So, a question I receive a couple times a week is "whats the difference between the 6.5 Cm and the 6.5 PRC?" Well, lets take a quick look at the two. For a quick history, the 6.5 Cm was introduced in 2007 by Hornday. It was a 30 TC case necked down to accept .264 bullet. The round was introduced as long range cartridge to be used competively, however it has received a large following in the hunting community. The 6.5 PRC was announced by Hornady in 2018. The case is a 300 RCM necked down to accept the .264 bullet.
Now that we got some of the history out of the way we can discuss the differences and what it will mean to the shooter. The 6.5cm with a 143 ELDX grain bullets has an average of 2,700 fps, 2315 pounds of energy at the muzzle, and a felt recoil of only 18.5 pounds. The flat shooting, light recoiling, tight grouping has made it a fan favorite in competitive shooting and hunting.
Now, the 6.5 PRC has earned a big following in the hunting community and rightly so. With a 143 grain ELDX, you will see an average of 2960 fps (260 fps more than the creedmoor), 2782 pounds of energy at the muzzle and a felt recoil of 20 pounds. An extremely flat shooter, manageable recoil and great kinetic energy makes it an exceptional hunting rifle.
Now, lets look at the differences at 500 yards
6.5 Cm 6.5 PRC
2030 fps 2248 fps
1308 lbs energy 1604 lbs energy
at 500 yards the 6.5 PRC also has 8 inches less drop.
All of this information can be found at Hornady.com. Now, there is several additional difference between the two catridges, but I like to keep these blogs relatively short. To do this I only touch on the key points that would appeal to the sportsman and offert them a quick, general comparison. in the end we love both catridges and spend a lot of time behind both. I love range time with the mild 6.5 CM, and love hitting them Mississippi bean fields with a 6.5 PRC.