This 6.5 PRC ballistics page carries every 6.5 PRC factory load we could find, with the source for each figure, so you can compare published velocity and energy on one page.

The 6.5 PRC runs 215 to 310 fps faster than the 6.5 Creedmoor with the identical bullet — 262 fps on average across the 3 matched pairs where both loads are published on the same stated test barrel. Below: 22 factory loads from Federal, Hornady, Nosler and Winchester with the barrel, zero and sight height each figure belongs to, and how far each maker’s printed table and printed coefficient agree.

Key numbers

Matched same-bullet pairs: 9 (3 on a confirmed barrel)
Gain vs 6.5 Creedmoor, confirmed barrel: +215 to +310 fps
Average gain, confirmed barrel: +262 fps
Factory loads retrieved: 22 from 4 makers
Loads with a published table: 22
Loads with a published coefficient: 17
Worst table reproduction error: 0.5 fps

Read this before you use these numbers. Every figure here is the ammunition maker’s own published data, or arithmetic on it that we show our working for. Published tables are computed for a test barrel, a sight height and an atmosphere that the maker may or may not state — and where a figure is read rather than quoted, this page says so. Your rifle, your scope height, your altitude and your temperature will differ. Nothing here is a substitute for confirming zero and drop on a range with the ammunition you will actually shoot. Guns and Gadgets Daily is not affiliated with any manufacturer named on this page, and all product and company names are the marks of their respective owners.

What is not on this page. These are velocity, energy and trajectory tables and nothing else. There is no recoil data and no terminal-performance data here — nothing on this page tells you whether a load will do its job on an animal at any distance. Wind drift appears only for the loads whose maker publishes it, which here is Federal; for every other load this page has none. This page covers the factory loads we retrieved from Federal, Hornady, Nosler and Winchester. Other makers load this cartridge; a load missing from the table means we did not retrieve it, not that it does not exist.

6.5 PRC vs 6.5 Creedmoor, with the bullet held constant

Compare a 6.5 PRC load against a 6.5 Creedmoor load and you are usually comparing two different bullets as well as two cartridges, so part of the answer belongs to the projectile rather than the case. The table below removes that: every row is the same bullet from the same maker, loaded in both cartridges, so what the row shows is the case and nothing else.

Taking only the 3 pairs where both loads are published on the same stated test barrel — 24 in (both) — the 6.5 PRC leaves the muzzle 215 to 310 fps faster, averaging 262 fps. That is the figure to use, because it is the only one where the barrel is not a variable.

For the other 6 pairs no barrel length appears in the source we retrieved. They run 175 to 430 fps and are in the table, but they are not in that headline — this page argues elsewhere that you cannot compare velocities across unknown barrels, and that applies to its own comparison too.

Muzzle velocity for the identical bullet in both cartridges, as published by its maker
Same bullet, both cartridges	Test barrel	6.5 Creedmoor	6.5 PRC	Difference	Published G1 BC	Maker	Symbols (Creedmoor / PRC)
140 gr Max Point	not stated in the source we retrieved	2,650 fps	3,080 fps	+430 fps	not stated in the source we retrieved	Winchester	B192100652 / B192165002
140 gr Match	not stated in the source we retrieved	2,710 fps	3,030 fps	+320 fps	0.58	Winchester	S65CM / S65PM
142 gr Expedition Big Game	not stated in the source we retrieved	2,700 fps	3,020 fps	+320 fps	0.315 / 0.314	Winchester	S65LR / S65PLR
140 gr Ballistic Silvertip	not stated in the source we retrieved	2,700 fps	3,020 fps	+320 fps	0.509	Winchester	SBST65CM / SBST65P
129 gr SST American Whitetail TIPPED	24 in (both)	2,810 fps	3,120 fps	+310 fps	0.485	Hornady	81509 / 81624
143 gr ELD-X Precision Hunter	24 in (both)	2,700 fps	2,960 fps	+260 fps	0.623 / 0.625	Hornady	81499 / 81621
125 gr Copper Impact	not stated in the source we retrieved	2,850 fps	3,100 fps	+250 fps	0.428	Winchester	X65CLF / X65PCLF
147 gr ELD Match	24 in (both)	2,695 fps	2,910 fps	+215 fps	0.697	Hornady	81501 / 81620
140 gr BC MAX	not stated in the source we retrieved	2,725 fps	2,900 fps	+175 fps	0.617	Winchester	S65BC, SM65CMBC / S65PBC, SM65PBC

Published G1 ballistic coefficient (BC) is the drag number the maker prints for that load, measured against the standard G1 bullet shape. Higher sheds speed more slowly, so it drops less over the same distance. Not a measure of power. What a G1 coefficient is.

— not stated in the source we retrieved. It is not a claim that the maker publishes nothing.

Notes on this table

2 of these pairs carry a different published coefficient for what is described as the same bullet: 143 gr ELD-X Precision Hunter (0.623 against 0.625); 142 gr Expedition Big Game (0.315 against 0.314). We show both and use the one published for the cartridge the table belongs to. A G1 coefficient is velocity-dependent, so a figure quoted for one velocity regime need not equal the figure for another; the reason for these particular differences is not published and we take no view on it.
For 140 gr Max Point Winchester’s ballistics interface returned no coefficient at the time of retrieval, in either cartridge. That is a statement about what the retrieval returned, not about what Winchester publishes elsewhere.
Winchester’s BC MAX bullet is sold under 2 line names at the same weight, coefficient and velocity in both cartridges. It is one bullet and appears here once, under all 4 symbols: S65BC, SM65CMBC in 6.5 Creedmoor and S65PBC, SM65PBC in 6.5 PRC.
Winchester’s USA Ready 140 gr is deliberately not in the table above. The 6.5 Creedmoor load is a full metal jacket flat nose and the 6.5 PRC load is a jacketed hollow point, so despite the shared line name and weight it is not the same bullet.
The pairs above come from Hornady and Winchester. Federal and Nosler also publish 6.5 PRC loads listed further down, but not a bullet they load in both cartridges, so neither appears in this table.

6.5 PRC ballistics: every factory load we retrieved

22 factory 6.5 PRC loads were retrieved from Federal, Hornady, Nosler and Winchester. The table carries a test barrel, a zero and a sight-height column because the published figures do not share them: 8 loads state a barrel of 24 in, and 14 carry no barrel length in the source retrieved.

Line chart of 6.5 PRC published muzzle velocity in feet per second out to 500 yards for five Federal factory loads, from the 120 grain Trophy Copper to the 143 grain ELD-X — Five Federal loads as published. The 143 grain leaves the muzzle slowest of the five and is fastest at 500 yards — the coefficient, not the muzzle figure, decides the far end.

Where the zero column comes from. Federal and Nosler label a zero on the published table itself. For the other 13 loads the zero is not labelled in the source we retrieved and is read off the published path — it is the distance at which that path crosses zero. Federal publishes two figures for one thing here: the caption under the curve this page uses says it is zeroed at 100 yards, while the curve itself crosses zero at 200. We use 200 because that is what the plotted data does, we show you both, and the reason for the difference is not published — we take no view on it. Federal and Winchester publish more than one trajectory curve for the same load, on different zeros; this page uses the longer-range one and the other is in the source linked below.

Nosler publishes the same velocity, energy and trajectory table, at the same coefficient and the same test barrel, for 6.5 PRC 140gr AccuBond Trophy Grade Ammunition (no catalog symbol in the source) and 6.5 PRC (Precision Rifle Cartridge) 140gr… (no catalog symbol in the source). They are listed separately because they are separate products, but they are one published dataset, not two measurements — the analysis below counts them once, and so should you.

Restricting the comparison to the 8 loads published on the same 24 in test barrel, the fastest at 500 yards is Hornady 6.5mm PRC 100 gr ELD-VT V-MATCH at 2,371 fps. A further 14 loads publish a 500-yard figure, but the source retrieved for them carries no barrel length, so they are not in that ranking — ranking them alongside would be ranking barrels as much as loads. Retained velocity is not terminal performance: this page carries no expansion or penetration data, and the load that is fastest at 500 yards is not for that reason the right one for anything you might shoot at 500 yards.

How far the published tables and the published coefficients agree

Of the 17 6.5 PRC loads here that publish both a coefficient and a velocity table, 15 could be checked — the other 2 are set aside below, with their own figures by recovering the coefficient the table implies and comparing it with the one printed on the box. All 15 reproduce the maker’s own velocity row to within 0.5 fps at every printed distance.

For 13 of those 15 the recovered coefficient lands 1.3% to 2.0% above the printed one, across Federal, Hornady and Winchester. An offset that holds across different makers, bullet weights and velocities is the signature of a modeling difference rather than a property of any one load.

2 loads (81627, 81624) reproduce at the printed coefficient itself, within 0.12%.

Where a maker’s own published figures do not sit together

Supreme Long Range BC MAX (S65PBC). In the published velocity row for this load the 200-yard figure is 2,749 fps, the same figure printed at 100 yards. Winchester lists a second entry for the same bullet at the same muzzle velocity and the same coefficient, Super Match BC MAX (SM65PBC), whose 200-yard figure is 2,602 fps; the two entries agree at every other distance (0, 100, 300, 400, 500 yd) and their trajectory rows are identical. This page therefore does not use a 200-yard velocity for this load, and leaves it out of the reproduction figures below. The reason the two entries differ is not published and we take no view on it.

Supreme Long Range BC MAX (S65PBC), continued. Across the 5 100-yard intervals of this load’s published velocity row the loss is 151 fps, 0 fps, 288 fps, 138 fps and 133 fps. The intervals that do not fit the rest are 100–200 yd, where the row loses 0 fps and 200–300 yd, where the row loses 288 fps. No single ballistic coefficient reproduces the row better than 62 fps rms, against under 2.0 fps rms for every other load in this release, so this page fits no coefficient to it and leaves it out of the reproduction figures. That figure is computed across the whole published row, including the 200-yard cell identified above; it is not a separate finding. The maker’s published numbers are shown exactly as published. The reason is not published and we take no view on it.

Expedition Big Game Accubond LR Long Range (S65PLR). The coefficient returned for this load is 0.314. Its own published velocity table reproduces at 0.635 — about 2.0 times the returned figure — and 0.635 is the value consistent with the table, so that is the one this page uses wherever it computes. Both are shown in the load table. The reason the two figures differ is not published and we take no view on it.

This offset is not a measurement of the air. Density and coefficient enter the drag only as a ratio, so a velocity table pins the ratio and nothing else. Tested, not assumed: it holds on 15 of the 15 loads here that fit a single coefficient. The derivation.

Published wind drift

Federal publishes a wind-drift series for 6.5 PRC. No other maker here publishes one in the source we retrieved, so this table is not a comparison between makers — it is the only wind data on the page, and the loads missing from it are missing because the figure was not published, not because they drift less.

Published wind drift at a 10 mph crosswind, Federal only — 5 of the 22 loads on this page
Load	100 yd (in)	200 yd (in)	300 yd (in)	400 yd (in)	500 yd (in)	Test barrel	Maker	Symbol
ELD-X	0.5	2.1	4.7	8.4	13.6	not stated in the source we retrieved	Federal	P65PRCELDX1
Fusion Soft Point	0.7	2.9	6.7	12.5	20.2	not stated in the source we retrieved	Federal	F65PRCFS1
Fusion Tipped Rifle	0.5	2.3	5.3	9.8	15.9	not stated in the source we retrieved	Federal	F65PRCTFS1
Terminal Ascent	0.5	2.3	5.3	9.6	15.6	not stated in the source we retrieved	Federal	P65PRCTA1
Trophy Copper	0.5	2.4	5.6	10.1	16.5	not stated in the source we retrieved	Federal	P65PRCTC1

— not stated in the source we retrieved. It is not a claim that the maker publishes nothing.

The maker publishes one wind speed. In the point-mass model drift is proportional to the crosswind, so doubling the wind doubles these figures — that scaling is our arithmetic, not a published figure. It also assumes a full-value crosswind at 90 degrees to the shot, which is the worst case.

How this 6.5 PRC ballistics data was worked out

Figures here are the makers’ own. Where this page computes, it integrates a point-mass trajectory on the standard G1 drag function in the ICAO standard atmosphere with no fitted correction. Method, constants and uncertainty budget. Run your own barrel, zero and conditions.

Every coefficient on this page is printed to 3 decimals, so the coarsest carries a rounding of plus or minus 0.0005 before any calculation happens. Propagated through the model across the 15 loads here, that gives an expanded uncertainty of about 1 fps (k = 2) — so treat two velocities within roughly 1 fps of each other as the same number, ours included. Coefficient rounding, not the solver, sets that figure.

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Common questions

How much faster is 6.5 PRC than 6.5 Creedmoor?

With the same bullet, from the same maker, on the same stated test barrel: 215 to 310 fps at the muzzle across 3 pairs, averaging 262 fps. A further 6 pairs match the bullet, but no barrel length appears in the source we retrieved for them, and they run wider (175 to 430 fps) — they are in the table but not in that figure.

Do 6.5 PRC and 6.5 Creedmoor use the same bullets?

Both are 0.264 inch, and Hornady and Winchester each load at least one identical bullet in both — that is what makes the table above possible. The other makers here publish 6.5 PRC loads without a matching bullet in 6.5 Creedmoor, so they are not in that comparison.

Which 6.5 PRC load retains the most velocity at 500 yards?

Among loads that can be compared on equal terms, Hornady 6.5mm PRC 100 gr ELD-VT V-MATCH, at 2,371 fps, among the 8 loads published on a 24 in barrel. Loads whose source states no test barrel are left out of the ranking rather than silently mixed in.

Why does the same bullet have two different published BCs?

2 pairs on this page do. A G1 coefficient is velocity-dependent, so a figure quoted for one velocity regime need not equal the figure for another. The reason for these particular differences is not published and we take no view on it — we show both and use the one published for the cartridge in question.

Sources

Data updated September 2026.

Every figure on this page was read from the page or interface listed below, and a copy of each source was archived at the moment it was read, with its retrieval time and a checksum, so the page can be audited against what the source actually said on that date.

Federal, ELD-X — https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/eld-x/11-P65PRCELDX1.html
Federal, Fusion Soft Point — https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/fusion/11-F65PRCFS1.html
Federal, Fusion Tipped Rifle — https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/fusion-tipped-rifle/11-F65PRCTFS1.html
Federal, Terminal Ascent — https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/terminal-ascent/11-P65PRCTA1.html
Federal, Trophy Copper — https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/trophy-copper/11-P65PRCTC1.html
Hornady, 6.5 Creedmoor 129 gr SST American Whitetail TIPPED — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6.5-creedmoor-129-gr-sst-american-whitetail-tipped
Hornady, 6.5 Creedmoor 143 gr ELD‑X Precision Hunter — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6-5-creedmoor-143-gr-eld-x-precision-hunter
Hornady, 6.5 Creedmoor 147 gr ELD Match — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6.5-creedmoor-147-gr-eld-match
Hornady, 6.5 PRC 130 gr. CX Outfitter — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6.5-prc-130-gr.-cx-outfitter
Hornady, 6.5 PRC 143 gr ELD‑X Precision Hunter — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6.5-prc-143-gr-eld-x-precision-hunter
Hornady, 6.5 PRC 147 gr ELD Match — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6.5-prc-147-gr-eld-match
Hornady, 6.5mm PRC 100 gr ELD-VT V-MATCH — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6.5-prc-100-gr-eld-vt
Hornady, 6.5mm PRC 129 gr SST American Whitetail TIPPED — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6.5-prc-129-gr-sst-american-whitetail-tipped
Nosler, 6.5 PRC (Precision Rifle Cartridge) 140gr Ballistic Tip Ammo (20ct) — https://www.nosler.com/6-5-prc-precision-rifle-cartridge-140gr-ballistic-tipr-ammo-20ct.html
Nosler, 6.5 PRC 120gr Expansion Tip Ammunition — https://www.nosler.com/6-5-prc-120gr-expansion-tip-ammunition.html
Nosler, 6.5 PRC 140gr AccuBond Trophy Grade Ammunition — https://www.nosler.com/6-5-prc-140gr-accubond-trophy-grade-ammunition.html
Nosler, 6.5 PRC 142gr AccuBond Long Range Trophy Grade Ammunition — https://www.nosler.com/6-5-prc-142gr-accubond-long-range-trophy-grade-ammunition.html
Winchester, Ballistic Silvertip Rapid Controlled Expansion Polymer Tip — https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Ballistic-Silvertip/SBST65P
Winchester, Copper Impact Copper Extreme Point — https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Copper-Impact/X65PCLF
Winchester, Expedition Big Game Accubond LR Long Range — https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Expedition-Big-Game/S65PLR
Winchester, Match BTHP — https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Match/S65PM
Winchester, Max Point Polymer Tip — https://browningammo.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Max-Point/B192165002
Winchester, Super Match BC MAX — https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Super-Match/SM65PBC
Winchester, Supreme Long Range BC MAX — https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Supreme-Long-Range/S65PBC
Winchester, USA Ready Jacketed Hollow Point — https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/USA-Ready-/RED65PRC
Winchester Ammunition — the figures above were read from Winchester’s own ballistics interfaces rather than scraped from the product pages: muzzle velocity and coefficient from wdm2.azurewebsites.net/api/bc/v3/Ammo/…, and the published velocity, energy and trajectory tables from wdm2.azurewebsites.net/api/v1/symbol/{id}.
JBM Ballistics, standard G1 drag function, 79 points of Mach against drag coefficient — jbmballistics.com/downloads/mcg1.txt

Data updated: 23 August 2026

Get the next reference page when it lands.

New caliber pages, corrections to these tables, and the data releases behind them.

By James “The XDMAN” Nicholas — 07/02 NFA firearms manufacturer, professional gunsmith with over 20 years of experience, firearms writer, photographer and firearms expert. More from James.

Method: how we compute these tables. Found a figure you think is wrong? Tell me, and tell me the source you think is right. It gets fixed on the page with a dated note saying what changed. I do not rewrite silently.

6.5 PRC Ballistics: Every Load, vs 6.5 Creedmoor

6.5 PRC vs 6.5 Creedmoor, with the bullet held constant

6.5 PRC ballistics: every factory load we retrieved

How far the published tables and the published coefficients agree

Published wind drift

How this 6.5 PRC ballistics data was worked out

Common questions

How much faster is 6.5 PRC than 6.5 Creedmoor?

Do 6.5 PRC and 6.5 Creedmoor use the same bullets?

Which 6.5 PRC load retains the most velocity at 500 yards?

Why does the same bullet have two different published BCs?

Sources

Guns & Gadgets Daily

Explore

BAM Network

The Wednesday Brief — Free.

6.5 PRC vs 6.5 Creedmoor, with the bullet held constant

6.5 PRC ballistics: every factory load we retrieved

How far the published tables and the published coefficients agree

Published wind drift

How this 6.5 PRC ballistics data was worked out

Related pages

Common questions

How much faster is 6.5 PRC than 6.5 Creedmoor?

Do 6.5 PRC and 6.5 Creedmoor use the same bullets?

Which 6.5 PRC load retains the most velocity at 500 yards?

Why does the same bullet have two different published BCs?

Sources

Guns & Gadgets Daily

Explore

BAM Network

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