Am in midst of doing some rebarreling. Have a 6mm Shilen barrel already threaded in LR mauser and will put it on a Steyr 98 action that's presently a 25-06. Will be a 6mm Remington. Have a Midway Green Mtn F54 heavy contour 7mm 1 in 9.5 twist barrel. I'm thinking of putting this barrel (chambering in 7x57) on a Stevens 200 long action rifle. This Stevens rifle presently has a Shaw 6.5x55 1 in 9 twist 26" magnum contour barrel. Thinking of putting this Shaw barrel on a short action 7mm-08 Stevens 200. Never could get this 1 in 11" twist Stevens 200 7mm-08 to shoot a group I was really happy with and I have another 7mm-08 rifle that is more accurate.

Here is my question. Putting the Shaw 6.5x55 Savage/Stevens barrel on the short action 7mm-08 action prevents me from using 140gr bullets and still be able to feed the round from the magazine. 100 and 123 gr 6.5 bullets should feed OK from magazine. But then, I do not hunt, just shoot paper from benchrest, so I'm in a habit of dropping the cartridge in the receiver and closing the bolt with a Savage/Stevens type action. So for me, need to feed from the magazine is not that important.

Took me awhile to get to my question, but am curious what you gents think is the optimum length for a 1 in 9 twist barrel for the 6.5x55 cartridge. FWIW, prefer slower powders such as Ramshot's Magnum or Alliant RL22 powder for my 6.5 Swede reloads in the Shaw barreled rifle. Seem to get better accuracy with these slower powders. Should I keep it a 26" barrel, or shorten it to 22 or 24" if I want to limit myself to 123 gr or less bullets in the rifle?

Any comments appreciated.

Using slower powders works better with longer barrel. Keep it 26".

If you are after maximum velocity with either medium or slow powders, use as long a barrel as you have handy.

But, realize you will only lose a very little maximum potential velocity with a shorter barrel, and slow powders from short barrels often give outstanding accuracy...if you are willing to put up with the increased muzzle blast.

Me, I'd cut it to 24". The longer I live, the more I dislike long barreled bolt action rifles in any application except prone rifle competition.

So I suggest going with whatever length you like the looks & feel of...and if you end up needing to tune your loads a bit...well that is part of the fun of shooting. (And it may just shoot better than it ever has before.)

Since you only shoot from the bench, just keep it at 26 inch. Why cut it? And you use slow powders; longer might be better.

Just to a little smart alec--

the original barrel length on the swedish 6.5x55 was 18.5 inches-

M1894 carbine-------

so that would be the factory standard---

You might want to consider a 1:8" twist. It will give you more options for even longer bullets - and you already mentioned you have no concern about magazine length.

I believe the 140 grain ABLR requires the 1:8"