I have received several inquiries about my comments on the 6.5 PRC on this short action. I think there is some confusion, so I'll try to clarify here. I may try to grab a pic of the ejector set up tomorrow so it will make better sense.
The facts:
1. Remington style mag box for BDL or floor plate setups = approx 2.880" internal length.
2. Accurate or AICS pattern detachable magazines w/o binder = approx 2.950" internal length.
3. The factory loaded 6.5 PRC rounds from Hornady = avg 2.945" in overall length
So you can see the problem clearly. They will not fit in a standard S/A Remington style mag box and JUST BARELY fit in a S/A detachable magazine. This cartridge is marketed as a short action round, but does not fit well in a number of short actions without some type of modification. It is very much like the 6.5-284 in the fact that it can be forced into a short action, but probably would be better in a true medium or long action.
That said, the typical fix for this on Remingtons and similarly configured customs is to install a Wyatt's extended mag box. This adds about .110" of extra length as compared to the original. Material from the rear of the mag well is machined away to make room for the longer mag box. This solves the problem on push feeds like Remington, Stiller, etc. that have both the ejector and extractor located on the bolt face. However most controlled round feeds have the ejector located somewhere at the back of the mag well, which is right where the material needs to be removed for the modification.
The good news about the mechanical ejector is that your brass is going to eject every time.....it doesn't have a choice. It's the most dependable system of the two. The bad news is it doesn't lend itself to altering or trying to stretch the magwell length to accommodate cartridges longer than it was intended to run.
Knowing all of that should help you make a more informed choice when deciding whether or not to build a 6.5 PRC on this action. There are several ways to go with this if you still want a 6.5 PRC on this build. And it really is an awesome round that brings man bun level accuracy with increased horsepower to the table.
Option 1 - Do what the 6.5-284 guys figured out a long, long time ago. Build it on a long action and have more room than you'll ever need and the super smooth feeding that comes with it while preserving all of the mechanical ejection designed into the action. The trade-off here is that your overall build will be about 1/2" longer and weigh about 3-4 ounces more. In other words - not much.
Option 2 - Build it on a short action using detachable bottom metal. It just barely fits, but it does fit.The trade-off here is that you are starting at the finish line. As your throat starts to wear forward, you have absolutely zero room to follow it. How many rounds will that be? I don't know. I set our reamer up with a shorter freebore than the SAAMI version so it is customized to the Hornady factory ammo itself. That alone should make it last a little longer, but you will still run out of road eventually if you hand load. None of this may matter if you don't plan to load.
Option 3 - This one is a maybe at best. I will be working on the ejector geometry this week to see if I can coax a little more force out of it when running the extended mag modification. I posted earlier that I had done this in testing already and was able to make it work, but positive ejection was on the verge of being gone. We are going to go back and start working forward from where we stopped last time and try to get every .001" of ejector protrusion we can get without crowding the mag box. Trade offs here are additional cost of extended mag box and weaker ejection.
Options 4 thru 9 - Don't build a 6.5 PRC on this action. Ask us about other alternatives(though there won't be many at this price-point). Wait for the next TBH deal to roll around as it will likely be on a different action. Send us the action you want to build on and we'll take care of you with the rest. Call Hornady and ask them what the hell they were thinking making the OAL 2.950" when everybody else involved with the project thought they were solving all the issues associated with 6.5 mags in short actions. Give up and build another Creedmoor. Sorry, that last one was out of habit.
Anybody want to talk about the quirks of building a 300PRC?
The facts:
1. Remington style mag box for BDL or floor plate setups = approx 2.880" internal length.
2. Accurate or AICS pattern detachable magazines w/o binder = approx 2.950" internal length.
3. The factory loaded 6.5 PRC rounds from Hornady = avg 2.945" in overall length
So you can see the problem clearly. They will not fit in a standard S/A Remington style mag box and JUST BARELY fit in a S/A detachable magazine. This cartridge is marketed as a short action round, but does not fit well in a number of short actions without some type of modification. It is very much like the 6.5-284 in the fact that it can be forced into a short action, but probably would be better in a true medium or long action.
That said, the typical fix for this on Remingtons and similarly configured customs is to install a Wyatt's extended mag box. This adds about .110" of extra length as compared to the original. Material from the rear of the mag well is machined away to make room for the longer mag box. This solves the problem on push feeds like Remington, Stiller, etc. that have both the ejector and extractor located on the bolt face. However most controlled round feeds have the ejector located somewhere at the back of the mag well, which is right where the material needs to be removed for the modification.
The good news about the mechanical ejector is that your brass is going to eject every time.....it doesn't have a choice. It's the most dependable system of the two. The bad news is it doesn't lend itself to altering or trying to stretch the magwell length to accommodate cartridges longer than it was intended to run.
Knowing all of that should help you make a more informed choice when deciding whether or not to build a 6.5 PRC on this action. There are several ways to go with this if you still want a 6.5 PRC on this build. And it really is an awesome round that brings man bun level accuracy with increased horsepower to the table.
Option 1 - Do what the 6.5-284 guys figured out a long, long time ago. Build it on a long action and have more room than you'll ever need and the super smooth feeding that comes with it while preserving all of the mechanical ejection designed into the action. The trade-off here is that your overall build will be about 1/2" longer and weigh about 3-4 ounces more. In other words - not much.
Option 2 - Build it on a short action using detachable bottom metal. It just barely fits, but it does fit.The trade-off here is that you are starting at the finish line. As your throat starts to wear forward, you have absolutely zero room to follow it. How many rounds will that be? I don't know. I set our reamer up with a shorter freebore than the SAAMI version so it is customized to the Hornady factory ammo itself. That alone should make it last a little longer, but you will still run out of road eventually if you hand load. None of this may matter if you don't plan to load.
Option 3 - This one is a maybe at best. I will be working on the ejector geometry this week to see if I can coax a little more force out of it when running the extended mag modification. I posted earlier that I had done this in testing already and was able to make it work, but positive ejection was on the verge of being gone. We are going to go back and start working forward from where we stopped last time and try to get every .001" of ejector protrusion we can get without crowding the mag box. Trade offs here are additional cost of extended mag box and weaker ejection.
Options 4 thru 9 - Don't build a 6.5 PRC on this action. Ask us about other alternatives(though there won't be many at this price-point). Wait for the next TBH deal to roll around as it will likely be on a different action. Send us the action you want to build on and we'll take care of you with the rest. Call Hornady and ask them what the hell they were thinking making the OAL 2.950" when everybody else involved with the project thought they were solving all the issues associated with 6.5 mags in short actions. Give up and build another Creedmoor. Sorry, that last one was out of habit.
Anybody want to talk about the quirks of building a 300PRC?
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