- Thread starter Kaveman44
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I’m assuming when you say barrel types I’m guessing it’s manufactures your looking for? If that’s the case I highly recommend bartlein, benchmark and KS if your in Canada. There’s tons of excellent barrels out there but bartlein and benchmarks have just been awesome for me and my shooting partner. Most recently I’ve added KS to the line up and will definitely be adding more they clean up superb, shoot every bit as good and slightly cheaper.
If you don't mind me offering my experience..I have 4 rifles setup hypothetically for prs. 22 creed, 6 creed, 6.5 creed and 6 gt. The 6gt has alot going for it, but if I where to know then what I know now, I would have saved the money and bought the equivalent of what I spent to build the others and stay with the 6.5 creed. It's not the best, but it's easy to load for, 6.5 bullets are easier to find, and powders are a very little bit easier to get as well. (Just try to get 8lbs of varget). I recently shot a match with my new 6.5 creed. At 17 lbs, and a APA Lil bastard, it was quite manageable to run in the match. Just now got the gen 3 Fat Bastard, took all the weights out of my MPA to get it to the 12lb weight limit for NRL Hunter, and found the recoil was less than the heavier setup and Lil Bastard.
Fyi, I'm NOT saying the Creed is the best, but it's possibly the simplest one as I have a ton of small rifle primers and well over a thousand SPR Starline brass that I'm using. It's merely easier for me right now with today's climate.
Fyi, I'm NOT saying the Creed is the best, but it's possibly the simplest one as I have a ton of small rifle primers and well over a thousand SPR Starline brass that I'm using. It's merely easier for me right now with today's climate.
Out of curiosity do you not have the same results with the creed family of cartridges in general though. I know my 6 and 25 creed both were super easy and just hammer. My 25 creed is wicked.
That said though any of the 6br variants are supposed to be the easiest to load for. I’m going try one of them next. And seeing as the gt is so close I assumed it would be pretty simple
For the most part, they are all easy for sure. I more look at the ease of the 6.5 and like alot of other guys, tried the 6gt. It's nice for sure, but since 6mm is all the rage, components are harder to get, and if you are building a rifle I think you will find accuracy is there with any of them.
I built 3 rifles, all TL3s, all 24" proof carbon barrels. And when I tried the gen 3 APA FB, the recoil was all near identical.
I built 3 rifles, all TL3s, all 24" proof carbon barrels. And when I tried the gen 3 APA FB, the recoil was all near identical.
6mm creed will be less then the gt and 6.5 creed due to powder consumption and bore diameter.
That said though, I generally prefer shooting my 6 over my 6.5 and will be building a second 6 either this year or next. For a first rifle though I don’t think you can beat a 6.5 anything. 6.5x47, 6.5 creed, 260. The amount of round and ease of tuning just makes for more trigger time.
So far though the 25 seems to be my favourite
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My recommendation, having spent thousands upon thousands of dollars and many months waiting on custom PRS builds, is this: don't build a custom rifle, buy an AI factory rifle.
Haha why’s that
That was the attraction for me. 6BR or 6BRA are supposedly crazy easy to load for, low recoil and good barrel life.
When I was debating caliber for my build I listened to a podcast from the top PRS guys and almost all were going this direction for the same reasons.
Because of long wait times and constant headaches and unexpected reliability issues with custom builds.
Get an AI, which will function reliably from day one, and prefit barrels in whatever calibers you want. Switch them out at your leisure and as you see fit.
Definitely not a top PRS shooter, but loading for my BRA is a breeze. I don’t plan on not having at least one BR-based rifle. 105s 20 thousandths off with a mild 30.2gr H4895 get me 2900fps out of a 28” Bart. 2800fps at 29gr with fire forming loads.
While saving for months and weighing all the options, including custom builds, cheap builds, builds far beyond my budget (being retired with a wife who keeps me solvent) I decided to go with a “production” MPA again in 6.5 Creedmoor. Already have a 6.5 Creedmoor (had two sold a hunting rifle in 6.5 that would not shoot for me) so, I decided this was an area I could save some bucks. Now saving for a decent scope while using an older VX3 that our son sold us at a discount.
Can’t say I couldn’t be happier. The Sixes could have been less recoil, but considering I will never be competitive, I just want to have fun.
Can’t say I couldn’t be happier. The Sixes could have been less recoil, but considering I will never be competitive, I just want to have fun.
I've had fewer issues with my custom rigs than I did with my AXMC. Damn thing constantly misfed at matches. May try an AT in an AO chassis at some point but that will probably just stay a .308 rather than a 6.5 Creed or 6 Creed.
There is a lot to say for staying with with what you know and what works for you. To quote Bo Duke; “better to fight the enemy you know than the enemy you don’t know.”
@Wiillk it has more to donwithnthe BR variants that I normally shoot for matches being hit and miss out of AIs. Even with mag kits. I'm almost positive team AI runs custom spacers to alleviate issues in their guns.
In all honesty, if you reload and have access to components, a 6BR or BRA will be better for a strictly PRS gun than any of the Creeds or x47s. Easy to load for, stupid accurate and low recoil even suppressed. For the current game, speed is over rated.
In all honesty, if you reload and have access to components, a 6BR or BRA will be better for a strictly PRS gun than any of the Creeds or x47s. Easy to load for, stupid accurate and low recoil even suppressed. For the current game, speed is over rated.
I have a Nucleus action with a 28" Bartlein MTU in 6 Dasher I would like to sell. It would come with a 419 Hellfire brake and a Huber two stage trigger. It was the barreled action I used for PRS style matches last year.
6GT will suit you just fine. If you can’t find Varget, RL16 and H4350 both produce excellent loads. The cartridge is extremely easy to load for. 105 or 109 hybrids anywhere from 0.060-0.10 off will get you great results. I have just over 3k on my barrel and still shooting lights out.
Get which ever action you prefer.....Impact, Curtis, bighorn, and have a good smith spin you up a barrel.
Get which ever action you prefer.....Impact, Curtis, bighorn, and have a good smith spin you up a barrel.
That’s half the battle, so many to choose from lol
Yea, those BR's have way less recoil. Well, unless you're talking about peak force, then they actually have more if you push it to a decent velocity. And even going 150 fps slower it's only about 10% less total momentum. Literally adding an extra pound of weight to your rifle makes more difference. If you want to deal with your caliber being picky about actions and magazines and slower then maybe a BR may be worth it to you. If not, a 47 or creedmoor is not going to hold you back. They are all going to be plenty accurate if you use quality components and loading practices, and by plenty I mean able to win matches.
6x47 @ 3000 fps w/ 105 hybrids & RL16
BR @ 2850 w/ 105 hybrids & Varget
6x47 @ 3000 fps w/ 105 hybrids & RL16
BR @ 2850 w/ 105 hybrids & Varget
Isn't that peak force difference more about RL16 vs Varget rather than 6x47 vs 6BR?
My sensitive shoulder wants to know.
Isn't that peak force difference more about RL16 vs Varget rather than 6x47 vs 6BR?
My sensitive shoulder wants to know.
Lol
I think it is important to note 2 things:
1) Theory (quickload data) is great for debates but the real issue isn't recoil. Spotting your misses/impacts is much more important that how much recoil your gun produces. Granted one affects the other, but once i could spot my misses my scores went up dramatically.
2) While in theory, a 6.5 is capable to win a match. I challenge you to show me the last time a 6.5 won a national level PRS match against the army of 6mm variants.
I started with a 6.5 creedmoor, and while i could see that i hit the target but i couldn't see where i hit it. Now I shoot a dasher, and i can see exactly where on the target my impact hits, adjust my wind call and send another impact. Day and night difference for PRS competition.
1) Theory (quickload data) is great for debates but the real issue isn't recoil. Spotting your misses/impacts is much more important that how much recoil your gun produces. Granted one affects the other, but once i could spot my misses my scores went up dramatically.
2) While in theory, a 6.5 is capable to win a match. I challenge you to show me the last time a 6.5 won a national level PRS match against the army of 6mm variants.
I started with a 6.5 creedmoor, and while i could see that i hit the target but i couldn't see where i hit it. Now I shoot a dasher, and i can see exactly where on the target my impact hits, adjust my wind call and send another impact. Day and night difference for PRS competition.
I've gone top 10 with a 6.5 creed at a national match (I think I've only shot a 6.5 three times lol), and won & placed at national matches with non-br based cartridges. Clearly the BR /Dasher is capable, people are winning with them, and I've won/placed at matches with them as well. For me, the recoil management on short range barricade stuff is just a non issue because I don't free recoil anything. I also prefer the extra retained energy at distance from a 109 @ 3000 vs a 105 @ 2800, it makes reading plates beyond 800 easier for me, which is where I struggle the most.
I’ve heard of similar issues with short action calibers in the AXMC. My personal AI AX was flawless however, unlike my custom rifles.
