The 2023 PRS season has come to a dramatic end with new champion Kahl Harmon, the US Army Marksmanship Unit shooter finishing the year with a slew of exceptional wins and performances in a row. As is the norm every year, there are a bunch of new PRS shooters and gear freaks trying to find out what the pros use and used this year in terms of rifle actions, rifle scopes, barrels, triggers, stocks and so on. So without further ado, here is the roundup of the 2023 PRS What The Pros Use series.
As with all the “What The Pros Use” posts, you have to remember that many of the top level competitors are sponsored shooters, so their equipment are not necessarily what they chose to buy, but rather what they have been sponsored with. That being said, they still had to approve or choose to say yes to that specific sponsor, so they do most definitely approve of they equipment they are running, and to add to that, the level of competition is so close at the top, that if any of their equipment is not up to the task and fails often, they would simply not be able to stay in the running or in the top PRS rankings.
Let me not keep you waiting much longer, so here is the list of the PRS equipment used by the top 100 shooters in 2023.
What the pros use: PRS Scope
Without fail, the rifle scope is the most searched for piece of precision rifle equipment of the What The Pros Use list, and for good reason, as most actions, barrels and rifles when chambered and fitter properly will shoot well, but if the scope fails or you cannot see the target, it cannot be shot, no matter how accurate the rifle is. What was surprising this year, is how many shooters in the top 10 were using the Tangent Theta, but good to see the Leupold Mark 5HD still being the most used, and still very much perfect for the job. This just goes to show that you do not necessarily need the most expensive elite tactical scope and in fact the top used scope being half the price of the second place for most used, and both get the job done.
What the pros use: PRS Cartridge
With all the rage in rumor mills, at club matches and online forums making it feel like everybody is switching to .25 calibers, it is very clear that the 6mm BR variants are still by far the king for PRS shooting, with the one and only God’s caliber, the 6mm Dasher still king. 6.5mm Creedmoor being the expected next most popular and then only after the 308s from the limited class, do the .25 calibers start coming in.
What the pros use: Rifle Actions
Tate and the guys at Impact Precision obviously having made their mark and rightly so, with the Impact Precision action, probably all of them the 737r, being the top rifle action that the pros use for PRS shooting.
What the pros use: Rifle Barrels
What the pros use: Rifle stock or rifle chassis
What the pros use: Rifle Triggers
What the pros use: PRS Tripod
What the pros use: Brass Cases
Alpha brass is still king of the hill in PRS competition, taking over from Lapua last year and 2021.
What the pros use: Bullets
What the pros use: Suppressors
What the pros use: Muzzle Brakes
What the pros use: PRS Bipod
What the pros use: Shooting Rangefinders
Following on from our What The Pros use series we started in 2021, this is the latest version for the 2023 season, and it is interesting when comparing them how the industry changes and different brands move above others in the PRS market share as their new products, innovations and technologies come out. What is very interesting to note this year, is how many of the top PRS shooters have gone over to using the Tangent Theta scopes, the highest priced of the bunch, for good reason obviously. Especially when according to my knowledge they do not sponsor any shooters, so those people using the Tangent Theta chose to buy them themselves.
I hope you enjoyed seeing these trends for the equipment that the PRS pros use again this year as much as I do.
AJ Deysel is a competitive rifle shooter in the PRS and NRL Hunter series, a lifelong hunter, and a recognized ballistics specialist whose load development expertise has been featured by industry leaders like Hornady. He is the founder and lead editor of LoadDevelopment.com. Read more about AJ or view our Editorial & Testing Guidelines.
