Weatherby Vanguard HighCountry 6.5 PRC

[.300 Dakota]

It needs to have a 26" barrel, too!

Mine is a 26" Bartlein and I am barely duplicating 6.5x284N loads I shot in a factory Savage LRH!

 

[.300 Dakota]

Mine is a 26" Bartlein and I am barely duplicating 6.5x284N loads I shot in a factory Savage LRH!

Best results for accuracy are with SLOW powders, esp. Ramshot Magnum. So a long barrel is a must for anywhere near the performance guys here expect.

 

[.300 Dakota]

picture? Never seen that before and they surely won't fit into my short actions vanguard

saami is 2.825" on creedmoor and 2.955 on Prc

Here's how a factory 6.5 prc fits into a short action vanguard.View attachment 212621

 

[new2mud]

I'm glad it works for you. Setting myself up with zero room to chase lands, or having my load clear a magazine with 0.01-0.005 room isn't something I do, but to each their own.

Again, more assumptions being spread that scares others off unnecessarily. I never said I was loading to 2.945"—that's the factory Hornady load.

I'm closing in on 900 rounds on this barrel. My accuracy hand load for the 147 ELD-Ms still has 0.050" (yes—50 thousandths) to grow before I hit mag length limitations. Based on throat erosion to date, I won't hit that within the life of this barrel. And there is no indication that the factory Hornady 147 load will fall off the cliff within the next 900 rounds.

Additionally, 3050 FPS is hardly limiting me on velocity due to less powder capacity due to deeper seating, which is another commonly heard argument that just hasn't panned out. Would love to hear from others who have actual experience with this.

Apologies to the OP since this was intended to be a Vanguard related thread. However, invariably someone will chime in that a SA is a crippling compromise for 6.5PRC and these blanket claims just aren't applicable for all instances. Although it does appear to hold true for historical factory Vanguard bottom metal (which hardly represents all SA use cases).

I am certainly no trail blazer but I took what I thought may be a "risk" on going the SA route (based on all the naysayers who didn't actually have first hand experience), but it has worked out wonderfully. Thankfully many of these newer generation of bullets are very accommodating of longer jumps than we are used to, and modern powders enable some pretty great performance.

 

[Weatherby Fan]

new2mud, its all good, healthy debate is great, we all learn from it, I myself actually had a 6.5-284 built on an 84M Kimber Montana (SA) and it shoots just fine and Im along ways off the lands with most everything I shove through it, so Im sure one can build a or use a SA for 6.5PRC without issue,

In the end its just nice to see another rifle company pick up the 6.5 PRC as it is an outstanding cartridge, Im looking forward to seeing Tikka and Kimber chamber their rifles in this cartridge.

Ill message Adam and see what action length they are using for the PRC

 

[Nomosendero]

Extra velocity from a standard bolt face is boring.
The prc is also 2 years older so maybe let the rpm have a year or two before writing it off as dead

The 7mm weatherby outdated the remington by 20 years, and was only sold in weatherby rifles. No wonder the Remington was more popular as it was available in dozens of rifles for 1/3 the cost of a mark v. Ammo was cheaper etc.

Yes, I agree with that. It took a little while for the PRC to take off. I don't see why the Weatherby could not do the same. Also, with that std. boltface I would think many .270-30-06 rifles sitting around could get a new barrel

 

[Nomosendero]

I'm glad it works for you. Setting myself up with zero room to chase lands, or having my load clear a magazine with 0.01-0.005 room isn't something I do, but to each their own.

That's my thoughts on this matter. One of the members here has a Ruger Go Wild Am. in 6.5 PRC, it is actually a 30-06 length action, he measured that. The Ruger spec sheet does not bear that out but I had read the same thing from someone on another forum, long action. Sometimes the spec sheets lump them together, I have seen it before, could have happened with the Vanguard spec sheet. Many times when you call the factory, the knothead on the phone knows nothing, so that doesn't help.

 

[41magnut]

6.5prc is a short action with a magnum bolt face. I have no idea why it would need to be longer than the 6.5cm. The cartridge lengths are the same..

A COAL of 2.955 for the 6.5 PRC takes it out of a SA magazine box, as best I can determine.
Now if the magazine box is say 2.985 (COAL + .030")I'd think a SA receiver could work.
Original design spec were for it to be a SA round, end results I'm not so sure.

 

[Andrew Massi]

Have you confirmed this with weatherby sales? The specs show its a short action by comparing rifle lengths between the prc and the creedmoor. View attachment 212630View attachment 212631

Looks like its 1/2" shorter than the standard length 270/30:06. Per the website. Which also shows the standard being 1/4" shorter than the 257 wby. Could be that their all the same length standard action, the length difference coming from the break and weatherby/howa using bolt stop and mag block to shorten things up for the creed. If that's the case and you needed more room just swap out the bolt stop and remove the mag block and voila standard action length

 

[highdrum]

I have burnt 1 6.5 prc barrel, currently have 3 other 6.5 prc rifles. My experience with them is hardly mis information. You state the new trend to run big jumps. What you don't mention is that the prs guys that are leading this trend (Mark Gordon & Scott Satterlee stated it, prs crowd is chasing it) they're also running 250-300k freebore so that their 120-130k jump load isn't crowding power or in the donut zone. Set up a prc case like these guys are running their big jumps and run your short action aics mags. You can run your long bearing surface bullets as far into the case as you like, but it isn't ideal, which you're promoting thr short action to be for the prc. I've got a dozen pretty high end custom rifles I all hand load for. Most them chambered with reamers to get heavy bullets out of donut zone. Go ask a custom rifle builder what's the optimal setup for a saami prc reamer. Look at the 6.5 addiction, it's a zero freebore chamber to run an improved sweed in an aics short action. Bullet is beyond stuffed.
Does it work? Yes, is it optimal? No. Why would southfork build their 6.5 prc on an xm action and the creeds on a short? Because it's optimal. Why did Christensen put a 3.05" magazine in their short actions? What about ruger, saeur, fierce all using a long action? I'm glad you made it work, but saying these rifles come out setup to run close to lands being ideal is misinformation or fear spreading is just your opinion. If my 300 norma improved shot 230 bergers best from 130-150k off lands, I wouldn't run my bullet jammed into the case, I'd freebore it properly and get it out into the neck, as I have the room for it in my magazine cuz my rifles setup properly for long coal.

Again, more assumptions being spread that scares others off unnecessarily. I never said I was loading to 2.945"—that's the factory Hornady load.

I'm closing in on 900 rounds on this barrel. My accuracy hand load for the 147 ELD-Ms still has 0.050" (yes—50 thousandths) to grow before I hit mag length limitations. Based on throat erosion to date, I won't hit that within the life of this barrel. And there is no indication that the factory Hornady 147 load will fall off the cliff within the next 900 rounds.

Additionally, 3050 FPS is hardly limiting me on velocity due to less powder capacity due to deeper seating, which is another commonly heard argument that just hasn't panned out. Would love to hear from others who have actual experience with this.

Apologies to the OP since this was intended to be a Vanguard related thread. However, invariably someone will chime in that a SA is a crippling compromise for 6.5PRC and these blanket claims just aren't applicable for all instances. Although it does appear to hold true for historical factory Vanguard bottom metal (which hardly represents all SA use cases).

I am certainly no trail blazer but I took what I thought may be a "risk" on going the SA route (based on all the naysayers who didn't actually have first hand experience), but it has worked out wonderfully. Thankfully many of these newer generation of bullets are very accommodating of longer jumps than we are used to, and modern powders enable some pretty great performance.

 

[Darktimber]

I have burnt 1 6.5 prc barrel, currently have 3 other 6.5 prc rifles. My experience with them is hardly mis information. You state the new trend to run big jumps. What you don't mention is that the prs guys that are leading this trend (Mark Gordon & Scott Satterlee stated it, prs crowd is chasing it) they're also running 250-300k freebore so that their 120-130k jump load isn't crowding power or in the donut zone. Set up a prc case like these guys are running their big jumps and run your short action aics mags. You can run your long bearing surface bullets as far into the case as you like, but it isn't ideal, which you're promoting thr short action to be for the prc. I've got a dozen pretty high end custom rifles I all hand load for. Most them chambered with reamers to get heavy bullets out of donut zone. Go ask a custom rifle builder what's the optimal setup for a saami prc reamer. Look at the 6.5 addiction, it's a zero freebore chamber to run an improved sweed in an aics short action. Bullet is beyond stuffed.
Does it work? Yes, is it optimal? No. Why would southfork build their 6.5 prc on an xm action and the creeds on a short? Because it's optimal. Why did Christensen put a 3.05" magazine in their short actions? What about ruger, saeur, fierce all using a long action? I'm glad you made it work, but saying these rifles come out setup to run close to lands being ideal is misinformation or fear spreading is just your opinion. If my 300 norma improved shot 230 bergers best from 130-150k off lands, I wouldn't run my bullet jammed into the case, I'd freebore it properly and get it out into the neck, as I have the room for it in my magazine cuz my rifles setup properly for long coal.

boom. Exactly this. No matter how you try to spin it, seating long vld bullets way down into the case to make it work with your magazine or action length is not ideal. It may work but you are leaving a lot on the table.

 

[Wachsmann]

Maybe the RPM later

I haven't seen a RPM rifle, cartridges, or any of the likes.

 

[Nomosendero]

Agreed, that's why I said maybe later

 

[KU_Geo]

Anyone ever find out what the mag box length is on the vanguard?