20” 6.5 PRC vs 24” 6.5 CM

[Ragin_cajun]

I'd stick with the longer 6.5CM then in a Tikka rifle. Factory ammo will be cheaper, the barrel will last at least twice as long, range sessions will be a lot more fun, and recoil/muzzle blast will be a lot easier on you.

I have a Bergara "Premier" Approach (discontinued). There were several issues right out of the box that needed to be addressed. It is an accurate rifle, but this was my one and done with Bergara.

What were the issues? I’ve got several b14 and they’re the easiest gun (for me). Smooth and shoots everything great

 

[diggler1833]

What were the issues? I’ve got several b14 and they’re the easiest gun (for me). Smooth and shoots everything great

Inadequate firing pin protrusion, barrel was contacting the channel on the right side, and won't feed reliably round 2 or 3 from the magazine (regardless of which magazine I used).

I fixed my issues by switching to Federal primers (won't pop CCIs), hogging out the stock, and only having a single round in the magazine...or doing the back and forth partway to cycle that 3rd round in.

 

[Ragin_cajun]

Inadequate firing pin protrusion, barrel was contacting the channel on the right side, and won't feed reliably round 2 or 3 from the magazine (regardless of which magazine I used).

I fixed my issues by switching to Federal primers (won't pop CCIs), hogging out the stock, and only having a single round in the magazine...or doing the back and forth partway to cycle that 3rd round in.

What did bergara say?

 

[diggler1833]

What did bergara say?

Nothing, I wasn't going to worry about it and worked around the issues myself (see previous post). At that same time, I had a buddy who got an HMR that wouldn't shoot better than 2 MOA. He sent his back (as I would have for that) and it took 4 months of testing 2 more rifles before they got a replacement to him. He bought a Tikka to go hunting with that year and sold his replacement Bergara HMR when it finally came back in.

At least my Approach is "accurate". I counted my blessings and moved on. I still used it this year to shoot a big cull buck on opening day of rifle season. It now sits in another Grayboe stock, and wears its second Bergara bottom metal...still doesn't feed right from the mag though if I put three rounds in it.

I've sidetracked this thread too much at this point. If there are some particulars that you want to know more about, feel free to hit me up via PM.

 

[Dirty D]

…I have an old Savage 7mm rem mag but finding any decent stock for it seems to be more costly than a new rifle and I want something more shooter friendly.

MDT makes these for Savage long actions, I have one on order now. The Magwell is CIP length and several companies including Accurate Mag make CIP length WinMag/RemMag magazines.

 

[hlee]

You're shooting the exact same bullets at almost the exact same velocity.

It's like having a hammer with a 4' handle and a 1lb head, or a 4lb head and a 1' handle. You're doing the exact same thing. Depending on the particular barrels, either of them could produce faster mv.

While this seems to be a reasonable analogy on its surface, the 1lb hammer on a 4 ft shaft is going to whip the shit out of a 4lb head on a 1 ft shaft. At any given angular velocity, the linear velocity of the 1lb head will be substantially faster, and the smaller head will be significantly easier to swing. And, kinetic energy goes as the square of the velocity, meaning that doubling the velocity will 4x the energy. A rough calc days that equivalent angular velocity (how quickly the shaft sweeps through an arc), the 1lb head will carry 4x more energy. Finally, that smaller head will likely also have a smaller face, concentrating that energy into a smaller impact area.

This is why historical war hammers had long shafts and small heads- they were made to defeat plate armor. The huge “fantasy war hammers” that you see in games and movies (like the hammer wielded by Baratheon’s bastard son in Game of Thrones are just that, fantasy.

(The analogy does hold, however, if we’re just letting gravity do the work of moving the hammer head.)

That said, given equivalent velocity, any particular bullet doesn’t care what cartridge it was fired from. It’s like guys that want to shoot subsonic 308win when there is subsonic 300BO available.

With the same bullet, If you’re getting the same velocity from the PRC that you are from the CM, the ballistics and terminal effects will be the same as well. But, an 18” rifle is noticeably easier to maneuver than a 22” gun, even more so if each are also sporting a suppressor.

 

[Hecouldgoalltheway]

While this seems to be a reasonable analogy on its surface, the 1lb hammer on a 4 ft shaft is going to whip the shit out of a 4lb head on a 1 ft shaft. At any given angular velocity, the linear velocity of the 1lb head will be substantially faster, and the smaller head will be significantly easier to swing. And, kinetic energy goes as the square of the velocity, meaning that doubling the velocity will 4x the energy. A rough calc days that equivalent angular velocity (how quickly the shaft sweeps through an arc), the 1lb head will carry 4x more energy. Finally, that smaller head will likely also have a smaller face, concentrating that energy into a smaller impact area.

This is why historical war hammers had long shafts and small heads- they were made to defeat plate armor. The huge “fantasy war hammers” that you see in games and movies (like the hammer wielded by Baratheon’s bastard son in Game of Thrones are just that, fantasy.

(The analogy does hold, however, if we’re just letting gravity do the work of moving the hammer head.)

That said, given equivalent velocity, any particular bullet doesn’t care what cartridge it was fired from. It’s like guys that want to shoot subsonic 308win when there is subsonic 300BO available.

With the same bullet, If you’re getting the same velocity from the PRC that you are from the CM, the ballistics and terminal effects will be the same as well. But, an 18” rifle is noticeably easier to maneuver than a 22” gun, even more so if each are also sporting a suppressor.

I know the physics of my example where very wrong, I was just trying to demonstrate the point with an alanolgy. I should have thrown in a disclaimer.

 

[Cascade Hemi]

I know the physics of my example where very wrong, I was just trying to demonstrate the point with an alanolgy. I should have thrown in a disclaimer.

Probably should have disclaimed the 40% rounding error in your "nearly a decade" of 6.5PRC experience too.

 

[Hecouldgoalltheway]

Probably should have disclaimed the 40% rounding error in your "nearly a decade" of 6.5PRC experience too.

Listen, I really don't need this second time machine. I'm going to unblock your mother's phone number for one hour only, so she can tell me when she's coming to get this piece of shit out of my driveway.