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From the numbers I have reviewed, I don't believe the 6.5x55 Swedish (with an OAL of 3.15) will not run in an intermediate mauser action, such as a M24 (which has a box length of 3.115). Thoughts - does anyone have a 6.5x55 on an intermediate? | ||
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I don't know why it wouldn't fit just fine. The Mexican intermediate actions handled the 7x57 just fine with the long 175gr bullet. The Mod 96 and 94 actions are also of intermediate length. An intermediate length 98 action would be ideal for the 6.5x55. Jerry Liles | |||
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Both Sierra and Lyman #s show 3.062" as max OAL for the 6.5, and 3.250" for the 8x57 which was what the M24s originally used. So, it should fit. | |||
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Thanks Duane. This is what I was working off of as I found it cited by Nosler as 3.15 max OAL. I got the intermediate box size from the table in the back of the Kuhnhausen book. So I think the answer is that the 6.5x55 will fit, but there's not a lot of room and either the box needs to be lengthened or the OAL on the rounds need to managed closely. Is that accurate? | |||
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I have an Oberndorf style PME (Wisner) bottom metal for the FN M24. The inside length is 3.27". I don't know what OAL Duane's bottom metal will accommodate, but I bet it would work just fine, and look great. Matt FISH!! Heed the words of Winston Smith in Orwell's 1984: "Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right." | |||
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Consider, if you will, chambering for 6,5x68S. It will require a 3.34" magazine box, but deliver about twice as much ME. Rich | |||
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Rich, you really need to recheck your math. If you limit the discussion to published loads for both cartridges the 6.5x55 will drive a 140 to 2700 fps while the 6.5x68 will net 3000 fps for an increase in ME of 33%. Not an insubstantial increase but certainly not double the energy. It does however require a long (standard) action vs an intermediate. Remember that the magazine boxes on "intermediate" length mausers varied quite a bit. The 6.5x55 uses a longer box than the 7x57 as produced in military rifles. The feed ramp on the SR Mexican action is based on the 78mm cartridge length of the 7x57 whilst the 6.5x55 box was made for teh longer 80mm length of its cartridge. Not a huge deal to fit a 6.5x55 box to a SR Mexican action.  Aut vincere aut mori | |||
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I wouldn't get too hung up on published max OAL. Book numbers are good to reference but if you are building this for yourself the only thing that really matters is what you plan to shoot in it, and whether that will fit. I don't have any intermediate length magazine boxes, but I do have several boxes of ammo for my Swede. Here's what they actually measure: 2.98" - PPU commercial load, 139 grain bullet 3.02" - Federal load, 140 grain Trophy Bonded Bearclaw 3.09" - FMJ milsurp pointy nosed bullet of unknown weight 3.13" - FMJ milsurp round nosed bullet of unknown weight The last round looks ridiculously long to me... Here's a photo, left to right as described above:  According to the box length you posted above only the last cartridge would not fit, and the box could probably be elongated enough by filing to allow it to fit. I have done this to fit FMJ milsurp 30.06 into a standard length Mauser box. If I went by max OAL for the 30.06 I might have talked myself out of the project. I don't think you would have a problem with fitting most "standard" loads into your intermediate action. | |||
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Setch, The M24 I have has a box that is 3.250" or thereabouts. Plenty long enough for a 6.5x55. Aut vincere aut mori | |||
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That seems like a good length. Is your M24 a SR Mex? And whose bottom-metal is it Mike? | |||
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No, the M24 I was speaking of is a Yugoslavian M24, also made by FN but chambered in 8x57 rather than the 7x57 yours is chambered for. That would explain your shorter magazine box as it was designed for the shorter COAL. Still, a quick look at most loading manuals shows Cartridge lengths at or shorter than your box length. Aut vincere aut mori | |||
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I would note a few things. 1) Even using your calculations in the original post, you are talking about 35/1000. 2) 35/1000 is almost within seating depth "tuning" for accuracy. 3) You can likely pick up 50/1000 by simply thinning the front and rear wall of the mag box with a dremel tool. 4)The vast majority of load data has a COL of less than 3.1 inches. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Sounds like you could either fit an FN M24 Yugo magazine to your action or get one of Wiebe or Swift/Blackburn's M24 magazine/guard units. I would go with a Wiebe, if his box is the right length. Matt FISH!! Heed the words of Winston Smith in Orwell's 1984: "Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right." | |||
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