Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 6.5 PRC vs 7 PRC...your thoughts?

Thinking about a long range specific hunter. Main use would be deer in ag fields but could consider elk in the equation, ~800 yards max hunting range, fair amount of shooting to 1000. 24" barrel, non-suppressed. Would likely be using eldx bullets in either...143 and 175. Don't factor brass/bullet/component availability in right now.... Edited to add: action would be either mid for 6.5 or long for 7 so don't factor it in...mainly just thinking on the two rounds, not the build.

So thinking hard on them with the considerations of wind drift and barrel life being two of the biggest considerations.....what's your pro/con on each of the two?

Bullets matter more than headstamps. I'd want Rem 700 COAL and the ability to Smooch magfed .838BC 190 Beer Cans,which is a breeze mechanically. Hint.

Had a couple visiting pards out the other day and as per usual,my crummy was wooded with Exceptional Wares. Went through the gamut in Real World conditions(rain/haze/fog/snow/wind),beating wind calls into heads,while they mutherfhuqked their Geovids. So after they were going to build this and going to build that,I unlimbered n OEM Big Green 24" 7mm RemMag with 2950fps 180's at 1710yds and turned them loose. That .796 BC projectile in a "schit" Factory Rifle,STOLE The Show,though such things can go NO other way. I never even fired the rifle,to put The Dazzle on. Hint.(grin)

Barrels are fhuqking cheap and a simple boolit swap,can make a guy MUCH better in the wind,by mechanical default. A Factory PRC 143 at 2960fps drifts 63.5" at 1000yds,arriving at 1615fps. The above 180 launched at the cited 2950fps,drifts 46.7" in the same 10MPH full value atmosphere and only arrives at 1860fps. Hint.

Bullets,bullets and bullets...roughly in that order. Hint..................

Big Stick, doing the homework so you don't have to.... LOL...

Using someone else's notes to study ain't cheating!

Fantastic post ! saving for future reference ...

See Stick, u can do it ! (write legibly)

Barrel life is probably going to be fairly similar between the two. In my mind, the pros of each are:

7PRC pros
- superior ballistics

6.5PRC pros
- a bit less recoil
- a bit less powder consumption
- slightly shorter rifle (if that matters here)

Between the two, if I'm thinking long-range specific, it's 7PRC all the way.

It amazes some people what those "shidt" Remington OEM rifles will do....

I would go 6.5 PRC of the 2.

The reduction in recoil is significant and placement is everything.

Stick,
I know you mention and shoot the .284" 180's lot's. Have you ran many through critters and if so what kind ? Wondering how they do killing stuff.
Thanks

The ability to shoot 7mm bullets would make it an easy decision for me.

Yeah that's not gonna happen.

For reference I might have killed a critter or 2 with .284 180gr VLDS.

The bullets work fine.

I shoot various grain VLDs , however Stick is shooting Hornadys.
That was the 180 is question.
Thanks

Lil Fish has no information about how Hornady 180s or any other .284 180s work on game.

7mm easy. Between the two, seems like the slight recoil and powder consumption don’t weigh heavy enough to out class the 7mm.

Most of the input is along what I was thinking.

7mm is going to be ~10 more grains powder, ~the same fps, and have a touch less drift....and a bit more azz when it gets there.

I was making the assumption that the barrel life was going to be about the same between the 2....more powder in the 7 being offset by the difference in bore size. As mentioned, either way, it can be replaced.

It's not like either is a bad option. More input's welcome. Thanks.

I only shoot said 180's in 7-08,7-08AI,7 Whizzum,280 and 7mm RemMag...multiple rifles all. Hint.

They will out dig a 162 'Max/ELD and obviously fly quite a bit better,due vastly superior BC. That means broken bones and exits. Hint.

Boogers are far to zooky for me. Hint.

I'll take the very nice percentage in less wind drift,day in and day out,along with the greater loss of impact velocity. Such things tend to skew connect ratios and bolster terminal effects,in Real World atmospherics. While I love the 147 ELD and it's easy to scoot right along,the 180 ELD is a whole 'nother can of warm/fuzzy and it ain't even close. Hint.

A Yellow Lab of that size,must have a hell of a time with even a Mallard. Likely good riddance. Hint.

Just sayin'..............

When is enough, enough? 6.5 PRC ? 7 PRC ? 300 PRC?? What's coming next the 45 PRC, 50 PRC ? Rio7

I haven't looked at numbers....maybe .338? Diameter, isn't the focus.

Bullets,bullets and bullets are what matter. Hint.

It is easy to scoot .838 BC's at nice velocities in .284" bore sizing,with 190grs of mass. To surpass same in .308 or .338,etc,simply means more recoil,even if you could arrange to exceed it's performance,in that far less handy parcel. Hint.

If/when talking true Utility Rifles and felt recoil to performance ratios,the .284" bore size has long stood alone and by goodly margins. None of that has changed,as of Today and my first cup of coffee this morning. I can't speak to what tomorrow will bring,but rather like the "odds",that the .284" is gonna be the cream of the crop. It's never not advanced,at the head of the pack. Hint.

It would defy Physics,to launch .338" 285 ELD's and their .829 BC at like speeds,at like case capacity,as 7mm 180's. But alas...that simply ain't in the cards,nor close. Reality,is a handy place to reside...much to the chagrin of Texans the World over. Hint.

Just sayin'..................

And yet the vast majority of game animals are shot well within the range of the average 308. Yes there are many cartridges with talent far beyond that but generally most of us are or could be happy with cartridges designed in the 1960's,how nice bullets have evolved. This year I am mostly shooting a muzzleloader and a couple of 35 caliber cartridges.