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Short barrel - light 6.5 hunting rifle

Didn’t realize you were so restricted on mag length. Look at the cartridges, in a standard 7-08, a 162 grain bullet “should” work still. It will be a little deeper in the case than idea but should work. The boat tail junction would be between the body and neck junctions which is where it should be. Have you looked into berger bullets? They usually shoot better than hornady bullets anyway and work very will on game. Usually saves a little length too without the plastic tip.
 
I use a 130 berger at 2755 in a 20” barrel with lapua brass. 0 pressure signs. Whitetail any bullet with work. Hogs I’ve found the heavier bullet do better with penetration. But if you hit them in the ear a 22 will work.
 
A 16-18in 6.5x47 or 6.5CM is on my short list of next builds. For the most part here in PA our shots aren’t beyond 150yds. I think a shorty could be a lot of fun on white tails.
 
I’d you look at charts, less than 20” you start really bleeding velocity on a 6.5 creed. There’s a reason you see most 16-18” barrels as 308. They have a bit more volume to burn the powder and contain the expanding gases to be a bit more efficient at those length. At 150 yards and in a 308 will likely have a bit more energy too if you care about that at all.
 
7PRC is what I’d love to try. Finally a 7 short mag that you can get lapua brass and just neck up easily. 7 creed why not just buy a 7-08?
I would shoot the hell out of this cartridge but for the fact that I have a 280 AI.
 
I think one would run into OAL issues with a 7PRC in a SA.
I was thinking that same thing. 7s are cool because you have some super long skinny bullets, and seating within magazine length would be an issue with some of them.
 
I was thinking that same thing. 7s are cool because you have some super long skinny bullets, and seating within magazine length would be an issue with some of them.

Use a Defiance intermediate length action. Paired with their intermediate length BDL. Did that on my 300wsm. Lots of room to seat the bullets far out.
 
A 6.5 PRC is already at the limit; high BC 7mm bullets are longer. I would think if you tried to redesign a PRC case to take 7mm bullets at max mag length you'd end up with a 7 - 6.5SAUM. or a 7SST
The 6.5 PRC case and saum case are nearly
Identical in terms of overall and neck length. If a 7 saum works in a short action with a wide variety of bullets, there’s no reason a 7PRC wouldn’t work. Just with better brass quality. A 180 hybrid in a 7PRC would probably get you around 2900+ fps. Bad medicine for any animal in North America.
 
All bullet weights ideally need a specific freebore? This is nothing unique to the 7PRC or any other cartridges for that matter. There’s no SAAMI 7PRC reamer anyway. Will the 7PRC benefit from a long action? Yes of course. Probably on the order of around 100fps or so potentially. The same could be said for the 6.5 PRC however with the longer 150+ grain bullets so I’m not really sure what your point is on this one? For 162-180 grain bullets a short action is adequate on a 7PRC/saum. The difference is you can get lapua brass for a PRC.

The PRC is .005” longer than SAUM. Completely negligible.
 
No. You misunderstood my post. The SAUM needs a specific freebore to fit in a short action. It doesn't just work with a wide variety of bullets as you stated. You have to compromise it's performance by using a shorter freebore that accommodates bullets shoved down in the case from fitting in a short action mag. Yes it will work, but not optimumlly
Huh? I think you’re misunderstanding the role of freebore here. A Gunsmith can chose whatever reamer with whatever freebore and also custom lengthen any freebore for any round. A long freebore designed for a long action will still work in a short action. The bullet will just have more jump is all. Plenty of cartridges experience this. Nothing unique to the SAUM/PRC.

I always give my smith a dummy round with the brass and bullet I want to shoot and tell him how far off I want the lands. You can do this with any cartridge. The SAUM offers no advantage to the PRC in this regard. Mark my words, when lapua 6.5 PRC brass becomes readily available you will see a demise of the 6.5 SAUM and plenty in the post exchange. There’s no reason to choose a SAUM over a PRC anymore for a short mag, unless you have a pile of brass already or custom reamer you paid for etc.
 
That point is equally true for a PRC as well. So not really sure why you brought it up in comparison to any of these short mag rounds. That’s been true of all of them if you want the new heavy high bc bullets.
 
I guess I would be a "short barreled rifle" junkie. I have just recently started cutting the barrels off on most of my hunting rifles.

1. Ruger Hawkeye .308 w/ 17" barrel
2 . Browning BAR .270 w/ 16.5" barrel
3. Browning X-bolt .270 w/ 18" barrel
4. Remington M700 .308 w/ 16.5" barrel
5. TC Encore .308 w/ 16.5" barrel
 
A 16-18in 6.5x47 or 6.5CM is on my short list of next builds. For the most part here in PA our shots aren’t beyond 150yds. I think a shorty could be a lot of fun on white tails.

Build one. I’ve hunted the last two years with an 18” 6.5x47 running 130 gr projos around 2650 and it’s a joy to carry and shoot. I’ve had good luck with 130 hybrids on whitetail. I was not impressed with 130 gamechangers, but I did recover the buck.
 
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I need to add two more:

6. CA Ridgeline 6.5 CM with 20" barrel
7. Tuebor Precision SS Raider action w/ 20" McGowan Precision barrel in 6.5 CM
 
I just finished a 16.5” 6.5 Creedmoor rem 700. I used a Bartlein #3 as it was the lightest that I could cut that short and have the min barrel diameter for threading. Total weight is right at 9 lbs with scope. I get 2500 FPS out of factory 140 grain loads. Very handy even with the suppressor, I’ve only shot one deer with it so far, but it’s a keeper.
saw this post from a few years ago. looking at building a 16.5 6.5cm for whitetail myself, have you had a more success hunting with it since then?
 
Current lightweight night rig
16” 6.5x47
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Ye' olde thread.

This will be the first years since I bought it that my Fieldcraft 6CM isn't one of the rifles coming along.

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It has such great features, like the built in ear plug holder!

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