6.5 prc vs 6.5-06

[window licker]

You may want to try RE 23as well. I ran that with a 142 smk at 2970 fps out of my .260 Ackley, works well.

 

[antelopedundee]

It's a bit of work sorting the brass,,, but once that's accomished, the rest of it is easy...

Sizing Lapua 30/06 brass was a work out,,, de-prime,,, then size,,, the trick for me is keeping the ball size high in the die to lesson to chances of neck run out... With the ball seated high the pin won't push out the primer...

Old bench rest trick you know...

The next step was trim neck thickness to 0.015 thou,,, size down to 6.5,,, then thin down to a final 0.012 or 0.013 thickness,,, my run-out came in at just under 1 thou,,, actually it was closer to 0.075,,, I hope I'm reading my guage right,,, Ha... Use a ball mic for this since a person gets a better reading...

I'm borrowing my builders loading dies,,, so I don't want to fine tune them for this rifle till mine show up from Hornady...

The rest of the brass prep is the same as my other 2 cartridges,,, primer pocket inside cleaning,,, shoulder bump back,,, neck run-out,,, deffinatly neck tension...

I'll admit that I'm kinda going over board on this cartridge,,, its nice knowing that the cases won't be the issue in the puzzle...

Thing's that are sorted...

The rifle,,, optic,,, trigger,,, bolt work over,,, and bedding...
It cost me a few extra bucks to nail the loose ends down,,, well worth this cost in Gun-Smith hours since second best dosen't work for me,,, magic man B Jury did the barrel... Oh Yha,,, he built all his milling machines and tools him self,,, his specially if Full Bore and F Class shooters along with bench rest,,, plus he lives down the road from me...

Former National Match shooter R Galloway did the installation since he's a Machinist by trade,,, both of them are good friends in our group of shooters and outdoors stuff... Hunting,,, fishing and camping,,, that's a plus...

Any-who,,, I was really planing on a 260 Remmy,,, Creed 65,,, or the 65 Lapua,,, the wizer option to utilizing the Remmy Long actions was the 6.5/06,,, or Sammy Spec 65 A-square,,, purhaps there slightly different,,, but that stuff is waaaaay over my head...

My job is simple,,, Target shooter,,, iron gong plunder,,, hunter,,, ammo builder,,, and make all of them come together...

I started off with mixed thoughts on this,,, now I'm now convinced that I went with the right idea,,, a fraction less recoil from the 178 to 200 gr 30 cal booltiz,,, this lesson the recoil on the old worn down shoulder,,, purhaps a few extra years of shooting...

I didn't do the MB since the concussion blast doesn't work for me,,, so we thicken up the barrel and I always use a gel recoil pad...

The 10.5 lb'er shoots awesome,,, a bit heavy to pack along the Eastern Slopes of Western Canada,,, but very do-able so long as I take my time...

No need for all the walking since most of the critters I go after are stationed along the roads and Meadows... The easy things in life... LOL...

Good times fore sure,,, that's what really counts on this project...

Edited...

Full turn around on this build was 29 days...

I would have just purchased Norma .25-06 brass [Graf and Sons] and necked it up with a Sinclair .263 expander and turned the necks. No real reason to trim it that I can see. The flash holes were pretty well deburred as is. A bit pricey, but the Quality Cartridge 6.5-06 A Square brass from Grafs wasn't too bad if you want that headstamp. In spite of the not so favorable reviews on Graf's site, my bag of 20 cases was pretty nice looking stuff. I also have a .25-06 so I expect to load my 6.5-06 hunting ammo into nickel plated .25-06 cases.

 

[antelopedundee]

I've actually just seated a boat tail bullet into a 25-06 case and it works too

Amen. I've done the same.

 

[Coyote_Hunter]

My first 6.5 was a 6.5-06AI, Kreiger match barrel on an Interarms Mark X action, bedded fluted, Timney trigger, Boyd stock. It turned out to be an awesome shooter.

Brass is .25-06 necked up, no need to turn the necks. Fire-form loads have been very accurate as well.

Now I'm putting together a Savage 111 that needs a new barrel. The most likely candidate is a 7.5- or 8-twist 6.5 PRC for a number of reasons. I'm not concerned about the future of the cartridge as I believe it and the .300 PRC will be long-term winners.

Could go with anther 6.5-06AI, but this rifle will likely get passed down to a non-reloader family member. By the time that happens i expect the 6.5 PRC to be pretty common.

A couple of advantages the PRC has over standard cartridges is a) more headroom (bullet above the case mouth), and b) tighter SAAMI chamber dimensions.

 

[Greyfox]

With just about identical powder capacities, the difference between 6.5-06, 6.5x284, and 6.5 PRC are the case dimensions, and any minor effects due to the shape of the powder column. Either of the three will get the job done. I started with the 6.5x284 about 10 years ago, and, being a reloader, have yet to see a reason to change. With a slow burner like Retumbo, R26, or N565, 140g class bullets in 3000FPS range has generally been the sweet spot for for these cartridges for hunting applications. IMO, the new Berger 156 with a .347BC looks like it will up the game if it's terminal performance on game proves out. My initial load-work with this bullet using R-26 in my 1:8 twist 26" barrel 6.5x284 achieves +3000FPS, low ES, no pressure signs, and superb accuracy. This bullet is easy to work with, and feeds easily, with room to spare will all my 6,5x284 magazines(a consideration with this bullet).

 

[laker]

Shot my wife's 6.5-06 next to a friends 6.5 Prc through the chronograph the other day. Both guns maxed out at same powder charge of h1000. 6.5-06 was 27fps faster but also has an inch longer barrel

 

[Coyote_Hunter]

Shot my wife's 6.5-06 next to a friends 6.5 Prc through the chronograph the other day. Both guns maxed out at same powder charge of h1000. 6.5-06 was 27fps faster but also has an inch longer barrel

My 24" barreled 6.5-06AI hits 3161fps with a 130g Scirocco II and 58.5g H100V. With 140g Nosler BT and 53.5g H100V it hits 3075fps. That s about 70fps faster than the fastest loads listed by Hodgdon (also with a 24" barrel) and the 140g load is about 100fps faster than Hornady's 143g ELD-X load. Given the extra head room (I hate seating bullets below the neck/shoulder junction except for the boat-tail portion), that's close enough for my purposes.

If the mag box on the Savage was 3.7" instead of 3.5", I'd probably take advantage of it and build a .300PRC. But reality is what it is. The Savage has a magnum bolt face (it was a 7mm RM) and the 6.5 PRC works with it, while building another 6.5-06AI would require a change to the bolt head - easy, but why bother or go to the expense? One of my goals is to do this build on the cheap although I intend to spring for a match grade barrel. The birch stock is fine as-is, but I'll bed it and may paint it something fun.

Building a 6.5 PRC eliminates another problem - keeping ammo optimized for two different 6.5-06AI rifles separate. Manageable, but something I prefer not to deal with.

When the .375 Ruger first came out I predicted there would be factory cartridges based on that case. We now have the 6.5 and .300 PRC and the .300 RCM. The .300 RCM got no love but I still predict in years to come we will see more.

 

[Coyote_Hunter]

I would have just purchased Norma .25-06 brass [Graf and Sons] and necked it up with a Sinclair .263 expander and turned the necks. No real reason to trim it that I can see. The flash holes were pretty well deburred as is. A bit pricey, but the Quality Cartridge 6.5-06 A Square brass from Grafs wasn't too bad if you want that headstamp. In spite of the not so favorable reviews on Graf's site, my bag of 20 cases was pretty nice looking stuff. I also have a .25-06 so I expect to load my 6.5-06 hunting ammo into nickel plated .25-06 cases.

That is exactly how I do it for my 6.5-06AI - buy Winchester 25-06 and run it through my 6.5-06AI die to expand the neck,. Of course I have to fire-form afterwards, but both the fire-for and 6.5-06AI loads are extremely accurate. Easy.

 

[antelopedundee]

How do you fire form your cases since I don't think you can create a false shoulder that way? I jam mine so using .25-06 cases would work. I wouldn't even expand the necks; just seat the bullet and go. If you fire form using the false shoulder/crush fit you'd need to partially neck size .270 Win cases or even .280 Rem/.280 Rem AI if the chamber is sloppy.

 

[zb338]

My .264 Mag. was on a Sako Finnbear action. I could have rebarreled it
to anything I wanted to. The Finnbear uses a magnum action.

Zeke

 

[CaptnC]

Shot my wife's 6.5-06 next to a friends 6.5 Prc through the chronograph the other day. Both guns maxed out at same powder charge of h1000. 6.5-06 was 27fps faster but also has an inch longer barrel

I was checking Hodgdon load data and they show a huge difference in charge weight between those two cartridges using H1000.

6.5-06....53.0gr max load...2880fps
6.5 PRC...58.3gr max load...3041fps

I know I'm quite a bit over their max load with Hybrid 100V so I understand that Hodgdon 6.5-06 data might be some what lite. The Hybrid 100V sure shoots good but I'm not quite up 3000fps yet with my load work up....IIRC 2950fps is as high as I have chronographed.

 

[antelopedundee]

I was checking Hodgdon load data and they show a huge difference in charge weight between those two cartridges using H1000.

6.5-06....53.0gr max load...2880fps
6.5 PRC...58.3gr max load...3041fps

I know I'm quite a bit over their max load with Hybrid 100V so I understand that Hodgdon 6.5-06 data might be some what lite. The Hybrid 100V sure shoots good but I'm not quite up 3000fps yet with my load work up....IIRC 2950fps is as high as I have chronographed.

I wonder about Hodgdon data too. I was looking at it awhile back for IMR4831 and IMR7828 in the 6.5-06 with 130 grain bullets and it seems way lighter than what I use. You would expect that the 6.5-06 with 130s would have similar loads to a .25-06 with 117s or a .270Win with 130s. I asked them about the discrepancy and they assured me that it is correct. I use around 54 grains of IMR4831 with a 130 in a 6.5-06 and there are no pressure problems. They show 47.0 grainsof IMR4831 producing over 62,000 psi with a velocity of 2850.

 

[CaptnC]

Well antelope,

I'm just spent a few hour at the range earlier today testing some loads.

South wind was gusting so haRd even leaning against a cement shooting bench you still moved from the wind...

Bit it looks like I'm still well below a "true" max load with the Hybrid 100V. Even though I'm way over the max listed.

I chose Hybrid 100V because it lists 270 and 280 loads right on the label. The max charge for a 270 is 56gr. While the max load for the 6.5-06 is only 49gr. The 280 with a 160gr. bullet is over the 6.5 at 52gr. It does list both as compressed.

I can see there is plenty of room for more powder...on the label it even lists a max load in the 243 being compressed.

I'm at 50.1gr...far from a compressed load and knocking on the door of 3100fps. There is a nice noid between 49.5 and 49.8, so I'm not sure I could reach the next one without over pressuring the cartridge.

The 50.1 cases looked no different than 49.3 cases, no signs of pressure on the primers...bolt still smooth as butter...so I believe I have a little more room going up.

 

[antelopedundee]

Well antelope,

I'm just spent a few hour at the range earlier today testing some loads.

South wind was gusting so haRd even leaning against a cement shooting bench you still moved from the wind...

Bit it looks like I'm still well below a "true" max load with the Hybrid 100V. Even though I'm way over the max listed.

I chose Hybrid 100V because it lists 270 and 280 loads right on the label. The max charge for a 270 is 56gr. While the max load for the 6.5-06 is only 49gr. The 280 with a 160gr. bullet is over the 6.5 at 52gr. It does list both as compressed.

I can see there is plenty of room for more powder...on the label it even lists a max load in the 243 being compressed.

I'm at 50.1gr...far from a compressed load and knocking on the door of 3100fps. There is a nice noid between 49.5 and 49.8, so I'm not sure I could reach the next one without over pressuring the cartridge.

The 50.1 cases looked no different than 49.3 cases, no signs of pressure on the primers...bolt still smooth as butter...so I believe I have a little more room going up.

Were you shooting the 6.5-06 or the 6.5 PRC? Do you agree that the Hodgdon data for the 6.5-06 seems weird?