Bino Dock Winner Renames 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge
Photo shows a 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge beside a Hornady Precision Hunter ammo box.
Image shows a 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge beside a slightly smaller 6.5 Creedmoor round.
Image shows a Hill Country Rifles rebuilt M70 rifle in 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge
PHoto of a racing pronghorn shows why one reader thinks the 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge should be renamed the Pronghorn.
Image of a jalapena pepper suggest hot properties of 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge.
After an exhaustive search, we have a new name for the 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge and a new owner of a Bino Dock. Congratulations to... Well, before the big REVEAL, let's enjoy some of the great runner-up suggestions. Of course, the good folks at Hornady may not agree with our new title or even notice we've re-christened their 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge, but that's okay. This is our fun and games.Our contest began with publication of our re-naming contest blog way back on July 8. Pardon us for the late conclusion, but a three-week Namibian safari with Immenhof Safaris plus a move to a new location put us behind. Meanwhile, dozens of readers sent their creative ideas for a better 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge or 6.5 PRC title. Some were dismissive or disparaging, some appreciative or celebratory, and some descriptive of velocity or power. Many reflected the type of use (hunting specific game or target shooting) at which readers felt the cartridge would excel. Some were alliterative, and some clever and funny, some... Well, heck, let's just list a bunch that caught my eye.Among the dismissive names came the 6.5 Redundant from Tom Dissinger who clearly understands just how many 6.5mm cartridges that hit similar performance parameters are already on the market. (Not to mention a few .257s and .277s with similar ballistics.) In other words, do we really need another 6.5mm? Eric Schmidt thinks we do not. He suggests the 6.5 PRC stands for Perfectly Redundant Cartridge, and he's backed by Mat Hudson who came up with 6.5 Pointless Rifle Cartridge. Ouch. Joe Putnam took a similar position but completely changed the acronym to 6.5 OGNAD -- Oh God Not Another One! Subtle, Joe, subtle. More direct and to the point is John Nigh with 6.5 Pretentious Runt Cartridge. Okay, not everyone likes the 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge.Not quite as dismissive is R. Dee Putnam who offered faint praise with 6.5 Sorta Mag. Sorta kinda maybe, huh? Also playing on the magnum idea were Dan Tyack and Steve Hults who both suggested 6.5 Hornady Short Mag; Mike Hamilton skipped the short stuff and went with 6.5 Hornady Magnum. Brief and to the point. Even more brief but not quite on the magnum point was Hornady 264 Short by Eric Rachal. Why not? There's no standard parameters for differentiating magnums from non-magnums. After all, the 222 Remington Magnum takes a velocity back seat to the plain 22-250 Remington non-magnum.With the 264-caliber designation broached, we should mention a few more readers who prefer this non-metric, All-American-style of cartridge nomenclature, inconsistent though it is. We already have the 264 Win. Mag., 260 Remington, and 26 Nosler. Richard Johnston offered 264 Minuteman, a suggestive title that points up this cartridge's ability to respond quickly with just a hint of defensive potential. Kelly Purcell played on the stumpy angle with 264 Short. Gary Kroschel kept it just as short and sweet but with due credit to the creator with 264 Hornady. Cody Colvin skipped all size and Hornady references to let us know just what he thinks of the competition: 264 BTAC (Better Than A Creedmoor.) I'm not sure the industry wants a fight on its hands with that full description, but I sure like the way BTAC rolls off the tongue. Should appeal to the tactical crowd, too.Now that the Creedmoor bridge has been crossed, we might as well admit all comers. Both James Sandidge and Scott Dawson arrived at 6.5 Speedmore, an apt description of a cartridge that adds about 200 to 250 fps to the often overly-hyped 6.5 Creedmoor. Asking for a box of Speedmore at the counter, however, could result in some mix up. That wouldn't be a problem with Leo Forseille's idea: 6.5 Oneupper, or R.F. Hayes similar 6.5 Eclipse. Two slams of the 6.5 Creedmoor! But, as they used to say on late-might TV ads, wait! There's more!Joshua Lehmann snubs the Creedmoor with his street-talking 6.5 Creedaddy offering. Do I detect a bit of Rap influence, Joshua? Jason Venesky likes 6.5 Evenmoor, a more polite rebuff of the Creed. Steve Walker brushes off the Creedmoor while retaining the original PRC letters and offering a prognostication with his clever 6.5 Probably Replace Creedmoor. Given the Creedmoor's headstart, Steve, you might be overly optimistic. Among the more polite Creedmoor affronts is Ryan Barras' digital age 6.5 Creedmoor 2.0 and Derek Sternhagen's6.5 Creedmore, with the emphasis on MORE. I'm afraid that would create "moor" confusion at the sales desk, Derek.Lest you think some of these people aren't overly enthusiastic with their 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge praise, consider this offering: 6.5 FA (Final Answer.) That removes all doubt about Bill Steinman's allegiance. Less sure of the round is Jeff M. who suggested a tepid 6.5 Probably Really Cool. Now there's a cartridge name to generate sales! "Yeah, you got any of those Probably Really Cool 6.5 cartridges for sale? Maybe? Perhaps?" Ron Bell went quasi-religious with 6.5 Pretty Righteous Caliber. Not for sale on Sundays.Other names sticking with the PRC initials are Wes Rose's 6.5 Perfect Rifle Choice; David Eshback's 6.5 Precision Rocket Cartridge; Pat Cudmore's 6.5 Plenty Rugged Cartridge, Richie Ellison's similar 6.5 Perfectly Robust Cartridge, and Tim Garland's 6.5 Perfectly Reliable Cartridge. Lee Gilliland goes all in with 6.5 Perfect Rifle Cartridge. Now that's conviction and enthusiasm.The Grand Prize for sticking with the acronym while attempting to bribe the judge goes to Greg Gunter who reached deep to arrive at (drum roll please) 6.5 Preferred by Ron Currently. Greg, are you suggesting I'm less than loyal in my cartridge preferences? (With the way this Hill Country Rifles M70 rebuild in 6.5 PRC is shooting, I may become a bit more consistent.)Roger Mateer just missed matching the 6.5 PRC lettering with his 6.5 PCC. That's not a Politically Correct Cartridge (impossible,) but a Predator Control Cartridge, making it doubly politically incorrect. Sorry, Roger, that's just not going to fly. The bullet certainly would, but not the title.That brings us to the mascot titles. I'm somewhat partial to these, remembering the romance and allure of names like 218 Bee, 219 Zipper, and 219 Donaldson's Wasp in my formative years. Those might not be as informative as the more clinical 22-250 Rem. or 44-75 Ballard Everlasting (which didn't last very long,) but they're more suggestive of the adventures you could have with such a cartridge. To that end came 6.5 Gladiator from Trent Naquin, 264 Sprint (no reference to a communications company) by George King, 6.5 Spitfire by Tim Hamblin, 6.5 Comet from Robert Holderness, 6.5 Lazer from Mike Robertson, and the 6.5 Eliminator suggested by W.L. McCoy. I even found Ben Deeble's 6.5 Alpine refreshing. Heck, I could live with any of these, but we're not to the winner's circle just yet.Several romance names referenced fast animals like 264 Peregrin from Marvin Weast, 6.5 Pronghorn by both Cody Ervin and John Bennett. Great minds think alike, eh? Denton Sackett and Johnathan McConnell came up with different common names for the same cat, 6.5 Cougar and Puma respectively. But they were out-paced by Paul Conner and Ken Holbrook who both proposed 6.5 Cheetah. Might as well have the fastest. Of course, that would raise hackles among 264 Win. Mag., 26 Nosler, and 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum shooters.On and on it went, clever suggestions too numerous to list. So we might as well get to the winner. Let me assure you this was a tough decision, but the judges (all one of me) argued long into the night and pondered every aspect of this serious re-christening while keeping within the spirit of the competition. For those reasons, Colton Bollinger's 6.5 Proverbial Redheaded Stepchild came in second because I fear Hornady's 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge, coming so late to the party, may be ignored by not only its close brass cousins, but by shooters and hunters across the board. I hope not, however, because this really is a nicely balanced, well-designed and engineered cartridge with performance adequate for taking everything from extreme-range steel targets to responsible-range game of virtually any size (given the right bullet and a precise shot in the vitals.) Recoil is moderate to light, depending on your perspective.Because the 6.5 PRC is based on the Ruger Compact Magnum case, there's a strong argument for including Ruger in the name, i.e. 6.5 Ruger Compact Magnum as suggested by Guy Brown and Jim Neal. That would make it obvious where the case originated. But since Hornady developed it, the H name probably should take precedence. And we're back where we started.John Johnston offered what could be a great compromise with a title that pretty much nails this round's perfect potential: 6.5 HRC (Hunting Rifle Cartridge.) But that risks scaring off potential target shooters so...We're throwing rationality and common sense out the window and pushing the fun meter to HIGH with Phil Lewer's completely off-the-wall descriptor that tells us nothing about the parent case, nothing about the manufacturers or creators or even the possible uses for this hot new round: We select as our Bino Dock winner for best new name for the 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge (drum roll again) -- the 6.5 Jalapeño!Let me reiterate: We think Hornady's 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge should be renamed the 6.5 Jalapeño. Bet you didn't see that one coming.Mr. Lewer, we'll be in touch to get a shipping address for your new Bino Dock. Meantime, don't touch your tongue to a 6.5 Jalapeño. They're hot.Everyone else, thanks for your creative ideas! I'm sorry we couldn't list everyone's. Maybe next time. I've heard rumors there may be yet another 6mm in the on-deck circle that might need a new title.Ron Spomer is an experienced handloader and cartridge aficionado from waaay back who has reached the stage in his career when tongue-in-cheek fun is almost as important as technical precision.
