RPR in 6.5mm PRC

[Lee308]

G'day shooting type people,
I am a .308 tragic, but am about to order A Ruger Precision Rifle chambered in 6.5mm PRC and was hoping some of you out there who are using this caliber could give me some general feed back from a users perspective. At the moment I shoot with a Savage Mod 12 in .308 and have had good success in comps over the years, however thats being loaded to the hilt to be competitive at the longer ranges, 1200yrds+. The 6.5's seem to do it a bit easier hence the move to the dark side.

Any feed back, for or against is welcome.

Cheers
Lee

 

[Hohn]

With even better brass in the horizon, the PRC looks like a solid choice. ADG makes it now, Lapua comes next spring.

I suggest get some RL26 and 8133 to try.

EDIT TO ADD:

The PRC load data out there is a bit underwhelming. Most sources are showing 10-15gr more powder to get 100fps more than my Creedmoor is giving. I see 2850 from 46.2gr of RL26 with 140s, 2800 with 147s.

There are hodgdon loads burning nearly 60gr of powder to barely beat this. I’m not sure why.

 

[Lee308]

With even better brass in the horizon, the PRC looks like a solid choice. ADG makes it now, Lapua comes next spring.

I suggest get some RL26 and 8133 to try.

"the PRC looks like a solid choice" That makes me breath easier and thanks for the powder choices.

 

[Lee308]

With even better brass in the horizon, the PRC looks like a solid choice. ADG makes it now, Lapua comes next spring.

I suggest get some RL26 and 8133 to try.

EDIT TO ADD:

The PRC load data out there is a bit underwhelming. Most sources are showing 10-15gr more powder to get 100fps more than my Creedmoor is giving. I see 2850 from 46.2gr of RL26 with 140s, 2800 with 147s.

There are hodgdon loads burning nearly 60gr of powder to barely beat this. I’m not sure why.

The projectiles I was considering for use were the 144g hybrids from Berger and the 143g ELD-x from Hornady as the rifle comes from the factory with a 1:8 Rh twist so I'm sort of thinking these are going to be the best match for it. Having said that, I'm a creature of habit(until now) and have used these brands for the 308 without any bad experiences. I'm sure there would be others out there that can produce the same results if the loads are worked up properly for them. Sooo much work to do.

 

[duke260]

The PRC load data out there is a bit underwhelming. Most sources are showing 10-15gr more powder to get 100fps more than my Creedmoor is giving. I see 2850 from 46.2gr of RL26 with 140s, 2800 with 147s.

I shoot the 156 Berger’s out of a 24” barrel hunting rig. Please work up to this in your PRC to see if it is safe in yours, but at 58 grns of rl26 I get 3100fps. It really does push the heavies well.

 

[Lee308]

I shoot the 156 Berger’s out of a 24” barrel hunting rig. Please work up to this in your PRC to see if it is safe in yours, but at 58 grns of rl26 I get 3100fps. It really does push the heavies well.

Rifle is on the way. I settled on the RPR in the Davidsons Limited Edition. Basically, it has a 30moa rail rather than a 20moa scope rail for the standard model and has a flash color scheme rather than the straight black. I purchased some Hornady match ammo to run the barrel in and start the brass collection as like you have said the availability of PRC brass is scarce and here in Aust. it is very slim to say the least The people I have spoken to about it seem to think March next year is when the back orders should start to come through. I had looked at the 156 projectiles but I wasn't too sure if the 1:8 twist would keep them stable enough out at the extreme end of the flight. it sounds like that may be not a bad one to look at as the RPR comes with a 26 inch barrel so the velocity should be a tad higher. Only one way to find out I guess. all that being said it is gonna be fun starting from new again and pushing the rifle to see what it can do with a 6.5mm pill. Now I just hope the floor holds up to the pacing while waiting for it to get here. 2 to three weeks I'm told fingers crossed

Thanks for the info I'll drop some pics and vids of the workups in due coarse


Cheers.............

 

[krummarine]

Looking forward to seeing your work. I just bought a Bergara HMR in that caliber.

 

[Lee308]

Looking forward to seeing your work. I just bought a Bergara HMR in that caliber.

Its due to arrive in four days three hours twenty seven minutes and too many seconds
I have a Waters Rifleman 0 to 240 MOA base and a GAS MONGREL Muzzle Brake ready to go on when it gets here. Oh and bought a cheap version of an Atlas BI-Pod which I'm going to try against the Harris BI-Pod to see which I like better before shelling out for a real Atlas. Still thinking about the hand grip and whether or not to get a more vertical grip or sit with the one it comes with . Will see how it feels.

The biggest problem I have at the moment is feeding it. Powder is very hard to get over here at the moment. I ended up with 100 rnds of Hornady Match 147g to get started and collect a few cases. The first available powder will be at the end of this month, if I can get to it fast enough. If not it will be early new year. I have the cash stash to get as much as I can though for when it does get here. Until then its case collecting

 

[The boogalorian]

Might I suggest looking at the Thunderbeast Arms bipod. It is light and sturdy.

 

[Lee308]

Thunderbeast Arms bipod

Cheers for the suggestion. I will have a look around over here to find a dealer for them. As I'm a bit thick from front to back I need one with a decent height without going to extremes. the 9 to 12" pods seem to be about right. 6 to 9 just doesn't feel right when in prone unless I have a mound with a good slope leading back from firing point.

 

[Mr.Knowit all]

I like to look at the G7 forum factor as well when picking bullets out and I believe the 140 gr. ELDM was a bit lower. JMO

 

[Lee308]

Its alive! just picked it up today going out Sunday to start playing with it as have family things to do tomorrow although might have a chance to get out tomorrow afternoon if time allows and start running the barrel in to save a bit of time on Sunday.

 

[klamathsteel]

Why is the scope so high ??

 

[Lee308]

Why is the scope so high ??

Its mounted on a 0 to 240 MOA scope base to get the elevations for the longer ranges so the internals of the scope don't need to travel so far. I just undo the screw at the back choose the elevation to the closest round figure tighten the screw down again and then then dial the rest of the setting on the scope. Basically with the base and the scope internal adjustment plus the rail fitted to the rifle I have 310 MOA of adjustment. With the cheek rest fully extended you don't notice the difference and your head can sit more upright rather than cocked sideways to get a scope picture its actually pretty comfortable to lay behind.

 

[Lee308]

Barrel break in going ok. I fired ten rounds with clean between each round until the barrel wasn't producing copper after firing. Then fired a ten round group of a bi-pod and shoulder without a rear bag. The group came in at 1.5' @ 100 yards. I took a score of 78 from the 80 as the first round to count, although was splitting the 9 line it was only by a bees dick and a half so the eight was acceptable as we are not shooting for sheep stations yet. But over all pretty happy with the first group using factory ammo. I still cant get any powder here yet. I am using the Hornady 147g match ammo. At least I'm collecting cases I guess, although doing it the expensive way. I just need to wait for you blokes over there to stop eating the powder before I can get the right stuff here. I was going to try some loads with ADI 2209 which is the equivalent to H4350 but after reading a few bits about the place, I think that might be a bit fast burning for the PRC, so I will keep collecting brass until I can get the Retumbo equivalent or very close to.

The 1.5' group was not counting the 1st shot to count as I corrected again after it. So, effectively it was a 9 shot group.
When cleaning after the group there was a fair bit of carbon but no evidence of copper.