If you want to know the best rifle cartridge for long-range competition, there’s no better place to look than the top 200 shooters in the Precision Rifle Series (PRS). When the world’s best precision rifle shooters choose a cartridge, it isn’t by accident. These decisions are tested on the clock, under pressure, with targets stretching past 1,000 yards.
Each year, I survey the top 200 shooters in the Precision Rifle Series (PRS) to find out exactly what gear the best in the world are running. It’s the most comprehensive, data-driven look you’ll find anywhere, straight from the competitors at the highest level of long-range precision rifle competition. No hype, no opinions, just hard data from the best in the world.
In the last article, we explored caliber trends, where the 6mm still leads overall, but the 25 caliber is quickly gaining popularity – especially among those in the top 25. Now we’ll dive deeper and analyze which specific cartridges these top-ranked pros picked within each caliber. Is the 6 Dasher still on top? Has the 25 Creedmoor become the new hot ticket? Let’s find out.
Best Rifle Cartridge
Here’s the breakdown for what the top-ranked pros are running to maximize their impacts at long range:
#1) 6mm Dasher @ 46% of Pros
The 6mm Dasher is still king of the hill at 46%! That is 5 times more popular than the next most popular cartridge! It’s been the most popular choice in PRS for several years running, but that is up another 5% from last year. 46% is the new record for the most dominant any cartridge has been among the pros since the PRS began in 2012! This is a community of guys who tend to tinker, so for one cartridge to represent almost half of the guys competing at the season finale is nuts!
The 6mm Dasher is even the most popular choice when you look at the guys at the very top, as the most popular cartridge among the top 10 and the top 25 – or whatever other group you look at. The 2024 PRS Champion, Ben Gossett, was using a 6 Dasher to win his golden bullet (see Ben’s rifle and load data). The 6 Dasher is clearly the most dominant and established cartridge for precision rifle shooting, and it’s the cartridge all others are measured against.
Many of these competitors say the 6 Dasher is “the easy button” when it comes to load development and reloading. You can typically find a load with minimal to no effort that shoots sub-half MOA and has a 5 fps standard deviation (SD) in muzzle velocity or less (learn more about SD and why that’s important in long range).
Later in this article, I’ll share insight from the pros on how the Dasher compares to other popular cartridges.
Average Reported Velocity for 6 Dasher with Common Bullets Weights from 26” Barrel
105 gr. bullets = 2,830 fps (based on 22 shooters with 26″ barrels)
109-110 gr. bullets = 2,827 fps (based on 28 shooters with 26″ barrels)
That is not a typo; these guys are running 109-110 grain bullets at basically the same speed as 105 grain bullets.
#2) 6mm GT @ 9% of Pros
The 6mm GT was the 2nd most popular cartridge among this group for the 2nd year in a row. While it is quite a ways behind the Dasher in terms of popularity, it still has a measurable lead over the other cartridges. There were shooters using it at every level, including the top 10.
The 6mm GT (also lovingly referred to as the 6mm Gay Tiger) is slightly larger than the 6 Dasher. The 6mm GT cartridge was released around 2019, with the goal of making the perfect cartridge for competitive rifle shooting. The case length and 35-degree shoulder of the 6 GT were designed to help it feed from a standard AICS magazine without needing a spacer kit like the 6 Dasher or other 6 BR cases.
Another advantage of the 6 GT is that Hornady offers match-grade factory ammo for it. That can be an advantage for those not reloading or those who simply don’t want to have to reload all of their practice ammo. (Learn who makes the pros’ ammo when they aren’t reloading.)
Average Reported Velocity for 6 GT with Common Bullets Weights from 26” Barrel
109-110 gr. bullets = 2,904 fps (based on 7 shooters with 26″ barrels)
So this group is running the 6 GT around 75 fps faster than the typical 6 Dasher load with the same bullet.
#3) 25×47 Lapua @ 7% of Pros
This is the 1st time a 25-caliber cartridge landed in the top 5! The 25×47 Lapua represented 7% of these 200 top-ranked shooters, which was up slightly from 5% last year. But among the top 25, the 25×47 was the 2nd most popular cartridge. Among the top 25, there were 6 shooters using a 25×47 in the top 25, and only 7 using the 6 Dasher! So it was very, very close to the most popular choice among the guys at the very top of the leaderboard!
Here is what two-time PRS Champion Austin Orgain shared with me in an interview about his experience with the 25×47 Lapua:
“When I tried out the new Hornady bullets in my 25×47, I was like, ‘Man, that thing actually shoots really good!’ I had tried the 6.5 Creedmoor a little bit last year and didn’t really like the recoil, but I did like how the bigger signature from the heavier bullets. So I thought this 25-caliber might be a nice balance between that recoil and the heavy bullet – and it really is. It’s quite a bit less recoil than that 6.5 Creedmoor, and obviously, it’s more recoil than a Dasher – but it’s a good balance between the recoil and the energy of the bullet downrange and on the plate. I don’t know that it really gives you a huge advantage over anything else, other than carrying a little bit more energy – but it has shot well for me.” – Austin Orgain, 2-Time PRS Champ
85% of the shooters running a 25×47 were shooting the Berger 135 gr. Long Range Hybrid Target bullet. There was also 1 shooter running the Hornady 134 gr. ELD-M, and 1 shooter running the Hornady 138 gr. A-Tip. None of those bullets were available just two years ago, which is what has contributed to the sudden rise in popularity of the 25 caliber cartridges.
I remember a conversation I had with ballistician Bryan Litz, where he told me this: “Cartridge popularity always follows bullet design.” There haven’t been many great options in terms of match-quality, high-BC bullets in 25 caliber – until recently. (Note: High-BC means a bullet is very aerodynamic and able to maintain its velocity further downrange and be less affected by the wind, which is a major advantage in long-range shooting.)
Average Reported Velocity for 25×47 Lapua with Common Bullets Weights from 26” Barrel
134-135 gr. bullets = 2,698 fps (based on 6 shooters with 26″ barrels)
#4) 25 Creedmoor @ 6% of Pros
Yet another 25-caliber in the top 5! Hornady got the official SAAMI approval for the 25 Creedmoor in January 2025, and they made a formal public announcement about it in April 2025. Here is what Hornady’s Senior Ballistician, Jayden Quinlan, has to say about the 25 Creedmoor:
“The 25 Creedmoor is the end result of our constant pursuit of maximizing ballistic potential. This cartridge fills that competitive niche between 6mm and 6.5mm – providing shooters the absolute best blend of moderate recoil, flat trajectory, and superior wind resistance. Variants of the 25 Creedmoor have existed in the wildcat space for quite some time and for good reason. It gives the discerning shooter a competitive advantage. Now we can offer that same level of performance to the shooter with factory ammo offerings.” – Jayden Quinlan, Senior Ballistician at Hornady
Having the option for match-grade factory ammo is certainly a big advantage for the 25 Creedmoor.
Average Reported Velocity for 25 Creedmoor with Common Bullets Weights from 26” Barrel
134-135 gr. bullets = 2,843 fps (based on 3 shooters with 26″ barrels)
So the 25 Creedmoor is launching the same weight bullets around 50 fps faster on average than the 25×47 Lapua.
#5) 6.5 Creedmoor @ 5% of Pros
And making its way back into the top 5 is the good ol’ 6.5 Creedmoor, representing 5% of these pro shooters. There have been a few high-level shooters using a 6.5 Creedmoor to win national-level matches practically every season since the PRS began in 2012. There was only 1 year on my “What The Pros Use” survey where the 6.5 Creedmoor was the #1 cartridge, and that was way back in 2013! (See the data)
The 6.5 Creedmoor seems to get more hate than it deserves with nicknames like “The 6.5 Needmoor,” “The Hipster’s 30-06,” and my personal favorite, “The 6.5 Man Bun!” 😉 But, there are more civilian rifles chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor in the US every year than any other cartridge. There are more options for 6.5 Creedmoor ammo at sporting goods stores than any other cartridge. It’s the most popular cartridge in the US for good reason! Frankly, if I could only own 1 rifle, it would 100% be chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. It can compete at the highest levels in the PRS and is also a very capable hunting cartridge for most North American game. And it’s not mediocre at both of those things – many would argue it is excellent at both of them.
I’ll do a deep dive comparison that shows the pros and cons of a 6.5 Creedmoor compared to these other smaller cases later in this article. I’ll also share specific insight from 3 pro shooters who have won a ton of national matches with a 6.5 Creedmoor. You’ll hear what they believe it does better, but also some scenarios where they’d recommend a smaller cartridge like a Dasher instead.
Average Reported Velocity for 6.5 Creedmoor with Common Bullets Weights from 26” Barrel
153-154 gr. bullets = 2,650 fps (based on 4 shooters with 26″ barrels)
Other Cartridges
Those top 5 cartridges represented 73% of the top shooters, and the remaining shooters were spread over 13 different cartridges. Here are the next 5 cartridges in terms of popularity:
308 Win: 5% of shooters(All of these shooters were competing in the Tactical Division, but shot well enough to also be ranked in the top 200 in the Open Division, which is why they’re included in this data.)
6mm Creedmoor: 5% of shooters(down from 7% last year)
6mm BRA: 4% of shooters (down from 8% last year)
6mm BR: 4% of shooters(down from 8% last year)
25 GT: 3% of shooters(up from 1% last year)
The top 5 cartridges listed, along with the next 5 in the bullet points above, combine to represent 94% of the 200 top-ranked shooters in the PRS. The remaining 8 cartridges (6XC, 6×47 Lapua, 6.5×47 Lapua, 22 Dasher, 7mm SAW, 7 SWC, 223 Rem, and 6mm ARC) were each only used by 1 or 2 shooters, and none of those people finished in the top 50 for the season.
Cartridge Choice Among Top 25 Shooters
Now, let’s limit the data to only the most elite performers who finished in the top 25 in the PRS Open Division season rankings. This view gives a slightly different perspective on what cartridges the most competitive shooters are using.
The 6 Dasher is still in the lead, but just barely! The 25×47 Lapua is right on its heels with just 1 less shooter represented. The 6 BRA was the 8th most popular cartridge when we looked at all 200 shooters, but among the top 25, it is the 3rd most popular. Then we see both of the GT cases, in 6mm and 25 caliber, alongside all of the Creedmoor cases (6.5, 25, and 6mm) represented among the top 25, too.
The line chart below shows the trend of calibers among the top 25 over recent years that I’ve surveyed the pros.
Among those in the top 25, 40% said they run a 25 caliber! 52% were using a 6mm, which was still the majority, but the 25 made up a lot of ground in a single year. For more info on this trend, check out Best Rifle Caliber: What The Pros Use.
Performance Insights from the Data
I gathered some ballistic data from the shooters in the survey, including their velocity and the variation they experienced from shot to shot. Additionally, I found the case volume for each cartridge used and added that to the dataset alongside the rankings, bullet choice, caliber, and other data. I provided ChatGPT with a simple spreadsheet and asked it to analyze the data and identify what factors had the biggest correlation to where a shooter finished for the season. Here are the conclusions:
Velocity SD Matters, Overall Velocity Doesn’t
Across all shooters, lower muzzle velocity standard deviation (SD) was correlated with better season rank. The average velocity of the 6.5 CM is just 2650 fps, and the 25×47 Lapua was only 2698 fps. Average velocity showed no meaningful relationship with placement, meaning it doesn’t matter much if the bullet is going 2650 or 3000 fps, as long as it is super-consistent shot-to-shot.
Sweet Spot for Case Capacity
Grouping cartridges by estimated case capacity shows that smaller to mid-sized cases (<49 gr) had the best average placements, with larger cases (49–57 gr) averaging worse. That aligns with the long-term trend toward moderate capacity, low-recoil setups that allow shooters to spot their own shots.
Here is the estimated case capacity that I used for that analysis:
I will add that it was interesting that it found a correlation between the case capacity being < 49 grains and how that shooter performed over the season. My first thought was that back to the chart below, which I published in the Best Rifle Powders article back in February:
You can see that Hodgdon Varget is an ideal powder to use up to around that same case volume of 49 where the correlation was found. That may be a coincidence – or it might not be. I thought it was at least interesting enough to note. 😉
As always, the right cartridge choice depends on your goals, but the PRS data shows that the winning formula in 2025 still leans toward moderate capacity, high consistency, and recoil management over sheer speed.
Advice Directly From The Pros on Cartridge Selection
I want to try to provide some context and insight for how different pro shooters think about the tradeoffs or pros and cons of different size cartridges.
Everyone is searching for that “Goldilocks” balance between these 4 competing characteristics:
Low recoil so you can stay on target and be in a position to see exactly where the bullet hit (as short as 300-400 yards)
Good ballistics/low wind drift
Energy downrange for a large bullet signature on impact (as far as 1100 yards)
Consistency match-to-match and over an entire season (minimal fine-tuning or management to stay competitive)
It’s impossible to optimize for all four of those at the same time, so we’re all trying to strike the “right” balance between those competing characteristics, which is very subjective. There is certainly no one-size-fits-all “right” answer, which is why this large sample size of the very best shooters in the world is so interesting!
Since almost half of these shooters are competing with a 6mm Dasher, I thought I’d compare it to something on the other side of the spectrum in terms of cartridge size, like the 6.5 Creedmoor. Hopefully, this should give newer or even mid-pack shooters context for what guys at the very top of the sport are thinking about when they select a cartridge.
Pros & Cons of the 6mm Dasher
The 6mm Dasher is one of the smallest cartridges used in the PRS, which means recoil is very minimal – especially since 89% of these pro shooters are using a rifle that weighs between 19 and 27 pounds. They are all either using a muzzle brake or suppressor to reduce recoil even more. It is also extremely easy to load for and very consistent with virtually no tuning or management to keep it shooting competitively. All of those things make it optimized for #1 and #4 above.
For #2 and #3, the Dasher has the lowest rating of any of the top 7 cartridges. The ballistics and wind drift are decent, but certainly not the best. The energy downrange is measurably less than the 25 cal or 6.5mm calibers, and even a little less than the 6 GT. Obviously, the Dasher isn’t a trainwreck in any of these factors.
Pros & Cons of the 6.5 Creedmoor
The 6.5 Creedmoor offers a larger bullet signature because it launches heavier bullets with higher BCs. The Berger 153.5 gr. Long Range Hybrid Target bullet is the most popular bullet choice for the pros running a 6.5 Creedmoor. The average muzzle velocity for these pros running that bullet is 2650 fps, which means that the bullet would still have 909 ft-lbs of energy at 1000 yards. A Dasher firing a Berger 109 gr LRHT bullet at 2,827 fps would have 613 ft-lbs of energy at 1000 yards. That means the 6.5 Creedmoor has 48% more energy at the target, which can make it easier to spot a miss and also make it easier to spot an impact.
The 6.5 Creedmoor also has about 13% less wind drift than the Dasher, which is not huge – but it’s not nothing either! 😉 A hold for a 10 mph wind at 1000 yards is 1.3 mils for the 6.5 CM, compared to 1.5 mils for the Dasher.
The 6.5 Creedmoor also has about 13% less wind drift than the Dasher, which is not huge – but it’s not nothing either! 😉 A hold for a 10 mph wind at 1000 yards is 1.3 mils for the 6.5 CM, compared to 1.5 mils for the Dasher. Let’s put that in context with an example: We are shooting a 0.5 mil wide target at 1,000 yards, and our best guess is that the wind is blowing 10 mph from 3:00, so we are going to hold for that on our first shot. If the actual wind turns out to be 8.4 mph or 11.6 mph (or there is a gust or lull to those speeds at the moment of our shot), then it’d be enough to put the Dasher off plate. However, with the 6.5 Creedmoor, we’d get an edge hit in those cases. It would take 8.2 mph or 11.8 mph to put us off the 0.5 mil wide plate with the 6.5 Creedmoor. And it doesn’t have to be a wind speed change that dramatic; the same thing would be true if the wind angle changed from 3:00 to closer to 2:00 or 4:00.
The 6.5 CM can simply cover slightly more wind uncertainty and still result in an impact. It’s not dramatic, but in a match where 200 rounds are fired, it’s plausible that it could result in 1 or 2 more impacts. If it were a match where the wind was more shifty and unpredictable, it might result in a few more impacts. So, while it’s not a huge difference, most matches are decided by only 1 or 2 points, and it’s plausible that it could make that small difference.
But that extra energy downrange and slight ballistics improvement come at the cost of more recoil. The 6.5 Creedmoor has 24% more energy at the muzzle than the Dasher, and the recoil velocity and recoil impulse would both be about 31% higher. That can make it harder to stay on target through recoil and spot your impacts at shorter ranges (i.e., around 400 yards or less). There can be a lot of targets at some PRS matches that are less than 450 yards. The extra recoil from the 6.5 Creedmoor would require excellent fundamentals to be able to spot your impacts at shorter distances – even from a 20+ pound rifle with an effective muzzle brake.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you can’t spot impacts with a 6.5 Creedmoor at shorter range – it would simply be easier with a Dasher. The Dasher allows you to get away with less than perfect fundamentals (say from an improvised position that isn’t very steady or comfortable) and still stay on target – but a heavier recoiling rifle would not.
Insight from Pro Shooter Francis Colon
Francis Colon has won multiple national-level Pro Series PRS matches with a 6mm Dasher, but last year, he switched to a 6.5 Creedmoor. He’s now won a couple of national-level pro matches with a 6.5 CM, so he has a unique perspective to compare the two.
“I’ve used a 6.5 CM in all matches since the 2024 PRS Finale and AG Cup, through today. I plan to continue to shoot it exclusively through 2026. Sometimes all you need is a simple, consistent round. The 6.5 CM is just that, and it lets me focus time and energy on mastering perfect fundamentals vs ‘chasing the hot cartridge.’” – Francis Colon, 2024 AG Cup Champ & Pro PRS Shooter
Francis used a 6.5 Creedmoor to win the AG Cup several months ago (read the article and see his 6.5 CM load data). The AG Cup is one of the most challenging matches in the world, and you can’t win that match if you don’t see the overwhelming majority of your shots.
So I reached out to Francis to ask him this question: What percentage of your shots at the AG Cup match did you see perfectly with the 6.5 Creedmoor?
“I saw 90% of my impacts on plate to within +/- 1 inch, and about 85% of my misses in grass/dirt to within +/- 4 inches. It is harder to be precise on location for dirt/berm impacts, but the 6.5 made that much easier.” – Francis Colon, 2024 AG Cup Champ & Pro PRS Shooter
Francis did agree that fundamentals with a 6.5 Creedmoor have to be tuned in, and he’s been able to do that by training with a 300 Norma Mag and a lighter-weight 6.5 Creedmoor. Francis: “I use those to focus my fundamentals prior to matches to make my 6.5CM match guns feel closer to a Dasher. The trick for me has been training visual impact detection with relatively violent recoil, then switching to more ‘sedate’ recoil. This provides me more processing time to read each shot.”
Morgun King is another guy who has won a dozen national-level, PRS Pro Series matches with a 6.5 CM. Morgun recently released a new episode of his Mythology of Marksmanship podcast, where he extensively discussed cartridge selection.
I feel like Morgun presents a very balanced view of when one cartridge or another might give a slight edge, without blowing those small differences out of proportion. I enjoyed hearing it, so I reached out to Morgun and asked if I could include some highlights of that content here in more of an interview format.
What cartridge are you using these days? Morgun: “If you ever hear me say something other than 6.5 Creed, it’s a very rare occasion – something must be wrong with my 6.5 Creed!” 😉
Weren’t you at least partly responsible for the trend back to the 6.5 Creedmoor in the PRS? Morgun: “I don’t know, but I know there has been a trend of guys using it again. A while ago, when I started winning with a 6.5 Creedmoor, some of the good shooters were like, ‘Maybe there is something to this thing.’ But the top guys, they don’t care. They know it’s not that big of a deal if you use that cartridge over one of these others. And then there’s the guys that are just below that and they think, ‘Maybe I do need to change calibers, because if I change calibers somehow it is going to make me shoot better or get an edge.’”
Do you think there might be a little bit of an edge? Morgun: “Well, I believe there is for me.”
Does the 6.5 Creedmoor have an advantage over a 6 Dasher? Morgun: “That’s a tough question because there are strengths to the Dasher that make it an amazing cartridge. For the guy just getting into it, I think you just go ahead and start with the Dasher. The reason is because it’s going to be fun faster. That’s just the way it is. The Dasher is so easy to load for, and it does everything pretty dang good. For the ranges that we shoot most often, the small differences are a wash compared to a larger cartridge like the 6.5 Creedmoor.”
So where does the 6.5 Creedmoor shine? Morgun: “The 6.5 CM shines when there’s mirage, or after a rain, when you can’t see a whole lot. It shines when you’re shooting targets in a grass field, and that grass can just soak up 6mm bullets – but it’s hard to hide a 156 grain 6.5mm bullet! So there is that part, but then past 800 yards, you start to get an edge with the 6.5mm compared to the 6mm. Those heavier, high-BC bullets like the Berger 156 start to shine just a little bit. They’ll hold in the wind just a little bit better, but I don’t feel like you get the advantage until about 800 yards. Now we are talking about very small differences in wind drift. Now, another thing you do get is a little bit more downrange effects from your bullet: a little more spall, a little bit more movement of the plates, a little bit more dust, and things like that.”
Is there a place where that extra energy on target can be a disadvantage? Morgun: “Oh, yeah. Especially up close. I feel like inside of 400 yards, the edge goes to the Dasher. But the thing is, those shorter distance targets are the easiest to hit anyway. The Dasher does give you an edge up front, but do I really need an edge on those closer targets? I don’t know – maybe not as much as I need it at the back end on the farther targets. The trouble is we got a whole lot more targets to shoot inside of 400, but I can handle the recoil good enough where it’s not a big deal.”
Should a guy run multiple cartridges to optimize for whatever match they’re shooting? Morgun: “If you think of most of the good guys shooting, like Austin Orgain, Austin Buschman, and Clay Blackketter (all golden bullet winners), they do switch around. Well, maybe not Bushman as much. But, Orgain may shoot a 6.5 Creedmoor sometimes, a 25 caliber sometimes, a Dasher sometimes. I think Clay has shot a 6.5 CM a lot lately, mainly that or a Dasher. I used to switch all the time, but now I just kind of shoot my 6.5 Creedmoor regularly. And I could be completely wrong because I haven’t talked to Clay about it in a while, but I think that’s kind of what he’s started doing – mostly just shooting a 6.5 CM. I’m not sure if it matters in this game, because honestly, I can’t feel the difference between my Dasher and my 6.5 Creedmoor, right? After I shoot 10 rounds, it’s all the same. Because I’m used to it by then, and I know what’s coming.”
Are you saying the cartridge isn’t what drives a win? Morgun: “Most of it comes down to who makes 200 good trigger pulls at a match. That isn’t 100% of it, because you truthfully don’t have to break a perfect trigger to hit some of these targets – but I think that you should dang sure strive for it. It usually comes down to one hit here or one hit there that will make or break whether you win a match, so just make really good squeezes.”
Some people are talking about the new 7 SWC with the 190-grain bullets. What do you think about it? Morgun: “Well, I mean, heck, if I wasn’t shooting factory ammo, I’d probably try it to support Derek. Like it’s gonna shoot fine. Like I said before, after I shoot about 10 rounds with it, well, then I just adjust and get used to the recoil. Now, the one thing that you may not get used to is how hard those 190-grain bullets are going to hit the plate. I’ll give you a little pro tip: the hardest thing about shooting a 6.5 Creedmoor is that plates snap fast. It can make it tough to see what side of the plate you hit. I missed one shot at the 2025 Impact/Foundation PRC recently because of that. I only dropped one shot on day two of that match, and I probably would have cleaned day two with a Dasher. The reason is because that plate snapping would’ve happened so much slower with a Dasher. The target was at 774 yards, and my first shot hit on the downwind edge, but the plate snapped freaking hard, and it was so fast that I couldn’t tell for sure which side I hit. I can still see it in my mind; it just kind of looked like it vibrated back and forth. So I was trying to think, “Well, which way did it rock first?” Then you’re trying to parse through all that information in your mind. I know I hit one of the edges, but I just don’t know which one because it snaps so hard with my 6.5 Creedmoor. But, a Dasher is only 2/3 of the bullet size, and that bullet is going about the same speed as my 6.5, so really, you’re losing probably around half the energy on target. That means the plate movement slows way down, and it’s way easier to process. When I couldn’t decide which edge I hit, I paused and looked at the conditions for a minute. I couldn’t tell if the wind died, so I ended up just sending the same hold on the next shot, hoping I’d catch an edge – but I missed. But, I think that’s one of those places where the advantage goes to the 6mm Dasher. If a 156-grain bullet is snapping the crap out of a target, what does a 190-grain bullet going down there out of the 7 SWC do? The recoil on the 7 SWC isn’t bad, but it wallops a plate. How much more often does it do that and make it harder to read exactly where you hit? I don’t know.”
Thanks, Morgun, for sharing your insights and experience with the rest of us on your podcast! I’m pretty sure I’ve listened to every episode. I’m glad to hear that you’re publishing new content. Check out the Mythology of Marksmanship Podcast: Apple | Spotify.
Insight from Pro Shooter Austin Orgain
Last, but definitely not least, Austin Orgain is a two-time PRS Season Champion, and he was the first shooter in the top 50 in the PRS to start competing with a 25 caliber. I reported on that back in August 2023 when I published a deep-dive interview I had with Austin.
What makes Orgain unique is that he’s won national-level, PRS Pro Series matches with a 6mm Dasher, 25×47, and a 6.5 Creedmoor – and a 6×47, 6mm Creedmoor, and 6 BRA. Austin is clearly one of the best shooters in the world and has been for almost a decade, so he tends to win with whatever is in his hands at the time!
Austin won both his golden bullets in 2020 and 2021 using a 6mm Dasher, but in 2022, he started experimenting with larger cartridges like the 6.5 Creedmoor. Here is what Orgain shared with me about it:
“I had tried the 6.5 Creedmoor a little bit in 2022, and I didn’t really like it. I didn’t like the recoil of it, and I didn’t like that it was a lot more difficult to stay on target and see where you’re hitting on the plate with a 6.5 Creedmoor compared to a 6 Dasher, which is what I have run the most by far. I did like the big signature the heavier bullet left if you missed or the bigger signature on the plate when you did hit.” – Austin Orgain, 2-Time PRS Champ
Right around the same time, Austin was experimenting with a 6.5 CM, the guys from Hornady reached out to him to see if he’d be willing to test some new 25-caliber bullets they were prototyping.
“When I tried out the new Hornady bullets in my 25×47, I was like, ‘Man, that thing actually shoots really good!’ I had tried the 6.5 Creedmoor a little bit last year and didn’t really like the recoil, but I did like how the bigger signature from the heavier bullets. So I thought this 25-caliber might be a nice balance between that recoil and the heavy bullet – and it really is. It’s quite a bit less recoil than that 6.5 Creedmoor, and obviously, it’s more recoil than a Dasher – but it’s a good balance between the recoil and the energy of the bullet downrange and on the plate. I don’t know that it really gives you a huge advantage over anything else, other than carrying a little bit more energy – but it has shot well for me.” – Austin Orgain, 2-Time PRS Champ
Austin won a few major PRS matches using the 25-caliber during the 2023 season, which caught the attention of other top shooters. The first major, two-day PRS match Austin used the 25×47 in was Clay’s Cartridge Company Classic in March, which is known to be one of the most challenging PRS matches, and Austin won it with a 7-point lead over 2nd place and a 15-point lead over 3rd place! Then just a couple of weeks later, he took it to the Box Canyon Showdown in Kansas, where he finished 1 point behind Morgun King, but those two were 10 points ahead of 3rd place! Two months later, Orgain won the Hornady Precision Rifle Challenge with his 25×47. All 3 of those matches were in the first 6 months of 2023! “After that sequence of events, the 25-caliber really started catching some traction, and it seemed like a lot of people started ordering 25-caliber components,” Austin said.
Here is a look at how the 25 caliber compares to the 6mm and 6.5mm:
The 25 caliber is between the 6mm and 6.5mm, but slightly closer to the 6.5mm in terms of bullet diameter and weight. The 25 cal is almost exactly 2 parts 6.5mm and 1 part 6mm.
The fact that the 25 caliber is a mix of both a 6mm and 6.5mm, and now has a few great, high-BC bullet options, explains why we’ve seen a few of the top shooters making the switch or at least experimenting with it.
Pro Take-Aways: Bringing Balance To It All
Having said all of this about the cartridges these guys are using, I’d like to wrap up with a few things to help us maintain a balanced perspective on this topic. First, I want to remind us of something Morgun King said:
“The top guys, they don’t care. They know it’s not that big of a deal if you use that cartridge over one of these others. Then there’s the guys that are just below that and they think, ‘Maybe I do need to change calibers, because if I change calibers somehow it is going to make me shoot better or get an edge.’” – Morgun King
While comparing cartridges can be fun, if you are using any of these cartridges that are popular in the Open Division (so excluding the 308 Win and 223), you aren’t likely to see a significant increase in performance by switching to a different cartridge. At most, these guys are typically talking about maybe getting 1 or 2 more impacts over a course of 200 rounds. That’s not going to take anyone from 20th to 1st, or even 50th to 20th.
In fact, Morgun King even states a big reason he uses the 6.5 Creedmoor is that Eagle Eye Ammunition offers loaded ammo for that cartridge. He said if they stopped offering loaded ammo in 6.5 CM and started offering it in something like 6.5×47 instead, he’d switch instantly. So while Morgun really likes the 6.5CM, clearly having great ammo to compete with is a much higher priority than getting nitpicky about minor differences between specific cartridges.
I reached out to Austin Orgain right before I published this article to verify a few facts – because publishing bad info is my worst nightmare. There is already too much bad info on the internet! 😉
Austin added this in his last text to me: “People get caught up in calibers and cartridges, and I think it really doesn’t matter that much.” That isn’t flippant. It is coming from a guy who is literally one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met in my life. He is an expert among experts here! He has won national-level matches with multiple 6mm cartridges, as well as a 25×47 and a 6.5 Creedmoor. Clearly, it has more to do with the man behind the gun than relatively minor difference in chamber dimensions.
While many of us have fun tinkering with different cartridges, if you’re looking to be competitive, the best advice might be to pick one and stick with it. After you burn out 2-3 barrels on the same cartridge, you will really know it. But many amateur shooters jump from one cartridge to another, and never truly master any of them.
The Recommendations for Most Competitors
The 6 Dasher is 5 times more popular than any other cartridge, so it’s the clear choice that is proven, forgiving, and gives you consistent match performance. Like Morgun said, “For the guy just getting into it, I think you just go ahead and start with the Dasher.” It will not disappoint. Alpha Munitions makes world-class brass for the 6mm Dasher, which is what most of these pros use. Some of these shooters have loaded virgin Alpha brass straight from a new box and then used that ammo to win pro matches. The only potential downside for the Dasher is that there are no mass-produced, affordable factory ammo options available for it (not a SAAMI-standardized cartridge). However, custom loading companies like Clay’s Cartridge Company and Phalanx Arms do sell outstanding match ammo in 6 Dasher (and most of these cartridges), and several of these pro shooters use their ammo in competition. (Learn more about ammo options for those not reloading.)
The ol’ 6.5 Creedmoor is another great option, and it has more factory ammo options than any other cartridge! Hornady offers their “Match” whitebox ammo for both the 6.5 CM and the 6mm GT, so those are great options if relatively affordable factory ammo is important in your situation. Berger also makes excellent 6.5 CM match-grade ammo. You could also copy Morgun King and simply use the 6.5 Creedmoor factory ammo from Eagle Eye Ammunition. He’s used Eagle Eye to win at 10+ national-level pro matches, so it seems to work!
Related: The 6.5 CM Factory Ammo Field Test
I actually tested every type of 6.5 Creedmoor factory ammo that was marketed as “match-grade” a couple of years ago. It is one of the most in-depth ammo tests ever conducted. I included multiple types of ammo from Berger, Hornady, Federal Premium, Copper Creek, Barnes, PRIME, Black Hills, Norma, Sig, Nosler, Winchester, and Remington. I fired 40 rounds of each brand from two different rifles and measured the velocity of every shot with 3 LabRadar Doppler radars and fired 8 five-shot groups for record from a rock-solid Benchrest position. I collected all the live-fire data and then analyzed the data and calculated hit probability from 400 to 1,200 yards for each type of ammo and ranked them by performance and value. Check out the results!
Other What The Pros Use Articles
This post is one of a series of articles that look at the equipment the top PRS shooters use. Here are links to other popular articles in that series from the past year:
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Cal Zant is the shooter/author behind PrecisionRifleBlog.com. Cal is a life-long learner, and loves to help others get into this sport he's so passionate about. Cal has an engineering background, unique data-driven approach, and the ability to present technical information in an unbiased and straight-forward fashion. For more info, check out PrecisionRifleBlog.com/About.
The 6mm has long been the king of PRS, but is its reign slipping? But my new survey reveals the 25 caliber has surged in popularity, especially among those finishing near the top. Could it be the new favorite of the pros, or just a short-term trend? The data might surprise you.
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