I am planning an elk hunt to Wyoming for next fall. I have choosed (in stone i might add) to carry my 6.5X55 custome rifle built on an intermediate sized (1903 Turk) 98 Mauser actin. The barrel is a Swedish military barrel cut to 22" and controured to sporter configuration. I am starting to look for a good load for this rifle that will perform well on Elk. I am thinking I need a premimum bullet in the 140 grain weight range pushed at leats 2700 fps. What do you think about the Barnes X or XLC for this rifle and what loading would you suggest.

By the way, I am new to this board but I have been reloading for about 30 years and still love doing it. I am still searching for the perfect one hole 5 shot group.

I have been shooting elk with 140 Gr. X's since they became available. They did real well at all ranges in a .264 launched at about 3200. All of them exited and may still be going for all I know.
I have been loading up some 120 x bullets for my .260 and wil be trying them on a spike at the end of the month.

I have never tried 140 grain X-bullets in my 6,5 x 55, but I do not think it is a good idea. The general opinion in scandinavia is that this bullet is way to long for dependable accuracy unless you have a .264 Win. or similar caliber that can take the bullet up to around 3000 fps muzzle velocity.

I have tried 120 and 130 grain x in my gun, but I never made them shoot well so I gave up on them. I sugest you try a lighter weight x-bullet, or, better yet, try Norma Oryx or Swift A-frame. 50 grains of MRP-2 behind the oryx should give reasonable velocity and good accuracy, it does in my rifle. Very effective on game, many scandinavians use it for Moose, I have used it on raindeer with success. Or try the 140 grain swift with MRP or reloader 22, should be excellent. My favourite hunting bullet in this caliber still is 140 Nosler PT, even though I don�t like PT�s much in other (faster) calibers.

Just my opinion.