I'm looking at working up match loads with the 140 gr. Berger VLD, and Lapua brass for 2 CG M96's. My local range has an upcoming Axis & Allies match at 200 yds. Has anyone used this bullet/brass combination? I would appreciate any experiences, and advice about the Berger bullets in the M96. Both rifles have the basic sight set up, with no diopter or dial adjustable rear sights.
Thanks,

Byron

I can't help you directly with the Berger question as I have my first batch on order for a modern rifle in 6.5x55. However, I do load for military rifle matches, and have switched from Sierra 140 Matchking (not 142!) to the Hornady Amax in my M41b. Reason was I can get the Hornady's closer to the rifling, while still having enough bullet in the case, than either the 140's or even worse the 142SMK. You may want to look at that as a possibility, as I have read that the Bergers work best when seated into the lands, and I don't know if it's possible with the long throats these Swedes have.

All that said, I get nice results from military Swedes with 46gr of RL22 behind most 140gr pills.

Eric

I load for the 6.5 x 55, and the 6.5 x 57 in multiple rifles....

Contrary to the popular 4350, 4831 or RL 19 or 22 crowds....

I load 40 grains of the medium burn rate powders....IMR 4895, 4064, Rl15, W 748, BlC2 for examples.... ALL give me superb accuracy with 140 grain bullets or ANY manufacture....

That AXIS AND ALLIES shooter match sounds kinda interesting! and to think it is being held up there in Portland! no less....

I'd like to drive up and observe that one, if you guys allow folks in town from Southern Oregon......

Down here the only reason Portlanders and folks from Salem and Eugene, are not less popular is because we get even more Californians thru town trying to convert us out of what they think is the stone age......

But then I've learned, most of those that hate Californians so much are former Californians... each one seems to move here, and then think ANYONE from California that moved here after they did, are all jerks...

I was born and raised in Oregon City, but lived for several years in the State of Jefferson, working for the Oregon Military Dept.
Have you used Varget in the 6.5x55? I'm going to be disappointed if the Berger VLD's don't work out in the M96's, considering how hard they were to find. I can go down to Sportsman's Warehouse, and pick up the Sierra Match Kings in all the common 6.5mm weights. I thought the Berger's had the potential to shave a little off my groups. We'll see when I actually start loading.
Thanks,
Byron

I have used Varget as an experiment, but it didn't work well for me, as I had bad technique and a poor scale so I wasn't consistent. Sierra lists 35.8gr of Varget behind their 140gr bullets as their accuracy load. I'll be quite interested in your results with the Berger in the military Swede. I'm going to check out some myself when my Bergers get here as well, now I'm really curious.

If you contact Berger with the details of you rifle and what you are shooting they will give you the load data you are looking for.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. I'll post whatever they send me if it's useful.

Byron

I received the recommended load data from Walt Berger. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to post on the board, but I will forward the e-mail to anyone interested. Just go to my profile, and send me an e-mail to the address listed. I got a very fast response from Walt. Unfortunately, Varget was not among the powders he recommended for the 6.5x55. Time to expand my horizon's powder wise.

Byron

FWIW Byron, I shoot a .260ai, close to the 6.5x55 in capacity. It favors slower, compressed loads under various 139-142gr match bullets for best accuracy & very good vel. Seafire shoots more 6.5s than I do, but that's my exp. w/ one rifle/cart. H4350, 7828ssc & H4831sc all give exc. results. I am getting 2800fps+ from my 27"bbl. w/ accuracy in the low 0.4", on good days a bit less.

My favorite .30-06 load is 56.5 gr. of IMR-4831 behind a Nosler 165 gr. Partition, so I have that on hand. I haven't tried the Hodgdon's H4381, which I realize is not interchangeable, but my older manuals have data for the IMR in 6.5x55.
When using the correct data for each powder, do the H series powders have any advantages over the IMR series powders? All are now made by Hodgdon's, so I was wondering if it's like the difference between a Chevy and an Olds. I load using a single stage press, and an RCBS 5-0-5 scale with LEE dippers and a powder trickler, so the metering through a powder measure isn't as important to me as it might be to others.

Byron

H4831sc is a bit slower & compresses more readily. I've had good accuracy w/ IMR4831 but vel. is almost 75fps less. Accuracy being the same, I'll take the extra 75fps. Using IMR7828ssc, I am getting 2850fps & sub 1/2moa so I'm happy.

What type of rifle are you using, and do you know the twist rate? I'm hoping to work up a safe load for the Swede's that has better accuracy than I'm capable of with the open sights. I shot my first 200 yd. Garand Match in July, and shot 339-2X, and got me interested in competing. With the CMP running out of useable Garands at a price I can afford, I opened the safe to see what I had already that I could use in some form of match shooting. The M96, Swiss K31, Swiss G1911, and the Finnish M39 M-N, were all handy, have really good bores, and really bad sights. The Swede's look like a good place to start, so here I am, looking to take advantage of this forum, and other peoples experiences. I have spent some time searching through the past posts on the 6.5x55, but so far haven't found anything specific to the Berger bullet loads.

Byron

My .260 is a M700 w/ 1-8 PacNor bbl. It's accurate w/ 85gr Sierras to 142grSMK.