By Joel, Precision Rifle Network
Gosh dang. That is not at all what I wanted to see. My first two shots were touching, and then the next three flew an inch high and left. This 6.5 PRC ammo test turned into a lesson I want to share with you: your rifle picks the ammo, not you.
Jumping right into the action. I’ve got this 6.5 PRC hunting rifle that needs zeroed. I got myself a cow elk tag this year, and a whitetail buck tag here in South Dakota, on the lottery system. Both of them are for the section of land that’s literally right outside my back door. Like, touching my property. I’m pretty excited about that.
My First Elk Hunt and Picking 6.5 PRC Ammo
But then I got to thinking. I’ve never shot an elk before.
I know the 6.5 PRC will do the trick. I’ve downed an antelope at 600 yards with a 6.5 Creedmoor, using basically the same bullet I planned to use today. That’s the Hornady Precision Hunter 143 grain ELD-X. It’s the same bullet in the 6.5 PRC as in the 6.5 Creedmoor. The PRC just has quite a bit more punch, which should be great for elk.
The Rifle: Bergara Premier with a Cure Carbon Barrel
A little bit about the rifle, because I know you guys love that type of stuff.
- Action: a Bergara Premier barreled action. These are somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,500, something like that. The Premier action from them is great.
- Barrel: the Cure Carbon barrel, which is their in-house barrel. It’s a good system. You can drop it into any Remington 700 platform chassis or stock.
- Stock: the MDT (Modular Driven Technologies) CRBN. It’s kind of a crossover stock and chassis. It’s made for hunting and for NRL Hunter competitions. It’s very lightweight carbon fiber.
- Optic: a Leupold Mark 4HD 6-24.
- Bipod: the MDT Ckye-Pod up front.
- Muzzle: the EC Tuner brake.
The entire rifle, even with the optic and the Ckye-Pod, weighs less than 10 pounds. Decent for a hunting rifle.
I doubt I’ll get into the tuner much. I just like the brake. It’s an excellent brake from Eric Cortina over at EC Tuner.
Here’s the Problem
I’ve used this rifle in previous videos with suppressors attached and the same ammo, and I just didn’t get great results. I was hoping that switching to a brake would give me better results here.
Without any further chitchat, let’s send one down there on the target at 100 yards and hopefully we’re squared away.
Shooting the Hornady 143 ELD-X at 100 Yards
That first shot was dang close to my point of aim. I did get a little bit of bolt lift there, which means we’re running a tiny bit hot.
Second shot, same thing. The first two were touching, right on the edge of my aiming point.
Then the third one. That was a good press, and it went high. Now we’re drifting high and left. And see, this is the problem I was having with the suppressor, too. The next one felt really good, and it’s up in the high left with the others.
Hornady Chronograph Numbers: SD 22, ES 67
Here’s what the chronograph showed for the Hornady 6.5 PRC ammo:
- Average velocity: 2,900 feet per second
- Standard deviation: 22
- Extreme spread: 67
Just not quite what you’re after.
Those first two shots were point of aim, point of impact, right on the edge of that quarter-to-third-inch aiming point. I was all excited, because those first two shots out of the rifle were touching. If that’s what I could expect every single time on a cold bore, like I’d have out hunting, that’d be great.
But how do you trust it when you can’t put five shots together like that? First two touching, last three up and to the left, at least an inch away from the other group. I just don’t understand that.
Everything’s torqued. I checked everything to make sure it was tight. When I was running the suppressor, I figured it was the suppressor and the barrel, harmonic differences. But now I’ve switched to the brake and I’m seeing the exact same thing. If you want my full checklist for that, it’s in how to confirm your rifle zero.
Switching 6.5 PRC Ammo: Berger 140 Elite Hunter
I have some Berger 140 grain Classic Hunter ammo. Let’s switch to that and see what we get.
This is the Berger 140 grain Elite Hunter. As far as ammo is concerned, Berger should be top-notch and super consistent through just about any rifle of any kind of quality. Clearly, this one is of good quality. I was hoping for good results here.
I held kind of upper middle on the paper and sent them.
Those are all grouping together. Should be sub-MOA. That’s what we want to see.
Berger Chronograph Numbers: SD 13, ES 36
- Standard deviation: 13
- Extreme spread: 36
Absolutely acceptable for 6.5 PRC ammo in a hunting rifle.
The 100 Yard Target: Hornady vs. Berger
That lower group is the Hornady group. The first two shots out of the rifle were touching, and I was like, “Oh yeah, baby, here we go.” And then those three just went up there and left. Super weird.
But that Berger group? I eyeballed it at just under an inch, probably .75. When I measured it in Ballistic-X, it came out to .639 MOA for a 4-shot group at 100 yards. That’s totally acceptable. That Hornady ammo, not so much through this rifle.
Takeaway: whatever 6.5 PRC ammo you’re looking at, don’t marry a load just because it worked in another rifle or another caliber. Your rifle picks the ammo. Test it, look at the group and the SD, and go with what your rifle actually likes.
Taking the 6.5 PRC to Steel Past 300 Yards
Next I dialed the zero in for the Berger 6.5 PRC ammo. Then I wanted to stick a steel target out on the hill, past 300 yards. That gives me an idea of what it’s going to do at distance, so I can sort of true up my data with my Kestrel. If you want to see how I do that, check out truing your dope.
That heart-shaped flapper should be about 1 MOA at this distance. It’s roughly 3 to 4 inches.
The Gun Number Wind Call at 310 Yards
All set up for a 310 yard shot, roughly, best I can tell. I set up my Kestrel and measured the wind right where I was.
Now, this would be a 6 mph gun, if you’re a gun number person. That means 6 tenths of wind in a 6 mph full-value wind at 600 yards. Here’s how I worked it:
- If I was at 600 and the wind was 6, I’d dial 6 tenths of left wind as my initial call.
- I’m at roughly half that distance, so my wind call should be 0.2 to 0.3.
- The Kestrel said 0.3 to 0.4 for that distance.
That’s what we went with. If the wind value part of that is new to you, start with my wind reading basics.
Boom. Heart shot. The wind call was perfect. Let’s go again. Those three ended up being just on the left edge of the flapper.
We’re calling that trued-up data. It worked out perfect for that distance.
Would I Take This 6.5 PRC Ammo Elk Hunting?
These look like pretty good results with this 6.5 PRC ammo. I’d be very confident taking that shot on an elk at 300 yards, 400 yards, maybe 500. An elk’s kill zone is something like 12 to 14 inches, and I can make that shot.
What’s Your Hunting Setup?
Leave me some comments. What’s your hunting setup? What do you run for big game?
If you’re close quarters out on the East Coast or in the Midwest, you rarely get past 100 yards, and you’ve got grandpa’s old 30-30, maybe it’s not so relevant. But if you’re running precision rifles and bolt actions like this, taking your shots out in the open in the West, hunting elk, mule deer, antelope, or anything like that, comment for me, would you?
I’m truly interested to know what you’d choose for a mid-tier or even entry-level hunting rifle, and what caliber you’d pick.
Learn the Wind Mastery System
If you’re interested in further training, we have an online masterclass. The Wind Mastery System is something I’ve developed over the years. It takes everything I’ve learned at all the classes with the pro instructors, plus 10 years of field experience in competitions like PRS and NRL22, and narrows it all down.
Today you saw me use the gun number method, which is one little part of it. But you saw the result. I evaluated the wind out here, made a call, and hit the target exactly where I wanted. Clearly, the system works.
Get signed up for the masterclass in the Precision Rifle Network Skool community and get your learn on over there. I’d really love to have you in that community. There’s also a free wind guide at precisionriflenetwork.com.
Thanks for reading, guys!
Watch the Full Video
Watch “Your Rifle Picks The Ammo | Not You! 6.5PRC” on YouTube