The more I read user reviews on this cartridge/ case the more convinced i am to just not go there. This must be one real finicky b@st@rd
My 6.5 prc is a little tricky to reload for because of the tight chamber tolerance but it will toss a variety of projectiles with amazing consistency. I’ve loaded from the 140, 143s, and 156 oryx and I can shoot all of those at 100 yards and not change or correct anything and it produces a decent group in a vertical line as expected.
If I employ a 7mm at this point it’s definitely going to be 280ai.
I’m just looking for a good hunting load, so that limits me a little. I’m sure what I’m getting is “good enough” but that’s not why I got the 7 prc. I got it for lights out, top notch accuracy. I got it in case I need to hammer an elk at 500 yards someday. I need to trust it.
I switched to Barnes lrx
Hit the range today. I actually needed to tighten the back Action Screw about 5in pounds and the suppressor was a little loose from my last day at the range. With that, I loaded up 10 rounds of 175 ELDx as my control, 10 rounds of Sierra Game King 180 and 10 rounds of Berger Elite Hunter 195.
Today was very windy with a fairly consistent wind of 12mph, coming from the southeast which would be about my 4 o’clock; gusts were up to 23mph. With how the range is set up, the wind was circulating and unpredictable.
The ELDx 175gr. numbers were:
Velo - 2904
SD - 16.6
ES - 61.4
5 Shot #1 - 1.36"
5 Shots #2 - 1.32"
What was interesting here is that shot #1 from both strings were what pulled the spread further apart, otherwise the grouping would have been .83 and .91 which was what I was getting from the Fed. Premium 175 ELDx.
SGK 180gr.:
Velo - 2872.8
SD - 7.5
ES - 25.3
5 Shot #1 - 2.12 (yuk)
5 Shot #2 - .92
Not sure why the first group was so bad except that the wind was gusting pretty bad on these shots.
Berger 195gr:
Velo - 2736.6
SD - 26.9
ES - 56.8
5 Shot #1 - 1.08
5 Shot #2 - 1.04
Shot 5 in both of these were rushed as my chrono was running out of battery sitting in the hot sun (100 degrees today).
While the ELDx was much better than last time, which I account to tightening up the Action Screw and the Suppressor, I think that the SGK might be a better choice because of the consitency of the SD and ES. I got good speed from it, I can even lower the powder a bit to see if I can get better than the .92 over 20 since my goal is just to stay above 2800… preferably 2850 but 2800 with .75 MOA would end this experiment.
Any thoughts?
@Backfire - 31 shots from a Suppressed 7PRC in a 2 hour windows on the Backlight, my shoulder feels GREAT. Kudos again on the chassis.
I’m loading for five 7mm PRC rifles, friends and family. I completed load developments for all of them and there were two of the rifles I could not get to come around with the heavier bullets. I tried LRX’s with good luck but didn’t like the price of buying them. I looked into the numbers for the ELD-X 162 for hunting the numbers aren’t too bad and both problem rifles came right in sub moa with the 162 grain bullets.
Not sure yet, but the issue all along may have been here:
Outside of some pressure sign I had on my SGKs, I was getting sub moa groupings. And since for these loads I tried moving the jump back just a bit, I knew my pressure my be up. And since I made the change I load 10 round of ELDx and the first 5 were .52 MOA. Next 5, 2.4 inches. left right stayed true, but the rounds POI were all elevated.
I can’t explain why all the first shots were sub MOA and the last were over 2", but I know that when I load and shoot my 6.5 CM I am at least .75" in heavy winds. So, my loading process shouldn’t be the issue.
I have never seen this before on a Pic rai, but I assume (and someone please confirm if this is right) that this is most likely the culprit. The action screws were tight, the suppressor was tight and the rings were tight on the scope. I mean, what else could it be?
TIA