I Drank The 6.5 Koolaid

[airedale]

When I was a kid my dream cartridge was the 264 Winchester mag, looking at the ballistic charts of that cartridge made that young barefoot country boy drool. When I talked to my Dad about the 264 he talked me out of getting one, it is a barrel burner he said. To re-enforce the barrel burner propaganda my brother purchased a used model 70 in 264 Win mag and the throat was eroded so bad that he was lucky to hit a pie plate at 100 yds. So that kind of ended my desire for a 264.

Fast forward to these days and both old and new 6.5 cartridges have become all the rage in the shooting and hunting world with the Creedmoor leading the charge making me take notice. I again seriously considered a 264 Win mag and also 6.5-284 got my attention, but the one that checked off the most boxes for me was the 6.5 PRC (precision Rifle Cartridge. The thing that held me back from getting one was the rifles being chambered in that cartridge, while I know the fiberglass and composite stocks and muted finishes are great performers I am more of a traditional wood and polished blued steel sparkler type.

Always on the lookout for what I wanted I found on Guns International a beautiful Riflemans rifle, a Winchester model 70 Featherweight chambered in the 6.5 PRC at a very good price. To make a long story short by the end of the weekend (getting under the wire of the new state horseshit law) I should have the rifle and all of the loading components and Dies to make her go bang and hopefully kill a Deer with this upcoming season.

Al

[Grouse]

I like the .260 Remington because of the reloading possibilities.  Not as fast as the 6.5 PRC, but better than the Creedmoor when fired in a custom fast twist barrel.

[airedale]

This is going to be my first experience with a 264 cal cartridge, from what I have read, that caliber size has  always interested me. Jim Carmichael the Outdoor Life gun editor was a big proponent of the 260 Remington and his writings really was the start of this 6.5 phenomena that has taken hold recently.

My choice of the 6.5 PRC was because I believe it to be one of the most efficient case designs ever, the ballistics it produces with the right handloads are almost too good to be true. I can basically duplicate the 264 Winchester mag factory loads and even surpass them performance wise.

Al

[DDT]

I've had a 6.5 Grendel for years. Taken some deer with it. Works DRT. It's not a PRC but the lighter weight bullets work well. I also have a 7mmGNR, it's a blown out case 7x30 Waters, In a 16" Contender barrel. I have killed a bunch of deer DRT too. Toss-up of which is my favorite. The little Contender is really handy. 

[airedale]

I picked up the 6.5 PRC Featherweight last evening at the Bass pro in Utica, was shipped for free from Cabelas in Kansas City. Firearms purchased online from Bass Pro or Cabelas anywhere in the country will be shipped to  the closest of either store in your home state for free which is a 40 or 50 dollar savings.

I got to tell you it was a long drawn out ordeal getting the paperwork done, three different clerks checked it out and starting Wednesday it is going to be as Clint Eastwood would say a real clusterpuck!

Factory ammo (if you can find any) for the 6.5 is priced ridiculously, $75.00!! I bought a box of Federals only because I had some gift cards from last Christmas and need to use them on something. These Federals look like something the Lone Ranger would use, cases and bullets are a bright polished silver color, they would make nice jewelry. The ammo also has to be purchased with ID. Can't wait to see the circus at the Syracuse gun show this weekend.

Anyhow I have eight boxes of brass coming this week and will be able to handload this caliber for a small fraction of what the factory price is and it will be better.

I love this Featherweight because of it's light 7lb weight, I want to keep it that way so I went with a vintage American made Redfield 3X9 mini scope mounted with one piece Tally aluminum rings, this is going to be one nice carrying rifle. She is all bore sighted so I might shoot a few of those fancy Federal rounds out of her later today.

Al

[airedale]

Spent a good part of Saturday handloading some cartridges for this 6.5 PRC, I do not have any new reloading manuals, the latest being five years old does not have any load data for this new wave of cartridges like the PRC. The newest available manual is the 2023 Hodgdon so I have that one coming but got started with Nosler's online 6.5 PRC data and used that to get me started.

For bullets I went with a midrange in weight, 120 gr Barnes and Hornady's 123 gr interloc boat tail, these will work well on Deer size game.

Nosler's favorite powder is Norma MRP, high velocity and best accuracy, I just happened to have a stash. I have used MRP for many years, mostly in my 280 Remington, it is in a league of it's own. Thankfully I had enough to load enough shells to last many years as I have found out that Norma is no longer making or selling powder at this time. According to Nosler the load I am trying will be speeding along at least 3300 FPS, that is faster that the factory loads for the 264 Winchester mag with similar bullet weights.

My second powder is the old standby Hodgdon 4831 short cut with the same bullets, not quite as good as the Norma MRP performance wise but still pretty fair.

I will also be testing those fancy Federal silver bullets, I will shoot a few once I get the Winchester sighted in, at over $4 a pop I will not be firing many at paper.

I will be setting up the chronograph to get the real ballistics facts, I got my fingers crossed so I will be hitting the range with the lineup below

Al

[Grouse]

Looks good. What do you estimate the cost of the least expensive load you made up to be?

[airedale]

Of course, it all depends on how much one pays for their components, smart shopping is key.

A close estimate per shell would be.

Primer $.11

Hornady sst $.40

Powder 4831 $.37

New case $1.30

That would be $2.18 per round for new.

Now saying the 6.5 PRC case will last for at least 8 good loadings that would make the case cost $.18 per round bringing down the total cost to $1.06 per shot. The Barnes bullets are more than twice the cost of the Hornadys at 86 cents each and I doubt very much whether any Deer shot with either would be any more dead.

Al

Edited September 18, 2023 by airedale

[airedale]

So the handload I will be using for the most part out of this rifle will be the 123 gr Hornady SST interlock bullet made especially for whitetails. I ran the load through Hornady's ballistic calculator out to  450 yards and will be sighting the 3300 FPS load close to the info is on the chart below, a little over 2inches at 100 yds. Sure looks good on paper! I have access to a 300 yard range so I will be doing a check there to tell the truth.

I have found Hornady's calculator to be pretty much spot on.

Al

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by airedale

[Grouse]

Are you concerned about the high velocity when you shoot a deer at say 50 yards?  Sounds like the SST may either shoot right through without much effect, or rapidly mushroom doing a lot of meat damage.  I've never liked the results of bullets traveling more than 2700 fps when hitting a deer.  Are any of your shots 100 yards or less?

[airedale]

7 hours ago, Grouse said:

Are you concerned about the high velocity when you shoot a deer at say 50 yards?  Sounds like the SST may either shoot right through without much effect, or rapidly mushroom doing a lot of meat damage. 

Not at all, the Hornady SST bullet is an upgraded version of the time tested tried and true interlock bullet, having a more aerodynamic profile with a plastic tip and a boat tail.

I have used the regular interlock bullets for years with zero complaints, I think they are one of the best hunting bullets made at any price and expect the SST interlocks to perform much the same way. High velocity, flat trajectory and gilt-edge accuracy far outweigh any possible meat damage from my perspective. A well placed shot will pole axe a Deer most times right where they stand and if they do run it is not very far.

Almost every shot I take at big game is a heart lung shot behind the front shoulder, there is not a whole lot of meat wasted when taking and making that shot.

Al

[airedale]

Did the final sight in today with the 6.5 PRC, I use just a two shot cold barrel group for pencil barrel sporters like this Featherweight Model 70. These are the 123 Gr Hornady SST bullets with a Norma MRP powder charge at 100 yards traveling in the 3300 FPS range. I believe these will do the job on Deer and hopefully they will get to prove it in a few weeks.

Al

[wildcat junkie]

The 6.5 X 55 has been doing similar things for eons. In a modern bolt action it can be loaded to similar pressures and it will perform on a par with the new renditions. Given solid and repeatable headspace, once the bullet has left the barrel, twist rate Mv and ballistic coefficient will determine performance. Nothing more, nothing less.

Edited April 7 by wildcat junkie