Standard 6.5/55

[jghoghunter]

Consider this to be a nice hunting and play rig in a standard 6.5/55. Shooting 130-145 class bullets. I'm not looking for top velocity just want it shoot well. My question is: would a 22-24" bbl be long enough to get decent velocity and burn powder efficiently?

 

[1shot]

I have a hopped up version of this cartridge and H-4831sc works well with 140 class bullets.
Additionally, if you use W-W brass, it has a standard .473 bolt face. However, if you are going with Lapua, you will need to enlarge the bolt face to accommodate the .478 rim dia. of the Swede.
I hope this helps,

Lloyd

 

[Nicklas]

Get the AI instead of the straight. You will not be far from the 6.5-284 with it.

 

[AckleymanII]

I have a 26" Brux 8T on the 6.5x55. I shoot the 127g Barnes LR and 129g LRAB at 3150 with R#26 With CCI 250.

JG, slow powders enjoy a longer barrel, you can always cut them off later on.

 

[Andy Work]

I have a hopped up version of this cartridge and H-4831sc works well with 140 class bullets.
Additionally, if you use W-W brass, it has a standard .473 bolt face. However, if you are going with Lapua, you will need to enlarge the bolt face to accommodate the .478 rim dia. of the Swede.
I hope this helps,

Lloyd

That's interesting, I never knew that.

 

[JSH]

That's interesting, I never knew that.

I have some old Hornady brass that is the same way, Frontier stamped.

I would check case specs against the reamer your going to use.

 

[butchlambert]

That's interesting, I never knew that.

I take a very small cut on my 6.5x55 Lapua rims.

 

[LHSmith]

What we found on my 6.5 x 55 Improved was the extractor groove had to be widened on Lapua and Norma brass. This was built on a Rem. 700. Impressive cartridge in standard form or AI.

 

[JSH]

I recall what sure seems all no that long ago when a lot folks thought most anything 6.5 was a novelty. 6.5x55 ammo let alone brass was hard to come by. Bullet choice was just as slim.

The 6.5x55 Swede I ended up with by accident, I was looking for a 7x57 Mauser for a cast bullet project, milsurps CB side match. The gent that had this I knew fairly well, he always seemed to have some real clean milsurps at times. This Swede was one of them. He had the rifle and ammo in bundle deal, he was willing to split it though. I was short for just the rifle by a few bucks and had to pass.
Walking out of the little show put on by the VFW, he waved me over and said I could have the whole works for what ever I had in my pocket. It was late afternoon and I had not at since breakfast and my old truck needed a couple of gallons to get home safely.
Lol, I emptied my wallet and change in my pocket. He gave me $5 (only after figuring how far I had to go) then took me over to the bar and fixed me up a chili dog, pop and fries. Sat and had a visit, told me how he came about the rifle and so forth. He laughed and said he was glad I did t live any further or he would have lost money on it, he was tired of packing the big long thing around with the ammo and no interest. I was the first one to pick it up and look it over in a half dozen shows.

500 rounds of ammo, so I had to stop at the club on the way home and see how it shot. I was happy as a lark, 100 yards with the full military dress, 10 rounds I could cover with my hand.
Forward a bit more, I have shot some ridiculous groups with it and cast bullets. Made my 03 and Krag look poorly. K31, Finnish Nagant then the Swede, my others soon took a back seat to those three.

Enough of my jabber, but this puts me back in the thoughts of a Ruger in 6.5x55 once again.

 

[65swede]

48.1gr of reloader 23 under a143gr eldx in my 22" T3 gets 2860fps. IIRC 49 gr was max load in this rifle which has a very generous throat.

 

[acloco]

The bolt head mystery, is not 100%. Depends on what brand of brass.

I use Lapua, Win, RP, and a couple other flavors in original Swedes to customs (including 6.5x55 AI).

Other than Nosler or Barnes, ALL of the "book loads" are tailored for the original mid strength military/era actions.

6.5x55 on a modern action, is no slouch. HIGHLY receommend a 1:7.0 to 1:8.0.

Now, there are multiple bullets/weights available. Same with brass.

 

[Laurie]

Other than Nosler or Barnes, ALL of the "book loads" are tailored for the original mid strength military/era actions.

European data often uses that of 6.5X55 SE, that is the modern CIP specs for 55,000 psi loads. Vihtavuori online and App loads data have two tables for the cartridge: 'Swedish Mauser' (~40-45,000 psi loads for older rifles) and '6.5X55 SE / 6.5X55 SKAN' (modern CIP 55,000 psi loads).

Unfortunately, some US reloading manuals name the cartridge as '6.5X55 SE' which has a very specific definition, but still appear to apply lesser loadings and pressures.

 

[Liven The Dream]

I ran a straight 6.5X55 for two barrels on a 1000 yard Prone Rifle.
I ran 140 Berger's at the end Powered by H4831SC ,CCI BR-2's
For a Target Rifle a little hard on Barrels . I would not think Improved for a minute ( Barrel Life).
Winchester Brass Ran just fine in a Standard Barnard Action.
Norma and Lapua are EU standard size.
That round has been a Hit for years, go for it.

 

[BlackGrouper]

I ran a straight 6.5X55 for two barrels on a 1000 yard Prone Rifle.
I ran 140 Berger's at the end Powered by H4831SC ,CCI BR-2's
For a Target Rifle a little hard on Barrels . I would not think Improved for a minute ( Barrel Life).
Winchester Brass Ran just fine in a Standard Barnard Action.
Norma and Lapua are EU standard size.
That round has been a Hit for years, go for it.

What would you guess barrel life would be with 139-140's at 2800-2850fps.

 

[Liven The Dream]

What would you guess barrel life would be with 139-140's at 2800-2850fps.

1700 +

 

[dthomas]

For load data in a modern rifle use 260 data to start then work your way up.

 

[358WCF]

Since there's no definition for "decent" velocity it's kinda subjective.

In a 20" BSA CF-2 my better loads, c.1" or better average 4-shot groups @ 100yds., from the last 30 years are at the following velocities:

160-7828SCC-2537fps
160-RL26-2601fps**
160-RL22-2536fps
Norma factory 156gr-2371fps
140-RL26-2835fps
140-H4350-2600fps
Norma factory 139gr-2540fps
130-RL26-2796fps
129-IMR4831-2677fps
125-IMR4831-2638fps

**=Absolute Max. in my rifle with my components. Factory loads for comparison. All velocities at 10" instrumental not converted to MV.

It's not a death-ray like the Creedmoor , but they will all hunt as far as I would care to shoot at anything if I was still hunting.

 

[Liven The Dream]

1700 +

 

[1shot]

I ran the GWI version for several years and got around 1,400 rounds of bbl. life per bbl. (3) shooting moly coated 140 JLK's at 3,050 fps. That is a high node that trashed W-W brass in short order, but I got good life from Lapua.

Lloyd

 

[Exercion]

Given your question of 22 or 24, I'd go with the 24, because you can always shorten it, but it sucks trying to stretch those barrels longer lol. As already mentioned, minimum 1-8 twist, and you didn't mention the action you plan to use, so velocity is hard to predict (modern rifle, small ring Mauser etc.) However, a good thing to keep in mind is that the Swedes switched from the long M96 rifles with their 29" barrels to the M38's with 24" tubes.

Eric