6.5 prc velocity question

[Litehiker]

Dave,
Your 24" barrel is fine for hunting. That's the length of the Browning X-Bolt Pro I ordered. SAKO barrels are just too short at 20" and 22".

I think we will see Hornady and others bring out their Superformance line for the 6.5 PRC once they catch up on the ELD-M and ELD-X orders and the 300 PRC Army sniper contract.
When we see 6.5 PRC Superformance ammo with their proprietary powder we'll get back a lot of the missing velocity.
In the meantime we'll have to see what powders work best. Maybe Hogdon Superformance as it seems to work best in short magnums which is exactly what the 6.5 PRC is.

Eric B.

 

[Bro Dave]

Dave,
Your 24" barrel is fine for hunting. That's the length of the Browning X-Bolt Pro I ordered. SAKO barrels are just too short at 20" and 22".

I think we will see Hornady and others bring out their Superformance line for the 6.5 PRC once they catch up on the ELD-M and ELD-X orders and the 300 PRC Army sniper contract.
When we see 6.5 PRC Superformance ammo with their proprietary powder we'll get back a lot of the missing velocity.
In the meantime we'll have to see what powders work best. Maybe Hogdon Superformance as it seems to work best in short magnums which is exactly what the 6.5 PRC is.

Eric B.

thanks all. bd

 

[WildRose]

New barrel. It should speed up after 100-150 rounds.
Barrels are all different.
Powder lots are all different.
Same barrel length as book?
Same brass as book?
Same primer as book?
Same CBTO/jump as book?
Too many variables. A book is a guideline, not a Bible.

All True. Be sure to clean it religiously during the break in process. You should suddenly see a point at which it seems to foul much less. When you do, you're close to broken in.

Next step, watch your velocities shooting the same consistent load. When it peaks and settles in to low ES and SD, you're there and there should be a noticable improvement in accuracy as well. If not start tweaking the load.

Till you get to that point you can waste a lot of time and effort and gain a whole lot of aggravation working with different loads and tweaking them for accuracy.

 

[adamjp]

I don't have a 6.5 PRC, but I do have a 6.5-06 and a 6.5 SAUM. The 6.5-06 is identical in performance to the PRC, same capacity, pressure limits within the tolerance of brass (ie about 4k psi). I'm writing this as a small amount of expectation advice.

In my 6.5-06 with a PacNor polygonal barrel I struggled to get 140gn bullets going harder than 3050fps with single base powders like H1000. Even upping the pressure by 8% to 65k PSI isn't going to make the PRC deliver 6.5 SAUM/264 Win Mag velocities of 140gn bullets at greater than 3100fps with safety.

Superformance powder may be different, but then you are tied to a factory offering.

I agree with those who have found bullets in the 130gn and under 140gn to be your best approach for cartridges in this capacity spectrum.

 

[DeathstalkerDan]

I have a 24" Barrel and with the 143 ELDX I got a five shot average of 3054 with 59.0 grains of H1000 in a new gun. Sometimes they speed up, mine did not.

 

[shooterntn]

Just got a 6.5 PRC to test out the round. Did some preliminary accuracy results and was satisfactory. Started doing some accuracy / node testing with Hornady 140 gr and H1000 and got clear up to 59.1 grains and saw some slight shininess on brass from ejector but velocity was only 2911fps according to my Lab Radar. Hornady book claims 3100 for 59gr.

According to Accurate Powder chart I should have got 2900fps with about 57.5 gr. Hornady Brass. Any thoughts or experience out there?

Mcwhorter says 58 grains with 135 classic hunter , don't say what kind powder says he's getting 3150.

 

[sable tireur]

Mcwhorter says 58 grains with 135 classic hunter , don't say what kind powder says he's getting 3150.

Re-26 more than likely. That's their powder of choice.

 

[highdrum]

I'm pushing 140 elite hunter @ 3130 with 60.1gr N565 in adg brass. Bout half grain below ejector. No bolt click.

 

[Another Casual]

150-200 rounds down my 26" barrel, 58.7gr H1000 giving me 3065 w. 140 accubonds, hornady brass and CCI 250 large rifle mag primers.

 

[Bro Dave]

150-200 rounds down my 26" barrel, 58.7gr H1000 giving me 3065 w. 140 accubonds, hornady brass and CCI 250 large rifle mag primers.

Thats great performance.

 

[Another Casual]

I'm not pushing it hard at all, hoping to get decent case life and better barrel life with the relatively slow H1000. I'll have to tweak a bit once the Lapua 6.5 PRC brass drops.

 

[Quintus]

RL26 is pushing 140 Accubonds out of my 24" CA Mesa at 3125 with no pressure signs. I had started with 130 Berger VLDs with RL22 due to inventory restrictions and was running 3180 for accuracy, but had no trouble getting to 3200+.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Mcwhorter says 58 grains with 135 classic hunter , don't say what kind powder says he's getting 3150.

59.0gr RE26 gets me 3,113-SD3 in a 26" browning bbl with the Berger 135 Classic Hunter.

 

[chetraguse]

I'm getting 3114 with 58.2 of reloader 26 and the 156 Berger's.