Christiansen Mesa in 6.5 PRC

[Anonymous]

I managed to mess around a bit with the Mesa in 6.5 PRC yesterday. What a nice and tidy package it was. It reminded me of the Remington Mountain Rifle- trimmed down a bit in the stock with a much better trigger and a better fit and finish than most of them I've seen.

This one was chambered in the 6.5PRC, a cartridge I've largely ignored until now. Ballistically speaking- it's about the equal of the 270WIN in a short action and I can't imagine that's a bad place to be.

Has anyone here wrung that cartridge out? It adds about 300fps to the typical Creedmoor load- a 143gr at 2950 seems like it would be pretty easy to achieve and not all that problematic to surpass. While it is obviously intended for long range shooting- the rifle felt just right for a small 3-9x36 scope for point and shoot type hunting out to 300 yards or so. I'd estimate the scoped rifle would be 7.5 pounds.

I have to admit- it seemed awfully good for caribou and blacktail deer and possible ideal for sheep and goat hunts in steep country.

 

[coop22250]

I’m definitely interested in one. I wanted a creedmoor for my wife but as hot as they are there are no good deals, so I found a smoking deal on a 260Rem for her. I want a PRC for me, looks like a nice round.

 

[Blkram]

FOTIS has that new Sauer in 6.5 PRC

Unfortunately CA is not chambering the 6.5 in left handed actions, so I have been thinking of getting another LH X-Bolt and rebarrelling to the 6.5 PRC. I have been very happy with the one I did in the Creedmoor.

I think it would be a great mountain rifle.

Was talking to a friend last night I hadn't seen in a few months, and he has the Mesa and the Ridgeline in a 7mm-08 and a 300 Win Mag, respectively, and is very happy with both rifles. He really likes the light weight of the carbon barrel on the Ridgeline.

 

[sask boy]

Hmmmm 6.5PRC how I want to experiment with that calibre :wink:..
Still looking at the 260 Remington as well.
Would love to bring one of them into my stable .

Blessings,
Dan

 

[SJB358]

Man, I’m almost surprised no one has butchered a 7 Rem, 300 Mag Tikka yet and screwed on a 6.5 PRC barrel!

I’d bet that would do a lot of good things. Plenty of magazine length and a pretty decent aftermarket and it probably would require much machine work.

 

[mwess1113]

I picked up a Kimber Montana 300 WSM and had it rebarreled to 6.5 PRC. Montana is nice because it has a 3.050” mag box.
Haven’t wrung it out yet, just three shots to start breaking in barrel. Will post results as I get going.

 

[gerry]

Somehow missed this earlier, they sure sound like a really well thought out rig.

Gil, I did ask Christiansen arms about the LH 6.5 PRC so if enough people ask it should happen. They do already make the LH action. I'm not sure the Browning WSM action will work since from what I remember it's less than 2.9". That was with the 2 A Bolt WSM's I had, maybe the X Bolt's are different.

The Kimber Montana sounds like an excellent platform for the 6.5 PRC, looking forward to seeing your results.

 

[Blkram]

Gerry,
We took the factory 6.5 PRC ELD-X 143 gr ammo and it fits in the X Bolt WSM magazine just fine.
Could be a problem if a person wants to seat longer bullets out further, but if you keep it to factory coal (SAAMI) specs, it should not be a problem.
This was what we did before rebarreling an X Bolt in 7mm-08 to build my 6.5 Creedmoor.
As I am not interested in using VLD bullets for hunting, as most of my hunting is done at less than 400 yards, I am happy with regular hunting bullets such as the AccuBond. So I am not worried about magazine length being a problem.

 

[coop22250]

I’m new to the PRC Game, didn’t realize the WSM could be barrelled into a 6.5 PRC. That’s a bit tempting.


I have yet to begin to procrastinate

 

[gerry]

Gerry,
We took the factory 6.5 PRC ELD-X 143 gr ammo and it fits in the X Bolt WSM magazine just fine.
Could be a problem if a person wants to seat longer bullets out further, but if you keep it to factory coal (SAAMI) specs, it should not be a problem.
This was what we did before rebarreling an X Bolt in 7mm-08 to build my 6.5 Creedmoor.
As I am not interested in using VLD bullets for hunting, as most of my hunting is done at less than 400 yards, I am happy with regular hunting bullets such as the AccuBond. So I am not worried about magazine length being a problem.

Sounds like they might have lengthened the magazine on the A Bolt from what I can remember. That would be a good thing since some rifles are a bit on the cramped side.

 

[preacher]

Love how a Mesa "feels" in my hands! Hate their price, around here anyhow, ha! I don't see much, if any ammo for the round yet. It reminds me of the late 90's when the 300 RUM was coming out. I had a rifle chambered for it, but bought 7mm Warbird brass and made my own. My only "mistake" was I tried some "boutique" custom 150 "bonded" boat tail bullets. They were also moly coated. It shot flat, of course, but when I shot a medium sized mule deer at 60yds, it "almost cut the thing in half"! Hyperbole intended, but it the bullet blew up. I gave that rifle to my uncle and told him to go to Noslers 180s when he could find some ( factory ammo) The 6.5 PRC "just makes more sense to me" for hunting that the Creedmoor does.

 

[rjm158]

Not trying to hijack the thread but I bought a Mauser M18 in 6.5 PRC when none of my local dealers had a distributor that had a Sauer 100XT in stock. Its nothing fancy by any means but has proven to be an accurate, serviceable rifle so far. I have shot Hornady factory loads and reloads using data from the Hornady Annual Manual, both in the caliber pages and the article on the subject as well.

It has been a .50-.75 gun with the largest group being 1.015 using factory ammo with 147 ELD-M's. I used Retumbo in my reloads.

Ron

 

[SJB358]

Not trying to hijack the thread but I bought a Mauser M18 in 6.5 PRC when none of my local dealers had a distributor that had a Sauer 100XT in stock. Its nothing fancy by any means but has proven to be an accurate, serviceable rifle so far. I have shot Hornady factory loads and reloads using data from the Hornady Annual Manual, both in the caliber pages and the article on the subject as well.

It has been a .50-.75 gun with the largest group being 1.015 using factory ammo with 147 ELD-M's. I used Retumbo in my reloads.

Ron

It really sounds like a good set up to me Ron. That cartridge has alot going for it in my opinion.

 

[rjm158]

I'm pretty happy with it so far, Scotty, and one thing I failed to mention in my previous post was that out of the box the trigger pull weighed 2 lbs 10 oz. For a hunting rifle, I was very surprised and pleased.

I topped it with a Bushnell Engage 4-16x scope. I don't normally need a "tactical" reticle on a hunting rifle but have grown to like these scopes in recent months and it's the only reticle available.

Ron

 

[SJB358]

Sounds like a good set up to me Ron. I like the cartridge a bunch but it has a weird spot to fill between a 6.5 Swede and a 264...

 

[preacher]

I still think a Mesa in .264 WM would be wicked!