New To The Hide - 6.5 PRC

[TheRealMongo]

What's up guys, my name is Ben and I am fairly new to the Snipers Hide community. I joined after hearing about it from a friend when I started getting interested in pursuing the long range shooting hobby. I have previously dabbled in 3-gun for a while and been a hunting enthusiast my whole life. I already appreciate the site, I have learned a lot and read a lot of invaluable advice. Like I said, I am new to the long range community as well and hope to continue to learn more as I continue my journey for the 1000 yards and hopefully beyond. Any and all advice or helpful hints for things that I may need to know or could help me out is greatly appreciated. I finally finished getting my rifle together this past week and now if I could just find a little bit of AMMO I could get it sighted in and see where I am. I am shooting a Christensen Arms Modern Precision Rifle in the 6.5 PRC with a Nightforce ATACR 5-25x56 F1 Tremor 3, running a Dead Air muzzle break/suppressor adapter and soon to be adding the Nomad-L suppressor with the Keymo and E-Brake attachments. I ordered ammo at the beginning of November 2020 and have yet to receive it. If anyone has a few sympathy boxes they would be willing to sell to a guy in need, I would be very appreciative.

I am from upstate SC and again, Thanks for all the great advice and Reviews.

 

[Vasily]

Welcome aboard, I'm new as well and share your enthusiasm. Your best bet besides paying through the nose for loaded ammo is to find a reloader. Of course, you most likely will need to supply some or all components. Be prepared to also pay hefty for this as well. If your serious about the game you will want to reload yourself. The accuracy you will achieve with handloads is miles ahead of any factory ammo. Factory match is excellent however if it isn't made for your rifle it's like wearing somebody else's clothes whose a little bigger or smaller than you. You can pull it off but something just never looks right. I was given some very basic stuff when an old fella passed on. I started there and started replacing different equipment until I felt I had my own proven system and process that works well for me. Always loved shooting but I never cared to reload. Now, If I couldn't reload I don't think I'd want to shoot. Perfecting my own loads for my own rifle is definitely more gratifying than just shooting factory ammo at the range. If you enjoy honing your shooting skills and getting great groups you'll find the reward for making your own is two fold.

If it's not your bag and I suggest you look into it to find out; call small hole in the wall gun shops all over within driving distance. On line will prove nearly fruitless. If you find any, it won't be much and you will have the guilt of seeing the empty casings on the ground and just a barely warm rifle that just ate an appetizer. Best of luck and damn fine rifle my friend.

 

[Biggie1976]

Welcome from Rock Hill

 

[TheRealMongo]

Welcome aboard, I'm new as well and share your enthusiasm. Your best bet besides paying through the nose for loaded ammo is to find a reloader. Of course, you most likely will need to supply some or all components. Be prepared to also pay hefty for this as well. If your serious about the game you will want to reload yourself. The accuracy you will achieve with handloads is miles ahead of any factory ammo. Factory match is excellent however if it isn't made for your rifle it's like wearing somebody else's clothes whose a little bigger or smaller than you. You can pull it off but something just never looks right. I was given some very basic stuff when an old fella passed on. I started there and started replacing different equipment until I felt I had my own proven system and process that works well for me. Always loved shooting but I never cared to reload. Now, If I couldn't reload I don't think I'd want to shoot. Perfecting my own loads for my own rifle is definitely more gratifying than just shooting factory ammo at the range. If you enjoy honing your shooting skills and getting great groups you'll find the reward for making your own is two fold.

If it's not your bag and I suggest you look into it to find out; call small hole in the wall gun shops all over within driving distance. On line will prove nearly fruitless. If you find any, it won't be much and you will have the guilt of seeing the empty casings on the ground and just a barely warm rifle that just ate an appetizer. Best of luck and damn fine rifle my friend.

Thank you very much, and thank you for the advice, I have been on the search for a reloading set up for the past month or so, probably will start out with a single stage setup just for my 6.5. But I haven't been able to run down all the components I need yet. Plus I am treading a bit lightly to avoid sending my wife to the lawyers office with me spending so much on firearms and accessories in the last couple of months. lol The Covid and Election excuses are starting to lose their effect. lol But I will continue to look for a reload set up bc I agree with you and I think I will enjoy load development and it will pay off in the end.

Thanks again for the help

 

[acudaowner]

welcome from delaware

 

[Vasily]

Thank you very much, and thank you for the advice, I have been on the search for a reloading set up for the past month or so, probably will start out with a single stage setup just for my 6.5. But I haven't been able to run down all the components I need yet. Plus I am treading a bit lightly to avoid sending my wife to the lawyers office with me spending so much on firearms and accessories in the last couple of months. lol The Covid and Election excuses are starting to lose their effect. lol But I will continue to look for a reload set up bc I agree with you and I think I will enjoy load development and it will pay off in the end.

Thanks again for the help

Take care of your woman first. They always magnify what you give...or take. When your ready start with RCBS. You don't need super expensive stuff, just precise measuring equipment. Most fellas use single stage, they are slower but more exacting and "repeatable". This word has the most value in reloading. The more $ you spend typically is done to save time. If your not loading large quantities for multiple calibers you won't recoup any investment. Pick up a reloading manual from Hornady, Berger, Nosler or anybody and start reading. It isn't rocket science but as you progress it kinda feels like it...which makes it fun. Use your head to stay out of danger and ask all the stupid questions. Stupid questions are always the ones that will make it click for you. Keep this in your mind:. Nothing can be accomplished without a plan. So, start a research list of what equipment you need and a separate chronological order of what step will be done first to last. The final step to perfecting a recipe for ammo is concluding how your going to develop an optimal load for your 6.5 Creedmore. There are many different ways to this approach and they can all lead you to that big fat ear to ear grin you seek at the range. Look into a chronograph. I find them very valuable as velocity "charge weight" changes result in vertacle dispersion and seating depth "relationship of bullet seated more in or out of the case" results in horizontal dispersion. This can be examined without a chrono but will take more ammo to be accomplished. Just a few nuggets of my experience. You will find your own process that will consist of pieces of others that ultimately makes sense to you. Have fun, be safe and take care of that little gal of yours. The guns ain't going anywhere with more of us out there.

 

[TheRealMongo]

Take care of your woman first. They always magnify what you give...or take. When your ready start with RCBS. You don't need super expensive stuff, just precise measuring equipment. Most fellas use single stage, they are slower but more exacting and "repeatable". This word has the most value in reloading. The more $ you spend typically is done to save time. If your not loading large quantities for multiple calibers you won't recoup any investment. Pick up a reloading manual from Hornady, Berger, Nosler or anybody and start reading. It isn't rocket science but as you progress it kinda feels like it...which makes it fun. Use your head to stay out of danger and ask all the stupid questions. Stupid questions are always the ones that will make it click for you. Keep this in your mind:. Nothing can be accomplished without a plan. So, start a research list of what equipment you need and a separate chronological order of what step will be done first to last. The final step to perfecting a recipe for ammo is concluding how your going to develop an optimal load for your 6.5 Creedmore. There are many different ways to this approach and they can all lead you to that big fat ear to ear grin you seek at the range. Look into a chronograph. I find them very valuable as velocity "charge weight" changes result in vertacle dispersion and seating depth "relationship of bullet seated more in or out of the case" results in horizontal dispersion. This can be examined without a chrono but will take more ammo to be accomplished. Just a few nuggets of my experience. You will find your own process that will consist of pieces of others that ultimately makes sense to you. Have fun, be safe and take care of that little gal of yours. The guns ain't going anywhere with more of us out there.

Thank you for the awesome advice. Please feel free to message me if you come across or think of anything else. I may be reaching out with a few of those stupid questions as I get started Im sure. I am assuming you have or have had a 6.5 PRC as well?

 

[Vasily]

Thank you for the awesome advice. Please feel free to message me if you come across or think of anything else. I may be reaching out with a few of those stupid questions as I get started Im sure. I am assuming you have or have had a 6.5 PRC as well?

Reach out anytime. I'm about to start a 6.5 PRC project in spring for a friend, just waiting on dies. It may be later until they become available which gives me more time for other development. I think your MPR will be a real nice rig. I haven't done anything with carbon fiber barrels. They won't be any different outside of being light for long range. This just means you will need to focus on keeping the same repeatable shooting position. I've shot some lightweight rifles that wouldn't group. After trying numerous loads, bags, bedding etc, I just relinquished myself to shooting it. Slow, steady and check listing each component of supporting the rifle I began to shoot 1/4" 5 round groups at 100. Moving out to 300 I noticed the rifle "300 WM" sight picture recoiled left. After my head consulted a tree a few times I came to an obvious conclusion. The rifles cheek rest angled slightly up towards the action. When I kept a solid weld this caused an off balance recoil pulse. I'm a right handed shooter, push buttstock right, muzzle goes left. Once this habit was corrected I improved and now look for a rest angled more rearward or flat and keep a much lighter weld. Some guys will tell you to tighten up and as long as they can duplicate that hold after each shot and recover their sight picture, that's fine. It's all about repeatability. Anyways, a heavier rifle perhaps for those reasons has helped me maintain precision and accuracy. If your not competing side weights will slow the pulse down enough to get good with it. They're kind of like training wheels. Take two off at a time, until you build an unbreakable mental awareness of your hold. What makes this all complicated is the variables get exponential at distance. 100 to 400 @ 2900fps no problem. Past that, wind. Is it you? The rifle? Wind? Problems become more difficult to diagnose. I like to shoot early morning or late evening when it's most calm. Eliminate one variable at a time until there are none. Difficult but there's always a nearby tree where I live.

 

[TheRealMongo]

Reach out anytime. I'm about to start a 6.5 PRC project in spring for a friend, just waiting on dies. It may be later until they become available which gives me more time for other development. I think your MPR will be a real nice rig. I haven't done anything with carbon fiber barrels. They won't be any different outside of being light for long range. This just means you will need to focus on keeping the same repeatable shooting position. I've shot some lightweight rifles that wouldn't group. After trying numerous loads, bags, bedding etc, I just relinquished myself to shooting it. Slow, steady and check listing each component of supporting the rifle I began to shoot 1/4" 5 round groups at 100. Moving out to 300 I noticed the rifle "300 WM" sight picture recoiled left. After my head consulted a tree a few times I came to an obvious conclusion. The rifles cheek rest angled slightly up towards the action. When I kept a solid weld this caused an off balance recoil pulse. I'm a right handed shooter, push buttstock right, muzzle goes left. Once this habit was corrected I improved and now look for a rest angled more rearward or flat and keep a much lighter weld. Some guys will tell you to tighten up and as long as they can duplicate that hold after each shot and recover their sight picture, that's fine. It's all about repeatability. Anyways, a heavier rifle perhaps for those reasons has helped me maintain precision and accuracy. If your not competing side weights will slow the pulse down enough to get good with it. They're kind of like training wheels. Take two off at a time, until you build an unbreakable mental awareness of your hold. What makes this all complicated is the variables get exponential at distance. 100 to 400 @ 2900fps no problem. Past that, wind. Is it you? The rifle? Wind? Problems become more difficult to diagnose. I like to shoot early morning or late evening when it's most calm. Eliminate one variable at a time until there are none. Difficult but there's always a nearby tree where I live.

I really appreciate all the help getting started, its a bit like drinking water out of a fire hose to start with, but Im sure like anything else it will all become second nature with time and experience. I will definitely be in touch as I get started.

Thanks again!

 

[ck1a]

welcome from south Mississippi. I just purchased a 300 PRC and as you said getting the stuff for reloading is a PITA. I already had everything but brass and dies. Waiting on Lapua to drop their next batch of brass, so I purchased a few boxes of Hornady 300 PRC 212 gr hunter in ELD-X at Academy, and will use that brass for now. You can catch PRC ammo there on occasion, but the rest of the components are a while out.

 

[TheRealMongo]

welcome from south Mississippi. I just purchased a 300 PRC and as you said getting the stuff for reloading is a PITA. I already had everything but brass and dies. Waiting on Lapua to drop their next batch of brass, so I purchased a few boxes of Hornady 300 PRC 212 gr hunter in ELD-X at Academy, and will use that brass for now. You can catch PRC ammo there on occasion, but the rest of the components are a while out.

Awesome man, thanks for the help. The 300 PRC is actually next on my list as well. I was torn between that and the 6.5 PRC to start with but would eventually like to have both. I’ll keep an eye out on Academy and see if I can catch some there. I have even been considering “biting the Bullet” so to speak and just buying some off gunbroker. I just feel like that’s such a rip off to pay $5.50 a round for factory ammo.

But thanks for the help man and good luck with the 300.