Is a 6.5 PRC enough? Do I need a 7mm?

[Liftman101]

I recently shot my first Elk. The guide insisted I use a .30 cal instead of my 6.5 PRC. I obliged with my 30-06 Tikka. The big bull went 3 steps. Great day.

It started me thinking about cartridges. My 6.5 PRC is a Proof Elevation MTR 24" bbl. For me, It is the most accurate rifle I own. It loves the Berger 156 gr EOL that I purchased from Choice and achieves 3010 fps. It shoots UM loaded 147 ELD-m at 2975 fps. My Carbon Six 24" barreled 30-06 Tikka groups 165 gr Accubonds very well at 2940 fps and shoots Barnes 168 gr TTSX even faster at 3025 fps. My friend has a Tikka 24" 7mm Rem Mag that shoots factory 162 gr ELD-x at 2925 fps.

I realize I am comparing different bullets and factory ammo to semi-custom ammo but these are the cartridges I personally saw chronographed. After entering the info in a ballistics calculator, the 6.5 PRC, at 300 yards, has considerably more velocity then any of the others. It has more energy, less drop and less drift plus a higher sectional density. Because of the higher BC bullets the 6.5 PRC has an even bigger advantage at 400 and 500 yards.

Is the 6.5 PRC really the marginal cartridge for Elk simply because it is 6 gr less weight and .020 less diameter? Is the issue that most feel the 180 gr bullet in the 06 or the 7mm is a much better choice for bigger game?

 

[ShootOkHuntWorse]

There’s hundreds of photos posted here of elk and moose killed with much smaller bullets, and much slower 6.5s

 

[fuzzymarindave]

Its rarely the wrong answer to buy another rifle. You could add a 28 Nosler to your collection and you have more choices. Congrats on the bull elk..

 

[SDHNTR]

Step back and think about the absurdity here… .5 millimeter is going to make a real world difference? Place any one of those bullets into the vitals of an elk and you will experience the exact same results. Dead. Nothing even remotely marginal about it.

 

[Macintosh]

I was invited on a hunt on a private ranch several years ago. Our host insisted on a 30cal as well, and was busy citing 1500ftlb of energy, etc. Yet he was clearly not being objective about it becasue he said a 300winmag is a 600 yard rifle, a 30-06 is barely a 300 yard rifle, despite using the exact same bullet impacting at exactly the same velocity as the winmag does, well past 300 yards...then he insisted a 7mm-08 would be limited to sub-100 yards effectiveness, while claiming a 7mm mag was also a 500-600 yard gun, again despite the fact that the exact same bullet at the exact same impact velocity would indicate otherwise. It was easier for me in the particular situation to simply bring my 30-06, which, no surprise, worked just fine.

I dont have the breadth of experience to answer the question, but I DO have the experience with data and people to say that a lot of very experienced and very well-meaning people dont look at their experiences objectively, dont account for important variables, routinely draw conclusions that in reality are not supported by the info they do have, and dont have the desire to change or even question what has worked for them, and so they dismiss things outright that are perfectly valid based on spurious correlations or just not understanding some aspect of what they have seen. I can't say for certain thats what is happening here, but comparing the folks I know insisting on a bigger bore, compared to the hundreds of detailed autopsy photos on this website, I have a pretty strong suspicion of where the truth lies.

 

[justin davis]

I think the prc is very adequate for elk

 

[Liftman101]

I love small and fast. I have a 6 UM on order. I am just confused by my Elk guide and the PH for next year in Africa is dead set against a 6.5 PRC or the 6 UM. I guess I will show him Ryan's Giraffe story.

Always looking for an excuse to get another rifle. In fact I have a base Tikka 7 rem mag NIB in my closet that I bought for my 6 UM build and ended up switching to a stainless action. In this case, I was surprised because looking at the data, the 6.5 PRC is the better cartridge once you get past 300 yards

 

[TaperPin]

The 7 mag will continue to be one of the most popular western cartridges because it works reliably. Other smaller cartridges may work reliably with the correct bullet, but none of the 7 mag shooters I know have ever felt the need to dissect and photograph bullet performance to prove it works. It just works.

I almost bought into the 6.5 PRC as a replacement for my 7 mag, but with the bullets and range I like to hunt at, the PRC is very very close to the 270 - both shoot a 140 gr bullet at about the same velocity. I upgraded from the 270 back in the 1980’s because my mentor’s 7 mag spanked the 270 when shot side by side, taking animals side by side. In that respect, I don’t see the similar PRC as a bad cartridge, it’s just not a great one, like a 160gr in the 7 mag.

A lot of guys will want to say, “Yeah, but. . . ,” and try to make excuses for, or justify the 6.5 - nobody feels they have to do that with the 7 mag.

Even older than the 7 mag is the 264 win mag, and shot side by side, seeing the performance on game side by side, most guys like the extra bullet weight of the 7 mag and the 264 never gained a lot of fanfare.

 

[Samson7x]

This is rokslide, we kill everything with 223 and 6mm around here, don't ya know?


Kidding aside, killed 2 bulls with 6.5prc and one dropped, the other went 20yds. It is more than capable.

Edit- The bull that dropped was shot with 143 eldx @2900, the other shot with 140vld @3000fps