18" 6.5 PRC

Printable View

16-11-2019, 05:25 PM
Kiwi Greg

18" 6.5 PRC

Just got this Tikka 6.5 PRC going this morning

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...psewa8hr6r.jpg

It has an 18" Bartlein 1-8 #2b 5R barrel

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...pseihxfncg.jpg

The customer is going to the factory stock until he gets a carbon one off one of his mates

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...psy0go9nd4.jpg

Initial load development is done & the velocity is reasonable from the short barrel

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...psv7jyrzom.jpg

Pretty happy with it & its off to its owner next week :)
16-11-2019, 05:50 PM
Tribrit

Where do we get a 6.5 prc chamber reamed in NZ?
16-11-2019, 05:56 PM
Tommy

Tidy
16-11-2019, 06:12 PM
Kiwi Greg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tribrit

Where do we get a 6.5 prc chamber reamed in NZ?

I imported one & go gauge, along with many others over the years
16-11-2019, 06:44 PM
Tahr

That's great. Im impressed that there is a real edge there over the "old" 6.5's in a shorter barrel and am happy to resile from my former scepticism about the caliber not giving a decent edge over the x55.
16-11-2019, 06:50 PM
Gibo

Is this VCs one?
16-11-2019, 06:57 PM
25 /08 IMP

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tahr

That's great. Im impressed that there is a real edge there over the "old" 6.5's in a shorter barrel and am happy to resile from my former scepticism about the caliber not giving a decent edge over the x55.

Still not enough of an edge over my 18" .260 which does 2810fps with the 143ELDX.

Sent from my CPH1903 using Tapatalk
16-11-2019, 06:58 PM
Nick-D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

Just got this Tikka 6.5 PRC going this morning

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...psewa8hr6r.jpg

It has an 18" Bartlein 1-8 #2b 5R barrel

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...pseihxfncg.jpg

The customer is going to the factory stock until he gets a carbon one off one of his mates

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...psy0go9nd4.jpg

Initial load development is done & the velocity is reasonable from the short barrel

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...psv7jyrzom.jpg

Pretty happy with it & its off to its owner next week :)

That's good practical speeds out of the 18 inch barrel.
16-11-2019, 07:05 PM
Kiwi Greg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gibo

Is this VCs one?

Nope
16-11-2019, 09:57 PM
outdoorlad

Hopefully tikka/Sako will put out the 6.5PRC in the future.........
16-11-2019, 10:28 PM
Tahr

Quote:

Originally Posted by 25 /08 IMP

Still not enough of an edge over my 18" .260 which does 2810fps with the 143ELDX.

Sent from my CPH1903 using Tapatalk

My 21" x55 is 2840 but I expect that Im on the pressure edge. Yours is fizzing, but I expect the PRC does it with a bit up its sleeve.
17-11-2019, 06:02 AM
Tribrit

Quote:

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

Hopefully tikka/Sako will put out the 6.5PRC in the future.........

Iv been waiting for a 85 Carbonlight in 6.5prc. If it ever happens I'm buying one immediately.

In the meantime I'm pretty close to having a prc built on a blue printed Model 7 action.
26-11-2019, 01:46 PM
Kiwi Greg

Shot it again in the weekend & its all sorted, definitely not a hot load.

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...psnkwqt7ny.jpg

Doesn't mind the 147 ELDM either, tends to leap around a bit when the trigger is squeezed :)

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...ps5jwvij23.jpg

Its very happy with the Factory ammo, even hit the aim point for a change :thumbsup: just shows how much the POI changes between loads especially with the drop in velocity

https://i1004.photobucket.com/albums...psizmtijnn.jpg

Now its waiting for its trip to its new owner :)
17-02-2020, 08:47 PM
300_BLK

@stagstalker
02-04-2020, 12:21 PM
Roarless20

4 Attachment(s)

Thanks for having this rifle built for me Greg!

It's definitley the most accurate rifle i have owned to date and in a compact size for bush to Tops hunting!

Here is what this rifle looks like now with the Carbon stock on it!

Attachment 134752

The load development was a bit drawn out as i started using the 143eld-x seating depth from the dummy round you supplied. I was getting the odd random pressure spike. Turned out you had it jammed 0.015" into the lands. It did shoot great like that usually though.
Check out this 318m group i shot while testing with it jammed.
Velocity on this load is 2915fps avg.
Attachment 134753

So i started again at 0.010" off the lands. Accuracy wasn't what i wanted but i sorted pressure out. With a MagnetoSpeed chrony i found a stable powder/velocity load. 56.6gr RL26 and then did a seating depth test as 0.010" jump wasnt working for me.
Attachment 134754

The 143gr ELD-X liked 0.050" and 0.120" jump.
I settled with 0.050"jump to keep as much velocity as i could - 2900fps avg ES~20fps. It shots 0.5moa anytime with this load.(tighter usually)

Attachment 134755
02-04-2020, 12:42 PM
Gkp

Looks like a great rig mate. What does she weigh with the suppressor on?
02-04-2020, 01:23 PM
Roarless20

4 Attachment(s)

I also started another load development with Win70 powder and 123gr SST projectiles. The powder i can get locally for cheap as ($40 500g) at Belmont. This is my cheap load ~$1.40 a shot!!
I started this load before the 143gr ELD-x as i couldnt get RL26. The RL26 powder is damn near impossible to get so i needed another option.

The Win760 is too fast a burn rate for this cartridge really but it can manage to push 123gr pills with some velocity without too much pressure. However the velocity is still very slow for the bullet weight in this cartridge.(Same velocity 2900fps as the RL26 pushes the 143gr ELD-X)

The load i'm using now is 54.5gr Win760 , 123gr SST, hornady cases and fed215 primers (it needed magnum primers to reduce the huge ES i was seeing).

When i started the load development i didnt have a chronograph so just did a 4shot group ladder test @200m.

Attachment 134759

It clealry liked 52.5gr win760. Even though the group was only 3 shots, as a pen hen walked in front of the target as i was shooting the last group. She died ;)

I reshot the 52.5gr load again @200m

Attachment 134760

Even with the pulled 5th shot (so i thought) it still shot a respectable group, the 1st-4th shots were awesme though. I didnt even know i could shoot that well!
I thought i was completely done with this load until i got a chrony!

Turns out it was shooting only 2700fps with a ES of 70! :oh noes: I couldnt believe it could shoot so well but so slow with a huge Extreme Spread!

I bumped it up to 54.5 grs of powder but avg groups opened up to 1moa. Velocity bumped to 2900fps which is the best that powder could do for me because of pressure signs at 55gr+.
So i did a seating depth test after my success with the test i did with the 143eld-x pills.
i kept the load the same 54.5gr win760, 123gr SST, same case shoulder, fed215 magnum primers, but changed the seating depth.
Jumping 0.003", 0.043", 0.073" and .103".

The first group (right page) was shot @104m to check the zero and the rest (left page) were shot @ 204m to highlight any group size difference.

Attachment 134762

So it loves 0.003" jump!!

Re-Test groups

Attachment 134763

Man was i amped with that group!! :thumbsup: (i dont expect it to shoot like that all the time. But I can safely say the rifle is a sub 0.5moa shooter)
This also proved to me that the rifle only likes 3-4 shot groups (not really a problem as it is for hunting). The top right group is shot immediately after the 3shot 143gr eld-x group on the left. (6shots in 2mins)
You can see it sprayed the 4th-6th shot compared to the 3shot group below it that i shot after 20mins when the barrel had cooled.
I had seen the 5th shot been thrown numerous times before and really wondered about it. This phenomenon has happened with the original stock and with the bedded carbon stock.
02-04-2020, 01:24 PM
wsm junkie

Oh great....another hand in the RL26 well:D
02-04-2020, 02:02 PM
Roarless20

not really a RL26 well...more like a small bucket. :o
02-04-2020, 02:33 PM
Roarless20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gkp

Looks like a great rig mate. What does she weigh with the suppressor on?

Not as light as i wanted at 4.3kg - full rig with supressor (350grams), harris bipod (400grams) and bolt in.
The barrel is heavier contour than i was expecting. The rifle has alot of recoil compared to my Howa 6.5 creedmor with 143gr pills. So i probably wouldn't want it any lighter!
02-04-2020, 08:18 PM
Bagheera

Which magazine do you use with it ?
03-04-2020, 09:42 AM
Roarless20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Which magazine do you use with it ?

i'm using a long action mag and bolt stop for the 143gr ELD-X pills.
03-04-2020, 10:38 AM
andyanimal31

Shit, will not be far off getting a new barrel with all the testing!
At least you can ask for a lighter contour next time![emoji1474]

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
03-04-2020, 11:15 AM
Tahr

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Shit, will not be far off getting a new barrel with all the testing!
At least you can ask for a lighter contour next time![emoji1474]

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I put a Bartlein 2b on my Tika 7mmsaum but had Mitch spin it down to a Tikka profile. Came out very well.
03-04-2020, 06:50 PM
Roarless20

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Shit, will not be far off getting a new barrel with all the testing!
At least you can ask for a lighter contour next time![emoji1474]

Yeah your probably half right there!
Still it's absolutely worth it for the major experience and knowledge i've gained so far!

Its not all just testing and targets. The rifle has shot 3 deer. A mates son shot his first fallow buck @ 100m. I shot 2 fallow yearling does 3 weekends ago, 270m headshot and 370m headshot! (no point wasting any meat and a good confidence booster for tops shooting for the roar.)