6.5x55 Swede over a 260 rem?

[lhead71]

D.id- it is a 22" barrel not 24". It is not a sporter, it is a hunting model with the cheap plastic stock. Without upsetting too many, the sporter model is for all intents and purposes a wood stocked TRG. If I had any use for a heavier long range rifle, that would definitely be on my short list.

 

[wboggs]

Your choice of a 24" barrel is handicapping you, think about a longer one. I use a 6.5-55 for hunting and it will beat the .260 on any comparison. Modern rifles and brass allow it to be loaded to the same pressures as a .260. Probably the best of either is the 6.5-55 AI version which has been mentioned by others. My buddy has one with a 30" Krieger and it will group close to 1/2MOA out to 1000yds with very little recoil and good barrel life.
For hunting, game animals could not tell the difference between the two.
Bill

 

[d.id]

Thanks, and I hear you but I don't need the length. I am not trying for the end all, be all 6.5mm.
Few factory rifles interest me as most of them require a complete reconfiguration for my purposes.

The tikka t3 sporter is a rare exception but it comes from the factory with a 24" barrel, available in 6.5x55 or 260 and really should just need a paint job.

I have two other builds to complete this year, one for the wife in 338 edge and one for the elk hunting partner in a long throated 300 short mag. Both will require a good amount of my limited time.

So my options are to try to do both those and my creadmoor project at the same time or buy a factory heavy barreled rifle like the t3 which is a 24".

If I were building another custom: the 260 or any AI cartridge would not be up for consideration at all. I will also be carrying this rifle as I do with all of my rifles so barrel length beyond 26" is not interesting to me at all either.
I would rather have a heavier barrel over a longer one every-time. The complete system including rifle, scope, bipod and sling must weigh 12-15.5 lbs.

That is why the question was structured specifically within those confines.
There is always more to be had but I just want the best within those parameters.

 

[Laurie]

The tikka t3 sporter is a rare exception but it comes from the factory with a 24" barrel, available in 6.5x55 or 260 and really should just need a paint job. [d.id]

Well, with what you intend to use it for and obviously having thought things through carefully, I don't think you'll go far wrong. A guy I used to work with bought one of the first 6.5X55mm T3 Varmints to arrive in the UK some years ago and has had really excellent results from it - far better than any mass-produced rifle should ever produce. Albeit, his use is range-work only and at shorter distances. With the mild 140gn loads he uses and fairly modest annual round-count, it'll likely still be shooting well in 20 + years time.

I've got to say, I still have a strong affection for the old soldiers of that late 19th / early 20th century era, the 7.92X57mm Mauser aside which has never given me anything much other than bruises. As well as still using 6.5X55mm in a modern custom rifle, I've recently given into temptation and bought a DWM M1895 Chilean Mauser in 7X57mm, another old favourite. I'm just wondering how I'm going to shoot it with its 'young men's eyes' iron military sights!

 

[wboggs]

Appreciate your "young man's eyes" comment. I'm 75 and my previous 20/10 is now at the point I need 6x minimum to see the target cleanly. Fortunately there is F-class for us old guys.