I have a nice old London-sporterized Steyr action dated 1902, and was thinking of resurrecting it as it originally was: a British-style .256 Mannlicher sporter. Anyone loading for this one? I briefly had a Dutch Mannlicher military rifle in this chambering, and managed to squeeze and hack a few usable cases out of .303 Brit brass with a 6.5X54 M-S die set, but it wasn't the prettiest stuff. What are you using for cases, and which dies are you using?

I think both Kynamco and Westley Richards still load for the 6.5x54 MS. Therefore new brass will be availiable.

I often see this old classics come up at auction. They sell for as little as �150.

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Regards

Richard

Old Western Scrounger has the ammo. Load data and case forming info here:http://w3.one.net/~melchar/65dutch/

andhere:http://www.huntingnut.com/cgi-bin/reloads/loads pl?mode=LoadList&dbase=DBASE49X

I load for a Dutch long rifle (occasionally). I use RCBS dies and form cases from commercial .303 British cases. That is, VERY carefully form them down, trim, discard those with wrinkles, then slightly reduce the rims to spec. so they'll feed properly from the original clips.
There's plenty of book-data for jacketed bullets.
Lovely cartridge, but an aggravation to make the hulls....
Oh yes: the original Dutch hulls are Berdan, but the primer is an oddball diameter (I recall something like .199"???) and so I just leave them alone. I don't much like using overage cases anyway: too much risk of ruptures.

RWS and Hirtenberg and maybe Norma load occasionally this round. Don�t believe all those telling You about Berdan ...

Most likely the brass will be Boxer primed.

Buy some ammo, perhaps save the empties, but use such a slick gun for hunting! With factory ammo it should outlast You ...

( Yes I know: its simply unamerican not to reload, and I will not post at the reloading forum for some time - 5 min o.k.? )

Good shooting! Hermann

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Paladin: Do you use regular 6.5X53R dies, or the much less expensive 6.5X54 M-S dies?

I use RCBS 6.5x53Rmm dies, plus the same in their file/trim die. Of course, I use the shellholder for .303.

Frankly, I think the file/trim die is necessary to use as the first "form" die, followed then by full-length sizing. As I recall, I had to use this die to trim off quite a bit.

I suggest you consider getting the file/trim die in 6.5x53Rmm and if you have the 6.5x54mm die set already, see if it will serve your purpose. The two cartridges are not the same, but they are close enough --usually. If not, break out the plastic and grab the telephone....

The 6.5mm Dutch is an interesting cartridge. In its day, it astonished English hunters with its killing-power, and sporters such as you have were very popular. However, I think to duplicate their ammo it may be necessary to turn to the Hornady 160gr. Roundnose.

Reflecting on the other posts mentioning European hulls, I wonder whether formed U.S. .303s, being a bit thicker, might align the bullets a bit better than the European cases in the generous chambers common back then??? Be an interesting experiment to try....

Paladin