6 prc vs 243AI

[Ice-kub]

TL;DR
Rem 700 SA - 243AI or 6prc

I have a 1/7.5 twist barrel coming in 6mm, I also have a Remington 700 short action. I was leaning toward the 243AI but then saw THE 6 UM and then 6 prc (necked down 6.5 prc). The action I have on hand is a 308 bolt face, anyone see a problem having it opened up and a sako extractor installed? Also read about the feed ramp being notched to allow for longer coal rounds. Don't really want to try and find a long action or different manufacturer as I'm left handed and in Chinada.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

What distance do you want to be capable of killing at?

 

[jimh406]

Nevermind ... I read 6.5 and that is clearly 6.

 

[bmart2622]

I think he was asking about a 6 PRC

 

[eric1115]

The thing that you can't overcome is bullet weight. The 6.5 PRC can be had in loads over 150 grains and 243 is barely over 100.

Also, the 6.5 PRC burns significantly more powder which translates for more energy at any range and more kick. The trajectory isn't that much different for 500 yds on in.

He's asking about a 6mm PRC, not 6.5

OP, I'm in process of setting up a 243AI, hoping for 2900-2950 with a 108 eldm in a 19" barrel.

This keeps me above 1800 FPS out to around 900 yards, which is plenty for me on animals. I enjoy shooting longer, but won't kill a deer past that any time soon.

I don't need the bump in recoil, powder, or barrel wear for extra range I won't use.

 

[PathFinder]

6 PRC: Straight neck down, easy dies, good brass. Will use a powder somewhere around H1000/N565. Probably best with a magnum primer. About 100-150 fps advantage over the 243 AI.

243 AI: Easy dies, maybe a little better quality brass. Requires fire forming. Probably H1000 or similar burn rate. Would be ok with magnum or standard primers.

Some of your decision may depend on what brass, primers, and powder you can get your hands on.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[ropeup79]

One benefit to the AI is the ability to use factory 243 ammo in a pinch.

 

[Ice-kub]

He's asking about a 6mm PRC, not 6.5

OP, I'm in process of setting up a 243AI, hoping for 2900-2950 with a 108 eldm in a 19" barrel.

This keeps me above 1800 FPS out to around 900 yards, which is plenty for me on animals. I enjoy shooting longer, but won't kill a deer past that any time soon.

I don't need the bump in recoil, powder, or barrel wear for extra range I won't use.

I don't know if the extra cost of opening the bolt is worth the 6prc compared to the 243ai, considering I'll have a 22 inch barrel. Should be able to break 3000fps with it. I have a decent stock of h1000, n560, retumbo and staball Hd which should all work for the longer heavy projectiles.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

As a 280AI owner before good brass came out, fireforming kinda sucks esp. if you don't have easy access to a shooting range. If you can shoot in your back yard its a completely different ballgame but I've roasted the primer pockets on a batch of brass w/o realizing it till I went to reload it just before a hunt and then having to run out to the range on short notice to form brass... ugh, can be annoying.

Then factor in the 243AI having a shorter barrel life and unless you really take care of your brass to get a bunch of reloads on it, do you want to use up 10-20+% of your barrel life on fireforming?

Have you considered the 6mm creed? You got good brass available. It gives up some velocity but is it meaningful velocity for what you want to accomplish? IE will you still have enough and just give up a lil bit of wind drift?

 

[Ice-kub]

I do have access to the family farm for all my shooting about 20 minutes away. Isn't there a way to fire form without using up barrel life? The ol cream of wheat thing?

6 creedmoor is intriguing but it hasn't really caught on in chinada yet and the only brass I've found up here is srp.

Found some Lapua 243 brass that isn't astronomical in price

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I do have access to the family farm for all my shooting about 20 minutes away. Isn't there a way to fire form without using up barrel life? The ol cream of wheat thing?

6 creedmoor is intriguing but it hasn't really caught on in chinada yet and the only brass I've found up here is srp.

Found some Lapua 243 brass that isn't astronomical in price

I've not done the COW forming, it can work but I think you get a bit sharper forming with an actual bullet. I thought I read someone in the 6UM thread roasted out their barrel fire forming w/o a bullet in it but those circumstances might have been unique (they might not have had COW in it or something like that), something to check out.

I get it, the 243AI is intriguing and sharper shoulders are nicer imho, but knowing the 6 creed is out (in the US market anyways) that has a good case shape, it makes it harder to justify vs pushing the easy button. But it really comes down to how much you want to tinker, how much time you got on your hands, etc.

Muddying up the waters more: if you want more horsepower on a standard bolt face but only want to neck down you could do a 6-284, which would have sharper shoulder already and only has a tiny bit less case capacity than a 6PRC I believe. Both of these aren't going to have great barrel life though so keep that in mind.

 

[wind gypsy]

The 6UM that got basically wrecked in FF was a +p IIRC so there wasn’t much lands there to erode in the first place.

 

[Ice-kub]

I've not done the COW forming, it can work but I think you get a bit sharper forming with an actual bullet. I thought I read someone in the 6UM thread roasted out their barrel fire forming w/o a bullet in it but those circumstances might have been unique (they might not have had COW in it or something like that), something to check out.

I get it, the 243AI is intriguing and sharper shoulders are nicer imho, but knowing the 6 creed is out (in the US market anyways) that has a good case shape, it makes it harder to justify vs pushing the easy button. But it really comes down to how much you want to tinker, how much time you got on your hands, etc.

Muddying up the waters more: if you want more horsepower on a standard bolt face but only want to neck down you could do a 6-284, which would have sharper shoulder already and only has a tiny bit less case capacity than a 6PRC I believe. Both of these aren't going to have great barrel life though so keep that in mind.

I have lots of time, no children lol I think the magnum cartridges are out, along with the 284 as it won't fit in a SA 700 IIRC.

I think I'm leaning towards the 243AI, but if I could find some LRP 6 creedmoor brass up here I'd probably go that direction

 

[Colby]

How ‘bout 6 CM? Don’t have to worry about bolt face, ammo is easy, and it shoots and kills good.
(Typed before I read your last post, looks like you’re already considering it.)

 

[Article 4]

6 PRC: Straight neck down, easy dies, good brass. Will use a powder somewhere around H1000/N565. Probably best with a magnum primer. About 100-150 fps advantage over the 243 AI.

243 AI: Easy dies, maybe a little better quality brass. Requires fire forming. Probably H1000 or similar burn rate. Would be ok with magnum or standard primers.

Some of your decision may depend on what brass, primers, and powder you can get your hands on.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

Agree here with 6PRC, especially if you are going to have a custom reamer made which I would HIGHLY recommend if you are going to run big bullets e.g. 108 or bigger.
Adding that if you can find 243ai brass as needed, if not and I had to choose between necking and fire forming, Ill take the necking every time.

I did this exact process with my 7/300 PRC 4 years ago before the 7 PRC came out
Took ADG 300 PRC brass and resized the neck to 7mm. Had a custom reamer made with .225 freebore. Long action, runs 180 Bergers at 3120 without pushing too hard.

 

[BigDog00]

I'm going through this as well. I was leaning towards the 243 ai but not sure now. What's the OAL length of the PRC? Would it fit in a factory Rem 700? I could get it cut for a wyatts if needed I guess.

 

[Article 4]

I'm going through this as well. I was leaning towards the 243 ai but not sure now. What's the OAL length of the PRC? Would it fit in a factory Rem 700? I could get it cut for a wyatts if needed I guess.

PRC Max COAL is 2.99 so the factory REM Short action box might work with 6mm bullets being shorter at 2.85 box length
I am running mine on a Defiance Short Action with AICS Mags, 115 bergers and works great

 

[sveltri]

I'm almost done FF'ing 100 pcs of brass for my 243 AI, I look at like additional practice/trigger time. I'm not running hot loads at all and getting a pretty good pop on the shoulders. FF'ing has been fun and is allowing me to gather data that I will use when it comes time to finalize the load.

 

[BigDog00]

I'm almost done FF'ing 100 pcs of brass for my 243 AI, I look at like additional practice/trigger time. I'm not running hot loads at all and getting a pretty good pop on the shoulders. FF'ing has been fun and is allowing me to gather data that I will use when it comes time to finalize the load.

Whats your load look like for fire forming?

 

[sveltri]

@BigDog00 COAL 2.888 H4831 44 grns Peterson Brass (virgin) Fed 210 primer velocity has been pretty consistent @ 2814. Nowhere near pressure, I'm 3.1 grains below max.