6.5x55 question
- Thread starter JamesnTN
- Start date
That is a beautiful rifle. I really like the way you set it up for the photograph.
here is what my Tikka T3 did last time to the range. only a 4.5-14 scope. the first group upper left is only 2 shots. so 3 different bullets, bullet weights, different powders, etc. the lower right corner group is from ammo I loaded 8-9 years ago. It was lapua brass, and I literally just took it out of the box, primed it, and started to load it. I could tell loading them that the neck tension was all over the place. One bullet would be tight, the next was easy, etc. I loaded 20-30 before I stopped and neck sized the rest before loading. It really does make a difference. I have kept it around this whole time to sight in scopes, etc. It's amazing seeing what the difference is with equal neck tension, and how it really does matter. I really like the round. dates should be 2/14. can't really explain that can I
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I am reloading for my two 6.5x55's. Not difficult to find good precision. 130grs coated Norma DL for the range, 129grs SST's and 156grs Norma Oryx for hunting. Max load for the 130grs DL's leaves the 29in barrel with 2933fps.
100m Load testing - Sauer 200 STR - 74cm/29in barrel - 130grs Norma Diamond Line (Moly-coated) - 4 shot groups
Sauer 200 STR - Bushnell Elite 6500 Tactical 4.5-30x50
100m Load testing - Sauer 200 STR - 74cm/29in barrel - 130grs Norma Diamond Line (Moly-coated) - 4 shot groups
Sauer 200 STR - Bushnell Elite 6500 Tactical 4.5-30x50
Very nice rifle!AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
A friend is having trouble with a Rem 700 and Lapua 6.5x55 brass. I think that he needs to have the bolt face opened up a tad with a Sako extractor installed?
A 200 yard group fired with cheap '06 brass reformed into 6.5-06, Common H1000 powder, and low cost Barnes Match burner bullets - shoot lots of this in 3 of my 6.5-06 rifles that all weigh less than 8.5 pounds each - loaded.
The 6.5X55 is an ancient peculiar cartridge - avoid it
the bolt face of a rifle intended for use with .473 rimmed ammo might accept a 6.5X55 Swede but the head diameter of the 6.5X55 is .477 to .480 - this means that the 6.5X55 has different head dimensions than a '06, .260 or 6.5 Creedmoor
Brass, except for PPU (Privi Partizan) is real spendy and often not available. I would not go there as I shoot a lot and would not want to mess around with some odd ball round. Reforming '06 or .257 R brass is a no-go as the head diameter of the 6.5X55 is often .010 more causing bulges in the fired rounds using normal '06 type brass.
I don't care if the 6.5X55 is an boutique round used by some, probably just because it is different - a 6.5X.284 brass is more available or especially the 6.5-06 where 300 pieces of easily obtained .270 or .30-06 once fired brass can be bought for less than $100 including shipping. The 6.5X55 is too long to feed through a short action magazine where the Creedmoor does this easily.
The bolt face of my Carl Custafs M96 measures .484 inches, my 6.5X55 ammo rim diameters are .474, bolt face of my FN Mauser is .480, bolt face of Ruger M77 MK II .484, bolt face Rem 700 .475 - that Rem 700 might be a little too small for the ancient 6.5X55 Swede -rim diameters of store bought '06 brass is .465. Yes ammo is interchangeable between both FN and MKII in respect to rim and bolt face diameters, but the up to .010 head difference remains
A quick sort of the cheap once fired then reformed '06 brass into 6.5-06 has provided ammo capable of less than .75 inch groups @ 200 and less than 1 moa @ 500 meters and that is adequate for my purposes.
Is it true that in the case of a gross overload causing action and brass failure in a modified M700 that Sako type extractor can be blown out of the action?
The 6.5X55 is an ancient peculiar cartridge - avoid it
the bolt face of a rifle intended for use with .473 rimmed ammo might accept a 6.5X55 Swede but the head diameter of the 6.5X55 is .477 to .480 - this means that the 6.5X55 has different head dimensions than a '06, .260 or 6.5 Creedmoor
Brass, except for PPU (Privi Partizan) is real spendy and often not available. I would not go there as I shoot a lot and would not want to mess around with some odd ball round. Reforming '06 or .257 R brass is a no-go as the head diameter of the 6.5X55 is often .010 more causing bulges in the fired rounds using normal '06 type brass.
I don't care if the 6.5X55 is an boutique round used by some, probably just because it is different - a 6.5X.284 brass is more available or especially the 6.5-06 where 300 pieces of easily obtained .270 or .30-06 once fired brass can be bought for less than $100 including shipping. The 6.5X55 is too long to feed through a short action magazine where the Creedmoor does this easily.
The bolt face of my Carl Custafs M96 measures .484 inches, my 6.5X55 ammo rim diameters are .474, bolt face of my FN Mauser is .480, bolt face of Ruger M77 MK II .484, bolt face Rem 700 .475 - that Rem 700 might be a little too small for the ancient 6.5X55 Swede -rim diameters of store bought '06 brass is .465. Yes ammo is interchangeable between both FN and MKII in respect to rim and bolt face diameters, but the up to .010 head difference remains
A quick sort of the cheap once fired then reformed '06 brass into 6.5-06 has provided ammo capable of less than .75 inch groups @ 200 and less than 1 moa @ 500 meters and that is adequate for my purposes.
Is it true that in the case of a gross overload causing action and brass failure in a modified M700 that Sako type extractor can be blown out of the action?
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I got interested in the cartridge because I like to shoot some old guns, once in a while. I stop by a gun store that has a rack full and I pick thru them. Saw a nice Swede 96 in good shape and bought it. Found some PPU ammo and shot it. I liked the groups I got, read a lot of history and searched out an M38 Husquevarna. I put a scope on it, did some load work up and got this at 100. This is from a 75 year old military gun with an unknown round count.
What powder and bullet does yours like if I may ask???? Nice group for sure!
joshb
Gold $$ Contributor
I'll tell the gun you like her! I tried Hogdon Hybrid 100 at the suggestion of a magazine article. It seems to work with the 120 grain Hornady's A-max.
Oh, P72: you're entitled to your opinion. I think it's a great cartridge, and suggest it to my friends. The OP, JamesnTN is well acquainted with "oddball" rounds.
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Although the head dimension listed in most reload manuals is listed as .479, most brass of recent manufacture is much less.The Lapua that I have is .474 and the Norma is .476...and both work in a Rem.700 bolt face.
Brass availability is NOT an issue ...a quick look at Grafs and midway find each has 4 different brands in stock. The price rivals '06 brass (actually $21 cheaper than '06 brass in Lapua.) You called it an ancient peculiar spendy boutique round to avoid.
You've compared it to the 6.5/06, Creedmore and 6.5 x .284 .... all of these costing 50% more for brass IF you can find it.
Now WHICH round is "boutique"?
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I personally own two 1994 Remington 700 Classics in 6.5x55 (from the factory) and neither has issues with Lapua Brass or any other modern brass for that matter.
= I respectfully disagree.
= I respectfully disagree, based on REAL LIFE experience and ownership.
I respectfully disagree, based on REAL LIFE experience and ownership.
I respectfully disagree, based on REAL LIFE experience and ownership.
I respectfully disagree, based on REAL LIFE experience and ownership. As a matter of fact, I actually own right now in 6.5x55: Military M/96, M/38, FSR + Ruger MKii in 6.5x55, Remington 700 Classic, Browning X-Bolt, CZ550 and number of others... All mentioned here are function just fine with modern brass.
I shoot out to 800m with my swedes, both modern and vintage - no problems with groups, as a matter of fact, I outshoot Outagamie County (WI) SWAT sniper team (2 of 2) few years back (400m) with R700 Classic and a $200 scope from Sportsmans guide (I had crap glass as I was measuring velocities for new handloads)...
- never had that happened to me, so can't comment.
sources of available brass:
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/704
http://www.midwayusa.com/65x55mm-swedish-mauser/br?cid=7370
http://www.milehighshooting.com/lapua-6-5x55-mauser-lapua-cases-100-box/
http://www.butchsreloading.com/shop...ua-brass-65x284-norma-100-count-unprimed.html
joshb
Gold $$ Contributor
I took a circa 1995 donor 700 action to build a Swede Improved.....to use Lapua brass we had to open up the extractor groove to get 100% reliability......no big deal -20 minutes lathe time, those 100 cases will last the life of the barrel. Norma brass worked without case mods.
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
my buddy's 700 that has problems with Lapua brass is a real tack driver, it is odd that one rifle will not have problems and another will. It is all too obvious that the bolt head is scraping brass off the edges of the rim...no brainer to figure out why.
The 6.5x55 seems better suited for the long action where the bullets can be seated out, and the Rem 700 is perfect for this one.
I believe that the AI version of this case would be awesome to say the least, but I am partial to AI my hamburgers and hot dogs.
The 6.5x55 seems better suited for the long action where the bullets can be seated out, and the Rem 700 is perfect for this one.
I believe that the AI version of this case would be awesome to say the least, but I am partial to AI my hamburgers and hot dogs.
I have had two different Rem classics in the 6.5x55. both fed whatever brass I put thru them. used lapua brass mostly in the second one. never a minutes trouble feeding, etc. The first one shot great, and sold it because I was young, stupid, and bored. I am sure I sold it to buy something else that I don't remember now! the second one was an annoying gun. I wanted to keep it, but couldn't get it to shoot anything worth a crap. the best group it ever did was over 1 1/2" for three shots.
comments on brass. brass is easy to find, and typically cheaper than standard calibers. It's always in stock somewhere too. Recently looked for 260 brass, and couldn't get it anywhere. So I just bought another 6.5x55 rifle instead of a .260 rem. not sure why the comments are flying about brass not being available, etc. That cartridge is older than all of us, and is one of the top cartridges in Europe, so I don't think it will go away. In fact, I think it's gaining in popularity here finally. I typically see ammo for the swede everywhere, cannot say that for the 6.5x284.
comments on brass. brass is easy to find, and typically cheaper than standard calibers. It's always in stock somewhere too. Recently looked for 260 brass, and couldn't get it anywhere. So I just bought another 6.5x55 rifle instead of a .260 rem. not sure why the comments are flying about brass not being available, etc. That cartridge is older than all of us, and is one of the top cartridges in Europe, so I don't think it will go away. In fact, I think it's gaining in popularity here finally. I typically see ammo for the swede everywhere, cannot say that for the 6.5x284.
Your bad experience with R700 reminds me my 'quest' for Winchester 70 in 6.5x55. two pushfeeds I owned I could outshoot with military M/96 with open sights... Shot a friends one - and its crazy accurate, and he did NOT do jack to it to improve it...
One of these days I will actually own for keeps a 70 featherweight that can actually shoot good.
I keep reading all these issues with brass and as I said earlier - really early commercial Norma brass was the only one that gave me trouble in some of my rifles, everything else I put in mine - it just works. My wife got her Savage 111 Lady hunter redone into a 6.5x55 and it has .473 bolt face - no issues/none with a brand new rig with any brass ...
After a long history shooting the 6.5-.284 and .308's for mid-range (600 yes) and long range (1,000 yds) in NRA highpower I found myself with a couple of cracked cervical vertebrae (from deployment) and I needed something a little less recoil. The 6.5 creedmoor with 1-8" twist and 30 inch Bartleins made the difference. I then built a 6.5x55 on a RPA Quadlock and stocked it in a McMillan prone stock. Shoots great. 2950 fps with 140 and 142 grain Bergers and Sierras. Less recoil than my 6.5 284. Shoots as well in my opinion. My barrel is too heavy though and I am going to pull it off and either turn it down or replace it.
Kudo's for choosing the caliber. You will have to work up your own loads as the reloading manuals think you are shooting a 100 year old rifle... I
Kudo's for choosing the caliber. You will have to work up your own loads as the reloading manuals think you are shooting a 100 year old rifle... I
You don't say which powder. What barrel life did you get from your Pac-Nors in this chambering, please?
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