Rifle conundrum

[elkhunter505]

Hey folks, I’m in a minor conundrum surrounding whether or not to chop the barrel on my current hunting rifle. The rifle in question is a LH Christensen Mesa FFT in 6.5 PRC. I bought the rifle last year and luckily did not end up with a Christensen lemon. The thing shoots lights out with Hornady factory ammo. I bought the gun to take a step down in recoil from my 7mm Rem. This purchase was before I read through the small caliber threads (.223/.243). Had I read through those threads in advance, I likely would have went the Tikka route with a .243. All this to say I am thinking about chopping the barrel of my current 6.5 PRC to 16”, but I am also considering selling the rifle and buying a Tikka .243 instead.

There’s two factors that have been keeping me in an analysis mode. One being I’m unsure of the resale value of the gun itself and whether or not I could recoup enough money to buy the LH Tikka without spending more money. The gun is in like new shape and I feel like it’s probably worth $1200 or so given it’s a known entity for accuracy. The second being I choose to shoot monos out of personal preference and I’m still a bit uncertain about that small of a cartridge with monos despite the evidence I’ve seen on here. I’ve seen some positive results from others in .223 with the new hammer HBC which I would likely look into if I went this route. These are some of the pros I’ve come up with.

The pros for the 6.5:
Known shooter
Lots of brass already acquired
Extra terminal distance
No need to deal with selling
Cut to 16” to basically be equivalent to a 24” Creed

The pros for the .243:
Tikka reliability
Bolt lock out safety
Cheaper shooting
Factory DBM
Considerably lighter recoil

Given these few bits of information, does anyone have any advice or thoughts on this? Also if anyone has made this same kind of switch, I’d love to hear how you like your decision. Thanks for any thoughts on this!

 

[glock233]

What’s your max hunting range?

Generally I favor sticking with a platform that is working great.

 

[elkhunter505]

What’s your max hunting range?

Generally I favor sticking with a platform that is working great.

Oh yeah that would have been a good thing to note. I have not taken a shot over 400 yards in 15+ years of hunting. I could see myself trying to end up with a load that would make it to 500. While I don’t currently practice at that distance, I’ve shot some buddies rifles all the way out to 1000 and feel like I could make a 500 yard shot in a hunting scenario. For context I shot two bucks over 300 yards this year. One at 325 and one at 380. Felt solid and confident in both situations.

Edit: the vast majority of the shots I’m taking in hunting scenarios are averaging 225-250 yards. Being a bow hunter primarily, it feels easy to get to that distance.

 

[Steve300xcw]

That seems like a short barrel for a prc. You running a can?

I'm also the last person to ask about resale value. Its your shit, make it how you like.

All that said...A 243 is never a bad thing, and everybody should have at least one!

 

[elkhunter505]

That seems like a short barrel for a prc. You running a can?

I'm also the last person to ask about resale value. Its your shit, make it how you like.

All that said...A 243 is never a bad thing, and everybody should have at least one!

Yeah I have a can and have plans to get either a Zero Gravity 6.5 or a OG 6.5. The can I have is probably going to get sold to a buddy or someone online after the 1st to help fund the other suppressor purchase.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Just the same. If I could only have one caliber. A 243 would be it.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I have a 16” and 18” 6.5 PRC both suppressed. Both are 1,000ish yard killing guns with 147 ELDMs and 156 Bergers. Not an issue to chop other than it’s a Christensen and don’t have great reliability in heavy use.

The Tikka in 243 with an 8 twist barrel is a great choice. You will be limited on factory ammo options but you could have a few different companies load ammo got it with 95 TMKs, 103 ELDXs, 108 ELDMs, 108 Bergers (in that order), or the new 107ish TMK coming out.

For factory 243 the 95 SSTs and 90 ELDXs are good killers and take 18-20” barreled guns to around 500 yards for killing (a long way despite what the internet tells you).

 

[LeftyWilbury]

as an owner of a LH 243 tikka 1;8, i say consign the 6.5PRC, or offer it online as a package with all the once-fired brass etc and see what you get. i'm shooting my 243 with hammer 87gr at 3200 or 75 gr at 3400 (YMMV, both are hot) and it's a joy to shoot. critters die. i dont like lead in my food. i dont mind reloading my hunting ammo.

i threaded the barrel on my 7 RM tikka when i got my first can and that was dumb. 6.5PRC probably burns a lot of powder too and wants a longer barrel. let someone else enjoy the 6.5 christensen especially since you can honestly say it shoots good. put the money towards a new tikka 243. my reasons for doing so are a) lighter recoil b) launching lead-free bullets at fast enough speeds to kill critters and c) burning less powder d) practice ammo is inexpensive. when i burn out this barrel, maybe a 6CM is in order.

now if i did it again, i'd spend the time/money to find a T3x w synthetic stock. or a roughtech, that'd be nice. i grabbed a wood stock T3x hunter so i swapped out to a stocky's VG but that's $400 vs a $40 tikka replacement grip...and i still need to modify the stocky's stock to make it betters. regardless, a tikka 243 in 1:8 is a great shooting rifle.

it's always a crap shoot to sell off a rifle you know shoots well and pray you get a good one in return, but tikkas are generally pretty solid. i've never won powerball, but the half-dozen tikkas i've bought shoot better than i do...i guess i'm doing ok.

 

[WormSportsman]

I’d keep it if it’s a known shooter. Save up and buy the Tikka .243 and chop it when you are ready. I don’t get rid of guns that are more accurate than I am regardless of what they are.

 

[coyotekilla]

Judging from your screen name im gonna guess your poking elk at 350 yds? Now I'm terrible for Elk advise cause I've never shot 1, I've shot a pile of whitetail though. My thoughts, stay with the prc. I can keep a 140 eldm from a 6.5 creed inside the chest cavity of a whitetail at 370, and deer are alot smaller. Don't get me wrong I love my 243, but it will keep a slug in a 40 lb coyote at the same range, 85 hpgk too.

Yes this page is full of 223 / 77tkm success stories, yes 223's take deer. Im with the 243 / 6.5cm crowd on deer. That grendel is a hammer too.

 

[elkhunter505]

Judging from your screen name im gonna guess your poking elk at 350 yds? Now I'm terrible for Elk advise cause I've never shot 1, I've shot a pile of whitetail though. My thoughts, stay with the prc. I can keep a 140 eldm from a 6.5 creed inside the chest cavity of a whitetail at 370, and deer are alot smaller. Don't get me wrong I love my 243, but it will keep a slug in a 40 lb coyote at the same range, 85 hpgk too.

Yes this page is full of 223 / 77tkm success stories, yes 223's take deer. Im with the 243 / 6.5cm crowd on deer. That grendel is a hammer too.

Nah I’ve only shot one elk with a rifle. Just the ol 505 area code haha.

 

[elkhunter505]

as an owner of a LH 243 tikka 1;8, i say consign the 6.5PRC, or offer it online as a package with all the once-fired brass etc and see what you get. i'm shooting my 243 with hammer 87gr at 3200 or 75 gr at 3400 (YMMV, both are hot) and it's a joy to shoot. critters die. i dont like lead in my food. i dont mind reloading my hunting ammo.

i threaded the barrel on my 7 RM tikka when i got my first can and that was dumb. 6.5PRC probably burns a lot of powder too and wants a longer barrel. let someone else enjoy the 6.5 christensen especially since you can honestly say it shoots good. put the money towards a new tikka 243. my reasons for doing so are a) lighter recoil b) launching lead-free bullets at fast enough speeds to kill critters and c) burning less powder d) practice ammo is inexpensive. when i burn out this barrel, maybe a 6CM is in order.

now if i did it again, i'd spend the time/money to find a T3x w synthetic stock. or a roughtech, that'd be nice. i grabbed a wood stock T3x hunter so i swapped out to a stocky's VG but that's $400 vs a $40 tikka replacement grip...and i still need to modify the stocky's stock to make it betters. regardless, a tikka 243 in 1:8 is a great shooting rifle.

it's always a crap shoot to sell off a rifle you know shoots well and pray you get a good one in return, but tikkas are generally pretty solid. i've never won powerball, but the half-dozen tikkas i've bought shoot better than i do...i guess i'm doing ok.

I’m starting to think this way too but I also have an old REM 700 that I could offload as well and then just pony up the rest of the money to have the .243. But if I had a buyer for the gun picked out easily, I’d likely offload it and go for the .243.