I´m thinkning about taking my 6,5X55 to a south africa hunt.
Has any one here used the 6,5X55 for african game?
I´m planing to take Impala, warthog, spingbuck and maybe a greater kudu.

My son took his to Zim last year and it performed beautifully. He took 2 impala, 2 wildebeasts, a duiker, a zebra, and a reedbuck. All animals either dropped to the shot or died within 100 feet except the zebra which required a finisher, although the animal was already on the ground. Used 140 gr. A-Frames at 2750 fps.

Geronimo

sounds great!
I just love my 6,5 it shoots like a dream with minimal recoil and hit where I aim it.

I also have a 308 win but I rather take the 6,5X55.

now I use a 120gr Nosler ballistic tip for roe deer hunting and a 155gr Lapua Mega for moose. I think I should test the a-frame and see how it shoots i my rifle.

or maybe the 140gr nosler partition.

My sons shot an impala each this spring with my 6.5x55. Bullet performance wasn´t that great though (yes the animals died), they were shooting the Lapua Mega 146gr. Most people would choose a larger caliber for kudu and wildebeest but I feel that the 6.5 is adequate with the right bullet.

A long, slow 6.5 bullet will kill with certainty, but not with great speed. Having grown up with high-velocity rifles that typically drop game more quickly, I'm not as comfortable with slow-but-deep school of trauma, but you Swedes have proven its abilities time and again with your moose hunting. Certainly if a 6.5 is adequate for moose, it's adequate for the plains game you list. After all, of the species you list only Kudu is heavier than about 150 lbs.

What is most important is that you shoot a rifle that you shoot well. A kudu shot with a 6.5 in the heart is preferable to one shot with a .300 WBY in the groin.

By the way, the 120 Nosler BT is fine for the Springbok, Impala, and warthog, and the 155 Lapua is fine for the Kudu. But I recommend against shooting two different loads in a single rifle on a trip. It's difficult to get them to shoot to the same zero, and even if they do, you're bound to have one in the gun when the other is called for. The 140 Nosler is a great bullet with a rapidly expanding front section and a deeply penetrating rear section. If it shoots well in your gun it would be a good all-around bullet.

I would not worry about penetration if you use a well constructed bullet of at least 140 gr. One of the wildebeasts (400+ lbs.) was hit frontally in the left shoulder and the bullet was recovered, fully mushroomed, in the right hip about four inches from the hide. The animal dropped like he had been electrocuted. That bullet had passed through about 3 1/2 feet of animal. I would just find one of the "premium" bullets (Swift,Barnes,Trophy Bonded,Nosler,Woodleigh,North Fork,etc.)which shoots good in your gun, and go for it!

Geronimo

This is one of the times when the X bullets would be my choice. I've never hunted plains game but having a chance at game from 100-1000lbs one X would cover all.

Put 140 grain A-Frames in it , thats the best bullet ever designed for 6,5, according to a friend of me who dispacthed several norwegian mooses with it.

the barnes Xs can give high pressures due to construction and be leaving to much copper in the barrel. Plus the hole in the nose can give varying expansion due to that ,

The 6.5 X 55 works well on plains game. I haven't used it but a friend did and had a ball with it.

Use the 140 premium bullets and even the Kudu will come unglued.

Three of the guys on my last safari used 6.5x55mm as their light rifle and they did perfectly well taking Impala, Blesbok, Warthog, Steenbok, and Ostrich. I know there will be at least two 6.5x55s on our next safari in 2007.

I am using this caliber as a replacement for my old 1903 6.5X54MS. I had a rifled with a 1:7.5 inch twist made to use the heavy 155-160 and the non-lead 140s. The barrel is 25 inches and in a heaver profile 5130 Lothar Walther.

I plan on using it on everything non-dangerous. I will let everyone know how it works. Its first quarry will be black bear, wild boar, and black-tailed deer however all in California. Still need a good stock maker!

If you all use it soon in Africa, please post your results.

Well i don´t think í will be able to go to africa in a year or two but as soon as do I will let you know.

After talking to some friends of mine the recommended me to go to namibia instead of south africa, what do you guys think of that?

Namibia vs. South Africa

You'll se a lot more game in SA, and be able to collect more animals on your trip. You can find places to hunt in SA that are quite open and have a wild feel to them

Namibia- like SA quite a diverse country and hard to sum up easily but I think you will find it much more open, less expensive (in general) to hunt, but with a correspondingly lower density of game and depending on where you hunt a significantly reduced variety of game on a particular farm.

These are very general comparisons, and it all depends on where you hunt in each country and with whom.

Although I have only used a 9.3x62 on plains game, I would have no issue in using my 6.5x57 with 140grn SWIFT A FRAMES on game up to Water Buck and Zebra.
ozhunter

I have e-mailed a PH in namibia and he told me that although the 6,5X55 workes, he would go with a .30 cal to be on the safe side.

But still, if I pick my shots and go with a good bullet, why don´t go for it and win him over

I took a Winchester 70 Fwt in 6.5x55 to Africa in 1987 and shot all of my plains game, except for the warthog, with Norma 156 grain factory loads. I shot the warthog with a Winchester 70 in 375 H&H. My PH was leary of the 6.5x55 at 1st, but that rifle could put the 156 grain Normas into small groups and after the 1st 2 antelopes went down with 1 shot each, he and the trackers stopped worrying and started smiling. The only animal that needed 2 shots from the 6.5x55 to go down was an Eland that didn't realize that it was dead on its feet, as the 1st shot wrecked the lungs and broke the off-side shoulder.

When hunting in areas that are "off the beaten track", I like to use factory ammo that is available in the area that I'm hunting. I'll ask the outfitter before I go. FWIW, the next time I go to Africa I'm planning to take a pair of mannlicher stocked Interarms Mark X Mausers in 7x57 and 9.3x63.

Jeff

Jeff,

Have I told you lately how cool you are? Mannlicher stocked Mausers in 7x57 and 9.3x62?

You are way cool.

Gaviidae

I have around 50+/- mannlicher stocked rifles, as I really like the way that they look. However, few of them every get to the range, much less the field, but somehow it doesn't seem "right" to take a stainless rifle with a swirly patterned McM stock to Namibia.

Interarms Mark X mannlicher stock 7x57 with Leupold VX2 2-7x33 heavy duplex in Warne QR rings.

Same rifle, same scope/mounts in 9.3x62, except this rifle came to me as a 7x57 with a recoil pad and that is not a bad thing when shooting 286 grain 0.366" bullets!

In the Interarms Mark X mannlicher, I try to avoid the double set triggers and the flat/buterknife bolt handles. I'm not a fan of DSTs on a game rifle and the Interarms' flat/butterknife bolt handles have such a high lift that you have to use medium height rings so that the ocular piece clears the bolt when you cycle the action. Who would do that to a stalking rifle where a low scope is a plus for snap shooting.

Jeff

260remguy,
Interesting comment about disliking DSTs. I've grown so accustomed to DSTs on Mannlichers that I feel lost when I don't have those two triggers to touch. I do agree with you about the Interarms butterknife bolt handles, which is why I no longer own any of them. Yes, also a lightweight 9.3x62mm can definitely make you take notice when fired. They are all fun.

LLS
Mannlicher Collector

Any pictures of game taken in Africa with the 6.5X55????

Here is the Lapua Mega 155 grains I have for the open sights on my new custom.

Pics of what you are building or built? Interested in hearing details.

1 of the reasons that I don't like DSTs is that I nearly got shot about 20 years ago by a guy with a T-C Hawkins. The guy had the set trigger adjusted so lightly that a fart in the next county would have dropped the hammer. I trust ME with a DST, but I don't trust anybody in the same zip code with a loaded rifle equiped with DSTs.

Jeff

quote:

Pics of what you are building or built? Interested in hearing details.

The gun is being built to resemble a 1920/30s English stalking rifle. The action is a Montana 1999 short action [perfect size for 6.5X55 and 7X57 Mauser class cartridges], but I am having it modified to resemble the Mausers with a straight pear shaped bolt handle and square bridges that double as bases for the scope mounts. I personally had issues with using a Mauser action and went with the Montana, but that is just my preference.

The barrel is a Montana creation, but it mimics the profiles used by both Mauser and those shipped to H&H and Westley Richards. The barrel is 25 inches long with a 1:7.5†twist and will have an NECG barrel band front with a barrel banded front swivel base. The rear sight is on a barrel-banded island with an express sight insert.

The stock will be fairly straight, but with a pancake oval cheek-piece and both a metal grip cap and buttplate on a 14 7/8 inch LOP. The rear sling swivel base will be a two-screw model. Forend will be made of burl African blackwood. The checkering will be similar to a classic English mullered boarder, but with a double outline instead of a triple. It will however be simple in overall design. The wood for the stock came from New Zealand and is a nice piece of English walnut, but the figure and color are reserved just the way I like it.

The finish on the rifle will be either Bear Coate or Rogaurd. I have found parts for rifles coated with these coatings close enough to blueing for me.

The open sights on this rifle will be regulated for firing the 155-160 grain bullets and filed accordingly. The scope on the rifle will be sighted in for the most accurate 140 grain slug either leaded, or all copper. I plan on keeping the velocities to what the cartridge was designed for and probably consistent with Euro loadings today. I do not believe in pushing a cartridge to the maximum loads.

I will be interested in hearing how it shoots, and seeing pics of the completed rifle.

Is that a SS or CM barreled action? Looks like it's going to be a NICE rifle. What is the OD at 25"?

Interesting thought, I'll have to look up the loaded OAL of 6.5x55 I had in the past, and compare that with the mag length on this short MRC action. Throat is likely cut with the OAL in consideration on your barrel.

quote:

Is that a SS or CM barreled action? Looks like it's going to be a NICE rifle. What is the OD at 25"?

CM and 0.625

quote:

mag length on this short MRC action

3.125"

I talked to Lapua, Norma, Hirtenberger, and RWS about the 155-160 grain OAL of the loaded ammo before going with the short action. The longest rounds I actually found were the Lapua 140 Naturalis all copper loads, but even these fit in the magazine just fine. I ran a box of the Lapua 155 grain Megas through the barreled action and they are a great fit!

woodleigh in australia make a very good 6.5 projectile.
but seeing you have access to the Lapua stuff go with that.
The 6.5x55 will work fine if you can place it right

later
p

Thanks, great info to know, considered a MRC for a 260, but if it houses a x55, I like that better.

quote:

Originally posted by Ogre6br:
woodleigh in australia make a very good 6.5 projectile.

I have not found a good line on a supplier for these yet. They are nice semi-pointed 160 grain slugs.

quote:

Originally posted by 6.5BR:
Thanks, great info to know, considered a MRC for a 260, but if it houses a x55, I like that better.

Although they call it a short action, it actually longer than a typical 308 family designed action. It easily handles 160 grain 6.5 slugs in the 55. That is why I ultimately when with it instead of another action that would have probably been in the '06 class.

quote:

6,5X55 for plains game

There's an incredible variation in plains game from duikers to Eland and the 6.5 X 55 is actually ideal for things like springbok, Impala, Warthog and a very long list of animals under 350 pounds live weight.

It'll also work on the bigger stuff but I'd far rather use a 30-06 or 280 Remington on things like Kudu, Gemsbok etc. These offer a bit extra range that can be important.

quote:

It'll also work on the bigger stuff but I'd far rather use a 30-06 or 280 Remington on things like Kudu, Gemsbok etc.

I thought a 6.5X55, a 9.3X62, and a 404 Jeffery would be nice with all the same features.

333_okh PM me - if you want I'll buy some Woodleighs on your behalf and send them to you.

pm me

later
P

For now I am concentrating on getting the rifle completed, but many thanks for hte offer!

333/OKH, your need for a good stock maker. I have one, name is Bill Simmens, 302 Zitney Road, Vanderbilt, PA, 15486. ph 724-529-7240. Bill is an ACGG (American Custom Gun Makers Guild) certified gun maker/stocker. He's more reasonable than most, and a lot quicker turn around time. Might want to give him a call.

Mr. Rigby, your remarks about the Barnes X are wrong. When the enitially came out 10 years or more ago, they had some coppering problems. No more, and the triple shocks especially are good for not copper fouling. The tiny hole in the nose does nothing to destablize the bullet. indeed, the better match bullets ARE hollow pointed. I'd go with a Barnes triple shock or X, now over about anything, and next would maybe be the Swift. from what I've been reading, the african PHs find the X bullets to be the thing. I don't think though, anyone would go wrong with any decent ammunition. As one old crank says, the core-lokt bullet probably used to kill more game every year than all others put together.

quote:

333/OKH, your need for a good stock maker. I have one, name is Bill Simmens, 302 Zitney Road, Vanderbilt, PA, 15486. ph 724-529-7240. Bill is an ACGG (American Custom Gun Makers Guild) certified gun maker/stocker. He's more reasonable than most, and a lot quicker turn around time. Might want to give him a call.

Thank you!

Here is the blackwood I ordered...now I just need to choose which one to use.