Time to sell all your 6.5 creedmoors

[SharpDog]

Time to sell all your 6.5 creedmoors, there's a new cartridge in town, Hornady 6.5 PRC

If you hunt where the deer are very old, then you can continue to use your 30-30's

If your deer are young, then be advised, none of your cartridges will work anymore.

In all seriousness tho, this looks to be a great cartridge. The 21st century .270 if you will:

https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2018/2/27/review-hornady-65-prc-cartridge/

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6.5-prc-147-gr-eld-match#!/

 

[Llama Bob]

Hmm, I like the Creedmoor but this I don't get. The precision rifle game (and it has become merely a game) is headed towards lighter 6mm cartridges. As a hunting round this seems to have no upside vs. the 6.5 Leopard/WSM, giving up maybe 100 ft/s for no benefit I can see.

I guess I could potentially be convinced otherwise if someone could explain what it's supposed to be for...

 

[Slamfire]

Another "End of history" cartridge.

And they had to introduce another unique cartridge because SAAMI won't let them change the barrel twist on rifles chambered in 6.5 Rem. Mag., .264 Win. Mag. or the 6.5-284 Norma. Bad SAAMI, bad SAAMI!!

 

[LoonWulf]

guess I could potentially be convinced otherwise if someone could explain what it's supposed to be for...

Uhhh sell stuff I guess.....looks like a decent short action hunting cartridge, probably decent for long range.....pretty much anything 140 class 6.5 bullet at 3k is good for.

@MCMXI just built a PRC rifle.

Personally I like the round design well enough, no belt, no rebated rim, longer neck, a bit more oomph than an 6.5-284.
Compared to the other 6.5 short mags, this one has factory support.

Need it, want it, hate it?
To each their own.

I'm building another 6.5CM right now

 

[Varminterror]

Time to sell all your 6.5 creedmoors, there's a new cartridge in town, Hornady 6.5 PRC

You’re a year late to the party...

 

[Llama Bob]

I guess it depends what guns are made for it. Right now I could run 6.5 WSM just as easily if not more so by the look of it. .264WM is easier than either.

 

[jmr40]

We've had fast 6.5's since at least 1959 when the 264 WM came out. Today we have the 264,6.5-284, 26 Nosler, 6.5 WSM, and 6.5-06. None have ever become mainstream and I don't see where the 6.5 PCR is going to break that trend. Hunters and shooters have been asking for moderately powered cartridges with low recoil instead of chasing bigger and faster magnums for years. The 6.5 CM is popular because it does just that. You get a hunting cartridge that does anything 270 does with recoil closer to 243. And as a target round you get a cartridge that is capable of shooting right with 300 WM out to 2000 yards with 1/3 the recoil and 1/2 the powder charge.

Shooting the same bullets faster gets us up back to the bigger, faster mentality. It will shoot flatter than the CM, but with todays gear that isn't much of an advantage. It would add 100 yards of effective range, but there are already a tiny fraction of shooters capable of shooting the CM to it's max range.

Not that it won't work. It will, just as the previous fast 6.5 work and I can see where it might be better than the other fast 6.5's. I just don't see a huge demand for it. And even the author in the above link admits it is a niche cartridge for a specialized handful of shooters. I can see it finishing off the other fast 6.5's, but doubt it will make a dent in the 6.5 CM popularity.

 

[z7]

The 6.5 PRC’s strongest selling point is factory support from hornady and its piggybacking off the success of the 6.5cm

The folks at gunwerks seem to believe the PRC is a great elk caliber, even for Long range hunting

It is not a super cartridge if you reload, but if you want to be able to buy very accurate factory ammo, that is a capable round for North American game out to several hundred yards, the PRC offers that in a short action with moderate recoil

 

[Varminterror]

I’m never quite sure why folks view competition in a cartridge class as a bad thing.

Objectively, I don’t really have an application for a 6.5 magnum, but if I were shooting more matches which reached past 1200, I might need the extra range over my 6 creed.

Objectively, what I do see for the 6.5 PRC against its class:

Note - I expect Hornady will be opening the books for the PRC as they have the Creedmoor, such we will see Lapua, Starline, etc brass for the PRC, as well as the very consistent Hornady brass.

6.5 SAUM/6.5 WSM/26 Nosler - single source brass, hard to come by, takes quite a bit of work in brass prep to bring it up to quality standards (save the Nosler). For me, the RSAUM is the gold standard by which the 6.5PRC is measured. PRC brass - I expect - will be more widely available.

.264 Win Mag - Long action and belted, great brass isn’t common, or even real.

6.5-06 - Long action, doesn’t keep up with the PRC, but brass is widely available, above anything else on the page, from cheap to perfect.

6.5-284 - Long action, doesn’t keep up with the PRC, very limited factory brass and components, but what is out there is good stuff

Any of them are good answers to the 1200-1800yrd steel games question, or a 600+ yard hunting question, which aren’t common questions many folks actually need to answer. But in the class, the PRC has less alibis than the others.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Well I think it's a good thing. I mean, I'll keep the 57 year old 270 that I have, but a new cartridge is good.

Seeing a new cartridge being developed means, to me, that there are new ideas. New ideas means a continued interest and a continued interest means that the shooting sports have a Future.

So, a "Good Thing"...

 

[CraigC]

It doesn't interest me in the least but what I do find fascinating, is how shooters trip over each other trying to be the first to criticize a new offering. Whether it's a cartridge, firearm or whatever. As if it's an affront to their manhood and experience, that they are required by law to give up their favorite blaster or granddad's `06 in favor of something new. This is an industry of incremental improvements. Those incremental improvements are spelled out right in the article, those of neck and shoulder dimensions and twist rate. Take what you can use and leave the rest.

 

[Llama Bob]

.264 Win Mag - Long action and belted, great brass isn’t common, or even real.

I have no objection to the Nosler brass.

 

[Jack B.]

Never did go for the 6.5 stuff. 30-06 been working good for me for 50 years. Not a target shooter.

 

[Varminterror]

I have no objection to the Nosler brass.

I use Nosler in 7 and 300, if it was always as good as it can be, then it would be fantastic. I expect to normally get great brass from them, but I have had a few misses in the past.

It wouldn’t be a caveat at all for me in standard cartridges which will let brass live forever, but I load my magnums like magnums should be - pockets get loose and caseheads expand. Even with the collet body die, brass life isn’t long. So I either load huge batches of good lots, or turn over brass often.

It’s great stuff, but turning it over makes me itch.

 

[Dr T]

Gee. A whopping 200 fps at the muzzle. And it fits a magnum size bolt face.

Just right for someone who has a short action with a magnum bolt face that they want to re-barrel...

I wonder if this could be used to re-purpose those WSSM's?

 

[MCMXI]

@MCMXI just built a PRC rifle.

.... and I'm still on the fence about it. I have two barrels so if I shoot out the first figuring out whether or not the 6.5 PRC has a role in my hunting repertoire I can always screw on the second. I haven't had the time to continue working up loads recently due to business related travel and numerous projects unrelated to firearms. I hope to get back to it in September or late August and see if the 142gr ABLR bullets will shoot. If they won't then I'm done with the 6.5 PRC and will go back to .308 Win or 300 WSM with that rifle. In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm not loving the 6.5 PRC yet.

 

[redneck2]

Shooters seem to continually ignore the laws of physics. A given bullet with a given powder charge will result in a given velocity

From “The Accurate Shooter”

“High Velocities”? Wait a minute — here’s the ballistics chart from Hornady’s 6.5 PRC page. It shows a muzzle velocity of 2910 FPS. That’s not much better than a 6.5 Creedmoor (which can push 140s over 2800 fps), so we wonder about this. You have to ask — what is the point? Is there anything this 6.5 PRC can do that the venerable 6.5-284 can’t do just as well or better — with a standard bolt face?”

You can change the shoulder 1/2 a degree, make the case fatter or thinner, longer or shorter. You’re still pretty much get the same performance.

But, changing the headstamp is supposed to somehow make magic happen

This too will most likely go the way of the RUM’s, WSSM’s, etc., etc.

The Creed is doing well because it fits a “tweener” slot between big stuff and little stuff, and has the correct twist rate.

 

[Dr T]

It's called marketing, Redneck2...and I quite agree with you.

 

[Llama Bob]

Is there anything this 6.5 PRC can do that the venerable 6.5-284 can’t do just as well or better — with a standard bolt face?”

That one's easy - fit in a short action. The competition for this is the 6.5WSM/Leopard and 6.5 SAUM, not the 6.5-284.

 

[joneb]

I guess if I wanted a barn burner I would get a 26 Nosler, the 6.5 Creedmoor is in my sights for now.

 

[Varminterror]

“High Velocities”? Wait a minute — here’s the ballistics chart from Hornady’s 6.5 PRC page. It shows a muzzle velocity of 2910 FPS.

One of the pro shooters in our precision rifle club runs a 6.5 PRC - he has the 147 ELD running a touch over 3100.

 

[hq]

There are two observable factors to consider with every cartridge:
1. Support, availability and popularity
2. Ballistics and technical details

The first one is somewhat self-evident and not always predictable, except with calibers adopted by any major military force in the world.
The second one is a slippery slope that escalates and - given enough time - eventually leads to .22 Eargesplitten Loudenboomer every time, without a fail.

That's why I prefer to stick to #1 before considering #2.

 

[69Precision]

...if you want to be able to buy very accurate factory ammo, that is a capable round for North American game out to several hundred yards, the PRC offers that in a short action with moderate recoil

as does the 6.5 cm as well as the 308

 

[Varminterror]

as does the 6.5 cm as well as the 308

As does a dozen other rounds...

Statements like this quoted are much akin to saying Dodge doesn’t need to produce a 2019 Ram 3500 for anyone because you’re happy driving your 1991 Ford F-150 to work. More is more, and different is different - market competition is a sign of a healthy market, and frankly, a requirement for it.

Would you rather have less competitive options in the market, less product innovation, less sales revenue, less businesses in the firearms industry, less businesses funding pro-2A lobbyists, and less firearms rights in America?

I’m betting you were ok with the first, not so much the second, happy with the 3rd, then realized you had walked yourself into a regretful slippery slope past that... the firearms industry, like any industry, revolves around revenue. If your market is saturated and there isn’t healthy capitalist competition, the industry would falter. The same industry which is motivated to defend its means of living - its means of income - by defending your 2nd Amendment rights. So don’t buy new firearms, don’t sustain the industry, be happy with what you have, criticize others who DO sustain the industry, until they don’t any longer, and then none of you are happy when political opposition says you can’t keep what you have any longer.

The fact Dodge continually sells new Ram trucks every model year despite the existence of old Ford trucks on the road doesn’t have nearly the impact on your constitutional rights as the fact firearms manufacturers continually sell new firearms and cartridge designs. It’s one industry which indeed has a direct impact on the stability of American rights.

 

[z7]

as does the 6.5 cm as well as the 308

Yes they do, and so do other rounds,

The prc does it flatter, with more energy, impact velocity and penetration, and less wind deflection

Not arguing that it is the best, or necessary, but stating the purpose and use for the round,

The PRC was designed to push high bc, heavy for caliber hunting and target rounds fast enough to make a difference over other options

If you are happy with something else, enjoy what you like

If you get an itch to try something new, perhaps try it