Help selecting new mountain rifle

[mopar411]

Hello! I’m looking to pick up a new mountain rifle after having heaps of problems with my Ruger American in 30-06. I’ve had the stock break (ruger replaced), and I have not been able to find a load that consistently groups under 1.5 moa. Almost every 5 shot group will have a flyer.

Specs are below, but I’m currently looking to choose 6.5 prc as my next cartridge. Although I am contemplating 7 prc due to the fact I will be mainly hunting bear. I do plan on reloading for this rifle, but I am extremely new to reloading so I will be shooting lots of factory ammo to start.

I’ll be putting on a Scythe Ti (in jail), and I am picking up a NXS 2.5-10 soon.

These are the spec / purposes I’m intending

• Mainly will be hunting bear, then possibly elk and deer
• Hunting style is mainly spot and stalk hunting, and predator calling
• Reliable and lightweight
• Shorter barrel in order to run Scythe Ti
• Ability to find a good load without much trouble
• Ability to put into a chassis for long term (XLR)
• Ability to replace barrels without a massive hassle / cost

I’ve narrowed down to a few rifles, and found deals for each.

• 6.5 PRC, Mesa FFT, 20”, 5.5lbs, $1027
• 6.5 PRC, Roughtech Ember, 24”, 6.6 lbs, $1084
• 6.5 PRC, S20 Hunter, 24”, 7.4 lbs, $1000
• 6.5 PRC, X-bolt Speed SR, 20” 6.5 lbs, $1183
• 6.5 PRC, Ruger American Go Wild, 24”, 7.1lbs, $530
• 7 PRC, Mesa FFT, 22”, 5.5 lbs, $1172
• 7 PRC, Ruger American Gen 2, 22”, 6.5 lbs $600
• 7 PRC, Browning X-bolt Stalker, 20”, 7.5 lbs, $678
• 30-06, Roughtech Ember, 20”, 6.6 lbs, $1084

I think the Seekins Element is a near perfect rifle, but man it’s just too expensive.

I’m debating between the Mesa FFT and the Roughtech Ember, both in 6.5 prc. The Mesa FFT has near perfect stats on paper, but I’m worried about QC. The Ember seems to be 100% reliable, but it’s a little heavier and around Seattle the going rate for barrel cuts seems to be $180+.

 

[Spoonbill]

If you want to replace barrels without a lot of hassle, you can buy a barrel vice and prefits for tikkas and do it yourself. A t3x lite will be a little cheaper and you can have it threaded, and it meets your criteria for reliable and lightweight. I don’t think they make a t3x lite in 6.5 prc though but I haven’t checked in a bit.

 

[mopar411]

I don't believe I've seen one in 6.5 prc, although I scoured and couldn't find a t3x lite cheaper than 800 bucks. Given the local cost for barrel threading around me is $180+, I'd rather just have less hassle.

Oh and to add on, maximum range is 500 yards. Realistic long shots would be around 300. Most shot opportunities are like 150 yards

 

[180ls1]

That Howa Superlite with a 16" barrel would make a sweet mountain gun. 308 would make nice holes for tracking purposes but you could grab a 6.5c.

 

[bojangles808]

I don't believe I've seen one in 6.5 prc, although I scoured and couldn't find a t3x lite cheaper than 800 bucks. Given the local cost for barrel threading around me is $180+, I'd rather just have less hassle.

Oh and to add on, maximum range is 500 yards. Realistic long shots would be around 300. Most shot opportunities are like 150 yards

You don't need a 6.5 PRC or 7 prc for 500 and in. Id give a good hard look at 6.5cm with t 147 eldms. The tradeoff in recoil isn't rly worth extra 100/150 yds or whatever the 6.5prc gets you. And less recoil means practicing is more enjoyable and that's how you get better at shooting/calling wind. The howa superlite in 6.5 cm or Tikka stainless 6.5cm or the new browning x bolt (surpres ready) sr models would be the ones I would look at. Kinda depends on if you want it threading from factory/pay a gumith to thread /length of barrel

 

[mopar411]

You don't need a 6.5 PRC or 7 prc for 500 and in. Id give a good hard look at 6.5cm with t 147 eldms. The tradeoff in recoil isn't rly worth extra 100/150 yds or whatever the 6.5prc gets you. And less recoil means practicing is more enjoyable and that's how you get better at shooting/calling wind. The howa superlite in 6.5 cm or Tikka stainless 6.5cm or the new browning x bolt (surpres ready) sr models would be the ones I would look at. Kinda depends on if you want it threading from factory/pay a gumith to thread /length of barrel

Oh man I haven't seen the howa superlite before. ~4.5 lbs is insane. Definitely would want 6.5 creed with that weight. How does the 147 elm in 6.5 creedmor perform at short ranges? 70% of my opportunities are within 150 yards. Rest are between 250-350. I hunt in the cascades in WA, and it's rare to find distance

 

[180ls1]

4.3 with the short barrel.

 

[JPeters218]

Oh man I haven't seen the howa superlite before. ~4.5 lbs is insane. Definitely would want 6.5 creed with that weight. How does the 147 elm in 6.5 creedmor perform at short ranges? 70% of my opportunities are within 150 yards. Rest are between 250-350. I hunt in the cascades in WA, and it's rare to find distance

Check out the 6.5 thread for that

6.5 Creedmoor/260 for Deer, Elk, and whatever else.....

Seeing that the 223 thread is such a success, I thought maybe I would start one for the Creedmoor/260. Seems like people are asking a lot about using them and various bullets, especially for elk. I've used mine for the last few years almost exclusively. I have some pics of bullet damage, albeit...

rokslide.com

 

[wind gypsy]

I don't believe I've seen one in 6.5 prc, although I scoured and couldn't find a t3x lite cheaper than 800 bucks. Given the local cost for barrel threading around me is $180+, I'd rather just have less hassle.

Oh and to add on, maximum range is 500 yards. Realistic long shots would be around 300. Most shot opportunities are like 150 yards

If they get one of these suckers in stock, there ya go: https://gunzonedeals.com/product/tikka-jrtxgsl319-t3x-superlite-65prc-odgrn

Otherwise this one is in stock in creedmoor: https://gunzonedeals.com/product/ti...eedmoor-24.3-31-synthetic-green-stk-stainless

Have it sent directly to a smith who will chop/thread it for closer to $100 then have them ship to your ffl. I'm not sure if you can thread 1/2x28 in the flutes on a superlite though?

 

[LightFoot]

Hello! I’m looking to pick up a new mountain rifle after having heaps of problems with my Ruger American in 30-06. I’ve had the stock break (ruger replaced), and I have not been able to find a load that consistently groups under 1.5 moa. Almost every 5 shot group will have a flyer.

Specs are below, but I’m currently looking to choose 6.5 prc as my next cartridge. Although I am contemplating 7 prc due to the fact I will be mainly hunting bear. I do plan on reloading for this rifle, but I am extremely new to reloading so I will be shooting lots of factory ammo to start.

I’ll be putting on a Scythe Ti (in jail), and I am picking up a NXS 2.5-10 soon.

These are the spec / purposes I’m intending

• Mainly will be hunting bear, then possibly elk and deer
• Hunting style is mainly spot and stalk hunting, and predator calling
• Reliable and lightweight
• Shorter barrel in order to run Scythe Ti
• Ability to find a good load without much trouble
• Ability to put into a chassis for long term (XLR)
• Ability to replace barrels without a massive hassle / cost

I’ve narrowed down to a few rifles, and found deals for each.

• 6.5 PRC, Mesa FFT, 20”, 5.5lbs, $1027
• 6.5 PRC, Roughtech Ember, 24”, 6.6 lbs, $1084
• 6.5 PRC, S20 Hunter, 24”, 7.4 lbs, $1000
• 6.5 PRC, X-bolt Speed SR, 20” 6.5 lbs, $1183
• 6.5 PRC, Ruger American Go Wild, 24”, 7.1lbs, $530
• 7 PRC, Mesa FFT, 22”, 5.5 lbs, $1172
• 7 PRC, Ruger American Gen 2, 22”, 6.5 lbs $600
• 7 PRC, Browning X-bolt Stalker, 20”, 7.5 lbs, $678
• 30-06, Roughtech Ember, 20”, 6.6 lbs, $1084

I think the Seekins Element is a near perfect rifle, but man it’s just too expensive.

I’m debating between the Mesa FFT and the Roughtech Ember, both in 6.5 prc. The Mesa FFT has near perfect stats on paper, but I’m worried about QC. The Ember seems to be 100% reliable, but it’s a little heavier and around Seattle the going rate for barrel cuts seems to be $180+.

Tikka or Xbolt.


>>>——JAKE——>

 

[TreeDog]

Have it sent directly to a smith who will chop/thread it for closer to $100 then have them ship to your ffl. I'm not sure if you can thread 1/2x28 in the flutes on a superlite though?

Agree with this. And my smith just cut my superlite to 18" and threaded to 1/2x28.

 

[bojangles808]

Check out the 6.5 thread for that

6.5 Creedmoor/260 for Deer, Elk, and whatever else.....

Seeing that the 223 thread is such a success, I thought maybe I would start one for the Creedmoor/260. Seems like people are asking a lot about using them and various bullets, especially for elk. I've used mine for the last few years almost exclusively. I have some pics of bullet damage, albeit...

rokslide.com

@mopar411 once you click on that thread and it openes up you can click the search tab in the top right, type in 147 and change everywhere to "this thread" and it will filter the thread to all the posts with 147 in them (usually posts of dead animals and how far they was shot at)

 

[RockAndSage]

OP, you might also consider the Savage Ultralight 110, especially if you're considering 30-06 still - you can pick one up for about $1275 on gunbroker, with the Proof carbon fiber barrel. Proof also makes prefits for the Savages.

Given that you seem to be very well-grounded in realistic, ethical hunting ranges, you might consider digging into the ballistics of your preferred cartridges. It's an uncomfortable truth that hurts a lot of feels amongst some shooter nerds, but at 300 yards there are almost no meaningful advantages in any of the common centerfire cartridges. You start seeing some pull away from others around 350-400yds, but even then bullet selection still creates a lot of overlap.

It's all a balance of advantages and disadvantages. What matters more to you? Ammo availability? Diversity of load selection? Cost of ammo? Recoil? Wind-bucking capability of common bullets? Ballistic performance at 500 yards?

You'd get less recoil in a 6.5PRC, for example, but also have probably less than 20% the different factory loadings and ammo selection available of 30-06, and that's even more severe with 7PRC. And that suppressor will cut down recoil significantly on either at 30-06 or a 6.5PRC. Give some careful consideration to your priorities, and their order to you, and it should help clarify some it for you.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Unknown munitions is a Tikka dealer now, see what they'd charge to chop it before they ship it.

 

[TaperPin]

Hello! I’m looking to pick up a new mountain rifle after having heaps of problems with my Ruger American in 30-06. I’ve had the stock break (ruger replaced), and I have not been able to find a load that consistently groups under 1.5 moa. Almost every 5 shot group will have a flyer.

Specs are below, but I’m currently looking to choose 6.5 prc as my next cartridge. Although I am contemplating 7 prc due to the fact I will be mainly hunting bear. I do plan on reloading for this rifle, but I am extremely new to reloading so I will be shooting lots of factory ammo to start.

I’ll be putting on a Scythe Ti (in jail), and I am picking up a NXS 2.5-10 soon.

These are the spec / purposes I’m intending

• Mainly will be hunting bear, then possibly elk and deer
• Hunting style is mainly spot and stalk hunting, and predator calling
• Reliable and lightweight
• Shorter barrel in order to run Scythe Ti
• Ability to find a good load without much trouble
• Ability to put into a chassis for long term (XLR)
• Ability to replace barrels without a massive hassle / cost

I’ve narrowed down to a few rifles, and found deals for each.

• 6.5 PRC, Mesa FFT, 20”, 5.5lbs, $1027
• 6.5 PRC, Roughtech Ember, 24”, 6.6 lbs, $1084
• 6.5 PRC, S20 Hunter, 24”, 7.4 lbs, $1000
• 6.5 PRC, X-bolt Speed SR, 20” 6.5 lbs, $1183
• 6.5 PRC, Ruger American Go Wild, 24”, 7.1lbs, $530
• 7 PRC, Mesa FFT, 22”, 5.5 lbs, $1172
• 7 PRC, Ruger American Gen 2, 22”, 6.5 lbs $600
• 7 PRC, Browning X-bolt Stalker, 20”, 7.5 lbs, $678
• 30-06, Roughtech Ember, 20”, 6.6 lbs, $1084

I think the Seekins Element is a near perfect rifle, but man it’s just too expensive.

I’m debating between the Mesa FFT and the Roughtech Ember, both in 6.5 prc. The Mesa FFT has near perfect stats on paper, but I’m worried about QC. The Ember seems to be 100% reliable, but it’s a little heavier and around Seattle the going rate for barrel cuts seems to be $180+.

I like the Christensen Mesa - the machining is great, and most think they are quite accurate. I like the shape of their stock, although some won’t care for the skinny pistol grip. Tons of replacement stock options and there are a ton of barrels floating around.

I‘ve almost always hunted Wyoming with a custom 7 Rem mag and just this year have thrown in the towel and switched to 6.5 PRC - an animal wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two. The 7 PRC is roughly the same as the 7 Rem mag, and is well on it’s way to over take it sometime later this decade. You can’t go wrong with either PRC cartridge.

I’ve always been a fan of two rifles for western hunting - an easy/economical 243 for plinking, training, varmints, a loaner deer rifle, and backup gun if your main rifle craps out - and the main hunting rifle. If you can go with two guns, a 243 and 7 PRC would be a very nice pair. I’d get the 7 PRC brand new and shiny and pick up a used Remington 700 243 out of pawn shop for $250. As you upgrade the 7 PRC stock, the old stock would fit the Remington just fine. What you’ll find when both rifle are next to each other in the pickup, when you have a rock to kill, the 243 gets taken out the most. When a coyote runs across hillside, you’ll also grab for the 243. At the range you’ll shoot both, but the 243 doesn’t heat up as much and is more fun to ring plates with. It’s nice having a beater rifle that you don’t have to worry about getting too hot, or scratching on a rock, or lending to a buddy. It’s also nice to have an accurate 7 mag hunting rifle for putting the smack on things.

It sounds like all your choices are good ones, so you can’t go wrong.

 

[cgavason]

I just picked up an X-Bolt Composite Hunter in 6.5 PRC for

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mopar411]

OP, you might also consider the Savage Ultralight 110, especially if you're considering 30-06 still - you can pick one up for about $1275 on gunbroker, with the Proof carbon fiber barrel. Proof also makes prefits for the Savages.

Given that you seem to be very well-grounded in realistic, ethical hunting ranges, you might consider digging into the ballistics of your preferred cartridges. It's an uncomfortable truth that hurts a lot of feels amongst some shooter nerds, but at 300 yards there are almost no meaningful advantages in any of the common centerfire cartridges. You start seeing some pull away from others around 350-400yds, but even then bullet selection still creates a lot of overlap.

It's all a balance of advantages and disadvantages. What matters more to you? Ammo availability? Diversity of load selection? Cost of ammo? Recoil? Wind-bucking capability of common bullets? Ballistic performance at 500 yards?

You'd get less recoil in a 6.5PRC, for example, but also have probably less than 20% the different factory loadings and ammo selection available of 30-06, and that's even more severe with 7PRC. And that suppressor will cut down recoil significantly on either at 30-06 or a 6.5PRC. Give some careful consideration to your priorities, and their order to you, and it should help clarify some it for you.

I've taken a look at the savage ultralight, but steered away from reports of funky stocks and price. Given the other comments on this thread, I'm giving a hard look at 6.5 creed. It seems the pairing with the 127 barnes lrx, or 147 elm is a winner up to 450 ish yards.

My biggest considerations in order are wind drift, ability to take bear at my maximum range of 500-550 yards (ballistics), recoil, then availability. I want to minimize the chances of bad shot placement and have absolute confidence in my rifle. It's really seeming like 6.5 prc is fitting the ticket to give absolute confidence at 500 yards.

And for 30-06, I'm mainly drawn to it since it's a highly diverse and available cartridge and I have 5 other rifles in that caliber. (all military rifles).

 

[mopar411]

@mopar411 once you click on that thread and it openes up you can click the search tab in the top right, type in 147 and change everywhere to "this thread" and it will filter the thread to all the posts with 147 in them (usually posts of dead animals and how far they was shot at)

Took a read through, it's some impressive stuff with the 147 eldm and 127 barnes lrx. Although I did notice that most of these barrel lengths seem to be in the 22 to 24 inch range. I'm looking at a 20" to trade off ballistics and length. My big reservation with 6.5 creed is the velocity decrease from the shorter barrel length. Seems going with 6.5 prc would allow for more room for error

 

[bojangles808]

Took a read through, it's some impressive stuff with the 147 eldm and 127 barnes lrx. Although I did notice that most of these barrel lengths seem to be in the 22 to 24 inch range. I'm looking at a 20" to trade off ballistics and length. My big reservation with 6.5 creed is the velocity decrease from the shorter barrel length. Seems going with 6.5 prc would allow for more room for error

You will lose about 25 -30 fps per inch. I have a 140fps difference between my 24 and 20 in 6.5cm Tikkas Id run you numbers in a BC calculator to see how far you can get to 1800 minimum expansion velocity with what altitude you will be hunting. For example my 20in 6.5 cm Tikka that's at 2505 muzzle velocity with 147 eldm, if I run the numbers with a density altitude at 5000 altitude and 50 degrees I'm still at 1796 fps at 725 yards. So theoretically if I do my part I'ts still a 725 yard gun and I have a third less recoil than the 6.5 prc and same 147 bullet. You said you only need 500 yards (not sure what elevations but it won't change much) and not many people practice enough to be shooting further, but I'd suggest running the numbers on shooter app or strelock or 4dof to compare for yourself.

 

[RockAndSage]

I've taken a look at the savage ultralight, but steered away from reports of funky stocks and price. Given the other comments on this thread, I'm giving a hard look at 6.5 creed. It seems the pairing with the 127 barnes lrx, or 147 elm is a winner up to 450 ish yards.

My biggest considerations in order are wind drift, ability to take bear at my maximum range of 500-550 yards (ballistics), recoil, then availability. I want to minimize the chances of bad shot placement and have absolute confidence in my rifle. It's really seeming like 6.5 prc is fitting the ticket to give absolute confidence at 500 yards.

And for 30-06, I'm mainly drawn to it since it's a highly diverse and available cartridge and I have 5 other rifles in that caliber. (all military rifles).

You're definitely thinking it through well. Given those parameters and priorities, seems it'd be pretty hard to beat your initial thoughts of going with 6.5PRC. Especially if you're already fairly accurate with your 30-06 and accustomed to its recoil. The 6.5CM has about half the recoil of the 30-06, with the 6.5PRC right in between the two.

Something to keep in mind that gets lost in a lot of the arguing on here about small calibers, is that while there are plenty of legitimate points being made in favor of smaller cartridges, the smaller the cartridge the more dependent it is on bullet selection for sufficient terminal effects. There's a massive terminal difference between 77gr TMK and a random 55gr soft-point in a .223. But put that same 55gr soft-point in a 22-250 or .220 Swift, and that additional velocity makes those very viable deer-killing cartridges. More velocity gives you the ability to effectively shoot bullets that aren't as optimal, so balancing that with recoil is an item to consider. It's a minor point that's entirely mitigated by you buying sufficient ammo to have on-hand for a few seasons, but it's worth considering.

The other point I'd note when you're considering 6.5CM vs 6.5PRC, is that if you're shooting suppressed, you can get away with that shorter barrel in the PRC while still staying at or above CM velocities.