of the 7PRC be outweighed by any potential decrease in shooting ability in hunting situations. Rifles aren’t like cars, where you can test drive before you buy. So, I don’t know if I can shoot a 7PRC as well as 6.5 PRC in the same rifle.

I have mostly archery hunted and I haven’t shot a lot of bolt action hunting rifles. To try and give myself some perspective, I have been playing around with an online recoil calculator and comparing it to my previous Tikka T3X 30-06 that I shot okay but there was no way I was staying in the scope with that rifle to spot impacts. I will be shooting suppressed with the new rifle so I calculated a 20% decrease in recoil because of this.

Old Tikka T3X 30-06 (unsuppressed) - 25.58 ft/lbs
Tikka 7PRC build (suppressed) - 20.6 ft/lbs
Tikka 6.5 PRC build (suppressed) - 14.8 ft/lbs

The recoil numbers give me some perspective in comparing potential new rifles with one I have experience with, but I still haven’t been able to decide which cartridge to go with.

It seems that Hornady has walked back the velocities in recent runs of 7PRC so the gap between the two in terminal performance appears a little narrower now.

I hope your decision has been a little easier.

Percentages help me quantify the recoil savings. The planned 7 PRC build would have about 40% more recoil than the 6.5 PRC build.

My old 30-06 Tikka had about 25% more recoil than the planned 7PRC build.

And… my old 30-06 Tikka had a whopping 75% more recoil than the planned 6.5 PRC build.

I am leaning towards the 6.5 PRC. It sounds weird to say out loud that 6.5 PRC would be my first choice for an all around rifle to include elk, but after spending entirely way to much time soaking up the information on this forum and doing additional research of my own, I feel more comfortable with the decision.

For those who haven’t heard it, the Shoot2Hunt podcast titled, “Bullet Ballistics - A Hunters Guide” with @Formidilosus is a must listen.

 

[Taudisio]

My 6.5 prc shooting factory 143eldx at 3000fps has 4 elk under its belt. From 150-508 yards. Only one, at 250 yards, took 2 shots. I moved to a 30 nosler this year. If I was planning to only do an elk hunt every few years, I wouldn’t have moved to a larger caliber. Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. I got tired of 5+ pounds of ruined shoulder meat, but I felt with the prc I needed to “break em down”. And that worked 100% of the time. I want to shoot for the ribs only, because the elk and deer meat I collect is the only red meat my household has eaten all year, for the last 4 years (not including restaurants of course). I honestly couldn’t tell you the price of beef at the grocery store. So I moved to a much larger, heavier bullet to really frag the lungs. This has worked exactly as I intended. I really think my prc is THE perfect combination for the largest of mule deer/whitetail.
Elk are 2XL/3XL

I honestly don’t see any benefit to the 7prc over a 7mag, and neither hold water to a 28 nosler that fits in the same sized action.

 

[TheViking]

My 6.5 prc shooting factory 143eldx at 3000fps has 4 elk under its belt. From 150-508 yards. Only one, at 250 yards, took 2 shots. I moved to a 30 nosler this year. If I was planning to only do an elk hunt every few years, I wouldn’t have moved to a larger caliber. Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. I got tired of 5+ pounds of ruined shoulder meat, but I felt with the prc I needed to “break em down”. And that worked 100% of the time. I want to shoot for the ribs only, because the elk and deer meat I collect is the only red meat my household has eaten all year, for the last 4 years (not including restaurants of course). I honestly couldn’t tell you the price of beef at the grocery store. So I moved to a much larger, heavier bullet to really frag the lungs. This has worked exactly as I intended. I really think my prc is THE perfect combination for the largest of mule deer/whitetail.
Elk are 2XL/3XL

I honestly don’t see any benefit to the 7prc over a 7mag, and neither hold water to a 28 nosler that fits in the same sized action.

I think if you switched a a different bullet i.e. Berger (or similar) you will have just as much frag in the lungs.
There's a new thread up discussing this topic and why most people have switched from a big bore and bonded bullet to a smaller caliber and more fragmentable bullet.

What caused the Rokslide shift to smallest caliber and cartridges?

There's a TON of posts on cartridge selection and bullet threads that go "have you read" the following: 1) the .223 thread 2) the 6mm thread 3) the 6.5mm thread I've read those, and see a lot of animals and wound channels. I likely missed the nexus or catalyst for what has created this, but...

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