I’m interested in anyone with experience in loading the 7-6.5 PRCW for F Class.
Powder & bullet choices and questions about seating depth.
Thanks.
Neil.
I run a 284 Shehane in F Open. I’m curious why you chose or are moving to 7-6.5. What was your previous chambering?
My current barrel is near EOL, so I’m going to need a new tube soon. Have you ever tried the Sherman Max?
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Hi Neil,
There are several powders that work well in F-Class for 7-6.5 PRCW. Some notable ones are:
- 555 VihtaVuori
- 165 VihtaVuori
- 4350 Hodgdon
- Reloder 16
For bullets good ones to go with would be:
- Berger 7mm 184gr F-Open Hybrid Targets, 28408
- Berger 7mm 180gr Hybrid Targets, 28707
- Hottenstein - 7mm 180gr BT (Hottenstingers)
When it comes to seating depths, it really depends on the type of bullet you choose to go with. I’d encourage others here in the community to share their opinions on that.
It’s also worth mentioning that Peterson, Lapua and ADG make very good brass for the 7-6.5 PRCW.
My suggestions for 7/6.5 PRCW
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N555 powder - run a ladder of 55.5 - 56.5 grs. I like lower speed of 2,875fps. I would not go over 2,925 (clickers). RL 16 or 4831sc also work.
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I went a No Turn neck (.319). Many shooters go with a tighter neck and turn their brass.
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Use ADG 7/6.5 PRCW brass vs necking up Lapua 6.5 PRCW brass.
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Berger 180 Hybrid Target
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CCI 200 or BR2 primers
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Cortina dies
This is kind of the easy setup to jump in and learn the gun. Good luck
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7/6.5 PRC is one of the Hottest calibers in F Class!! Acurracy is excellent!! Rael gave you all the great options in earlier post so check it out and have some fun!!
Seating depth - AW told me to start .010 off lands up to .016 off. .013 off worked for me
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First off I’d like to thank Bullet Central for offering this forum, secondly thank you for the fellow shooters who responded so quickly and with good advice. Thank you all.
Currently I’m shooting a 6 Dasher in a Zermatt TL3 action, single shot, with a Heavy Varmint contour Krieger barrel with a Nightforce Competition 15 x 55 scope.
I love the Dasher. Easy to load for, Alpha brass might outlast me, light recoil in a 17- 18 pound rifle.
However, shooting 105 grain bullets at 600 yards on the plains of Nebraska, tends to have a negative effect on wind drift.
I am re-barreling the gun with a Bartlien 31” straight cylinder tube, trying to push the 22-pound limit due to increased in recoil in the 7-6.5 PRCW.
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I’m shooting a 7PRCC with a CRB 28” barrel chambered by H&W with Eric Cortina spec reamer. For the 2025 season I shot the Berger 190g Hybrids with 56.7g of N560. This combo shot well but I had a really hard time controlling the heat. Even using a barrel cooler and spacing my rounds as much as time would allow by the third match my groups would start to open up. Especially brutal in summer. This year I’m going to try the 184g Hybrids with N555 to see if I can manage the heat better. So far so good, but all of my testing has been in nice cool winter temperatures so not sure how much difference it is going to make. Anyone else have much experience with the Berger 190g?
I just had H&W cut me a barrel with this reamer. I haven’t got to go play with it yet.
I’ve been running the 7-6.5 PRCW in F-Class matches for several years and 5 barrels. I have had good luck with 555 and 180 Hybrids with BR-2 primers. My reamer has a 1° throat angle and does well with seating depths from .020 to .025 off the lands.
I have a 7PRCW aka 7/6.5 PRC.
Berger 180 Hybrids, ADG brass, N555, GM210.
The advantage of using ADG is the necks are thinner allowing me to run a tight chamber and I don’t have to turn necks.
Disadvantage of lapua is when you neck up 6.5 PRC brass then you have a donut issue. Plus thicker necks require neck turning as well. One crazy thing is on a no turn barrel the bulge in the lower neck affected chambering which made me think the shoulder needed bumped way far back. Then I took another case and turned the neck and chambered just fine. Sorry hard to explain.