Going to buy an Mauser M18, now to pick a cartridge.....again

[LoonWulf]

There are still a few RUGER Hawkeye Africans in that chambering about.




GR

Those are sweet rifles, and if one crosses my path ill probably grab it.

7mm mag. But your trading boring for boring imo lol. With their lineup, I'd pick 300 win mag or 308 win. Still boring, but I like the .30 cals.

Ive been moving away from the .30s, tho I want to do a "long" range 30 build on the winchester and a H&H length action.
My FFL buddy has talked about doing something like that as well, so maybe well pool our resources and build something.

 

[Mn Fats]

Those are sweet rifles, and if one crosses my path ill probably grab it.


Ive been moving away from the .30s, tho I want to do a "long" range 30 build on the winchester and a H&H length action.
My FFL buddy has talked about doing something like that as well, so maybe well pool our resources and build something.

I'd love to see what you come up with! I'm not a 6.5 or the like hater, I've just always went .30 Plus 6.5 talk is starting to hurt my ears. Except for the Swede. That will always have a soft spot.

 

[horsemen61]

6.5 PRC

 

[LoonWulf]

Hold out for 8x57!!!!

Otherwise, also very boring (read accurate) 6.5 PRC

LOL, Id like that m98 @Nature Boy linked in 8x57, or 7x57...

my FFL buddy just voted PRC also, so thats probably what ill have him order for me after he sobers up tomorrow.

 

[Garandimal]

Those are sweet rifles, and if one crosses my path ill probably grab it...

A path well traveled.






GR

 

[LoonWulf]

A path well traveled.






GR

and people call me an enabler.....

now im gonna have to decide if its the Ridgeline, or the ruger...or well, which will be first.

My buddy has the m-18 in 6.5PRC on order for me.
Ive got a Conquest hd5 3-15x42, and talley rings on order for it (eventually to be moved to my "nice" rifle unless i end up loving this thing).
I also found brass, dies, and have a small selection of 123-147gr bullets to try.

now the wait.......

 

[troy fairweather]

and people call me an enabler.....

now im gonna have to decide if its the Ridgeline, or the ruger...or well, which will be first.

My buddy has the m-18 in 6.5PRC on order for me.
Ive got a Conquest hd5 3-15x42, and talley rings on order for it (eventually to be moved to my "nice" rifle unless i end up loving this thing).
I also found brass, dies, and have a small selection of 123-147gr bullets to try.

now the wait.......

hope you like it and it works for you. i still want one, see how things go.

 

[LoonWulf]

hope you like it and it works for you. i still want one, see how things go.

Im honestly hoping i do too.
it checks a lot of boxes for me, and a couple distinct ones that arnt checked by the RAs, or other rifles in the 500 dollar range.
Specifically a locking bolt, and fairly ridged plastic stock. Neither are a requirement, but i appreciate them.

Again the complaints ive read sound mostly like sour grapes like the injection molded stock, and the less than perfect finish on the bolt.

or they are design features like the dual plungers which fling cases backwards with serious authority (check out some videos!) but im also assuming give the gun that last second hitch before closing.
fine, and desirable, on a field gun run hard, but i
dosent feel real nice otherwise.

 

[MCMXI]

Couple friends have them, and ive shot one guys gun enough to know i like it. Only complaint is it strings after the first 3 or 4 shots, which is more than ive ever needed from a hunting rifle in normal conditions.

That's disappointing. I've recently put a lot of rounds through a couple of CF Proof barrels and I'm very impressed with how they perform. Being single point cut and properly built there's no stringing as the barrels heat up. I shot four 5-shot groups the other day with around 2 mins per group with a minute between groups and got 0.568, 0.835, 0.555 and 0.496 moa at 100 yards with Hornady 140gr ELD Match.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the 6.5 PRC since I've been completely underwhelmed by it. I've shot hundreds of factory and reloaded rounds and never had great results, and that's with two quality 1:8 twist barrels. I'm probably going to screw the .308 Win barrel back on that rifle.

 

[LoonWulf]

That's disappointing. I've recently put a lot of rounds through a couple of CF Proof barrels and I'm very impressed with how they perform. Being single point cut and properly built there's no stringing as the barrels heat up. I shot four 5-shot groups the other day with around 2 mins per group with a minute between groups and got 0.568, 0.835, 0.555 and 0.496 moa at 100 yards with Hornady 140gr ELD Match.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the 6.5 PRC since I've been completely underwhelmed by it. I've shot hundreds of factory and reloaded rounds and never had great results, and that's with two quality 1:8 twist barrels. I'm probably going to screw the .308 Win barrel back on that rifle.

his gun and load will usually stack 3 or 4 shots into less than .5, but then walks out an inch or so. if you let it cool completely and shoot the same poa the next few shots go right back in to the original itty bitty group.
Id put money on it Christensen would be willing to look the gun over, but hes happy with it.
honestly it could just be a bedding issue, Christensens are spot bedded, and they didnt do a real nice job on his.
after i get his abolt rebarreled im going to work on his Ridgeline....and work up some new loads hes running 180 ablrs from his .300 at 2830, and it bothers me for some reason.

Ive read some of your saga with the 6.5PRC, and im curious if theres really any advantage to it myself. I can scratch 3k with 140s from my 6.5-284 Arisaka, so id like to be able to get to 3050-3100 considering the slight increase in capacity, and noticeable increase in pressure.
Accuracy in the 1" range is all I'm really looking for, but i may invest a bit more time and try to duplicate what i was getting with my 6.5CM.

 

[MCMXI]

Ive read some of your saga with the 6.5PRC, and im curious if theres really any advantage to it myself. I can scratch 3k with 140s from my 6.5-284 Arisaka, so id like to be able to get to 3050-3100 considering the slight increase in capacity, and noticeable increase in pressure.
Accuracy in the 1" range is a I'm really looking for, but i may invest a bit more time and try to duplicate what i was getting with my 6.5CM.

I'll definitely be following along and maybe if you get great results I'll get back on it. I only tried H1000 and perhaps I'd get better results with a different powder and primer. I shouldn't quit just yet but when I have a bunch of other rifles that shoot so well it gets frustrating to not see the greatness that is supposedly there for the taking. Sometimes I wondered if the view was worth the climb.

 

[LoonWulf]

I'll definitely be following along and maybe if you get great results I'll get back on it. I only tried H1000 and perhaps I'd get better results with a different powder and primer. I shouldn't quit just yet but when I have a bunch of other rifles that shoot so well it gets frustrating to not see the greatness that is supposedly there for the taking. Sometimes I wondered if the view was worth the climb.

I hear you.
Ive had a couple gun fall thru the cracks simply because i had other ones that were more fun, or simply less work.
Ill try h1k since a buddy stocks a pile of it, but right now i think im looking starting with retumbo, tho i may try 4451 and superformance since.i have the .
eventually moving onto rl23, and 25/26 if i can find them, and maybe 8133 if i can find it. i know theres some 7977 on the shelf at one place here

 

[Nature Boy]

That's disappointing. I've recently put a lot of rounds through a couple of CF Proof barrels and I'm very impressed with how they perform

Agree. I would say my proof carbon barrel performs as intended. Has the stiffness of a heavy contour barrel with the weight of a sporter barrel and doesn’t string shots when hot. It’s my first one and I’m happy with it

 

[LoonWulf]

Agree. I would say my proof carbon barrel performs as intended. Has the stiffness of a heavy contour barrel with the weight of a sporter barrel and doesn’t string shots when hot. It’s my first one and I’m happy with it

Well hopefully my experience mimics your guys, cause I just stumbled into a Ridgeline in .280AI that the owner hasn't ever fired.
Not 100% sure I'll be able to buy/trade into it, but looks likely I'll messing with a carbon fiber sooner than expected.
sorta wishing I didn't just buy this m18 now lol, I'd have gotten one eventually tho, so I 'spose it'll work out.

 

[Gtscotty]

I hear you.
Ive had a couple gun fall thru the cracks simply because i had other ones that were more fun, or simply less work.
Ill try h1k since a buddy stocks a pile of it, but right now i think im looking starting with retumbo, tho i may try 4451 and superformance since.i have the .
eventually moving onto rl23, and 25/26 if i can find them, and maybe 8133 if i can find it. i know theres some 7977 on the shelf at one place here

I'll be interested to see your results, especially with these powders ^ .

I've tried all of them in .270's with success, and Alliant's numbers and for RL23 and RL26 in 7mm WSM are really impressive, I'd bet they'll do quite well in the PRC.

It would also be interesting to see how the 127gr LRX does in the PRC. It's longer than a lot of 140gr bullets and if you could get it to 3,200 - 3,300 fps seems like it might be pretty wicked for a copper bullet.

 

[troy fairweather]

i've been meaning to try RL powders in my 7wsm, but RL can be hard to find around me plus mine is only a light 23'' light sporter barrel, but boy does it shoot good.

 

[troy fairweather]

Well hopefully my experience mimics your guys, cause I just stumbled into a Ridgeline in .280AI that the owner hasn't ever fired.
Not 100% sure I'll be able to buy/trade into it, but looks likely I'll messing with a carbon fiber sooner than expected.
sorta wishing I didn't just buy this m18 now lol, I'd have gotten one eventually tho, so I 'spose it'll work out.

cool hope you can make the deal work out,

 

[LoonWulf]

I'll be interested to see your results, especially with these powders ^ .

I've tried all of them in .270's with success, and Alliant's numbers and for RL23 and RL26 in 7mm WSM are really impressive, I'd bet they'll do quite well in the PRC.

It would also be interesting to see how the 127gr LRX does in the PRC. It's longer than a lot of 140gr bullets and if you could get it to 3,200 - 3,300 fps seems like it might be pretty wicked for a copper bullet.

The LRX may not stabilize in the m18s 8.66 twist. I do have some 123ssts Im going to test just to see how fast I can drive them, but I THINK this cases advantage will actually be at the top end of the weight spectrum....limited tho it maybe by the slower twist rate.

from my reading rl25/26 are popular with the PRC crowd, 22/23 maybe a little faster than optimal, but I'll have to try them to find out.

honestly I'm hoping I can hit 3050 without going to the more exotic brands of powder. I use rl-17 in my .375 and quit using it in anything else because I want to save what ever I can get for that gun.

something to consider, which I hadn't, when comparing the PRC to other rounds is that it's only got a 68ish grain water capacity, which puts it in the top end of the 06, and x284, class rounds. It's a little less than a Rsaum, but with a longer neck, and less bulbous case, so that's a bit of a trade off....get an extra round of it on the Mauser if some of the literature I've read right.