6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5 PRC in Long Action?

gpr

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 21, 2017
119
18
I currently have a 30-06 that I love and has been my go to hunting rifle, but the barrel is about shot out and accuracy has decreased. I have been thinking about putting a 6.5cm barrel on, but am unsure how well this will work since it is a long action.

My big question is will running 6.5cm in a long action cause issues? Will the shells move around in the magazine well, causing issues with feeding or loading? Or will the shells even stay loaded down in the magazine properly in a long action? .(this gun just has the hinged floor plate not an actual magazine)

I have never ran a short action cartridge in a long action, so want to double check i will be good to go before ordering a barrel.

My other thought was to maybe move up to the 6.5 PRC as then i could move the heavier 6.5 bullets faster and flatter, which would be nice. Would this cartridge also have any issues running in a long action?

Any advice, tips, or experience on getting this setup properly would greatly be appreciated.
 
I don’t think you would have too many issues with the Creedmoor. I believe that the M24 rifles were 308 and LA’s. I can speak to the PRC.

I would look look into getting a SA receiver though and having that spun up how you like it. I never saw a reason to run a SA cartridge in a LA action.
 
I too would vote for a 6.5-06 or 6.5x284 or something and take full advantage of the real estate afforded to you with your host action. 6.5x55ai seems to be a really popular chambering as well
 
6.5-284. Runs well in a long action. Factory ammo in a pinch. I am shooting 140's over 3k. Very accurate. Great bullet selection. Barrel life is actually quite good with slower powders (H1000, Retumbo). Lapua brass.

Get an 8 twist long barrel, throated for longer bullets to take advantage of long action. Can do one of the others listed above, but a little more work involved.

That being said, a 6.5 PRC with a long throat for all those new, longer bullets would be great as well.
 
6.5-284. Runs well in a long action. Factory ammo in a pinch. I am shooting 140's over 3k. Very accurate. Great bullet selection. Barrel life is actually quite good with slower powders (H1000, Retumbo). Lapua brass.

Get an 8 twist long barrel, throated for longer bullets to take advantage of long action. Can do one of the others listed above, but a little more work involved.

That being said, a 6.5 PRC with a long throat for all those new, longer bullets would be great as well.
Who makes factory 6.5x284 ammo?

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 
I have thought about the 6.5x284 or the 6.5-06 however i like the fact that 6.5prc will have factory ammo offered by Hornady, that is affordable. the 6.5-284 I have never seen under $2/round. Also the 6.5-06 dies were hard to find last time I looked.

What would the muzzle velocity be of the 6.5x284, 6.5-06 compared to the 6.5prc? I think they are all very close to each other.

Just wasn't sure how the short action magnum would feed out of my long action magnum. If i remember right the 6.5prc is based of the Ruger RCM case? If so i might grab a box of that stuff and see if it feeds and cycles well in the action/mag.

The drawback of the 6.5 prc is it seems not many barrel makers have the reamers for it right now, and the few I have talked to didn't seem that interested in getting them either....
 
I don't really see much advantage for the long actin with either cartridges. I mean there are advantages but even the 155s for the 6.5 SAUM don't take up THAT much case capacity, especially if you have extended DBM. Where it would make sense to me for a compact magnum would be the 7 SAUM or 7 WSM where the 180/195 really does protrude into the case to fit mag length. That said though once you're in long action territory there are a plethora of options that will do everything the short magnums will and better, at the expense of more powder and barrel life of course.

Considering this is a hunting rifle i'd just go with a long action cartridge.
 
GPR, I'm facing the same dilemma, i'd like a new barrel on a LA rem700 in 30-06 rebarreled to 6.5cm or something else. The rifle is built on a Ti action and with bell and carlson stock is so light it wallops you when you shoot it. Everything else i shoot wears a suppressor, I'd like to get this one with a tbac mount so i can run my ultra 7. Problem is by going to 6.5prc you will need a magnum bolt. I'd love to shoot the 6.5prc with factory ammo but i already have a 6.5 saum on a tikka.
 
I am running a 6.5x55 AI and am very impressed with the results 147s @ 2940. Additionally it runs well on H4831sc (a commonly available powder) and quality brass is cheap and easy to come by. Lastly the PPU factory match shoots .75 moa in my rifle.
 
I had a Tikka 30-06 that I turned into a 6.5 Creedmoor. That rifle feeds smoother from the mag then any rifle I own. I honestly had to pull the bolt back and verify that it picked up a round the first time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have thought about the 6.5x284 or the 6.5-06 however i like the fact that 6.5prc will have factory ammo offered by Hornady, that is affordable. the 6.5-284 I have never seen under $2/round. Also the 6.5-06 dies were hard to find last time I looked.

What would the muzzle velocity be of the 6.5x284, 6.5-06 compared to the 6.5prc? I think they are all very close to each other.

Just wasn't sure how the short action magnum would feed out of my long action magnum. If i remember right the 6.5prc is based of the Ruger RCM case? If so i might grab a box of that stuff and see if it feeds and cycles well in the action/mag.

The drawback of the 6.5 prc is it seems not many barrel makers have the reamers for it right now, and the few I have talked to didn't seem that interested in getting them either....

If you have a 30-06 you’d need a different bolt to go to 6.5 PRC.