First Hunting Rifle--6.5PRC Long Term Plan

[JollyRogers]

Where are you located?

Southern Louisiana (Mandeville)

 

[MT-nuffgun]

My daughter has been shooting a 6.5 creed in a savage 110 apex hunter. Rifle is very accurate and it comes with a very soft recoil pad. My daughter is a small frame 13 year old and she shoots 140 sst reloads with ease. My only complaint with the savage rifles are the actions, the bolt lift is fairly stiff and seems to work best when operated hard and fast (not ideal for staying in the scope for a follow up shot if needed). I have never shot a tikka but I hear that those actions are smooth as butter. Unless you are shooting 600+ yards the 6.5 creed would be just fine and more economical. I think the 6.5 PRC really shines on the 600+ yard shots. My next mountain rifle will be a tikka t3x superlite stainless in a 6.5 creed. It will be used for everything from antelope to elk but I don’t shoot animals over 400 so the creed will be better suited to my needs.

 

[General RE LEE]

308 or 6.5 Creedmoor and range time.

 

[KenLee]

If I were you, I'd be on the lookout for a Steyr Prohunter in 308 with 20 inch barrel. They were discontinued in 2018. I have 2 of them and they will shock you with how well they shoot anything you stuff down the chamber.
The Prohunter is a little heavier than most, but the weight, design and optional gel recoil pad available directly from Steyr make it a pleasure to shoot. Stock length is also adjustable with easily removable spacers.
They aren't pretty, they just flat out perform.
To me it seems perfect for a grown rifle newbie.

 

[Sled]

6.5cm, 270win or 308 win would be my suggestions based on your requirements. Rebarrel it later when you want to get into something else. Or buy another rifle. You'll be happy to have a cheap shooter with commonly available ammo to go along side the boutique cartridges.

 

[Bghunter338]

I'm with AZ_Hunter_2000
A 270 win or 7mm-08 will do anything you want them to and not break the bank doing it.

 

[eric1115]

A few things I would add and/or echo...

I'd steer you heavily away from a magnum (even 6.5) as an "only gun." Creedmoor would be the easy button for cheap(ish), low recoil long barrel life practice and hunting cartridge. .308 is another great contender. You will never regret owning one, even if you add a magnum or otherwise hot rod rifle later. I shoot a lot more .223 and .308 than I do 7mm RM.

Long range proficiency is a perishable skill. For me at least, it was not something where I hit some cumulative level of practice and gained some permanent ability after 2000 rounds that I can now maintain with minimal practice. I spent several years shooting maybe a hundred rounds a year of practice. There was very little improvement during that time; I was a 100 round per year shooter. I was not 5x better after 5 years, but I did get 5x better when I started shooting 500 rounds a year. Obviously there will be a point of diminishing returns, but I'm not sure where exactly that is. It depends a lot on how you practice. 500 rounds of focused practice from field positions at different distances trying to make first round hits is much different than 500 rounds off the bench, taking 3-4 shots to walk it in on a big plate at 800 yd and then banging away on that plate for another 17 rounds and telling yourself you went 17/20 at 800.

Sorry for the digression, I realize it's not the question you asked but I think it's relevant. It's a really long-winded explanation of why you should have a 308 or 6.5 creedmoor or something similar to get several hundred rounds of practice every year, rather just planning on burning down your factory barrel to get good and then put a carbon barrel on and not having a rifle you can/want to shoot that kind of volume on (ammo cost, barrel life, recoil considerations all factor in) to maintain the level of proficiency needed to utilize the difference in capability between a Creed and a PRC (especially with elk being an edge case).

If you just have to tinker, the savage is ok (I own a savage and have done a fair bit to it myself. I get the appeal). A Tikka is a better rifle IMO. More reliable, better aftermarket, smoother. Mostly the reliability though. I've had broken bolt parts and minor feeding issues but nothing major on mine.

You can watch impacts through the scope with the right setup, but you will not be watching trace with a hunting weight rifle in a standard short action or larger chambering.

 

[wapitibob]

I'd buy a Tikka T3x 6.5 PRC Roughtech and 2 cases of cheap ammo and not look back. You'll be fine for shortish range WT and hogs. Go to the range every month an shoot short strings, asking questions, and learning as you go. I learned on an unbraked 7 STW. A braked 6.5 will be cake compared to that. Trigger time will be your friend.

 

[JollyRogers]

Great advice everyone! Definitely giving me a ton to consider. Trying to find time to go shoulder these rifle options to narrow down my choices.

 

[JollyRogers]

Well I made it out to bass pro and a couple other shops to shoulder the potential rifles. I definitely understand the love for tikka now! The bolt just seems so much more refined than the other platforms. Even got to handle a savage 110 ultralite which while noticeably lighter didn’t seem as refined for the money compared to the basic tikka.

Guess I’ll be saving a bit longer to grow my budget to accommodate the tikka.

 

[willfrye027]

Well I made it out to bass pro and a couple other shops to shoulder the potential rifles. I definitely understand the love for tikka now! The bolt just seems so much more refined than the other platforms. Even got to handle a savage 110 ultralite which while noticeably lighter didn’t seem as refined for the money compared to the basic tikka.

Guess I’ll be saving a bit longer to grow my budget to accommodate the tikka.

Tikka 6.5 creedmoor is about perfect for you. The PRC will take you beyond 600 yards in terms of enough impact velocity but shooting that far, reliably, in the field..is not something that most guys are willing to put in the effort to learn. Unless you have a place to easily shoot long distance close to home, it’s just not realistic. There are plenty of guys who can shoot “600 all day long” but few shoot it often enough and in varying wind or in field positions to honestly have a high hit percentage at that range.

400-500 is a very doable goal. Get there and then decide if you “need” the horsepower to kill at 600+. The 6.5 creedmoor will get you there, cheaper, and with less recoil/more fun.

 

[NSI]

Echoing the prevailing sentiment:
Buy a 6.5 creedmoor or .308 Tikka.

Your scope plans are good.

Within your 3,000 round barrel life you’ll learn whether you want to re-barrel with a beefier cartridge or not. The tikka is the same action for long or short cartridges. Though you’ll need to stay with a standard (not magnum) bolt face you could for example re-barrel in .270 or 30-06.

Select your stock in concert with your upgraded barrel. You’ll need the appropriate length magazine box and bolt stop. There are many excellent stock and chassis options for the tikka, you won’t need to settle for the Monte Carlo Mesa.

-J

 

[Unckebob]

A few things I would add and/or echo...

I'd steer you heavily away from a magnum (even 6.5) as an "only gun." Creedmoor would be the easy button for cheap(ish), low recoil long barrel life practice and hunting cartridge. .308 is another great contender. You will never regret owning one, even if you add a magnum or otherwise hot rod rifle later. I shoot a lot more .223 and .308 than I do 7mm RM.

Long range proficiency is a perishable skill. For me at least, it was not something where I hit some cumulative level of practice and gained some permanent ability after 2000 rounds that I can now maintain with minimal practice. I spent several years shooting maybe a hundred rounds a year of practice. There was very little improvement during that time; I was a 100 round per year shooter. I was not 5x better after 5 years, but I did get 5x better when I started shooting 500 rounds a year. Obviously there will be a point of diminishing returns, but I'm not sure where exactly that is. It depends a lot on how you practice. 500 rounds of focused practice from field positions at different distances trying to make first round hits is much different than 500 rounds off the bench, taking 3-4 shots to walk it in on a big plate at 800 yd and then banging away on that plate for another 17 rounds and telling yourself you went 17/20 at 800.

Sorry for the digression, I realize it's not the question you asked but I think it's relevant. It's a really long-winded explanation of why you should have a 308 or 6.5 creedmoor or something similar to get several hundred rounds of practice every year, rather just planning on burning down your factory barrel to get good and then put a carbon barrel on and not having a rifle you can/want to shoot that kind of volume on (ammo cost, barrel life, recoil considerations all factor in) to maintain the level of proficiency needed to utilize the difference in capability between a Creed and a PRC (especially with elk being an edge case).

If you just have to tinker, the savage is ok (I own a savage and have done a fair bit to it myself. I get the appeal). A Tikka is a better rifle IMO. More reliable, better aftermarket, smoother. Mostly the reliability though. I've had broken bolt parts and minor feeding issues but nothing major on mine.

You can watch impacts through the scope with the right setup, but you will not be watching trace with a hunting weight rifle in a standard short action or larger chambering.

I agree with all of this except the initial cartridge. For that, I would suggest a 270 vs the short action cartridges.

Cheap (ish), available, and with mild recoil, the long action Savage 110 in 270 provides a easy, relatively cheap way to convert the rifle into a true magnum should he ever feel the need to go that route in the future.

 

[sasquatch308]

look at a Tikka. I own in 6.5 CM 6.5 PRC and 300 WM.

If you care to reload or not the CM and PRC are very accurate with factory hornady and even more so with hand loads. 6.5 PRC is an awesome round for almost everything in North America. I’ve killed more of my white tail though with the 6.5 CM.

If it was a one and only rifle it would be the PRC.

There’s nothing I can say bad about it.