I don't know anything about the round just from what I googled. A friend of mine was talking about selling one. For 220 bucks. Is that a good price assuming it is clean. Would it make a good mule deer round? What's your thoughts?

a great cartridge... be sure to use the original 160 gr load..if it is a mannlicher rifle it will feed the smoothest... velocity is about like a 170 .30-30.. but great penetration....again, it's reputation was gained with the 160 grain load...

Yes bud, I have 5 of them & same amount of the 6.5X53R which is the same but rimmed !

I normally shoot the 160gr Hornady slugs with some 156gr from Sako or RWS .

It will kill the shit out of most things & Mule Deer no trouble but from what I know Mules like being out in the open country so long shots could be called for & the 6.5X54 with 160gr is not great for that, more so as it is harder to mount a scope on a Mannlicher if that is the rifle your 6.5X54 is in, which I doubt at that price which would be a steal if so ?

Could be a Carcano rechambered to the Mannlicher round but that will not help ?

Sounds like it's the melodies but I'll ask more about it.

I agree with Sarg that it is possibly a Carcano. I can't imagine anyone selling a 1903 M/S for $220.00. But if so you will really score. I also shoot the 160 G. Hornady R.N. That was the weight it was regulated for. A few years ago there was the rumor that Hornady was discontinuing this bullet + I bought up every box I could find. But it apparently is still on the market. But hard to find like everything else in the reloading world right now.

A 1903 Mannlicher Carbine in 6.5x54MS was (still own it) my first 'real' hunting rifle, up till I got that I made do with a sporterised No4 Mk1 303. As mentioned velocities are not up to what some might consider is required for a modern caliber, I found it very effective on medium African game using mostly 140gr bullets. As a caliber it has a very good reputation of old, is definitely not run of the mill and in the MS carbine is a very handy rifle in the bushveld.

Well it might be worth getting then. I havnt looked at the rifle yet. I'll let you guys know.

If it is a 1903 M/S you NEED to buy it at that price!

Do a search on W.D.M. Bell probably the greatest ivory hunter of all time. He moved up from a 6.5 MS to a 7 mm only because he had trouble with the ammunition. Classic round in a classic and classy firearm. Yes it will do for Mule Deer.

The little mannlicher in 6.5x54 is a wonderful stalking rifle and work really well as a package. Light to carry, accurate and kills way beyond what it should. Used to be widely used in Scotland, but falls below min velocity threshold of 2450 fps with its 160 gn load. So many of them we passed on. With a 140 gn load at 2500 -2600 fps its a very capable and will do anything that the 6.5 cm will do.

But they never put the bolt handle on the correct side.

As for scope they have either a swing mount or rail slightly offset. Plenty of options but needs gunsmith installing.

At one time Redfield made a mount for the Mannlicher. They have split bridge so a standard mount will not work. There is a fellow that made reproductions of the Redfield system I have one on a MCA Mannlicher, works very well. I don't have information on contacting him. My 1903 has a side mount as well as Lyman aperture sight. I view the 6.5X54 as 100-150 yard round so an aperture sight is suitable.

Here you go.
http://www.wattswalnut.com/ms_scope_bases.php

This the system I have on my MCA Model Mannlicher ?Schoenauer. Works well.

If its a 1903 in anywhere near decent condition I give you $600 for it!!

Ross Seyfried has written about this round "recently," and of course John Taylor "not so recently." The Brits called it the .256 Mannlicher.

Yes indeed + 'Papa' Hemingway has written about it a bit as well. 'Islands In The Stream' + 'The short happy life of Francis Macomber'. Ray, please let us not get in a bidding war. , Really I don't need another. Kennedy, if +/or when you buy it, please post pics as we would all like to see. What a potential treasure! P.S. , don't let scarcity of ammo scare you off. If you need, I can help you out.

Bill, when have you seen any recent Ross Seyfried articles? I really miss his writing. 1st became aware of him in Guns + Ammo in the early 70s + then He was the only reason that I continued my subscription to Handloader. When he was gone, so was my subscription. If they took him back I would resubscribe. I heard the rumor that his "being fired" was due to friction between him + John Barsness. Rumor, as I say.

If anyone has 6.5x54 PRVI Partizan 146 RN, Ammo to spare, I really need a couple of boxes.

Norman conquest. If it is a carcan I probably won't get it. If I do get it I'll need to send pictures to someone so they can post them, I don't got the brains to do that.
Ray I'll let you know what it is ok.

Neither do I but Biebs has helped others to post pics.

I have a 1903 6.5x54 MS and have used it for many years to whack pigs on animal control hunts. I had trouble getting ammo and/or brass but had an abundance of once fired Norma 6.5x52 Carcano brass. It was easy reforming although the necks were a hair short.

Geoff

For that money an orig M/S in just about any condition would be worth it for parts salvage value if nothing else.

It may be a rechambered Carcano.

It may also be one of the Canadian imports for the retailer T(?). Eaton & Co in-betw WWW1 and WW2.

Cooey imported the Carcano's after they had been sporterized and rebbled in Austria (as far as I know) to to 6.5x54MS.
Why re-bbl them?
The orig Carcano was is a gain twist bbl.
Plus 6.5 Italian ammo was near non existent in Canada inbetw the Wars.

So the Carcanos were sporterized,,stocks cut down, commercial style bolt handle added, DST added,,and a new 8 groove bbl chambered for 6.5 M/S.
The rebbling was done by cutting the orig bbl off at around 2" in length. Opening it up in dia and threading it's interior.
Then the new bbl was threaded to screw into that stub.
A mono-bloc type of conversion.
A small set screw is added to the underside of the assembly under the wood.

Sporter open sights added.
Eaton & Co sold a lot of them. They show up occasionaly in the US as would be expected.

Some feel the bbl assembly method is suspect and that the set screw is the only retaining point. But the two are in fact threaded together.

The DSTrigger group is an Austrian made set and appears every bit as good as often encountered on the betw the War sporters from Europe of the day.

I had one of these 40 years ago I bought off the rack at a large gun shop and it had all of the above plus a Lyman bolt peep sight installed.
All for $40.
I was called foolish for buying it. I thought it was a neat rifle and had a lot of fun with it.
Sold it for something later on I wanted much more that I can't remember what it was.


Hope your M/S turns out to be a prize..

Here is a Fallow Buck I shot this year with my Gibbs in 6.5X54.

A nice Gibbs in 6.5x53R.
Roger

Ok then one taken with my other Gibbs 6.5X53R, same load as my 6.5X54 as darn near same cartridge but rimmed .

2152hq, I had that same Lyman bolt peep sight on my last M/S. It was a real neat arrangement.
roger, that's just beautiful.
Sarg, is that a tang peep I see?

Yes the 1893 has a Tang Peep sight.

I have a scoped 1903 to which is a bit easier to shoot with but not as fulfilling to use .

NormanConquest:

Ross is alive and well, and writing for the Double Gun Journal.

Dave Manson

Thanks, Dave. I'll have to check it out.

I consider Ross a good personal friend, and brilliant as to guns etc..Also a hunter of the first degree..

The 6.5x54 is a grand caliber but its not magic, its nearest kin is the 30-30 and perhaps the 25-35 as well, but again the 30-30, and 25-35 like the 6.5x54 brings us to the fact that both will kill exceedingly well with a well constructed bullet and proper placement..Id hunt anything with either with a proper bullet..Penetration at those lower velocities is awesome..High velocity is the enemy of penetration as a rule, and the MS is such a beautiful wonderfully designed rifle for the most part..

Ray, I love mine!

I just bought one (paid way more than $220, lol). I too am interested in all the reloading info. Also, I haven’t decide whether or not to try and mount a scope. I don’t want to, but my eyes are practically worthless for using iron even though it has a spectacular Lyman swing rear aperture sight.

quote:

Originally posted by RogersGunWorks:

A nice Gibbs in 6.5x53R.
Roger

WOW!!!

redlander, There are some interesting mounting systems out there but the best ones I have seen on mine + other rifles were done in Germany/ Austria, et al. by real old world craftsmen. I would think that your best bet here these days would be from NECG. They are not cheap but they do do good work.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:

quote:

Originally posted by RogersGunWorks:

A nice Gibbs in 6.5x53R.
Roger

WOW!!!

Thank you, Michael. The rifle is also an excellent shooter and loves Lapua 155-grain Mega bullets and Norma MRP powder in formed .303 British cases. Used it to take a nice deer.

Roger

Roger, that Farquarson is just stunning! The proportions including the scope are perfect. In one of my favorite chamberings also, I have two '92 Steyr bolts in this caliber. I have never had a 6.5 x54 and was wondering which Mauser action would be a good choice for making a slim little rifle, maybe a 96?

Lee

Lee,
Thanks for the compliments. The rifle is intentionally styled after a Gibbs sporting rifle.

Concerning the 6.5x54,it's a great cartridge but not suitable for most Mausers. The nominal rim diameters for the 6.5x54 and the 6.5x55 are .450 and .480, respectively. This means the smaller 6.5x54 rim wold not be well supported by a Swede M96 that's set up for a .480 rim. Of course, a bushing could be soldered onto the bolt face and bored to size, but then there's the extractor. The Swede extractor would be too big. I've never tried to make an extractor claw bigger.

You're right the 6.5x54 demands a trim rifle. In this regard, it would be hard to beat a Mannlicher-Schoenauer M1903. They're not inexpensive but were made specifically for the 6.5x54 & require no modifications.

And, it's also easy to make a 6.5x55 duplicate the ballistics of the 6.5x54. In rifle length barrels there's only about 100 fps difference & a mild 6.5x55 load would approximate the smaller cartridge.

Roger

Ive been looking for a nice 1903, but the top has blown out on them, Id pay $1200 for a decent one and have had to pass on $2000 to $2500 on such..I recall the day when a 1903MS and the Brno mod 21 and 22s fetched $400. for a mint one!

Ray, reminiscing at past values always is disheartening. I bought my current 1903 M/S from a member here, a few years ago w/ the old German claw mounts + a Leupold scope for $1500.00. When he told me the price, I didn't even blink, just told him I'd take it. I've since replaced the Leupold with a Kahles as it seemed to be a more classic touch. Those are sweet little rifles.

Redlander---your sling could use some saddle soap.