Tikka 6.5 PRC & bullet selection

[MCF]

Tikka rifle coming tomorrow in 6.5 PRC. I have shunned the CM in the past, but the PRC has me intrigued. I reload for several calibers, and already have what I need for this project, except for powder and bullets. I have heard that the 6.5 cm sometimes passes through without enough tissue damage and exit hole to leave a good blood trail, and definitely want to avoid that scenario. I am looking at the Berger EOL 156 for an all purpose, and the 130 Accubond for hunting, probably with some H-1000. My favorite deer load is a 7-08 loaded with 139 SST’s. I seldom get an exit wound, but I never have to track a deer. I usually sacrifice a shoulder, which I can live with. It has worked for me for 20 plus years. I have ZERO experience with the 6.5 caliber, and would like to start off right.
I am open to your suggestions. I am listening.

 

[PNWGATOR]

147 ELDM for everything

 

[hunting1]

147 ELDM for everything

This or if that won't shoot 143 ELD-X. Not as sexy BC but my favorite .264 is the Lapua 139gr Scenar.

 

[sniper20]

I shot a doe with 153.5 Bergers with my 6.5 PRC, blew a hole about the size of a baseball out the backside... No need to track when they drop right there...

 

[N2TRKYS]

140 grain Accubonds or 142 grain ABLR

I never had any issues with exits or blood trails with my 6.5 Creedmoor. Don’t know where you got that from.

 

[Jr4]

156 Bergers with N565 works rather well for me

 

[Laramie]

We have tested several different bullets. All killed very well from antelope to elk. 142 accubond lr worked well on my son's bull. 143 and 147 Hornady both kill well worth great expansion and damage. Will be shootting the 156 next just for fun. You will love the caliber. Low recoil, very accurate, great terminal performance... not much to dislike imo.

 

[Dioni A]

Eld-m function identically to the SST. I would use the 140 or the 147. Either will kill phenomenally well.

 

[MCF]

140 grain Accubonds or 142 grain ABLR

I never had any issues with exits or blood trails with my 6.5 Creedmoor. Don’t know where you got that from.

It is usually the 143 Eldx that I hear about the issue. Could just be a bunch of new shooters with the new round that take poor shots. But I hear about them running hundreds of yards after a “good shot”.

 

[Macintosh]

Well, I shot a deer at 40 yards this fall with a 30-06 right on the point of the shoulder, took out both lungs on the way thru…My deer still ran 50ish yards. that doesnt mean much, just like lots of the cartridge characterizations dont mean much without more info. Frankly anyone that says a 6.5mm bottle necked centerfire cartridge at typical whitetailed deer range is going to frequently pass thru without enough tissue damage is simply ignorant of what different bullets do. Pick a mono or a hard bonded bullet and that’ll be just as true of your prc as it is of a creedmore or of your 7-08. If thats not what you want, put an sst or any other similar bullet (ballistic tip, eldm, eldx, etc) in any of these guns into a deer and its going to make a big hole and kill quickly, and maybe waste some meat. If you like your 7-08, a creedmore is indistinguishable from it assuming the same bullet type and similar bullet weight. Your prc is just the same thing, only a little faster. 140-class 6.5mm bullet at 2900-ish mv is going to be +\- indistinguishable from a 140-class of the same bullet type fired from a 7mm at 2800-ish—the difference will just be what 100-ish (or whatever) fps does. Dont expect it to make a big (or even noticeable) difference at whitetail ranges, assuming similar bullets.

 

[Cactus kid]

Have been shooting 6.5 prc for a few years, and have used both the 156 eol and the 147 eldm on whitetail. Both performed well, the furthest distance a deer traveled was less than 40 yards after being shot. Would shoot either, but I prefer the wound channels of the eldm over the 156 eol.

my 6.5 prc barrel was essentially shot out this season, and velocities out of the muzzle had slowed to the same velocities of the 6.5 cm. I could not tell the difference in wound cavities and my next barrel will be a 6.5 CM.

 

[deltadukman]

I built a 6.5 prc for hunting whitetails in MS. I have shot 8 (1 buck 7 does...we shoot a lot of does) this year from 100-458 yards. None of them went more than 30 yards, & several bang flops. I am shooting the 140 Berger Elites. I could not get the 156 EOL's to group but I am also shooting a 20" barrel. The only thing you will gain from a PRC over a regular CM is about 200 FPS. That doesn't matter inside of regular hunting distances. I am going to build a regular CM this summer to see how I like it as well.

 

[igethangry]

I know it isn't the PRC, but I have shot 2 large does with the 6.5CM. One at ~150yds with the 143 ELD-X and one at ~200yds with the 129 interlock, both in the factory Hornady loadings. Both pass throughs, both 1 shot DRT. The ELD-X hit the heart on the way through and the interlock was a double lung.

 

[Luked]

Shoot 143 ELDx out of my 6.5CM.
For a 6.5PRC I would go with the 147 ELDm

 

[huntsd]

Tikka rifle coming tomorrow in 6.5 PRC. I have shunned the CM in the past, but the PRC has me intrigued. I reload for several calibers, and already have what I need for this project, except for powder and bullets. I have heard that the 6.5 cm sometimes passes through without enough tissue damage and exit hole to leave a good blood trail, and definitely want to avoid that scenario. I am looking at the Berger EOL 156 for an all purpose, and the 130 Accubond for hunting, probably with some H-1000. My favorite deer load is a 7-08 loaded with 139 SST’s. I seldom get an exit wound, but I never have to track a deer. I usually sacrifice a shoulder, which I can live with. It has worked for me for 20 plus years. I have ZERO experience with the 6.5 caliber, and would like to start off right.
I am open to your suggestions. I am listening.

correct me if I am wrong but doesnt a 6.5 CM shoot about 100fps less?

 

[Laramie]

correct me if I am wrong but doesnt a 6.5 CM shoot about 100fps less?

My PRC is 225 FPS faster with factory loads than my buddies CM. Factory data typically shows 200fps+ faster. Not a big deal inside of standard hunting ranges but it's a big deal at long range imo.

 

[Anubis]

My 19 year old daughter’s hunting rifle is a Tikka 6.5 PRC. It’s the veil camo pattern with cerakoted barrel and brake. She practices with the brake on and hunts with the brake removed.

The magazine is pretty well maxed out with a factory Hornady 147gr ELD-M round.

 

[Macintosh]

correct me if I am wrong but doesnt a 6.5 CM shoot about 100fps less?

200fps, but depends on barrel length and exact load. A 24” cm might be pretty darn close to a 18” prc. Or, a prc at 200yds might be the exact equivalent of a crredmore at 100 yards. And, if OP is happy with a 7-08 that is squarely in the middle between the two, is there any relevant difference at whitetail ranges caused by 100fps in either direction? Question is, outside of a mono that might need 2000-2200fps minimum, is there enough difference terminally at whitetail ranges that it is worth quibbling over? I tend to think it’s irrelevant until you are at ranges long enough that wind and bc is a major factor, or near the end of terminal effective range—neither of which is typically relevant for whitetails.

 

[huntsd]

200fps, but depends on barrel length and exact load. A 24” cm might be pretty darn close to a 18” prc. Or, a prc at 200yds might be the exact equivalent of a crredmore at 100 yards. And, if OP is happy with a 7-08 that is squarely in the middle between the two, is there any relevant difference at whitetail ranges caused by 100fps in either direction? Question is, outside of a mono that might need 200-2200fps minimum, is there enough difference terminally at whitetail ranges that it is worth quibbling over? I tend to think it’s irrelevant until you are at ranges long enough that wind and bc is a major factor, or near the end of terminal effective range—neither of which is typically relevant for whitetails.

yup I am kicking around selling my CM and going to a PRC. But not sure the cost of being out a few hundred bucks is worth the benefit. though if i could waive a magic wand and swap for free I would.

 

[Nine Banger]

I have both 6.5 CM and PRC and get hung up on a few things with the PRC.

14 more grains of powder for 200 fps is not impressive and the recoil will throw you off your impact.

It seems like the PRC is for folks that spend time beyond 600 yards.

The choice should be mission specific.

If you're shooting under 600 most of the time and anything beyond is hypothetical or just "might be nice" skip it. Don't build the church for Easter Sunday.

BUT: the OP isn't interested in 6.5CM versus 6.5PRC stuff...

OP:

I used 147gr ELD for my 6.5 PRC adventure and H1000 was a little slower than N565 but more accurate so I settled in at 57gr H1000 for that bullet. My mission was to be able to kill a moose out to 825 yards which is the furthest target I can practice on. I was successful at 509 yards. As much whining as I do about the recoil, I was able to get 3 shots and 2 hits off in a very short unmeasured period of time. The first shot would have sealed the deal.

I have 2 boxes of 156 EOL and loaded some just to find pressure but haven't used any on game yet. I'm almost out of ELDs and intend to switch to 156 EOL for a while until those are gone. No help there other than I have some really thin load data from a low starting point to pressure for an 18" barrel if you're interested.