Does anybody have any experience with either of these two? I'd love to get your feedback, positive or negative, as well as what rifles, optics, bullets, and ranges you're shooting.

I'm intrigued by these two calibers and seriously looking into purchasing both of them within the next year or so. 6.5 PRC as a primary elk and deer rifle, and 300 PRC as an extended range elk/moose/Alaska rifle with some serious long range target capability as well.

My only reservation is availability of brass. I'd think Hornady's stuff is entirely too soft to get more than a few loadings out of these rounds. There do appear to be some boutique manufacturers releasing high quality, properly hardened offerings in short order, so that should solve that problem.

Recoil is not really a concern for me, although barrel life is. Both hypothetical rifles will be braked and suppressed as well. My local shooting spots let me reach out to well beyond the effective range of even the 300 PRC, so the full capabilities of both cartridges will get used and then some.

Thanks!

I have a Christensen Ridgeline in 6.5PRC topped with a ZEISS Conquest V6 3-18x50. I love the rifle and the round. I have ammo loaded by Suprior Ammo in SC. Use 140gr Accubond.

Cleanly took a 6x6 bull elk at 420 yards this fall in Montana.

After playing around with ballistics and learning a bit more about the reticle (ZBR 2, I’m a ballistic reticle guy when hunting- don’t want to deal with dialing in what might be a fast paced situation), I was routinely hitting targets from 500 to 800 after filling my tag.

I’ve adopted this as my go to all-around rifle except in tight woods situations or states with straight walled limitations. Use a Ruger American Ranch in 450 BM In those cases. Beauty and the Beast!

Can’t say enough about the rifle and the caliber. Love it.

I'm not shooting either, two good friends are shooting custom built 6.5PRC and 300PRC. We shoot together a lot, compete in the same matches. Rifles built for ELR competitions.

6.5PRC- Bighorn TL3 long action, Bartlein 28", Vortex Razor, TB Ultra 7 suppressor, Sierra 150SMK's at 3100. To do a 6.5PRC justice it needs to be in a long action.

300PRC-Kelbly Black Bear action, Brux 30", NF 7-35. He shoots this with a APA brake as well as TB 338 Ultra. Hornady 225ELD's at 2925. Using 338 CIP mags which barely allow for the 225 or other heavies to have the top of the boat-tail at the neck/shoulder junction.

Both using Hornady brass, holding up well enough, 5 firings+ with stout loads.

I've shot both rifles. Seen both shoot during load work up at 850, 1050, 1460, 1660. Give the nod to the 300PRC. Certainly every barrels is different, two different barrels.... The 6.5PRC is easier to shoot, manage recoil, stay on target.

Barrel life has to go to the 300PRC.

I look at caliber choices as a competitive shooter, inherit accuracy, easy to tune. These two guys and myself have been shooting 6BR's and 6BR based wildcats for a long time. Neither the 6.5PRC or 300PRC come close to the inherit accuracy of the BR case. I've shot out two 7SAUM barrels, 28" and 30". Berger 180 Hybrids at 3000. 1500ish barrel life. Strongly believe the 7SAUM is a more accurate cartridge then either. Several 7SAUM's around me. As a hand-loader I would not chamber either a 6.5PRC or 300PRC. Been around, seen other 6.5 magnums/wildcats shoot, pass. Would pick a 7SAUM or 7/300WSM over any 6.5 magnum. For a big 30 caliber I would consider a 28 Nosler necked up to 30 cal. Do a search on the accurate shooter forum for the 28-30 Nosler by Alex Wheeler and rpierce.

Excellent feedback so far, thanks guys. This is exactly the type of information I was hoping for.

TampaSIG, 420 is a good ways on an elk! Nicely done. That's well within my wheelhouse, as I find myself primarily hunting elk in the sagebrush these days. I'm also an Accubond guy and have used them in .284 and .30 to take many elk. I'll most likely be loading the 142 ABLRs over H1000 or similar. I'm thinking Q's "The Fix" will be my rifle of choice when it becomes available in the PRC, hopefully later this year.

Offgrid - thanks for the input. I most likely will be using the 6.5 in a lightweight, compact, relatively short barreled rifle as an elk and deer getter, so I'm not terribly worried about extracting every possible yard from the caliber. Unless something better pops up I'll be buying Q's The Fix, which uses AICS magazines and is currently only available in short action. However, I would not be surprised to see the Mega Fix released this year.

I'm also not all that concerned about getting the absolute best .30 cal out there. I don't have much interest in competition, for various reasons. For seriously long range stuff I'm already planning a .375 Cheytac in the next couple of years. Readily available brass and published load data is a huge plus for me. I'm currently shooting a .300 WM for everything over 1k (working up to a mile, haven't had good enough weather since changing scope/rail) and my .308 for everything up to that range with no major issues.

As for the inherent accuracy thing - I'm not that familiar with the BR rounds, but I have no doubt they are inherently extremely accurate. That's one of the reasons I was interested in the 300 PRC; the freebore diameter is only .0008" larger than the bullet, for starters. For bullet selection, I'm looking primarily at the 210 Nosler ABLR for hunting, and 210 RDF for long range target fun.

Thank you guys for sharing your knowledge!

I've shot with the two guys offgrid describes in his post above, but not as often. I'm more familiar with the 6.5PRC, as we shot side-by-side in a long range match last year.

Recoil is definitely less with the 6.5 PRC, while down range kinetic energy favors the 300 PRC. Both cartridges will be hard on barrels from a match-shooter's perspective, but maybe not so much for a hunter's perspective. I also suspect the 6.5 PRC will have a shorter useful barrel life.

If you're relying on factory ammo, neither cartridge has many options. It sounds like you hand load, therefore you have more bullet options. I heard the same thing as offgrid on Hornady's brass life.

The 6.5PRC definitely extended the useful distance in steel targets over my 6.5CM. But I consider it an incremental increase rather than a quantum leap. My 6.5CM was pretty much done at 1300-1400 yards, even in relatively calm conditions. The 6.5PRC did fine to 1800 yards when the winds were calm. Toss in some winds and the 6.5PRC wasn't happy beyond 1400 yards. When the winds picked up, the 6.5PRC couldn't hang with the 300 magnums. Again, this is just accuracy on steel, not hunting.

The 300 PRC might be close to being a quantum leap in long-range capabilities over a 6.5 PRC. But even with a brake or can, the additional recoil of the 300 PRC is quite noticeable -- it's not an easy rifle cartridge to keep the sights on target during the recoil cycle. This is a challenge to accuracy, and to follow up shots.

I agree with offgrid that the 7 SAUM is a great cartridge. It roughly splits the differences between the 6.5 PRC and the 300 PRC. If a factory made accurate & affordable match ammo for the 7 SAUM, I'm pretty certain I'd have a rifle chambered for it.

Looking at the price of the Q. You could build a rifle for less on a custom action. If interested, glad to help.

FYI. Alpha Mags and Accurate mags have the same foot print as 308 AICS mags but don't have a front plate in the internal allowing for a longer loaded OAL.

If you go with 300PRC, suggest to look at the Berger 215 Hybrid bullet. Excellent BC, does well on thin skin.

Once again I come at this as a competitive shooter. Shooting at little steel targets very far away! The calibers I'm shooting for competition could easily hunt with simply changing bullets. I actually shoot a hunting bullet in my 6mm, Berger 105VLD Hunter. It has a slightly better BC then their target bullet. Can't shoot the difference between the hunter and target.

Fritz, thanks for your input. I will definitely be handloading. It looks like ADG (link) is coming out with what looks like good quality brass for the PRC calibers. I see they also make SAUM brass... I am looking further into the 7 SAUM, definitely looks to be a good option.

It'd be nice to get out past a mile with the 6.5, but it isn't critical as there will be other options in the safe. This one will be primarily a hunting rifle for me. My .308 will still take the brunt of the high-volume mid range stuff, and my big, heavy 300 WM will do the long-ish range steel.

Offgrid, I'm pretty well set on getting a Fix for a few reasons - light weight, user changeable barrels/calibers, folding stock, unique chassis/receiver system, etc. It really is a totally different rifle than anything else currently available (except Sig's copy of it). Thanks for the information on the magazines!

Another nice feature is that when I inevitably shoot out the throat on the barrel(s) I can simply order another one from Proof or Bartlein and switch it out in a couple minutes. Not inexpensive, but it's only money right?

Speaking of light weight, does anyone here have experience with the Leupold Mark 6 3-18x44 scopes? At 23 oz, it seems like a pretty ideal optic for an extended range elk getter.

Finally, I have had success with Berger bullets in the past but have never tried them on an animal larger than a prairie dog. I know plenty of people shoot them for deer and elk, but I'm really liking Nosler Accubonds on game. I've seen elk absorb multiple well-placed rounds with other bullets... not these.

quote:

Originally posted by Killer Instincts:
Fritz, thanks for your input. I will definitely be handloading. It looks like ADG (link) is coming out with what looks like good quality brass for the PRC calibers. I see they also make SAUM brass... I am looking further into the 7 SAUM, definitely looks to be a good option.

Last year ADG sent me a few samples of their 7SAUM brass. Shot them 5 times, some with very stout loads, held up great. 7+ would be a reasonable expectation I believe. Good brass.

If I were building a 7SAUM hunting rifle... 24" barrel, short action, Alpha 300WSM mags, chamber throated for 168 class bullets, zing them along at 3000fps or so.

7SAUM/180 Hybrids 5 shots 850yds. Hammer!

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:

quote:

Originally posted by Killer Instincts:
Fritz, thanks for your input. I will definitely be handloading. It looks like ADG (link) is coming out with what looks like good quality brass for the PRC calibers. I see they also make SAUM brass... I am looking further into the 7 SAUM, definitely looks to be a good option.

Last year ADG sent me a few samples of their 7SAUM brass. Shot them 5 times, some with very stout loads, held up great. 7+ would be a reasonable expectation I believe. Good brass.

If I were building a 7SAUM hunting rifle... 24" barrel, short action, Alpha 300WSM mags, chamber throated for 168 class bullets, zing them along at 3000fps or so.

7SAUM/180 Hybrids 5 shots 850yds. Hammer!

Holy shit dude! That's some good shooting.

Glad to hear ADG is good to go.

I have a ridgeline in 6.5prc. I haven't shot it yet but I have 10 boxes of ammo and reloading components for it.

quote:

Originally posted by newmexican:
I have a ridgeline in 6.5prc. I haven't shot it yet but I have 10 boxes of ammo and reloading components for it.

Right on. Let us know how it shoots.