Or am I dreaming. On several forums I see a lot of talk about the Swede. An CZ is importing some.
About 10 years age a friend let me shoot his and it was love at the first shot. He wouldn't sale it to me. So, now I'm in the first stages of building one.

Just talked to one of my hunting buddies by phone. He has bought a CZ in 6,5x55 two months ago and told me that yesterday he killed two pigs, one at 200 metres and the other one at 250 running away. None of them went more than 5 metres from where they where shot...

It's a "new" caliber in my country and is becoming very popular among big game hunters..

L

Well I'm new to rifle ownership, shooting and loading. I have read a great deal about how many folks like the Swede and when I came across a Steyr Prohunter in 6.5x55 I bought it. Just got around to loading for it this year, and I never had a chance to hunt with it, I sure enjoyed working at the range with it and I'm sure when I am able to hunt deer next season it will be the rifle I take. FS

"Swedish" loads for the 6,5x55 is mostly made in the US. It seems to getting more popular as it is also made by Federal in their Fusion line, but these weak "swedish" loads are not legal for big game in scandinavia.

In Europe most ammo-makers load the cartrigde to modern standards. The 6,5x55 SCAN is the standard caliber for competition shooters in the scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark).

Dear ColeK:

I had one in a Sako AV that I stupidly traded 10 years ago. Could not shoot a five shot group over an inch at 100 yards.

So, I'll be building another on a 1908 Brazilian Mauser.

I've done some research on the modern reloading figures, and compared to at least one example from years ago, they are quite anemic. It appears that it can give the 6.5-06 a run for its money.

I had a 6.5-06, too, but it seemed that I was burning a lot of powder to not really step things along much faster than the 6.5x55 SM.

It does seem that it is gaining more acceptance.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

ColeK, not sure! I think the 6.5x55 phenomena is similar to the 257R ie. they have a lot of vocal supporters. I can say that as I own both calibers!
Peter.

I've just ordered a Tikka T3 Varmint inox cal. 6.5x55.... I will get it within a week.

With all the low pressure ammo and load data out there because there may be some" questionable "old military rifles being used a lot of people wrote the 6.5 Swede off. In a strong modern rifle and loaded to similar pressures the 6.5 swede is only about 100 fps behind cartridged like the 6.5-284 and the 6.5/06. It does this with 7 or 8 grs less powder.The accuracy of this cartridge is one thing that has never been questioned.

How comfortable would you be uploading the cartrige in the smal ring military mauser??

Small ring Mausers are exactly the reason there is mostly lower pressure load data. Some will handle more pressure and some wont. Which is yours?.....

They are seeing that when loaded like it's big brother the 7x57, that it kills game in real life better than on paper.

quote:

Originally posted by snowman:
With all the low pressure ammo and load data out there because there may be some" questionable "old military rifles being used a lot of people wrote the 6.5 Swede off. In a strong modern rifle and loaded to similar pressures the 6.5 swede is only about 100 fps behind cartridged like the 6.5-284 and the 6.5/06. It does this with 7 or 8 grs less powder.The accuracy of this cartridge is one thing that has never been questioned.

Snowman, with your caveat of 'loaded to equal presssures' it may be so. but I can tell you that my 6.5x55 is WAY slower than my 6.5x284. I load to reasonable levels for my cartridges, something at or just below the average of several manuals that I have and their stated maximums, I will NOT load past a stated max in any of the manuals I have. So, using that as a 'baseline' I can tell you I load to the modern rifle specs for my 6.5x55, a SAKO 75 Stainless Syn, and it is consistently 300 fps or so slower than my 6.5x284. I don't have a 6.5/06, but at some point you just don't trump case capacity....

having said all that, I receieved this rifle as a gift, after me and a close friend had discussed how accurate they tended to be, and how they had such a great reputation for killing effectively. This rifle is VERY accurate, and I have killed a fair amount of whitetails and assorted critters, i.e. Coyote's and feral hogs, and it has killed them quite effectively.
One interesting issue my friend and I have seen often, is that the bullets consistently have left small entry and exit wounds, this with a large variety of bullets, including NBT's....We have theorized that the SD is so good on these bullets, that they just whistle right on through without a lot of expansion....don't know what is really happening with the bullts as neither of us have recovered one, but it has been the case on all but a few critters, probably about 30 between the two of us....We also have only had one DRT critter, and that was me with a Coyote at about 80-90 yard. I'd be curious if others have ever seen this--I know I have read that many people use this round on bigger creatures than would seem intuitive--e.g. I have read of many Europeans using it effectively on Moose, so it's lethality seems well proven...

I like my 6.5x55 OK, but I really tend to default to one of my .270's, they generate a LOT of DRT's!

Just curious, Why are lots of people worried about overloading the small ring mauser and want to push a little bullet real fast in a modern rifle action? The old Swede military pushed a ~140grainer about 2600fps. Norma can push the same bullet at 2850fps and Norma can also push a 156'er about 2500fps. Norma does their testing on 96 actions. A 264 Win Mag goes maybe 300fps(or less than 300fps) faster than a Norma loading. Maybe the conservative book loadings imbraces the design of the 6.5 single lugged Krags models. Although I usually load to around 2600fps, I've found that my 96's and brass seem to handle about 2900fps without problems. The 22" sporter goes about 150fps slower that the long barrels. YMMV best-o-luck

Norma only push a 140g to 2700f/s.
Its not enough for moose in sweden,you need 2750 for 140g bullets.
2560 for 156g:ers is the Norma moose loads.

I currently have 4 Swedish Military Mausers and think that they are easily the best of the small-ring pre-1898 style Mauser military rifles. The materials and workmanship are 1st- class and I have no safety concerns rebarreling them to 22-250 and 257 Roberts.

I currently have 1 Norwegan Military Krag and think that it is great in terms of materials and workmanship, but the 1-lug design keeps me from loading it to pressures higher than the U.S. factory loads. I know that Krag guys say that the Norwegian Krags in 6.5x55 are much stronger than the U.S. Krags in 30-40, but I have lots of other rifles to shoot, so I don't need to push the pressure ceiling with this rifle.

My 3 sporterized Swedish Mausers have, as a minimum, had Dayton-Traister cock-on-opening kits, Bold or Timney triggers with safeties, and commercial style bolt shrouds installed. I don't know if these $100+/- changes are necessary, but I think that the greatest potential of shooter injury comes from escaping gas, so the commercial bolt shroud with its larger gas shield are a must for Swedish Mausers that I'm going to reload for at any higher pressures.

Jeff

Was the original bullet 139gr or 156gr?

lal, The original mil round used a 156 grainer at ~2380fps.
Nordic2, My real old Norma ballistics chart shows a 139@28550fps and a 156@2650fps for the 2 then listed factory rounds.
A quick internet search today shows quite a few 139-140 and 156-160 grain Norma factory rounds available these days, along with a lot of reloading componets and data in those bullet weight ranges, along with quite a spread of velocities. I did still see a(~140) 139 grain factory round listed at about 2850fps.
Norma's top pressures are in the 50-51K CUP range(about 30'06 to 308 pressures) unlike the Swede military pressures which are in the 46K CUP range.
Todays loadings by just about all manufacturers for just about all cartridges are slower than what was listed a few decades back in the 60's. That was when I purchased my first my first Handloaders Digest 3rd ed. The listed max vel for the 6.5 Mauser (Swede) was 2946fps in that Digest.
Do work up carefully and safely.
Shudder, cringe, a number of people do like to start with top loads or a few grains under max. Slower might not be a bad thing. We should strive for our most accurate reload and not care how fast our bullet misses the target. best wishes all

quote:

One interesting issue my friend and I have seen often, is that the bullets consistently have left small entry and exit wounds, this with a large variety of bullets, including NBT's....We have theorized that the SD is so good on these bullets, that they just whistle right on through without a lot of expansion....don't know what is really happening with the bullts as neither of us have recovered one, but it has been the case on all but a few critters, probably about 30 between the two of us....We also have only had one DRT critter, and that was me with a Coyote at about 80-90 yard. I'd be curious if others have ever seen this--I know I have read that many people use this round on bigger creatures than would seem intuitive--e.g. I have read of many Europeans using it effectively on Moose, so it's lethality seems well proven...

I like my 6.5x55 OK, but I really tend to default to one of my .270's, they generate a LOT of DRT's!

Heres a few Norma 156gr Oryx recovered from Sika and Fallow deer.They show pretty good expansion I think,never weighed them though.
NBT,s just seem to burst,doing a lot of internal damage but seperating core and Jacket

quote:

We should strive for our most accurate reload and not care how fast our bullet misses the target.

Lonnie, I agree 100% with that statement, assuming that we referring to the appropriate hunting bullet rather than a SMK or something similar!
Peter.

My custom 6.5x55 never failed me in 25 years of whitetail hunting .But do I recommend it ? The new factory loads in the USA are wimped out.The American made ammo is based on the .473" head rather than the larger original.So handloaded with European cases I would recommend. The second problem is all the other 6.5s. One of the magazines recently had an article on these, the 6.5-284, 260 Rem and a couple of others which compete with the 6.5x55 .If I wanted more than the 6.5x55 I'd get a 6.5-284 .
But the original does the job with little recoil, little muzzle blast and great accuracy so I'll keep it !

quote:

Norma only push a 140g to 2700f/s.
Its not enough for moose in sweden,you need 2750 for 140g bullets.
2560 for 156g:ers is the Norma moose loads.

IMO the 156 grain 6.5x55 Norma is an awesome round. I've never seen anything penetrate quite like it!

Well the "Sveedish", and the "Norvegens" have been doing excellent work with it for many years, not only for hunting, just ask the Russians....


Also I shot a Palma match one time [fired at 800, 900, and 10000 yards, iron sights] next to a fella that shot a Mauser 96 target rifle...

He wore us out....

The 6.5x55 is a Great Hunting cartridge....

But, It, will not do anything that a 7x57, a 308 WCF or a 30/06 will not do...

However, in this group, lies some of the best general purpose hunting calibres on the planet....

quote:

Originally posted by SIKA98K:
Heres a few Norma 156gr Oryx recovered from Sika and Fallow deer.They show pretty good expansion I think,never weighed them though.
NBT,s just seem to burst,doing a lot of internal damage but seperating core and Jacket

Sika, that is good intel, Axis can be pretty big, so I can see recovering one from an Axis, good to see. The two bullets we have mainly shot are the TSX and the NBT. The coyotes always with the NBT....I have seen this small exit thing with other bullets and calibers too, but just not before with the NBT....glad to see your pics--Thnx!

quote:

The 6.5x55 is a Great Hunting cartridge....

But, It, will not do anything that a 7x57, a 308 WCF or a 30/06 will not do...

However, in this group, lies some of the best general purpose hunting calibres on the planet....

Dear NE 450 No 2:

Funny you should say that I'm building a 6.5x55, a 7x57 AI and a 30-06 AI. Guess I'll have to look at the 308 Winchester, too.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

quote:

Originally posted by ColeK:
Or am I dreaming. On several forums I see a lot of talk about the Swede. An CZ is importing some.
About 10 years age a friend let me shoot his and it was love at the first shot. He wouldn't sale it to me. So, now I'm in the first stages of building one.

Don't own one, but it seems as though I'm reading more and more posting about the Swede on different forums.

Just bought a Tikka T3 Lite SS/SYN. put a Leupold VX3 2.5-8 on it - ogoing to be my old man walking rifle. So far seems like a really nice rifle. Look forward to shooting it
Haven't gotten any loads worked up yet but an looking at the 140 Partitions, Accubonds, 130 Accubonds, 125 Partition and the 129 TTSX.

quote:

Well the "Sveedish", and the "Norvegens" have been doing excellent work with it for many years, not only for hunting, just ask the Russians....

The Swede's didn't fight anyone in the 20th century, and neither did the Norwegians other than a little resistance when they were invaded by the Nazi's in WW2.

Perhaps you mean the Finn's?