Why no love for 6.5 PRC for 1 mile shoots....??

[VLD Pilot]

Looking at your wind and drop numbers of the cartridges do not tell the complete story. That said, you'll have a ball shooting your 6.5 PRC at 1000+ yards. Be prepared for frustration of course. Don't even consider taking a rifle out for LR let alone ELR if it's not at least an MOA rifle consistently at 100yards. Once that's the case, beyond 1200 yards, the 6.5 bullets can and are very hard to keep on target when wind is in the formula. Hits and misses are almost impossible to see as well. 7mm bullets not much better but definitely better. 308 caliber heavies better for sure out to 2K but nothing beats the big magnum 338s of those other 3. Heavy high BC bullets are mandatory for ELR in wind of any kind and it doesn't take alot to wreck your day at that range.

 

[mongo4567]

Finally took the 6.5 PRC to the range and it was horrible. Straight up horrible.

3-4 MOA..... I ain't kidding.

It would throw three bullets sub-MOA and then a bullet 4" to the south west. Then two bullets on the bullseye and then two bullets 5" to the north east. Completely unpredictable. I checked the scope mounts and everything, every shot was tight and solid.

Very frustrating.

A custom gun maker was shooting next to me and he kept encouraging me, to keep shooting. He claimed that it really takes 100 round to 'burn in a barrel'.

100 rounds... are you friggin kidding me? 6.5 PRC is over a $100 a box. $600 in ammo to break in a barrel? Heck, after 20 rounds my .308 Win Ruger American Tactical was sub-MOA.

I am so ****ed...... I even checked the two main bolts that screw the receiver to the stock. They were hard and rock solid.

Just so you know... it wasn't the shooter.... Dialing in another new ELR, I was shooting a 7mm Mag. It was sub-MOA right from the start. At the end of the day, I put 5 bullets in a Dime at 100 yards.

I've run into a handful of guns that had a wandering zero. One that is fresh in my mind was made worse by barrel/stock interference....but even after free floating it is only slightly better now. Maybe try a very long wait between shots (10 or 15 min). Shoot something else and come back to it.

 

[sveltri]

I have a Switchback in 6mm ARC, a couple things I did to "accurize" mine were: re-torque the action screws front 40 in/lbs and the rear to 30, pull your scope off and remove the rail. Clean all of the oil out of the screw holes and off the screws, add a little blue loctite and re-torque, I think about 20in/lbs. I'd be surprised if that doesn't help.

 

[COBigJohn]

I have a Switchback in 6mm ARC, a couple things I did to "accurize" mine were: re-torque the action screws front 40 in/lbs and the rear to 30, pull your scope off and remove the rail. Clean all of the oil out of the screw holes and off the screws, add a little blue loctite and re-torque, I think about 20in/lbs. I'd be surprised if that doesn't help.

I did the rail clean, when I purchased the gun. And I re-installed the rail with 'blue thread lock',........



........

 

[ARlife4me]

Starting back about 6 months ago, I started researching a gun and load that would provide some fun, shooting 1 mile..... maybe out to 2,000 yards, on a seriously tight budget. Over and over I read that a .338 bullet was the minimum and it needed a BC over .7 and muzzle velocity close to 2,900 fps. Most authors laughed at anyone trying to do those shots with a 7mm or a 6.5mm.

So I ran the ballistics over and over with ammo off the shelf and hand loads and I was perplexed. I found the 6.5 PRC to be a contender on paper. .... so I bought one. (never mind the issue of finding ammo or even brass)

Look over these numbers below and tell me the 6.5 PRC can't do it... and then tell me why...???

Honestly, I would have gone 7mm Mag, but it takes a 8.5 twist barrel for the 180-190 gr bullets and pretty expensive shooting platform for the 7mm to find its magic... and then you have barrels burning out really, really quickly....

I did a 6.5 PRC with glass for less than $1,500. Savage 110 Tactical, Burris XTR II 5-25x50, 20 MOA Rail.

View attachment 343349

View attachment 343361

Where did you get the data from? QT is no where near those numbers. 131fps slower and drop is 1,851.7. I don't wholeheartedly believe QL and/or QT. This was on 338lm target info.

 

[COBigJohn]

Well... I am selling my whole outfit.....

6.5 PRC
Savage 110 Switchback
20 MOA Rail
RCBS Dies
20 round of ammo
70 pieces of brass

Dropping it all on ArmsList. All of nothing


......

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Wow Big John
You have a nice rifle to sell
What are you going with next?
We will "Hopefully" start turning barrels within the next month and also Cerakote them.
We had JGS make us a custom 338LMAI Reamer-it's tight. Making a ELR and have all the components except the trigger. Going to get a Bix Andy, but not settled on the model.
Have several Krieger 6 Grove1:9.35 in 33" 1.45" MTU to 1" was going to turn down to 1.35" and haven't decide on the length.
McMillan XIT Stock (2)
Bat Actions "M" & "MB" in Single Shot Dual Feed
Looking for 2,500 yrds for these rifles.

Also have some Krieger 4 grove 6.5mm 1.25" straight 30"
JGS Custom Reamer "Tight" 6.5 x284
McMillan Stock XIT
Bat Actions MB
Bix Andy Trigger

Also making some 6mmBR for Bench Rest or PRS with Krieger Barrels 1:7"T - 1.25" and TT Gold Triggers,
May put in a MPA Matrix Professional Chassis

Let us know if you want to make a chamber custom barrel. We can give you a good deal.
Len & Jill

 

[WildRose]

Well... I am selling my whole outfit.....

6.5 PRC
Savage 110 Switchback
20 MOA Rail
RCBS Dies
20 round of ammo
70 pieces of brass

Dropping it all on ArmsList. All of nothing


......

Do yourself a favor and drop it and the ammo off with a good gunsmith and let him go through it first to see if it can be solved.

If it can't and you've just got a bad barrel it's a savage so you can swap that barrel out very reasonably.

 

[squeeeeze]

Do yourself a favor and drop it and the ammo off with a good gunsmith and let him go through it first to see if it can be solved.

If it can't and you've just got a bad barrel it's a savage so you can swap that barrel out very reasonably.

If it is a bad barrel or something defective, Savage will take care of it for you. Keep that in mind.

 

[yorke-1]

Well... I am selling my whole outfit.....

6.5 PRC
Savage 110 Switchback
20 MOA Rail
RCBS Dies
20 round of ammo
70 pieces of brass

Dropping it all on ArmsList. All of nothing


......

I get the frustration, but I think you might be throwing in the towel a little prematurely.

Did you try a different optic?
Did you check to make sure the tang of the action wasn't making contact with the stock?
Did you try different ammunition?
Did you try a different front rest instead of the bipod?
Did you try actually adding forend pressure?

I've certainly been there with a gun that just wouldn't shoot. I had a Remington 25-06 that was the worst shooting rifle I've ever owned. I got so sick of it I gave the rifle away and swore I'd never own another 25-06 again! LOL The last custom rifle I had built by a very well know gunsmith was an absolute train wreck. It was lucky to shoot 3" groups at 100 yards with any load. This was built on a custom action with 2 different high quality barrel blanks. I was so frustrated that I wanted to use those barrels as jack handles. I ended up setting them aside for a while to come back and look at them with a clear head later on. I ended up just sending the action and both barrels to a different smith to take .5" off the breach of each barrel and rechamber them. Now both barrels shoot under .5 MOA with a variety of loads.

Maybe just take a break from the rifle for a couple of weeks and come back to look at it again later on. I'd hate to see you give up a good gun because of a small issue that just got overlooked.

 

[COBigJohn]

I get the frustration, but I think you might be throwing in the towel a little prematurely.

Did you try a different optic?
Did you check to make sure the tang of the action wasn't making contact with the stock?
Did you try different ammunition?
Did you try a different front rest instead of the bipod?
Did you try actually adding forend pressure?

I've certainly been there with a gun that just wouldn't shoot. I had a Remington 25-06 that was the worst shooting rifle I've ever owned. I got so sick of it I gave the rifle away and swore I'd never own another 25-06 again! LOL The last custom rifle I had built by a very well know gunsmith was an absolute train wreck. It was lucky to shoot 3" groups at 100 yards with any load. This was built on a custom action with 2 different high quality barrel blanks. I was so frustrated that I wanted to use those barrels as jack handles. I ended up setting them aside for a while to come back and look at them with a clear head later on. I ended up just sending the action and both barrels to a different smith to take .5" off the breach of each barrel and rechamber them. Now both barrels shoot under .5 MOA with a variety of loads.

Maybe just take a break from the rifle for a couple of weeks and come back to look at it again later on. I'd hate to see you give up a good gun because of a small issue that just got overlooked.

Thanks for all the kind words and suggestions fellas. This whole story began with a bad taste in my mouth, paying $120 a box for ammo.

I already have a replacement in a 7mm Rem Mag. Ammo is 1/3 the price and the round is actually, slightly more capable.



..........

 

[chav0_12]

Well... I am selling my whole outfit.....

6.5 PRC
Savage 110 Switchback
20 MOA Rail
RCBS Dies
20 round of ammo
70 pieces of brass

Dropping it all on ArmsList. All of nothing


......

Well, how much do you want for it? Savages can be accurate and I'd love a new toy to play with. I've only ever had good results with the Savages I've had. I know they're cheep, but I've never had one shoot worse that's 1 MOA.

 

[COBigJohn]

Well, how much do you want for it? Savages can be accurate and I'd love a new toy to play with. I've only ever had good results with the Savages I've had. I know they're cheep, but I've never had one shoot worse that's 1 MOA.

Ah... you can get it cheaper at the store than covering shipping and an FFL fee.

Funny thing about this setup.... the box of ammo and brass are probably more sought-after than the gun.

 

[chav0_12]

Ah... you can get it cheaper at the store than covering shipping and an FFL fee.

Funny thing about this setup.... the box of ammo and brass are probably more sought-after than the gun.

Apparently there's a store near me that has it in stock regularly and normal prices. Plus I have everything else I would need to load for it, just no dies. I even have all the tools I'd need to swap a new barrel in.