Medium action 6.5 PRC Zermatt Origin action and Criterion shouldered prefit

Triggertoe

Private
Minuteman
Feb 15, 2024
12
2
South Carolina
Looking at doing a 6.5 PRC for long range whitetail. Since I don’t have a lathe I was looking at the Zermatt Origin with a Criterion prefit. I’m thinking about going with a 26” barrel in varmit. New to building bolt guns and looking for any suggestions or tips. I’ve also considered the 6.8 western but reloading components seem a little harder to get ahold of. Any useful tips or info would greatly be appreciated. Thanks
 
What kind of hunting are you doing? Back packing? Horse back? Stand hunting? How far are your shots going to be? 6.5 prc is a good cartridge, I really like 7 saum. I prefer shouldered prefits to nutted barrels but just preference. I’ve also found it easier to find chassis and stocks in LA or SA although the mediums are getting more common. I built my 7 saum on a LA and have no regrets at all. Can’t go wrong with zermatt have 4 of them and they are great
 
What kind of hunting are you doing? Back packing? Horse back? Stand hunting? How far are your shots going to be? 6.5 prc is a good cartridge, I really like 7 saum. I prefer shouldered prefits to nutted barrels but just preference. I’ve also found it easier to find chassis and stocks in LA or SA although the mediums are getting more common. I built my 7 saum on a LA and have no regrets at all. Can’t go wrong with zermatt have 4 of them and they are great
Mostly stand hunting where I’m at and shooting across open fields 5-700 yards. I had some interest in the 7 saum but wasn’t sure about components for reloading. What primers do you use? Any suggestions on stocks if I do go with the 6.5 PRC? I was originally interested in the Manners EH but didn’t see an option for the medium action.
 
I have a McMillan Game Warden long range 2.0 with a medium origin in it, m5 medium bottom metal, 26" 6.5 Saum hawkhill rem varm. It's a great rifle, very accurate! My smith prefits all zermatt actions and many others. The rifle is a tank 8# no glass, but man it shoots great! It's 11.5# all up to hunt with bipod. Which is fine in open country walks, but it's a lil thikkkk for the mountains I found this last fall.

I was going to run an SR3 medium action, but the beauty of the origin, can utilize the hunts recoil lug, and tl3/sr3 barrels headspace properly on the origin. Kinda handy if you find a 7saum or 300wsm tl3 barrel for a good price, simple swap.
 
i stupidly sold my zermatt tl3 short action 6.5 prc with a proof carbon prefit in a krg bravo. a little heavier and clunkier than i wanted for carrying around hunting. with factory hornady 143 eldx easy button, no prob with mag length. not sure if the bravo will fit a medium action. i guess??? going to a long action may give the cartridges a little slop and possible feeding issues, but would prob have a lot more stock options available, medium doesn't seem to have many options.
 
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