So Hornady has unveiled their 6.5 PRC round. Now, I'm all in favor of the 6.5mm caliber for precision shooting and hunting, not to mention military use (what's taking the Army so long to adopt the Grendel?), but this one makes me scratch my head. It appears to be too long to fit in an AR-10, although the company website claims it will fit short and medium actions. (Hornady - why no specifications? Would it really kill you to give the cartridge dimensions?) It takes a magnum bolt face. It fires 143/147 grain rounds at 2950± fps from a 24" barrel, which is fairly impressive for that caliber in a non-magnum cartridge. It's over 200 fps faster than the 6.5 Creedmoor, and that's no long range slouch.
However, this one seems to be a solution in search of a problem. The 6.5 PRC essentially duplicates the .270 Winchester. No one doubts the capabilities and popularity of the .270, so why reinvent the wheel? I understand the Hornady is championing the 6.5mm caliber. After all, the 6.5 Creedmoor is ridiculously popular, with excellent performance on the range. It's also starting to catch on in the field. But I really don't see the 6.5 PRC replacing the .270, or even lasting very long in its shadow. Yes, it's superior to the Creedmoor, but with added recoil and throat wear that the bench rest competitors probably won't appreciate. Having said that, it only drops 36" at 500 yards when zeroed at 200, and that's nothing to complain about.
As Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor says, "More power!" However, sometimes, for some purposes, enough really is enough.
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