I have a young hunter that is looking for his first centerfire rifle. He is very recoil concious. He is into hunting varmints and later maybe deer. I am thinking the Swede might be just the ticket. I don't know what manufacturers make rifles so chambered these days. Knowledge?

Sako, Tikka, Sauer, Mauser, Blazer, Steyr Mannlicher and CZ just to name a few

Check out the CZ and Tikka websites. I think that they are the only companies offering the 6.5x55 currently.
Also, check some of the auction sites like auctionarms.com or gunbroker.com
They may have some reasonably priced used guns.
A caliber in a similar class would be the .260Rem. Currently Remington and Ruger offer this chambering in some of their light weight rifles.
Good Luck.

many of the manufactures use a full length action because hardly anyone makes an intermediate length.
with that said you may want to go with a 260 remington so you can have the package in a short action.
why have a 55mm case in an action that can easily accomidate a 65mm case?

Get a Sauer for 6,5x55 and you can buy extra barrels in many calibers.

Maybe is more fast say who don not make 6.5x55 rifles to day

Well Steve, Ruger doesn't have one on their website. Winchester doesn't make model 70's any more. They were the two that I would prefer. I just thought I would ask. I will look over the Tikka, but the 260 may be the ticket. Thanks for the replies, good hunting.

Swedes tend to have long throats to accomodate the longer bullets and ths tend to NOT shoot varmint weight bullets well.

For a "dual purpose" cartridge a 260Rem would probably be a better choice because they aren't
throated so generously.

Frankly I think a 260Rem makes a MUCH better "starter centerfire" than say...
a 243Win because with the heavier bullets available in the 260 you can reasonably kill things that few here would dare to recommend a 243Win for...

In North America 260Rem is available at Wally World and most gun shops. 6.5x55 ammo is NOT.

Believe me I have TWO 6.5x55's and I pay attention to who carries ammo and who doesn't.

And most of the time you find 6.5x55 ammo it is S&B or HAnsen FMJ ammo.
If it's actually hunting ammo it's norma and by the price might as well be Weatherby ammo...


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Without checking their curent website, I believe Howa makes a 6.5x55. The one I've got, a standard sporter with synthetic stock will shoot 1/2 groups or less (I only shot a couple of groups with it, not trying different loads or powders) with Matchkings. Both were impressively small, once sighted in.

Howas are the most underappreciated bargain in shooting. I very much like CZs as well.

I believe Sako and Tikka make them.

Used 6.5s in Rugers, Remington 700s, and Winchesters come up reasonably often on the various gun selling sites.

BUT to answer the general thrust of your question, if he is going to shoot mostly varmints and MAYBE a deer, I'd strongly consider a .22-250 or the .223. BOTH will kill deer graveyard dead with decent bullets and a decent shot and are a helluva lot more suited for varmints than the 6.5 or .260s FOR A KID and, for that matter, for most shooters, all things considered. Great starter centerfires for a varmint shooting kid. JMNSHO.

"Very recoil conscious" and he doesn't even have a centerfire ??? That sounds like he hasn't been trained properly to deal with recoil. Lots of factory ammo now is available in 'reduced recoil ' loads . Start him out with that first or similar handloads.

A 260 or 270 comes to mind . Don't underestimate a youths ability to accept the recoil . When factoring in the thrill of Hunting the journey into manhood so to speak . Hanging out with their Dad and Mom and their friends camping out Ect. .

Recoil is forgotten almost as soon as it happened , but the Trips and time spent shooting NEVER are !. Light loads good recoil pad and not to light of rifle goes a Loooong Ways !.

Proper teaching techniques really help a LOT !.
Like properly holding the rifle keeping his or her cheek against the stock rather than letting it slap their jaw bone . Things like that .

I like the 6.5 X 55 but in North America Ammo is not as readily available as in Europe . So unless one reloads it wouldn't be my first choice of a youths center fire rifle . IMO

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

A few years ago when shopping for a mountain rifle I surveyed ammo availability within 50 or 60 miles of Washington DC. I found more factory loads available in 6.5x55 than for .260 or 7mm08. Unexpected but true. I went with 7mm08 because I couldn't find a stainless gun in 6.5x55.

The issue of recoil has to do with a light 12 ga remington pump shotgun that his grandpa let him use. It has him a bit shy of shooting overly big kickers or those he thinks may be too big for him. You may be right that a 7mm 08 may be the ticket or maybe a 308. The selection of bullets is such that maybe the 308 and 120-130 gr bullets loaded light. Thanks for all the replies.

Id be leaning towards a 25-06 or a 270 if you wanted to shooting heavier projectile. the 25-06 is pretty light on recoil, cant imagine a 270 being much different.
Id get the rifle in a Tikka T3 or a remington 700. could even try a savage. these would all be good as your first rifle, they are reasonably priced and all have a reputation for being accurate.

Allan DeGroot wrote:

quote:

Swedes tend to have long throats to accomodate the longer bullets and ths tend to NOT shoot varmint weight bullets well.

Well, someone didn't bother to tell this to the 20 or so 6.5x55 rifles I've had -- from military to sporterized to full custom. From the stubby 85 grain Sierras through the various 140 grainers, they all seemed to digest the full range of bullet weights with aplomb.

In fact, I picked up a semi-sporterized M96 about 6 months ago that puts 5 of the 85 grain Sierras through a ragged hole at 100 yards using only a 2-7x scope. And this is from the original 29.1" barrel.

The only 6.5x55 rifle I ever recall to have been somewhat finicky was the Remington 700 Classic (from '94, I believe). It shot the ligthweights well but was fussy with 120-130 grain bullets. The 140s, though, did extremely well.

As to 6.5x55 rifles, I agree with Gatogordo that the Howa is a terrifc bargain. I just wished they offered it in the heavy-barreled version...

I agree Bobby based on a buddy's Kimberized '06 22" 7.5 twist, mil spec original bbl, shot 85's very well. We were shocked, and the recoil was nil.

My last 6.5 x 55 was a Winchester Featherwieght. Accurate and a pleasure to shoot.

Get a used rifle in the action you prefer to have it in, and then get it rebarreled...

I did that with a Model 70 featherweight, years ago.. it had a shot out 30/06 barrel on it.. and came with a factory laminate featherweight stock...

I had a Pac Nor Barrel put on it, and took off the 6.5 x 20 Leupold it came with, and replaced it with a 3 x 9 Leupold...I got a one in 8 twist on it, and I got it for open country antelope and mule deer hunting.. so it has a longer than normal barrel for a featherweight.. it is 27 inches long...

But it is quite the shooter! of course I have never met a bad 6.5 x 55 barrel.. even a few I have seen with tons of throat erosion were still more than adequate for long range deer hunting!

I just bought a CZ 550 FS in 6.5x55. It looks great, but it went straight to the gunsmith for shortening, so I haven't shot it yet. It is also available in the CZ 550 American model.
Also, I was cruising some of the online Auctions yesterday, such as GunsAmerica and GunBroker, and noticed at least 2 Rugers in that caliber (apparently not currently offered chambering). One of the Rugers was NIB.

I just picked up a second Sako AV in 6.5x55. They're kinda hard to find and go for about $1,200 if you can get your hands on one. Would you be interested in one of mine? Lou

I have a Sako 75 Delux in 6.5 x 55 and had it in a steyr The Sako is a beauty to look at and dead accurate