Just bought a Mod 22 full stocked carbine today. I've no experience with this caliber. Who makes ammo. Recipes for loading? Experience with BRNOs?

welcome to a small fraternity that shoot a 6.5 x 57.

As far as ammo, i sure hope you handload.

I shoot one, in a Winchester Model 70, that i had rebarreled.
It actually is my favorite caliber.

You can use 7 x 57 brass, and neck down.
Or use 6mm Remington, or 257 Roberts brass and neck up.

For loading info, anything listed for a 260 Remington or a 6.5 x 55 Mauser will work just fine. You can get a few more grains in there, but that info for those two calibers is more than close enough.

also know that there is a slight difference in a 6.5 x 57 and the old 6.5 x 257 Roberts that use to be popular for making ammo in the old Arisakas after WW2.

BRNO makes a great action.

Seafire since you are such a 6.5mm fan, how do the 6.5mm oldies compare (6.5x57 and 6.5x55) ?

Is there any notable difference in velocity or ballistics ?

Is the 57mm cartridge more capable to handle heavier bullets than the 55mm one ?

Regards

Georg:

To answer your questions, no there is not really any noticable difference for a handloader. The gains are really not much in the way of velocity and definitely not in the way of trajectory.

I am a fan based on the efficiency of the bore size and its bullets. For heavier bullets a 6.5 x 55 or x 57 can have a little more to offer than a 260 for instance. However, I think this has more to do with magazine length than anything else, ( seating depth).

I am sure a 260 Rem would be very close if it was chambered in a long action, instead of a short action.

The brand of brass also has some influence. In the 6.5 x 57, I use Winchester brass ( either 6mm Rem or 257 Roberts).
It has thinner walls and therefore, can take a little more powder than compared to the Remington brass.

I can not attest to any experience utilizing the Norma or Lapua brands of brass in these issues.

Hope that answered your questions more than just confuse you.

Regards,
Seafire

How is the wood on that rifle? If you ever get bored of it, let me know. I, too, am a diehard 6.5mm fan, and the 6.5x57 is my favorite of the lot.

As seasfire has noted, there is a small but important difference between the 6.5x57 and the 6.5x257 roberts. The former has a shallower shoulder that is located a bit more forward that the roberts version. In fact, true 6.5x57 ammo will not chamber in a 6.5x257 chamber (assuming headspacing is good) because the 6.5x57 will be too long in the shoulder.

Anyway, you can use 6.5x55 data; they have nearly identical internal capacities. I make my brass out of 7x57 norma brass. I have found this easier than necking up from 257 because the 7x57 case leaves a bit of extra shoulder to headspace on during the fire-forming process.

If you want official data, which I recommned, the current editions of both the Hornady and Sierra reloading manuals have data on the 6.5x57.

The 6.5x57 make a bit better use of a long action that does the 6.5x55, and you will likely find that your rifle has an extremely long throat, as is to be expected given the CIP specs for the 6.5x57. Since this will likely be true, you may have accuracy problems with bullets lighter than 129 gr.

My current 6.5x57 is built on 700 LA with a 22.5" douglas XX featherweight barrel with a 1-8 twist. I've got it stocked in a beautiful piece of claro and topped with a 2-7x Nikon Monarch. The rifle is an honest 5-shot MOA shooter with the Hornady 129 and Re19. I can get 120s to 3000 fps, 129-130 to 2900 fps, and 140s to 2800 fps without too much trouble.

As for factory ammo, you're pretty much out of luck for all practical pruposes. RWS makes some, but it is extremely pricely. Sellier and Bellot makes some, but it is complete crap (don't even get me started). There is one more makes that escapes me just now... just roll your own, you will be happier that way anyway.

Anyway, good luck.

9.3

Here's one beautiful 6.5x57 Brno made in 1948 (round top, not double square bridge):

http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976426024.htm

That very gun is my new gun. Thank you gents.

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Wonderful cartridge. Second only to the 5.56 X 57 which is even scarcer. No offense but "dork" isn't the best user name for name for this crowd.

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Alf,

Lovely looking rifle - care to give some details?

ALF

Would you please tell us about this fantastic rifle.


Don't be shy

/ JOHAN

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"The barrel length is the short version 20 1/2" whilst the long version is a 23 1/2" barrel ( this is a perculiarity of Brno's and Cz's they had odd barrel lengths..... the ZKK 602 has a 25 1/2 " barrel)"

Alf, speaking in metric terms makes those barrel lenghts nothing out of the ordinary. What makes them look odd however is the translation into inches.

20.5" = 52cm, nothing special there.
23.5" = 60cm, again nothing special there.
25.5" = 65cm, still nothing out of the ordinary.

you will find these barrel lenghts throughout the european fauna of rifles.

Regards

Regarding the "long throat problem": My 6.5x57 shoots anything from 85 to 140 grains with good accuracy. My target and varmint load is actually made with a 85 grains Sierra HP and I get better accuracy with it than with a 140 grains match bullet!

I was at a gun show today and bought some 7x57 brass to neck down. A gent I was talking to told me not to neck down 7x57 brass to 6.5x57 as it thickened the case neck, creating pressure problems. Is this B.S. or is there a problem? I am new to reloading. Thanks.

I tend to agree with 9.3 x 62 on this.

Light bullets will not shoot well in long throated 6.5s. However, I have had good luck with 100 grain Ballistic tips and the Speer 90 grain TNT.

The 85 grain Sierras and the 95 grain Hornady VMax have not done well in any of my guns.

As far as brass, in my 6,5 x 57, I have used Winchester 257 Roberts brass, 6mm Remington brass (winchester manuf), 7 x 57 brass and even some old 8 x 57 brass.

It has not proven to be a finicky cartridge at all. In fact if I had to give up all calibers except one for most of my hunting the 6.5 x 57 would be the last one to go.

Personally I think it is the best balanced cartridge for hunting of all of them out there. I love the Swede, the 6mm Remington, the 7 x 57. But most of all the 6.5 x 57. It is just a very under appreciated underdog that really is a good performer.

Cheers,
Seafire

These old Brnos are just superb rifles, I have a pair of 21-H 7x57s, a 22-H roundbolt in 7x57-rechambered to .280 Rem and two ZG-47s, a .30-06 with 60cm bbl. and a short barreled ZG-47 soon to be a 9.3x62. I have found them to be phenomenally accurate with warmish Nosler Partition hunting loads and the workmanship on the smallrings is better than my Dakota 76 and only equalled by my Mannlicher-Schoenauer,IMO.

There are still quite a few of them here in Canada, but, those of us who appreciate REAL rifles always keep an eye open for them. It is fairly common to find them with butchered bolt handles, in which case I don't feel guilty about building a custom rifle on the action; this is vastly superior to some mass produced "mountain rifle" or plastic-stainless contraption.

Yup, it's BS. A drastic reduction can cause pressure problems, but a half millimeter neck reduction is way too small to cause significant neck thickening.

I've been shooting a 6.5 Roberts for maybe 20 years and form cases from either .257 or 7 mm with happy abandon. That's so close to your 6.5x57 that I'm told the cartridges will interchange in most rifles.

Gentlemen, I thank you. You have been most generous with your responses and time.

Warm regards,
pete