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Lapua 6.5x55 brass and Remington 700

clark98ut

I'm having a 6.5x55AI built on a Remington 700, and as luck would have it, my 700s bolt face is on the smaller side. The smith just called and said he's seeing issues with Winchester brass. Combine that with the slightly larger size of the Lapua brass and I'm going to have issues.

I really don't want to go with a Sako extractor, and would prefer to just turn a few thousandths off the Lapua brass to make it work. Does anybody have any suggestions/comments on doing that?

Thanks,

Dan
 
What issues..?? I shoot a 6.5x55 with several brands of brass including Lapua.. Chamber length ?? Shoulder distance ?? Base of case diameter ?? Bolt face is easy to cure, or Have the cases rims turned down a few thousands.. Norma 6.5x55 case head=0.0477....Lapua=0.0476...PMC=0.0475...LAPUA 308=0.0468
 
The bolt face is the issue. I don't want to go with a Sako extractor which means I need to turn the case rim. What's the best way to accomplish that?

Thanks,

Dan
 
I have a man who turns my rims by the 50-100 cases for odd calibers. Go on gunbroker.com search for 219 Donaldson Wasp.Or put in 181754241 in general search .he list cases and will turn yours,,or have a friend with a lathe chuck them and take off the amount needed..
 
What bolt face did the M700 have for starters? I have a pipe dream about getting a .270 or .3006 M700 as a donor and rebarrelling to 6.5X55 and so was hoping the conversion would be straight forward. How does cartridge feed out of the mag?
 
I have a 6.5x55 on a Remington long action and I use both Lapua and Remington brass with no issues. My rifle started off as a 30-06.

I was told I would have problems when using Lapua brass and that was "NOT" so. I could tell no difference with extraction using one or the other. I finally stayed with Remington brass when the Lapua dried up and the Remington shoots just as well as the Lapua did just won't last as long. Build it and shoot it, you will love it!!!!
 
You might run into issues with the Remington bolt face, I've built three 6.5x55's on the Rem 700 L/A and had to open the bolt face slightly on all of them, but I've read enough posts on this forum and others that say they had no issues to figure I'm probably in the minority. As far as feeding from the magazine I haven't ran into any issues.
 
I can tell you a Swede built into my LA Mod70 would shave a teeny piece off of the brass rim but was cured by just softening the very sharp edge on my Win bolt and note re-cutting the boltface. Now cured and nice tight fit to hold the brass..I use both Lapua and Win brass. Yes the Swede brass is a bit larger than 08 and 06 but I would try it before cutting it. My choice...maybe not yours.
 
I had problems with Lapua and a Rem 700 Swede improved. It's not the .473 vs. .479 rims, it's the extraction groove.....on Lapua it's not wide enough for the Rem. extractor to get behind. Had a cutting tool made to modify the brass.
 
In my experience you will sometimes have a rim size problem with 6.5 X 55mm Swede if your rifle is a US built (or US .308 Winch bolt face standard from elsewhere) and you try to shoot ammo or reloaded brass that has been manufactured to European standards, which call for a head diameter that is a few thousandths larger than the 308 standard head size. The larger head ...or the rim... will not want to go into the smaller bolt face and, if it does get in there, will often not want to eject properly. What with manufacturing tolerances allowing some variation in machining, you just MIGHT get a US spec bolt face that will accept the European ammo/brass. Generally speaking, a European bolt face in whatever brand rifle will GENERALLY NOT have a head diameter problem as it sill accept European ammo/brass just fine and US made ammo/brass will be only a few thou too small to fit the bolt EXACTLY as it should, but it will work OK. European Brass (such as Norma, Lapua, Privi Partisan, etc) that is intended to be used in a US spec bolt face after being reloaded can be machined down a tiny bit to the needed size, but that operation is a Large PITA when you have to do more than a couple. (don't ask me how I know that....)
 
Had the same qualms when I was wanting a Swede built a couple months ago. Had a Win 70 and Rem 700 action to play with. I went with the Winchester and have had zero problems. Not to say the Remington would have caused difficulty.

Feeding is perfect from a Winchester factory mag box and follower from the original .270 setup. I have been very pleased.
 
Didn't Remington make the classic in 6.5x55 swede? I don't understand what the problem would be to open the bolt face and use the swede extractor.
 
Man, this one got brought back from the grave. This thread is almost 4 years old!

Anyway, he was able to open up the bolt face ever so slightly and still use the Remington extractor. The gun shot and fed/extracted great. Has since been sold and onto the new owner.

-Dan
 
Lol 4 year thread bump.

Remington did make a swede in the 700 classic in 1994. I have one of those, uses a rem extractor. I can measure the bolt face if people want it.
 
My 1994 factory chambered 6.5x55 Swede's bolt face measures .488

That said, all of my brass fits in my other .308 Bolt face measuring .482

Like mentioned before, anyone reloading Swede can tell you it's more of a lip/ extraction groove difference that the Rem extractor has a problem with.
 
6.5x55 is mostly all I shoot. I own a pair of 1994 Classics in 6.5x55. I do not use anything but Lapua/Norma/Nosler commercial brass and also I use a ton of 1x fired Norma Berdan brass (pull wooden bullets) http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3810571.0 . Reason I do not use Winchester or PPU brass - very uneven (non-concentric) and sporadic in results.
One way or another - absolutely no issues in a stock 6.5x55 Remington Classics with European brass.
 
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