Reloading for a CG 63 Mauser

[dc.fireman]

I have arrived at a load for my CG-63 Swedish Mauser, chambered in 6.5x55 SE, and would like to share some of the findings with anyone who might look for this info in the future.

It begins with the Carl Gustaf's '63 (CG-63) competition rifle - which is an 1899 Swedish Mauser M96, chambered in 6.5x55 SE. The original barrel was removed sometime around 1960, and replaced with one by Norma of Sweden. It is a 29" 1 in 7.87 twist barrel.

The Swedish FSR Frivilliga Skytterorelsen (Volunteer Shooters' Organization) used these for 300M competition for a short time, as well as commissioning their own slightly 'looser' in-country competition.

This particular barrel has a bad spot about 1/3 of the way back from the muzzle, and was quite dirty when I bought it from a friend several years ago. The bore was black with carbon and deposits, and it took several days of scrubbing with CLR, 40X Bore Cleaner, and IOSSO to get it clean.

It has a Søderin rear aperture sight with a scale which corresponds to a 139 gr. FMJBT bullet driven near 2800 fps. It has an aperture front sight. I replaced the original aperture (which had the small circle broken off) with a modern 18mm plastic one made by Anschutz, and it works just fine. The stock is ambidextrous, but the bolt is definitely a cock-on-close right-handed model.

I have a preference for the 123 class of bullets, for practice and matches, and have a steady supply of Lapua, Sierra, Nosler, and Hornady on hand. My preference for primers has always been the Federal 210M. I have several brands of brass in 6.5x55 - Lapua & Norma being my match brass, and Prvi Partisan being the stuff I use for general practice.

I had several types of powders: Reloder 22, Reloder 19, H4831-SC being my preferences for this cartridge. For the 123 gr. bullets, I opted to try Reloder-19 first. It was a good guess. To start, I used Scott Satterlee's method of looking for the 'optimum barrel time' when it came to velocity. If you're not familiar with it, you can look it up on Youtube. I have to admit, I was skeptical at first, but was amazed to see it work out for me first hand.

I loaded 1 round each in .2 gr. increments going from 46.0gr. to 49.8gr. using a Sierra 123 HPBT #1727, Fed 210M, Lapua Case @ 3.100" COAL. This length was chosen, because it puts the base of the bullet at the base of the case neck.

Firing on the Silver Mountain SOLO target, showed me that the velocity jumps were all over the place until I hit two nodes: 46.6 and 49.6gr. The 46.6 was giving me a velocity of 2214 FPS @ 200 yards. The 49.6 showed 2490 @ 200 yards. Both had a velocity difference of +3 fps over the previous .2 gr. charge. Scott Satterlees method recommends that you would then load in the middle of the two charges (i.e, if between 49.4 & 49.6, then load 5 @ 49.5 to test).

I chose two load 3 each of:

46.5, 46.6, 46.7, and 49.5, 49.6, 49.7. for further testing. As it turned out, 49.6 was the 'magic bullet'. The SD for that load over three shots was a promising 6.47. I went home and loaded 10 more of these. After firing ten more shots, the SD dropped to 5.31. Velocities averaged 2494 to 2511 FPS @ 200 yards. I accidentally deleted my spreadsheet which tracked each individual velocity, or I could post it for further verification.

So, I had a final match load of:

Sierra 123 HPBT #1727
Lapua Case trimmed @ 2.155", necks skim turned
Federal 210M primer
Reloder-19 @ 49.6 gr.

Today, it was noticeably warmer 85º F and humid. I had some left over components to play around with, and decided to break out the Shooting Chrony Gamma to get some muzzle velocities.

I messed around with 3 loads:

Hornady 123 ELD
RE-19 @ 49.6gr
PPU case trimmed and neck turned
FED 210M

Hornady 123 ELD
RE-19 @ 49.6gr
PPU case trimmed and neck turned
FED 215M

SIE 123 HPBT
RE-19 @ 49.6gr.
PPU case trimmed & neck turned
FED 210M

I had 7 of the ELD 123's with magnum primers to test. Stupidly, I had the sky screens over the Chrony, and it gave me an 'Err-2' code on the first two shots, so I only had 4 to test out:

They were: 2902.17, 2903.56, 2886.95, 2886.95 ES = 16.61, SD = 9.53

The next batch was the ELD 123's with standard Match primers:

They were: 2902.87, 2895.92, 2899.39, 2895.92, 2911.25, 2865.08, 2860.34, 2850.25, 2871.20, 2905.66. ES= 61.01, SD = 21.61

The final test was the Sierra 123's with the standard primers. Essentially, this is my match load but substituting a PPU case for a Lapua case for practice ammunition.

They were: 2908.45, 2907.75, 2914.75, 2941.67, 2920.38, 2912.65, 2928.86, 2918.26, 2937.38, 2899.39. ES= 42.28 SD = 13.41

Bolt lift is great on all of these loads ( I kind of expected it to be, considering what the Swedes used as their original loads for these rifles). Primers are still slightly rounded. Case mouths for the initial 2 rounds with the magnum primers was slightly sooty. It appears that once the barrel gets a little dirty and warm, the brass comes out a little cleaner.

I must admit, I was surprised by the lower SD with the 215M primers. I will probably load up 15 of these to try out again, so that I can obtain an 'apples to apples' comparison, of 10 shots to 10 shots vs. the standard 210M.

FYI, the target is the Service Rifle Repair Center for 200 yards, but fired at 100 yards.


Equipment Summary:

CG-63 Mauser
Shooting Chrony Gamma, with printer
Protektor rear sand bag
Caldwell Rock BR front rest
Sierra 123 HPBT # 1727
Hornady 123 ELD #26176
Prvi Partisan 6.5x55 brass
Federal primers, 210M & 215M
Alliant Reloder-19
SR-C service rifle target repair center

*All of the normal reloading disclaimers apply here - work up to this in your rifle, watching for the tell-tale pressure signs along the way.*

 

[DukeDuke]

You have a very nice rifle there!
You shoot it very well!

 

[dc.fireman]

You have a very nice rifle there!
You shoot it very well!

Thanks @DukeDuke I wish I could take credit for that, but today the front rest and rear bag did all the work.

 

[tomswede]

I would not say that the CG63 was used for a short time. It became an allowed rifle in the early 60’s and was used up to the 80’s when the Sauer STR was introduced.
Got my CG63 in 73. Did not imagine at that time that I and the rifle would end up residing in the US.

 

[tomswede]

I would not say that the CG63 was used for a short time. It became an allowed rifle in the early 60’s and was used up to the 80’s when the Sauer STR was introduced.
Got my CG63 in 73. Did not imagine at that time that I and the rifle would end up residing in the US.

Guess I forgot about the CG80, the last of the M96 based rifles. Should have remembered since I have two of those stocks

 

[koger]

Very interesting, I have been a fan of the 6.5 Swede for over 3 decades, this type of stuff shows you why. Thanks for sharing.

 

[joshb]

Thanks for posting this. I have a few Swedes that I love to collect and shoot. Earlier this spring, I picked up a CG 63 and put it in the safe. I need to pull it out and shoot the old girl. I use H100v in my Swedes, tho I do have a can of Re-19. Might try it.

 

[dc.fireman]

Thanks for posting this. I have a few Swedes that I love to collect and shoot. Earlier this spring, I picked up a CG 63 and put it in the safe. I need to pull it out and shoot the old girl. I use H100v in my Swedes, tho I do have a can of Re-19. Might try it.

@joshb

The 123 class of bullets in these rifles shoot like the proverbial dream; drive them somewhere upwards of 2850 fps, and the nice groups start forming.

I wish that I could locate a CG-80 stock for mine, so that I could correctly use it for prone practice. The standard 63 stock (as you know) lacks the rail for a forehand stop underneath.

 

[tomswede]

@joshb

The 123 class of bullets in these rifles shoot like the proverbial dream; drive them somewhere upwards of 2850 fps, and the nice groups start forming.

I wish that I could locate a CG-80 stock for mine, so that I could correctly use it for prone practice. The standard 63 stock (as you know) lacks the rail for a forehand stop underneath.

There was a filler piece approved that could be attached to the forend of the CG63 that had a rail on it. I have one of those on mine ( probably rare). Put it on when they became available (about when the CG80 came out), I was a poor student at the time so a CG80 was not possible.

 

[2506]

I have a few of the military Swede Mauser rifles and they all really shoot well. I have one model 96 that some Bubba had already started hacking on. I used it to make a sporting hunting rifle with. I left the 29" barrel on it drilled and tapped it for a scope, cut the straight bolt handle off and made a new one shaped to work with the scope and put a Bold adjustable trigger with safety on and put into a composite stock. Using AA 4350 powder and the 120 gr. Sierra and Nos. BT at 2900 fps and 140 Sierra and Hornady at 2800 fps. hunting bullets are wicked on white tail deer. You can get some serious velocity at what the Accurate manual says is under 46000 CUP with that long barrel.

I just wish I would have bought more of the Swedes back when they were averaging $90 to $100 each in the 1990's. I just sold a mix master, bolt and action numbers matched but nothing else did, for $350 . I had $75 in it.

 

[koger]

I couldnt tell, is that barrel a standard weight barrel or the heavy barrel. I am on the fence to buy one, Have shot the 6.5x55 swede for 30+ years, thinking about getting one of these with peeps to shoot before i get to old and my eyesight starts to go.

 

[Marksman]

I've had a lot of fun with my CG63. I've been using the cheap Prvi 120gr HPBT bullets from Grafs.

 

[dc.fireman]

I couldnt tell, is that barrel a standard weight barrel or the heavy barrel. I am on the fence to buy one, Have shot the 6.5x55 swede for 30+ years, thinking about getting one of these with peeps to shoot before i get to old and my eyesight starts to go.

It's a long 29" standard weight barrel, in what I would consider a light palma profile. It's been a load of fun to play with and shoot. I too wish that I had bought a barrel of these rifles when they were cheap!

 

[koger]

I have a 95 Lowes Berlin action, with a unfired 24" milsurp barrel I put on and headspaced. I am thinking of putting a peep sight on and milling the sight on the end for a Lyman 17. It is in a syn stock and has a Timney featherweight w saftey on it.