Has anyone went from a 7mm-08 to a 6.5 prc?

Elite

WKR
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Sep 4, 2018
I’m looking at setting up a ultralight weight sheep/elk gun and I currently own a 7mm-08 and looking to replace the stock and thread the barrel but I could easily sell it and buy a new 6.5 prc instead.

I am mainly wondering how the recoil is compared to each other? Gun will be roughly 6lbs ready to hunt. I would like to spot my own shots as I solo hunt a lot so that is a big consideration


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Well, I went from a 7-08 to a 270 in the same gun platform, 270 sending same-weight projectiles almost exactly as fast as a prc. You can do a numbers calc easily, depending on load recoil is something like 15% more. Its still not excessive by any stretch, but the difference is noticeable and definitely affects my ability to spot hits, see trace, etc. This is in a 8.25lb rifle including scope.
 
Spot your own shots In an all up 6# rifle? 6 or 6.5 creedmoor might scratch that itch
Dont think the PRC is your huckleberry


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Spot your own shots In an all up 6# rifle? 6 or 6.5 creedmoor might scratch that itch
Dont think the PRC is your huckleberry


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Even with a muzzle break?


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Even with a muzzle break?


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We have Tikka 6.5prc that's under 6lbs before the scope. I equate it to my 30-06.

We added a area419 hellfire and you can see the shot if you are setup well.

I gave it to my brother because he loves it and I think there's an insignificant anything there over the creedmoors we have...and my wife's 7-08.
 
We have Tikka 6.5prc that's under 6lbs before the scope. I equate it to my 30-06.

We added a area419 hellfire and you can see the shot if you are setup well.

I gave it to my brother because he loves it and I think there's an insignificant anything there over the creedmoors we have...and my wife's 7-08.

How heavy is your 30-06? I have a 30-06 in a savage ultralight and can’t spot shots even with a break


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6.5lb weatherby wilderness, my Tikka started life as an unbraked 30-06 as well.

The difference with the hellfire was so stark that I put an apa bastard in the 30-06, but concluded the hellfire kickass while the apa is ok.

Like @Macintosh said, the 6.5prc uses the same amount of powder as the 06 cartridges, so that should be your "it's like ___".


For reference though, this is the prc with 22" barrel using Staball hd start of load development.
Basically, 140vldH at 2839 was probably close, 2900 with 130tgk probably had some room to grow, 59gr at 2800 ended up being the hunting load with 156eol
PXL_20231203_010445661.jpg

In contrast, my dad's 24" creedmoor hunts at 45.2gr Staball 6.5 2900fps with the 140vldH
PXL_20231203_011013202.jpg

For me, the creedmoor makes tons of sense.
 
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Does anyone know if it’s realistic to spot shots out of a breaked 7mm-08 or a 6.5 prc? Max is 6.5lbs ready to hunt


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Does anyone know if it’s realistic to spot shots out of a breaked 7mm-08 or a 6.5 prc? Max is 6.5lbs ready to hunt


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You really ought to consider dropping to a 6 or 6.5 cm and losing the brake.
Spot shots and kills great


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There's a big difference between a 6.5 Grendel and a 7mm 08. I've shot a 7mm 08 extensively in the Remington model 7 youth model. The recoil is what I would consider polite. In my area it's probably the fourth or fifth most common deer rifle. I'm considering rebarreling one rifle from 308 to 7 mm 08 now.

The Grendel is in a different class. It was designed and it exists for the purpose of making the AR platform more effective for trajectory and terminal performance. It's a small cartridge. Very small. And it's running in the maybe 1500 or 1600 ft lb energy range. That's with the pretty long barrel, and it doesn't respond well to very short barrels. The 6.8 SPC is better for that.

Rock slide is somewhat slanted towards Tikka rifles and using small calibers for big jobs. Tikka makes overall good rifles. But I'm more in the center of the road on calibers. Shoot what you can handle. Just understand in the field sometime shot presentations are really bad and if you want to put game down, right there, you got to bring enough gun. Shot placement is Paramount, but there's no replacement for displacement.
 
I haven't seen anybody mention it yet, but whether or not you can follow the shot through the scope is VERY dependent on what power you are on IMHO. If you're on anything from 2-5-ish power, without a doubt you will be good to go with a brake or suppressor. Without a brake or suppressor, its going to depend on how solid your rest is and shot distance even at lower power (but doable). After you start cranking the magnification from there, it depends more on how solid your rest is (especially rear), how far your shot is and so on even with a suppressor or brake.
 
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