Thinking of going 6.5 PRC thoughts

I do know if everyone says I'm not buying into that 'new' cartridge it surely will die. Sales need to happen for it to be viable.
It still surprises me on a forum of gun ppl, we still say, don't try that. Oh the components will be gone in a few years!
Buy enough to last the barrel...done.
Enjoy your prc, I think it's a nifty round!

Not telling anyone not to buy BUT if you look through P. O. Ackleys book Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders many cartridges have been recycled over the years. Sometimes with different names but recycled.

The problem with new cartridges is that you will never know if they will last. I built a .260 Remington right before brass and ammo became very difficult to find. I rebarreled to .308 Win as I had a steady supply of both. About 6 years ago I looked into getting a .25 WSSM upper for an AR. I still have not done so as brass and ammo have never really been available.

As stated above 6.5 GAP and 6 mm HAGAR seem to have come and gone with one major run of brass and ammo. I did follow the advise of buying brass before having the barrel reamed. I bought 1000 6.5 Remington Magnum cases before having a 40X rebarreled to that caliber. But I also shoot a .300 H&H for which I have enough brass to toast the barrel.

Procuring brass before hand is not a bad thing...
 
Thank you for all the input everyone, overwhelmed at the number of responses and definitely going to seek out a rifle here soon likely a prc or 6.5/284!
 
Thank you for all the input everyone, overwhelmed at the number of responses and definitely going to seek out a rifle here soon likely a prc or 6.5/284!

I have a 6.5-284 built on a Husqvarna action and the 6.5 PRC is built on a Defiance action and both have #1 contour 1-8 twist Benchmark barrels, I mainly shoot factory ammo but do handload on occasion, there are 9 Nosler factory loads for the 6.5-284 and HSM ammo has 3 offerings,

so far Hornady offers 2 loads for the 6.5 PRC and both are about 2/3 of the price of Nosler ammo for the 6.5-284

I havent tried any of the HSM ammo yet.

Both my rifles like the Hornady 143gr ELD-X the best of any bullets so far.
 
I have a 6.5-284 built on a Husqvarna action and the 6.5 PRC is built on a Defiance action and both have #1 contour 1-8 twist Benchmark barrels, I mainly shoot factory ammo but do handload on occasion, there are 9 Nosler factory loads for the 6.5-284 and HSM ammo has 3 offerings,

so far Hornady offers 2 loads for the 6.5 PRC and both are about 2/3 of the price of Nosler ammo for the 6.5-284

I havent tried any of the HSM ammo yet.

Both my rifles like the Hornady 143gr ELD-X the best of any bullets so far.

I've shot the HSM out of my last two rifles and it has always performed well. Thanks for the input!
 
I'm liking it. Too many naysayers out there crying about the +200 FPS or so. But, they also love the 30-06 over the 308. Same story.
Actually, I'm the opposite... I have never had a use for a standard .30-06... I've always preferred the .308 Win, but I do have a wicked-fast .30-06 AI 40º that will toss a Berger 180-185 around 3,000 FPS MV from a 26" barrel. ;)
 
The 6.5 Gap 4S (SAUM) has had plenty of major runs of brass produced and still has plenty of available brass which can be purchased through GA Precision. Norma is producing proper head stamped brass for it to be sold as Prime ammo this fall. I don't think it's going away...
Every cartridge, no matter how outdated or archaic the design or how long-dead it has been, will ALWAYS have a few small circles of connected people still shooting them, so there will almost always be a way to get brass or make brass for something. But, as for the increasingly dwindling general popularity of the 6.5 GAP, trust me, it's riding the struggle bus... Exactly where the 6.5 PRC will be in 2-5 years.
 
I'll speak from experience since I just had a 6.5 PRC built and wrapped up my load development yesterday. I built this rifle strictly for sheep hunting and had originally planned on a 6.5 creedmoor. My issue with the creedmoor lied in the need for a 20" barrel to suite my needs. I didn't want to give up a ton of velocity and the availability of factory ammo made the PRC more appealing than the SAUM.

Having now ran about 100 rounds through the gun, I have concluded that the precision hunter ammo lacks consistency having witnessed an ES of 110 fps across the box. The brass also leaves a lot to be desired as others have suggested. However; having taken the time to clean up the brass and handloading myself it's consistently a 1/2 minute gun and I'm pushing a 143 ELD-X at 2850 fps out of a 20" barrel. I own several 6.5's and I think I would have struggled to get that performance out of some of the others in a 41-inch overall, 5lb 9oz rifle. At the moment, I'm impressed. Yes the cartridge may be short lived but I have several hundred rounds of brass and it's a hunting rifle that I'll probably shoot 50 rounds a year through now so I'm not worried on that front.
 
Killer read thanks for sharing!

There's also a question and answer YouTube video with George Gardner about why they went the route they did with the 6.5PRC, they were trying to accomplish a goal with this cartridge that would give them a very efficient sensible option to shoot out to 1000 yards, manageable recoil and decent barrel life, just a few of the points mentioned.
 
I couldn't agree more with the above comments of Wildrose and Iclimb. . .TO MANY manufactures coming out with "New Bad Boy" cartridges pushed by people with outstanding marketing degrees that know how to sell the world on anything!!! Yes, to many "Cartridge Hipsters" in the world these days. One cartridge that has really got my goat lately has been the hype of the 224 Valkery as a 1000 yrd. rifle cartridge. . .give me a **** break! Yes, it shoots .224 heavies, but only because the rifle barrel has the correct twist. Put a 7tw or 8tw barrel on a 22-250 and it will stomp the Valkery into the ground. The 6.5 CM is basically a Ackley Imp. 260 Rem which people have been shooting looong before the CM was even a twinkle in the eyes of DeMille and Emary. The 6.5 CM has been racking up the popularity, but it has nothing over the 6.5 Swede or the 260 Rem or AI'd versions of either one. It just has a **** good marketing representative with deep $$ pockets to push it.

I too would be leary of the 6.5 PRC, there is comparable/better cartridges out there that are proven. But if you have to have something "Custom" (and I'm very guilty of this) then I would strongly look a Rich's line of Sherman Short Mags. Now that he has the brass issue worked out I'm on the verge of either a 6.5 or 7mm SS.
 
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