6.5 prc here to stay?

6.5 prc here to stay?

  • Yes Hornaday will support it

    Votes: 12 66.7%
  • No flash in the pan will fade soon

    Votes: 6 33.3%

  • Total voters
    18
  • Poll closed .
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horsemen61

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Hey everyone

So I want a 6.5 prc but I’m afraid it won’t be around in a few years

Do y’all think it will still be here with enough support that it warrants me to buy one?
 
Given the military's adoption of the 300 PRC & the proliferation of the 6.5 Creed, I believe the 6.5 PRC will gain and keep some traction. the biggest failing of the 264 Win Mag was the 1:9 twist. The PRC has the correct 1:8 barrel twist.
 
I looked into my crystal ball and my prediction is that I don't think it is going to catch on any better than the WSM cartridges did, but it will still be available and there will be brass and ammo for it for the next 20 or 30 years at least. Hornady is pretty good about supporting its products.

Here is the way I look at it. If you are concerned about being left high and dry with no brass just buy 300 rounds of brass at the same time as the rifle. If you get 5 or 6 firing per case you will be ready for a new barrel before you run out of brass. When that happens you can reconsider if you want to stick with it or do something different.
 
The 270 and 300 WSM's are pretty well established, the others not so much.

There have been several "fast" 6.5's in the past that never really set the woods on fire. Some even have the right barrel twist such as the 26 Nosler. I just don't see it becoming mainstream. But neither is the 35 Whelen, 338-06 or even 25-06 for that matter. That doesn't stop a lot of people from using and liking those rounds. I doubt if it will become completely obsolete. At least not in my lifetime.

The 6.5 CM is popular because it is so balanced and performs better than 90% of shooters have the skills to master. There are only a handful of shooters who are good enough to make the extra speed work for them.
 
I just don't see it becoming mainstream. But neither is the 35 Whelen, 338-06 or even 25-06 for that matter. That doesn't stop a lot of people from using and liking those rounds. I doubt if it will become completely obsolete. At least not in my lifetime.

Exactly, I think it will gain a small niche following and it will be around awhile, but will never be a big seller.
 
There’s still brass and even factory ammo out there for rounds which have a far smaller niche and far less usefulness than the 6.5 PRC. I can buy 17 Mach IV ammo and 17 Remington both on the shelf within a 20min drive from my house, 458 Win mag too. I can have 25-20 factory ammo delivered to my door within a day if I so desired. The Rum and Dakota cases might have been scarce here and there several times in recent years, but a patient and responsible owner can keep themselves supplied - the WSM, WSSM’s, and RSAUM’s too.

It’s foolish to think a cartridge will fall extinct just because you might not have a particular use for it.

I say it often here and elsewhere:

“There are more things, in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” - Wild Bill Shakespeare.
 
I have more than that for .222 Mag stashed away.
.222magss can probably be made from .204 Ruger in a pinch. My 6x47rem uses .222 mag brass as a parent, and I've got a few hundred necked up once fired .204s. Did them a in one pass, and most survived.


With how hard it is to get brass for the PRC right now, I'd say there's quite a few people shooting it. Some came in at Midsouth and was gone before I could click buy.

Hornady, Bertram, and ADG....and possibly another one I can't remember, are making brass now. I wouldn't be surprised to see starline add it as well.
 
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The 6.5 CM is popular because it is so balanced and performs better than 90% of shooters have the skills to master. There are only a handful of shooters who are good enough to make the extra speed work for them.

I consider myself a hunter first and a half-hearted paper puncher second; the PRC is appealing in that it can carry 300-400 more ft-lbs downrange than the 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5 PRC will get to the target with less drop and drift than a 270 Winchester, and it will be carrying more energy when it arrives.
 
Think about this... two total flops from recent years were 30TC and 30 Rem AR. Both of these calibers can be purchased everyday online. Those who need these calibers may not like the choice in loadings, may not like the availability, and may not like the price, but they are available. I mentioned 30TC because it was single sourced by Hornady just like 6.5PRC.
 
30TC because it was single sourced by Hornady just like 6.5PRC.
the PRC has a few places doing semi-custom loading (tho if they don't I get they would do the 30tc or any others given enough volume). Multiple manufacturers making brass as well.
as previously stated, it may not be cheap or carry the bullet a shooter happens to want, but it's available.
The hornady stuff is cheap, and easily available.

Still tho if your gonna shoot a cartridge supported by only one manufacturer, I'd suggest one brought to market by hornady lol.
 
.222magss can probably be made from .204 Ruger in a pinch. My 6x47rem uses .222 mag brass as a parent, and I've got a few hundred necked up once fired .204s. Did them a in one pass, and most survived.


With how hard it is to get brass for the PRC right now, I'd say there's quite a few people shooting it. Some came in at Midsouth and was gone before I could click buy.

Hornady, Bertram, and ADG....and possibly another one I can't remember, are making brass now. I wouldn't be surprised to see starline add it as well.
them guys that test out these early rounds like the prc, buy all the brass they would need for the barrel. most cartridges guys are fine with 50 or 100, the new stuff guys may buy 500 case.
 
Worst case scenario is it will not catch on at all and will be an obscure chambering. Even so, there is no reason there wouldn't be readily available brass and bullets and powder are shared with many popular cartridges. Today's manufacturing and supply chain does not limit consumers to a half dozen popular cartridges that Montgomery Wards used to stock. If there is any stock anywhere in the US, you can have it on your doorstep the next day. Indeed, because of that, 6.5 PRC will never be very obscure so long as brass-cased smokeless powder cartridges remain popular.
 
The .264 WM isn't restricted to 1:9 barrel twist. But the case dimensions don't suit the long ELD bullets in a standard length action, which was the entire onus for the Winchester Magnums -- otherwise, we would have just necked a .375 H&H down to .264". Similarly, the 26 Nosler does away with the vestigial belt and provides even more powder capacity, but won't seat a bullet with an extremely long ogive without excessive overall length.

On the other hand, if super long bullets aren't that important to hunters shooting under 400 yards, a 1:9 twist is sufficient to stabilize the weight and length bullets for any game that a .264" is suitable for, up to moose, elk, and other game that most mortals only rarely get to hunt. Even if you factor in longer-for-weight lead-free projectiles, the high twist rates are mostly good for LRP shooters.

The .264 WM is already very overbore and one could make a good argument that the 6.5 Creedmoor is more sensibly dimensioned, but the higher velocity of a magnum will shoot flatter within hunting ranges.
 
I consider myself a hunter first and a half-hearted paper puncher second; the PRC is appealing in that it can carry 300-400 more ft-lbs downrange than the 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5 PRC will get to the target with less drop and drift than a 270 Winchester, and it will be carrying more energy when it arrives.

"down range. . ."

Well...

Given that the 143 gr. 6.5 PRC and 145 gr. .270 WCF are w/in 10 fps at the muzzle, and +/-100, both in fps and lb-ft, at 500 yds....?

What game animal do you expect would know the difference or care?




GR
 
"down range. . ."

Well...

Given that the 143 gr. 6.5 PRC and 145 gr. .270 WCF are w/in 10 fps at the muzzle, and +/-100, both in fps and lb-ft, at 500 yds....?

What game animal do you expect would know the difference or care?




GR
yup your right, i dropped a deer at 540 with a 150 core lokt, i only shot beaue the week before i was shooting a rock the deer just happen to be in front off. if i had a 280 or 6.5 i don't think it would have mattered.
 
6.5 PRC ticks all the right boxes.

It's got the velocity
Has moderate recoil
Is a 6.5 wich is the caliber de jour
Great ballistics downrange for paper
Good for medium game at longer range

Yet, I doubt it takes off
 
Given that the 143 gr. 6.5 PRC and 145 gr. .270 WCF are w/in 10 fps at the muzzle, and +/-100, both in fps and lb-ft, at 500 yds....?

What game animal do you expect would know the difference or care?

The point I tried to make was that the 6.5 PRC isn’t comparable with the 6.5 Creedmoor from a hunting perspective — it’s a half step up in terms or energy and drop/drift.

With regards to the 270 Win, the PRC would get to 500 yards with four inches less drop and three inches leas drift (at 10 mph crosswind). Is that enough to matter? Certainly not to me, but maybe to someone else.
 
The PRC stands for Precision Rifle Cartridge but who's using it for precision games? I've shot a bunch of factory ammunition from Hornady which proved to be average to poor from two decent barrels with neither the 143gr ELD-X or the 147gr ELD Match shooting well. ES numbers were ridiculous and accuracy/precision were nothing to boast about. I consider myself to be a decent shooter but the results had me second guessing my ability to shoot. I reloaded for it and shot many more test loads and still nothing spectacular. Admittedly I only tried H1000 but that's supposedly a good powder for the PRC. That same test rifle and barrel profile in 300 WSM and .308 Win will produce consistent sub 3/4 moa 5-shot groups using factory ammunition, and even better with reloads so I'm left shaking my head. I was pushing the 147gr bullet to 2,950 fps which is decent. The Hornady factory fodder was a fair bit slower.

I don't think the PRC anything will stick around. Hornady is trying to dominate the ammunition market, and with the success of the 6.5 Creedmoor they figured they would cash in by offering a "one stop shop" with a family of cartridges to cover any scenario. I think I'd prefer a .280 AI for a general purpose hunting cartridge. It compares favorably to the supposed performance of the 6.5 PRC, offers greater round capacity, feeds better and doesn't have as much felt recoil. These are observations based on personal experience with both.
 
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What's a 6.5 prc?

A round that may or may not be here to stay.:)

For the OP back in the ‘80’s one of the “flash in the pan” rounds has been one I have really liked over the years, the 7mm BR. It didn’t even make it to the new century but you can still buy factory ammunition for it.

https://www.shop.ammo-one1.com/product.sc?productId=469&categoryId=513

Too bad it’s almost $5 a round!

Good news is that I was one of those jerks that bought a lifetime supply of brass so my stock is plenty and all of the same lot. ;)
 
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