I am working up a load for a late season cow elk/doe antelope hunt for my sporterized Swede M96. I had planned on using 140gr Nosler Partitions, but haven't been able to get very good groups with the first few loads I tried. Although I haven't seen any keyholing, I think this is probably due to the fact the rifle was rebarreled to one with a 1 in 9" rate. I will continue to play with the 140s, but I bought a box of 130 gr Nosler Accubonds I hope will stabilize a little better.

Has anyone on the board had success with these bullets and either IMR 4831 or 4064 with the slower twist barrel?

I'm am a little concerned about the lower weight bullet for elk. I already know I will have to be more selective in the shots I take, but since I am already pre-disposed toward taking a 1.5 yr old calf vice a full grown cow I don't think this 130 should be a problem as long as I do my part - any opinions?

I've had this rifle for a few years since I re-barrelled and re-stocked it, but deployments have gotten in the way with really playing with it until now. I've got other rifles I can take if I can't get this one figured out, but I'd really like to get this particular rifle out in the field again. It's a nice carrying, light recoil option that I intend my daughter and two sons to use when they get old enough.

With a 22" light contour barrel, I'm not expecting 1/4" groups, but I think I should be able to get at least get 1 - 1.5" groups and not have to settle for the 2.5 - 4" groups I've been getting so far. The action is glass bedded and the barrel is free floated. All the action screws are tight, as are the scope rings/bases. I haven't played with the seating distance of the bullets on the 140s yet and will do that next in conjunction with working up loads for the 130s.

Thanks in advance for any help the board members can provide. I'm new to the board, but this looks like a great place to put on my "Favorites" list.

Cornfield SWO, have you thought about the 130gr. TSX in your swede, I use the 120gr. with IMR-4831 and it works good, but you said that you wanted more bullet weight.

6.5 SWEDE

Have had good luck with 46.5 of IMR 4831. It's been accurate in the four 6.5X55 that I own or did own. It's a good place too start any way.

Sounds like you know what your doing with that fine bullet, and choice of powders.. You did not mention what velocity your pushing, It could be that you might haft to play with the speed a bit.

My M-96 sporter won't shoot worth a flip in my free floated wooden stock. But is moa in my syn. stock.

Now that I think of it, try a push up in the front end of that stock and give her a try.

47gr H4831- 140gr partition works for me

so does 47gr r22.

daveo,

Thanks, I may try something to apply pressure to the front of the barrel if I can't get a load to work. What do you recommend to use for the push up - cardboard or something else?

I had pac nor put a 1:9 twist 6.5X55 on a 700 action. It shoots anything weighing 107 grs or less into ragged holes anything heavier you are lucky to hold an 1". I can't tell you for sure that this is because of the twist rate in this particular the tube but I also want to shoot the 140s for hunting. Don't tell the wife but I just got back from pac nor another I had them do in 1:8. Should be able to send in a range report this weekend.

I have always gone w/R22 as the defacto standard for 6.5X55 with 140 grn pills ... work up to 2800 fps which should be right at 48 grns of R22 with a 22" tube. Others report sucess with H4831SC, IMR 4350 and IMR 4064.

FWIW - My guess is that with the kind of groups you are getting its either a mechanical issue or a dimensional issue and I'd be shocked if fine tunning dropped your group size dramatically. Consider the source when you decide how much credence to give that broad statement

Cornfield: I use stiff rubber for my stock pushups it made a big diff on one of my weatherbys less movement form shot to shot,but as we know the first one is the one that counts. Good luck and good hunting.

A 1:9 should stabilize the 140 grain Partition. It's borderline, but a custom Encore barrel I had with a 1:9 shot every 140 I tried into teeny, tiny groups -- and the longer the range, the more impressive the groups seemed to be.

Re-22 is THE powder for all of my Swedes with 120-140 grain bullets and provides the highest velocities and best accuracy.

The 130 Accubond will do just fine for you. But so would the 125 grain Partition. The Sierra 140 grain GameKing is one of the stouter standard bullets for the 6.5x55, and if you limit it to 2750 fps MV, it will penetrate quite well (though I'd keep it off the shoulder bone).

Cornfield, I'm working up a load with the 130gr Accubond in my CZ 550 (1 in 8.6" twist). So far 45.5gr of ADI AR2209 (equivalent to H4350) with Lapua brass and Fed 210 primers gives me just under 1" at 100 metres. Groups seem to open up beyond 45.5gr.

This may be a little hot for a M96 however....

I am expecting to use this on our red deer down here, which are a bit smaller than elk.

Hope this helps,
Bruce

a 140 grain Corelokt has proven to be a very accurate and deadly bullet in my 6.5's....

The 6.5 x 55 will easily take a cow elk any day.. or a spike easily...

4064, IMR 4350, RL 19, and RL 15 are good powders.... each can easily give you 2800 fps with a 140... some try to push it to 2900, but you are not gaining much with an extra 100 fps..

42.5 grains of 4064, 50 grains of IMR 4350, 50 grains of Rl 19, and 40 grains of RL 15 are the loads I use with those powders and that bullet weight...

This is with large rifle primers and the bullet seated out on long throated barrels...

on the corelokt, I seat the bullet to the lower cannelure...

a 140 in a 6.5 x 55, will rival a 150 in a 270 or a 160 in a 280 Rem or 7 Rem Mag any day in terminal performance...

50grs of R19 with a 140 gr bullet? 50 grains of imr4350 with a 140?

That is way over loaded. about 6 grains over max

You beter recheck what you wrote

Thanks to everyone who has replied. I picked up some RL-22 so with that and the 4064 and 4831 I've got a nice range of burn rates to play with. I'm also looking at some of the mechanical issues suggested to rule them out. I'll post results once I have some.

To GSP7 - thanks for pointing out the overloads - don't worry I am very cautious and don't intend to use anything over a published book load. I am much more concerned about a safe, accurate load than pushing the limits for a few extra fps. One of the 6.5x55's biggest positives is what it can do at a moderate velocity and moderate recoil.

If you do have stabilisation issues bullet length not weight is the cause.

Partition style bullets tend to be longer because of the increased copper content (less dense than lead) as do bullets with plastic tips, streamlined bullets, monolithics etc etc.

Find the shortest and bluntest hunting bullet in the lowest weight you are willing to use.

Thanks to everyone who replied. I finally got out to the range this weekend to check out some of the loads I had put together with RL-22 and IMR-4064. I also installed the barrel push up suggested by daveo. I think I can conclude that my rifle is VERY finnicky about what it likes and doesn't like. Across different loads for two bullets and two powders I got groups ranging from .528" to over 4.5". Each charge was hand weighed and the bullets were seated .015" from the lands using new Lapua brass and CCI Large Rifle primers. I'm pretty confident the larger groups were due to the rifle and not the shooter or inconsistent loads. The better loads were:

130 gr Accubond/45gr RL-22 - .528"
140gr Partition/35gr IMR 4064 - .664"

On a few of the loads on either side of the two loads above I had very significant vertical stringing. The groups were all about 4" from top to bottom, but only .163" to .450" from side to side. I thought I had let the barrel cool sufficiently between shots, but perhaps not? Does any one think the vertical stringing was due to the barrel heating up vice an issue with the individual load. The two loads above and the rest of the not so good groups were all triangle shaped groups, so I don't think I was an issue with me pulling the shots into a vertical string.

Anyway, thanks again for the suggestions. I've got a couple decent loads for this fall's hunt and to play with in more detail later. Unfortunately, I forgot to change the battery in my Chrony, so I didn't get any velocity data. I'll load up some more rounds in the two loads I settled on and get it when I do the final sight-in I guess. I'm pretty confident the elk and antelope won't care to much though.

With the stringing, I'd make sure all the screws were nice and tight....like particularly the ones holding in the trigger guard and the magazine floor plate...

You could try finding some of the 140 grain Hornady round nose bullets that were discontinued about 15 or 20 years ago. Mine are from a lot dated 1977 and are 1.18 long.

for reference the 140 Hornady spitzers are 1.26
and the 160 Hornady RNs are 1.24

Personally, I'd love to be able to find about a thousand of the old Hornady 140 and 129 grain Round Noses...

that would make a nice christmas present..

I prefer round noses, over the spitzer bullets...

If you want to try, I use VV N160 46grs, Federal primers 210 LRGM in Lapua cases and 139 grs Lapua Scenar bullets OAL 79mm. I use the same data with different 139/140grs bullets, except OAL.
In Norma cases you can put another grain of VVN 160powder (47grs total) without problems, in lapua brass, instead after 5 times, the primer falls without any help.

1 - 9 is pretty much a standard twist in 264 caliber.I have a 260 Rem.A 6.5X55 Sako and a Custom 6.5-06. They all have 1-9 twists.The 260 shoots sub one inch groups with 140`s,The 65.06 shoots 1/2 inch or less with 140`s and The Sako is lucky to get 3" groups.When I use 120`s in The Sako .it goes down to 1" groups.1-9should stabilize 160`s although I have never tried them. I think length of the Tube has something to do with it also.The longer the tube, the more velocity seems to stabilize better.At least that is my findings with heavier bullets.Tell you what ,you are shooting at a Elk.2-3" groups are probably just fine ,if you do your job and stalk close.

quote:

Originally posted by GSP7:
50grs of R19 with a 140 gr bullet? 50 grains of imr4350 with a 140?

That is way over loaded. about 6 grains over max

You beter recheck what you wrote

Current load manuals yes...as lawyers want to keep pressure down to 45000 CUP...

Data for old manuals, it is not overloaded...as that is where I picked it up from and also worked it up to, in my 3 different Swedes...

So if you want to go by lawyer approved load manuals, well then I stand corrected...

Ned, I ALWAYS choose 8 twist if I can, had a barrel maker, won't name any names, but they do very good work, mistakenly use 9 twist for a 6.5/308. Did fine up to 129's, tried 260 factory ammo/140 corelokt (saami spec sheets show near identical 260 vs 6.5/308) and 140 partition handloads, neither grouped at all, showed small signs of yaw.

Notice the 264 mag, that has a higher RPM via higher MV grouped tighter above w/140's.....could it be....I think so.

I do hear enough reports by 9 twist gun owners of 6.5mm say good accuracy, so the bullet used in say 140 grain may be the biggest determining factor as to if it will shoot well, or it's best.

What Sako was used in the post above? 75 finnlight?

Thanks for the info 6.5 BR. I have taken the 1:8 to the range and shot some 140 grn Speers and Hornady's and they did just fine. When I shot some 129 Hornaday's over H4350 I forgot all about the 140's as the groups for 46 46.5 and 47 grains were all sub .5. I loaded more at 46.5 and repeated the great results. Think I'll stick w/the load this year and play with the 140's this spring.

Question: Comments about twist seem to be related to bullet lenght. Is this overall lenght or does the amount of bearing surface come into play? The 140 Nosler Custom Competitons seconds I got from the Nosler have a much shorter bearing surface than the other 140's but are even longer than most. Was thinking of running them thru the 1:9 gun that does not like 140s to see how they did.

I would ask Bobby Tomek to reply to this ? re: bearing surface and length of bullet. I would think bearing surface, as it lengthens increases friction/pressure and hinders top velocity all things equal, but when fired through rifling, it does not affect giving proper twist, I would assume the bullet length, as well as center of gravity has more of an affect than bearing surface. Just my own reasoning but I may be wrong. Competition bullets have a more rearward center of gravity and I understand it helps accuracy, which is why often many target type bullets are HP, shifting weight to the rear, and perhaps adding to BC.

Again, I don't claim to be an expert so others need to chime in. As to the 129's, they are great all around game bullets based on my experience and others. Will expand, penetrate, and hold together well. OH, and they always shot very well, accuracy wise.

BTW, so the 129's are doing better in the 8"? Not surprised if so. Sounds like you are in good shape. I'll take sub .5 moa ANYDAY! Wish I could hold that well EVERYDAY! Congrats.

The overall bullets lenght, not the bearing surface, nor wgt, is what I have been led to believe is the deciding factor in the rate of twist needed to properly stabilize a bullet. Most use wgt as a way of estimating the lenght of a given caliber bullet, and that is where the claim a 6.5 cal 140gr bullet "needs" a 1-8 or whatever twist comes from. A give weight bullet in each caliber is usually within a short span of lenght reguardless of geometery which allows for some lee way in twist, especially if the twist is a tad on the quick side. There is a optimum twist for each lenght, although most bullets will do fine with a twist a little faster then recommended, they can yaw and show poor flight with slower then recommended twists. Shilen has a chart showing their idea of "optimum" twists for each caliber of barrel they make with most normal bullet weigth listed. It may not be exact in predicting the best twist for a given bullet but it is very close and would take a good bench rifle and shooter to start questioning if one is the right choice or not IMO.
http://www.shilen.com/calibersAndTwists.html

I wonder why my 6.5x55s have such wide lands.

M70 and swede mausers.

Are there any or other barrels with thinner lands?

Also, Check out the 160 hornadays they have less bearing surface against the lands than a 120

Thanks again to all who provided suggestions. My rifle season is wrapped up for the year. My freezer is happy. I was able to take a smallish 8pt whitetail and a very large cow elk with my 6.5. With the 130 ABs and RL22 the accuracy and bullet performace was exactly what I needed.