Short Magnum on a Long Action - Looking for Feedback

[Franko]

I'm considering building a 6.5PRC on a long action for the following reasons:

1. I already own a nice long action and chassis
2. I am in CA and need to load copper monos which puts me into about 3.1 OAL

Is anyone running this combo and if so, is it running flawlessly? If not, what issues are you running into?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Hawk in WY]

Tag

 

[b6graham]

the 7SAUM has historically been THE short action round run in long actions

get good mags and you'll be fine

 

[Kiba]

I have a 7SAUM in a long action running 180 VLDs and copper monos, both loaded long. It runs great, and I couldn't do it in a short action without reducing oal and giving up a lot of case capacity in the case of the VLDs, or giving up case capacity and putting the driving band way down the neck with the monos.

Decide on a bullet you want to run first, then figure out what the oal is when the bullet is seated fully in the neck but not too deep to eat up case capacity (or in the case of certain monos, keeping the driving band above the case neck.) If that length is longer than you can fit in a short action, go intermediate or long action. I like the idea of intermediate length actions for combos like PRC and SAUM loaded long where you don't need a full long action, but stock choices are more limited.

 

[b6graham]

don't overlook something like a 6.5-284 or a 6.5 Sherman as well depending on powders on hand

 

[Gwak2006]

I have a 6.5 PRC on a long action Tikka. I like it. Especially for the longer bullets.

 

[John T]

I have a 6.5 PRC in a MDT ESS chassis Tikka "long action " Left hand action and, using the 3.560 MDT mag with slight adjustment on the lips.
Work as it should feeds without problems , just got 100 round through it yet, Bartlein 5R 28" throated for the 147 eld m. at a coal 3,1" .
So far no regrets.

 

[Lightning8]

don't overlook something like a 6.5-284 or a 6.5 Sherman as well depending on powders on hand

I am contemplating a 6.5 Sherman on a Tikka "long action"

 

[4O6shootist]

The Hawkins hunter mags for long action have a spacer you can put in the rear for like a 3.2 coal, run saum/wsm great. But the only chassis that take these mags are xlr with their adapter kit. I'm sure you could tune accurate mags to run well. My bro runs a defiance BadRock 6.5prc in a mdt chassis, its xm with 3.2" boz mags and believe running Berger 153s around 3.06" coal and it runa flawless. I have a tikka long action on an xlr tikka long action chassis that uses mdt 3.56" mags, prc and Sherman max ran through it very well.

 

[NewsShooter]

I am contemplating a 6.5 Sherman on a Tikka "long action"

Tikka's are great if you don't need a true long action. Just recently ordered some waters mags from Australia and they feed my 7 SAUM really well in my Tikka that is in a GRS stock.

 

[86alaskan]

but if you're playing this game for a hunting rifle, just build a good long action cartridge. If you have the LA already, don't bother with a saum, do a 7prc. supposed to be the bees knees. While you'll be able to get higher performance out of the SA round seating farther, you can also just use a round that is appropriately scaled up and gain the performance a different way. kinda 2 ways to get to the same end result.

 

[Kiba]

but if you're playing this game for a hunting rifle, just build a good long action cartridge. If you have the LA already, don't bother with a saum, do a 7prc. supposed to be the bees knees. While you'll be able to get higher performance out of the SA round seating farther, you can also just use a round that is appropriately scaled up and gain the performance a different way. kinda 2 ways to get to the same end result.

A valid option too.

My 7 SAUM build in an LA is an older build, and while it's great to shoot and extremely accurate, even back when it was built finding brass was a bit of a chore.

If I was doing a fresh build today I'd probably go 7 prc, still leaves you room to load long plus a couple more grains of case capacity. Hornady brass might not be the best but it's available as is factory ammo, and I'm sure there will be better brass available for it within a year from alpha, Lapua, or someone else.

Nice thing is a long action would let the op choose 6.5prc or 7prc and still have room to load long with copper monos and stay within mag length.

 

[Franko]

A valid option too.

My 7 SAUM build in an LA is an older build, and while it's great to shoot and extremely accurate, even back when it was built finding brass was a bit of a chore.

If I was doing a fresh build today I'd probably go 7 prc, still leaves you room to load long plus a couple more grains of case capacity. Hornady brass might not be the best but it's available as is factory ammo, and I'm sure there will be better brass available for it within a year from alpha, Lapua, or someone else.

Nice thing is a long action would let the op choose 6.5prc or 7prc and still have room to load long with copper monos and stay within mag length.

Mono's are why I'm looking at the long action for a 6.5PRC build. If I was just using regular projectiles I'd just go short action and leave a little performance on the table in return for no hassles with feeding and mags.

 

[ID_Matt]

The Hawkins hunter mags for long action have a spacer you can put in the rear for like a 3.2 coal, run saum/wsm great. But the only chassis that take these mags are xlr with their adapter kit. I'm sure you could tune accurate mags to run well. My bro runs a defiance BadRock 6.5prc in a mdt chassis, its xm with 3.2" boz mags and believe running Berger 153s around 3.06" coal and it runa flawless. I have a tikka long action on an xlr tikka long action chassis that uses mdt 3.56" mags, prc and Sherman max ran through it very well.

The Hawkins mags are short action only for the XLR

 

[4O6shootist]

The Hawkins mags are short action only for the XLR

Okay was unaware. Thought they may had made that adapter kit for long action too.

 

[bdcoon]

I'm considering building a 6.5PRC on a long action for the following reasons:

1. I already own a nice long action and chassis
2. I am in CA and need to load copper monos which puts me into about 3.1 OAL

Is anyone running this combo and if so, is it running flawlessly? If not, what issues are you running into?

Thanks in advance.

I too am running a 6.5 PRC on a long action with no issues. I tested both the standard BDL bottom metal, as well as the H-S Precision magazine and both fed without issue.

 

[Part Timer]

I've kind of run into this dilemma, myself. I'm just spit-balling and generalizing here, so bear with me.

If one is looking at using a short action cartridge, would the step into a long action not beg the question as to why not go with a long action cartridge? Why lose the performance of a long action round by staying with a SAUM/PRC/WSM when you could just go with the non-truncated version?

I fully understand wanting to do something cool just because you can, but it seems like it's defeating the purpose of using a short action magnum if a guy were to go down this road.

 

[wpeach1912]

I've kind of run into this dilemma, myself. I'm just spit-balling and generalizing here, so bear with me.

If one is looking at using a short action cartridge, would the step into a long action not beg the question as to why not go with a long action cartridge? Why lose the performance of a long action round by staying with a SAUM/PRC/WSM when you could just go with the non-truncated version?

I fully understand wanting to do something cool just because you can, but it seems like it's defeating the purpose of using a short action magnum if a guy were to go down this road.

Certain actions, like tikka, don’t play nice with full length magnums. In that case, it makes more sense to run a short mag on a long action. Could be people already have short action cartridges and they want to shoot heavies in them faster. Like a 6.5 PRC with 156s is too big for a normal short action, and there aren’t many options for long action 6.5mm rounds that you can easily find brass for and get the same performance. 7 saum suffered from the same issue, but now that the 7 prc exists it is less of an issue.

 

[John T]

I'm considering building a 6.5PRC on a long action for the following reasons:

1. I already own a nice long action and chassis
2. I am in CA and need to load copper monos which puts me into about 3.1 OAL

Is anyone running this combo and if so, is it running flawlessly? If not, what issues are you running into?

Thanks in advance.

Hi.
I am running the 6.5prc in a Tikka T3 action "long" magnumbolt face of course, fitted in a MDT ESS chassi using their AICS mag 3.560" 5 round.
Just a slight adjustment on the lips, feeds good haven't had any problems.
Bartlein 5r single cut barrel 29" shoots bugholes at 100m with Hornady Eld m 147 at 3084 fps coal 3.076". So no reason to hesitate using a long action for the 6.5prc ref my experince,

 

[wade2big]

A valid option too.

My 7 SAUM build in an LA is an older build, and while it's great to shoot and extremely accurate, even back when it was built finding brass was a bit of a chore.

If I was doing a fresh build today I'd probably go 7 prc, still leaves you room to load long plus a couple more grains of case capacity. Hornady brass might not be the best but it's available as is factory ammo, and I'm sure there will be better brass available for it within a year from alpha, Lapua, or someone else.

Nice thing is a long action would let the op choose 6.5prc or 7prc and still have room to load long with copper monos and stay within mag length.

Is Hornady selling brass alone? I have ‘t seen any yet.

 

[Kiba]

Is Hornady selling brass alone? I have ‘t seen any yet.

Hornady # 86404, but I don't know if anyone has received stock yet.

I'm probably going to build a lightweight 7 PRC on a long action Archimedes that's sitting in the safe, but I won't get around to that for at least another year. Hoping lapua brass might be available by then.

 

[4O6shootist]

I've kind of run into this dilemma, myself. I'm just spit-balling and generalizing here, so bear with me.

If one is looking at using a short action cartridge, would the step into a long action not beg the question as to why not go with a long action cartridge? Why lose the performance of a long action round by staying with a SAUM/PRC/WSM when you could just go with the non-truncated version?

I fully understand wanting to do something cool just because you can, but it seems like it's defeating the purpose of using a short action magnum if a guy were to go down this road.

Not everyone wants to go from a Saum/prc/wsm case which are fairly efficient, to a long magnum and burn 25% more poder to get 7% more velocity, oh and more recoil and less barrel life. The true answer is a run a medium action with magazine fitment for 3.25" cartridges. However, I have built short mags on a long action, because it was a 7lrm prior. User may want to go to a long magnum next barrel. It gives options down the road, or they are coming from a different setup and want to keep the action.

 

[5Pweld]

Not everyone wants to go from a Saum/prc/wsm case which are fairly efficient, to a long magnum and burn 25% more poder to get 7% more velocity, oh and more recoil and less barrel life. The true answer is a run a medium action with magazine fitment for 3.25" cartridges. However, I have built short mags on a long action, because it was a 7lrm prior. User may want to go to a long magnum next barrel. It gives options down the road, or they are coming from a different setup and want to keep the action.

This, this is why we do it. I am in the process of building another 6.5 PRC. This time on an Origin medium action. The first one is a hunting rifle, the new one is for matches. I’m running it in a modified XM ACC chassis. The barrel is throated for the 156’s and 150’s. The PRC Feeds like it was born for the medium action.