Why are you shooting PRC, AI, creedmoor, or WSM?

[whoami-72]

So, I recently was in the market for a new rifle. It was supposed to be my buy once cry once use it for the next 10 years kind of rifle and I was dead set on going with a 300 WSM. And then it hit me, the ammo costs are significantly higher and options are significantly lower for these newer rounds vs the tried and true and I really wouldn't really be gaining much in my case. I think I read/heard somewhere that .30-06 only accounts for ~3% of rifle sales now.......

So, if you're part of the masses switching to the new flavor of the month of PRS, WSM, AI, creedmore, why? Are you in the boat of better ballistics means everything? Is it because of marketing? If you have switched, do you still practice a lot and just increased ammo budgets? Also, for those that are much older than me. Doesn't it feel like these new cartridges are being adopted and pushed super fast? I think I've been into guns for just under a decade but even I can remember the 6.8 spc coming and going as well as 224 valkery, SAUM's etc.

My personal situation: I jumped on the 6.5 creed train after it was the same price as .308 and wont be jumping on any new calibers until ammo situation chills out. I ended up getting a .30-06 this time around because I already have another. I also felt like it has plenty of power for my hunting distances without stepping up to magnum recoils and costs where as the 6.5 creeds and .308's that I have are questionable for hunting elk depending upon distance and bullet type. In effect, its a great middle ground IMO. Lastly, even though I was dead set on 300 wsm and then 7 prc and then 7 rem mag, etc, etc. I ended up realizing that you can still get a ton of decent .30-06 loads for relatively cheap and keep trying different types until you find one your gun likes. My buddies that have newer PRC's have double the cost per box comparing low end to low end and only have a couple of options. Plus, I can reload mine cheaply. Also, even though there guns are better balistically, they still have to hold over for wind and drop just like I do and if i can afford 2x as much ammo as them then i should be mutch better practiced at judging situations. Granted, some of them are the kind of hunters that shoot one or two boxes a year to sight in and call it good where as I'm buying my rifle for next year right now so I can practice year round. Anyway, my personal rambling over. I'm genuinely curious why people are flocking to the new stuff and adopting it so quickly even though it seems like the gains are real but marginal and the costs are high. Who knows, maybe in 10 years you'll see me here again asking why I didn't switch to the new stuff sooner and complaining about not being able to find ammo lol.

Hopefully this doesn't turn into a giant argument that I regret posting lol.

 

[wind gypsy]

Bleedmoors and 223 = cheap QUALITY ammo. Agree that paying for factory magnum ammo is a waste if not counterproductive for most.

 

[MallardSX2]

I been shooting a 300wsm for over 20 years. I bought it because I wanted a gun that could kill anything I hunted in North America….lol 20 years ago the wsm’s were all the rage.
Should have just bought an 06.

Every single animal I have killed has been under 400 yards with an average shot distance of 100 yards….

 

[ozyclint]

So you're telling me that using a .270 for the last 20 years hasn't been a mistake?

 

[7LRM]

I have been hunt with 7 LRM and pretty happy with it!

 

[Macintosh]

I bought a 6.5 Creedmoor a bunch of years ago when I started shooting PRS matches. I looked around, saw that 90% of the people I was shooting with used them, looked at my local gun shops and saw that they had twice the selection of ammo of any other caliber short of 223 and maybe 3006, looked online and saw ammo prices were among the cheapest for any cartridge for practice ammo (short of 223 and 9mm) and havent looked back. Last hunting rifle I bought I looked long and hard, and ended up with another 65 Creedmoor simply because it was so inexpensive to shoot for practice, and because it has plenty of juice for the hunting I do, and because its so easy to find both good hunting and practice ammo. I had a 7 mm 08 for a number of years, I found it very difficult to buy ammo for. Even buying online, the selection was a fraction of what it is in 65 Creedmoor, IF it was in stock. I also own a 270, it’s a common cartridge and I don’t generally have a problem buying ammo, but if I want something very specific, neither the 270 or the 7 mm 08 is easy to find for, and you pay for it.
The OP lumped a lot of cartridges together that I don’t think should be put in the same group though—I dont think 6.5cm belongs in that group. I have found 65 Creedmoor to have exceptionally good ammo selection and inexpensive prices compared to almost any other rifle caliber. In my area, PRC‘s are not common, so I don’t see much ammo on the shelf. Any magnum is uncommon here—you find 7mm mag and 300winmag in most shops, but again it's expensive and they only carry one or two options— this is New England whitetail deer country, no one needs a magnum cartridge around here so very few people shoot them. 3006 and 308 I see plenty of options and they are very popular for hunting, but to me, that’s not a practice cartridge (even a 308 recoils more than I want for practice in moderate to high volume out of a light rifle) and a 3006 especially is overkill for most things I do. My go to hunting rifle is still a 3006, but that’s simply Because I’ve had it for a couple decades.

I think ammo selection is regional. I also think its shooters that drive ammo selection, not hunters. Outside of the top 2 or 3 regional must-have’s, pick a cartridge commonly used by shooters and you’ll have better selection and better prices.

The prs crowd is on to smaller and better things, so my next hunting rifle will probably be a 6mm creedmore.