I have heard of african hunters using a 6.5 with 160gr solids to kill elephants with brain shots and in scandinavia they are used on moose.

My 6.5 X 55 shoots a 156gr at 2600fps and outpenetrates my 308 with 180gr bullets.

I would like to hear some big game hunting stories with this cartridge.

Thanks.

Mr. Bell used the 6.5 mannlicher for elephant but it should be understood that he was one of the best shots in Africa and knew elephant anatomy better than anyone. You might check the archives of www.african-hunter.com for a good article on the 6.5.

I don't have any exciting stories, just a large mule deer buck shot with 156gr. Norma Alaska. Shot was broadside through the ribs, nice neat little hole in and nice slightly larger hole going out with a big mess in between, shot was about 200 yards.

The 6.5x55 is one of my all-time favorite cartridges, and I have used it on everything from vermin & varmints through deer, exotics and dozens upon dozens of wild hogs. With a 140 grain bullet at 2650-2800 fps, it is as decisive a game-dropper as I have ever used, and that includes some of the powder-burning, flame-throwing magnums. That 140 grain bullet, with its high sectional density and modest velocity, has accounted for a long string of one-shot kills for me, and most drop right on the spot. Also, a premium bullet is not needed in this cartridge; the long, slender bullets mushroom nicely and still penetrate extremely well -- so well that exits are pretty much the norm on medium game at any sane angle.

You must mean, of course, the .256 Mannlicher.

It was the self-same caliber, chambered in a fine Mannlicher carbine, that ended the Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, according to Hemingway, anyway. On second thought . . .

Never, I repeat, never, teach a woman to shoot.

[ 12-09-2003, 11:43: Message edited by: mrlexma ]