My wonderful wife surprised me Christmas morning with a new short chambered 6.5x55 barrel. I have been wanting to build a custom Mauser in this caliber for a while now. The barrel however has a 9" twist rate. Having never owned a rifle chambered for this round, I'm not sure what to expect from it. Will the 9" twist work well enough for the 140gr Remington and 160gr Hornady RN bullets ? I realize the heavy bullets are not needed, but I have my mind set on working up a load for them. Will it work fine ? or not work at all ? Thanks in advance.

I'm shooting a 6.5x55 with a McGowen barrel in an 8.5" twist. I know it's not a 9" twist but pretty close.
Mine shoots 120's and the long Sierra Matchking 140's into .5" five shot groups with very little load development. It also shoots 100 grain bullets into sub 1" I think if I worked on those I could get it shooting tighter.
My opinion is if it handles those extra long Sierra Matchkings it will handle 160's that aren't any longer.
Yours should be the same I would go for it.
Your wife a very thoughtful woman (=keeper)

I believe my CZ is 1-9". It handles all 140 grain bullets. It liked the the 155 Lapua Mega which is an excellent bullet. The 160 Woodleigh Protected point was too long to stabilize. A 160 round nose should work fine.

Well I am a bit disappointed to hear that the 160gr Woodleigh bullets will not work. I have always liked the Woodleigh products...

I have one in 1:9 and it works great with 140 Partitions and Sierra Gamekings as well as the 142 Matchkings. I don't shoot anything heavier than that, so I can't say on those.

I have a hard time connecting the dots when someone wants to run 160 grain bullets in a 6.5 Swede or 175's in a 7x57. It just seems as if you are crippling an otherwise useful cartridge with a bullet weight of days gone by....
Todays bullets are so well constructed (even cup and core vanilla pudding bullets) that you can drop down several weight classes, up the velocity and have a drop dead killing machine on your hands.
However I do understand that what someone wants, they want and sometime for no tangible reason...
I know my opinion means nothing but if I were in your shoes I would barrel that action with the gift barrel and shoot the shit out of that thing.

Thank you for the responses. Snellstrom, your thoughts on heavy bullets in the 6.5 are indeed true. The quality bullets of today make the 140gr bullets the best overall balance for a hunting load. However call me nostalgic or just over enthusiastic, because I would like the OPTION to shoot the 160's as well. Sounds as if that may or may not work out.

Either way, I assure you the much appreciated gift from my wife will defiantly be used no matter what twist it has. Hopefully I'll have it up and running in time for next Deer season.

Happy New Year

I also think the 140 is the best for that cartridge .Powders should have the burning rate like that of 4350.In my custom M'98 it gives about 2750 and puts them inside a 1" circle ! With iron sights .

According to Swedish members of AR Premium 140s will perform like standard 160s !![legally there , for moose , 160 is necessary !

Glad you are pushing forward with the project, post pictures of your finished shooter!

My load for 120 grain Sierra bullets is 44 grains Reloader 17 at 2900fps very accurate
140 grain Sierra Matchking 44 grains IMR4350
2793 fps very accurate.

I just noticed that the above two post both list IMR 4350 as the powder of choice with 140gr loads. It also sounds as if 2750fps is the sweet spot for best accuracy with the 140gr bullets. Guess that is a good starting point for me when I begin load development.

Since the twist rate of my barrel may not be optimal for the heavier bullets, should I make sure the finish reamer does not cut a long throat designed for 160gr bullets ?

Thanks

You can use 160 if you want too. Mine just wouldn't stabilize the long 160 Woodleigh Protected Point. Worked fine with 156 Vulkans and 155 Lapua Mega. The 155 Mega was one of the best shooters. It opens at low velocity and has one of the best heel locks around to keep the bullet from separating.

When I send out my barreled action to be finish chambered, should I make sure the chamber is not cut with the really long throat designed for 160gr bullets ? Will the 140gr loads work better with a bit shorter throat ?

Thanks for all the help.

Go ahead and use a long throat and magazine, it will not hurt accuracy, that's an old wives tale, if it does its a bad barrel not a long throat...All factory Brno mod. 21s and 22 in 6.5x57, 7x57 and 8x57 have long throats and long magazines 30-06 length, and I have never owned on that wouldn't shoot an inch. All my 7x57s have had that option along with most of my guns including a .338 Win..You will get accuracy even with the short bullets that have to jump as well as the longer bullets

I had mine (Douglas match barrel) throated for the 120 Ballistic Tip. It works great for the 125 Partition and the 140 Sierra's only encroach on the powder space minimally.

My powder of choice for mine was IMR4831. I did not get the accuracy out of the 4350 that I wanted. I can't tell you the velocity yet. It has been too cold to use the Magnetospeed the wife got me for Christmas yet, and my old chronograph is a pain to set up.

I just replaced the 1:9 Shelen barrel in my 6.5-06 Ackley with a 1:8 twist.

The original barrel would shoot 140gr "hunting" bullets ok, but not stabilize 140gr VLD type bullets at all -- groups were big and holes were "ragged" at the edges and not "crisp."

It 1st barrel also had a very long throat that you could not seat 140gr bullets anywhere near the lands and still have any neck tension because the bullet stuck out so far and would not fit in the magazine. Good neck tension, for example, on a 140gr Nosler partition would still fit the magazine and left a jump through the throat/lead of nearly 1/2 inch. I shortened the throat on the second barrel and groups have improved overall.

Barstool(er)