I am building a lightweight mountain / sheep rifle. I would like to go with a 20 or 22' barrel but have heard that I should strongly consider a 24" barrel in order to get the most out of this caliber. What are you guys thoughts? Is a shorter barrel limiting the 6.5 PRC? Thanks in advance for any feedback?
6.5 PRC Barrel Length (22" or 24")
- Thread starter KamoAggie
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Buttermilk
Well-Known Member
I am considering doing a 6.5 PRC in an XP-100 with a barrel length of 17.5".
You would give up some velocity, so define your velocity goal and set the barrel length accordingly.
You would give up some velocity, so define your velocity goal and set the barrel length accordingly.
D
Deleted member 103481
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Is it limiting it? Yes. Is it worth that? No clue.
If you have a pencil barrel/carbon barrel look into how much weight you are truly shaving with 2 inches of barrel. It's not much.
I have seen good reported speeds out of short barreled prcs with handloads though.
If you have a pencil barrel/carbon barrel look into how much weight you are truly shaving with 2 inches of barrel. It's not much.
I have seen good reported speeds out of short barreled prcs with handloads though.
This ultimately comes down to what are you expecting velocity wise. Its common knowledge that shorter barrel = less velocity. I had your same dilemma when I got my PRC and I was torn between a 22" or 24". I ended up going with a 23" because I run a can always and don't want my rifle to be as tall as me. I would think a 20" will really hurt your velocities. You are going to be down in 6.5 Creedmoor velocity realm which took all the benefits away from rolling with a PRC. IMHO I believe 22" would be the cut off! Best of luck on your build brother
But again brother it just comes down to what velocity you are trying to achieve. Even with a 20" PRC you are going to be in the realm of what a 26" or so Creed is running. So if that velocity is what you are looking for and are happy the PRC will achieve a nice short barrel while still getting the performance of the longer creed.
FIGJAM
Well-Known Member
You will lose a little bit of velocity, but it won't take you all the way down to creed speeds.
D
Deleted member 103481
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You're gonna be leaning on a creed real hard to match a PRC with both at 20"
Pretty sure I've seen at least one report of a 140 kissing 3k in a 20"
Pretty sure I've seen at least one report of a 140 kissing 3k in a 20"
dgarrett
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I would also look at what over all length you want your sheep/mountain rifle to be... Does the fps gains of somewhere around 20-25 fps to inch of barrel vs a nice little gun that you don't hardly know is in your pack worth it? That is what I would look at also..Lets face it unless you are filthy rich Sheep Tags are likely to come only once in a lifetime and then you have to be lucky... Are you on wilderness hunts where you need a short light rifle.... really.... or is it that you have a safe full of 10lb plus guns and just want something light. I like short light weight rifles for truck guns to... Wrestling 30 inch barrel rifles with breaks out has save many coyotes lives...I am in the process of building a light weight CM... I was originally going to go with 18.5 inch barrel... But just like everyone it seems.. I hate leaving FPS on the table and have second guessed my first build idea ... Now I am deciding between 20 and 22 inch.. Guess as stated above I could just go 6.5 prc and use the short barrel..My build will be on a Proof Sendero contour barrel so I am not saving every ounce I can.... But should be super stiff.....JMO Dave
I'm only getting 2920 fps in my 24" proof research sendero light barrel with the 143 gr hornady precision hunter ammo even though the box says 2960 fps on it. It only has 30 rounds down the tube though, maybe it'll speed up a bit with some more shooting.
ruby76
Well-Known Member
For a light weight, short barreled build I'd be considering a 6.5 Sherman shortmag (or other SS/SST calibers).
Chopperguy
Well-Known Member
I built a 20" PRC mostly to shoot suppressed and not have 30" of barrel length with the can attached.
I was hoping to obtain at least good CM performance with this set up and was willing to sacrifice some speed for the handiness of the more manageable barrel/can combo.
I was pleasantly surprised that I'm running the 143 ELDX in the 20" PRC at 2895 consistently and with super accuracy. That's above my expectations and still getting GREAT accuracy. (Under .25" at 100 when I do my part.)
It's a Proof Summit rifle shooting Hornaday factory Precision Hunter 143 ELDX cartridges. And I have found that with my can attached I average 15 FPS faster than without the can on. Seems contrary, but has been consistent for my testing and about 150 rounds down the barrel.
Whether blind hunting, spot and stalk or searching with a vehicle, this package is very handy moving about, accessing and egressing these hunting methods.
Would I do it again, absolutely!
mountaincarver
Well-Known Member
I had a 28 inch creed eclips. loved it. shot lots of diff powder with 140ish bullets. sold it and bought a 24 inch tikka. found that it shoots about the same speed with similar loads but cant shoot the tac driving accuracy with the slower powders like h4831 like I could with the 28 inch.
I have a 24 inch 6.5 prc. seemed slow at first but picked up a whole bunch of speed after 200 rounds. at first it liked h1000 and retumbo. after limbering up, it likes faster stuff like h4831 and imr 4831. this is true for 140 elites, 143s and 147s. I can easily push 143s and 140s to 3150 fps if I load stiff. the 147s can comfortably go 3040ish. best accuracy in mine is around mid 2900s. this leaves room in the case not utilized which has been ok so far with es and sds. this prc is the only one I have experience with so far, and I sometimes wonder if I would benefit from a longer barrel not to gain speed, but to better utilize the slower powders to utilize case capacity. in short, I would lean toward 24 before 22.
I have a 24 inch 6.5 prc. seemed slow at first but picked up a whole bunch of speed after 200 rounds. at first it liked h1000 and retumbo. after limbering up, it likes faster stuff like h4831 and imr 4831. this is true for 140 elites, 143s and 147s. I can easily push 143s and 140s to 3150 fps if I load stiff. the 147s can comfortably go 3040ish. best accuracy in mine is around mid 2900s. this leaves room in the case not utilized which has been ok so far with es and sds. this prc is the only one I have experience with so far, and I sometimes wonder if I would benefit from a longer barrel not to gain speed, but to better utilize the slower powders to utilize case capacity. in short, I would lean toward 24 before 22.
WildRose
Well-Known Member
24" would be my choice with that case size so you can take advantage of slower powders.
