Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 270 vs. 6.5x55

Exactly, but we all have our subjective personal favorites and bias.

Pappy IF I only hunted in woods I would completely agree w/you. However having a 6,5 Swede I can tell you from personal experience when you stretch the range past woods yardage the Swede falls on it's face due to a lack of velocity (speed for some).

There are many cartridges capable of 400 yd MPBR, (maximum point blank range). For that reason it's getting harder for me to pick up the Swede when there are 6mm Rem, 2506, 270, 7mm RM, et.al. to choose and NOT be hamstrung.

That as nice as I can put it and don't intend to be offensive.

Jerry

I forgot to say politely,
I don't have MOOSE as targets. Deer are dwarfs (dwarves) compared to Moose.

Jerry

Woods yardage and falls flat on it's face can be interpreted in many ways. MV, BC, and POA all matter. If only to learn what you need to do to converge into vitals.

IDK, seems the 55 has more speed than the 47 which I currently run, and GSSP on here - dumped an elk at a gnat's azz shy of 1,000 yds. I think when you crowd 400 yds or more, one needs to have the optics, skill, and range time to drop one in the vitals. Alan practiced alot...same reason why when my furthest deer kill stepped out at 400 yds, I was like geesh, this is going to be a chip shot. Why? Because I had been popping steel at 415 quite often recently and knew where to hold my mil-dot on my 6BR.

2850 sure does not impress one with paper stats, but what's on the receiving end disagreed. Double lunged, golf-ball sized exit...using an A-max 105 was all it took. Blood trail even though I watched it stumble and fall in 25 yards or less, which is a third the distance a deer I took at 80 yds ran after hit with a 130 Ballistic Tip (.277 diameter) at 3,100+ mv. Most folks would scoff at 28.5 gr of powder behind a mini-max Good thing game can't read.

IDK, for me, I get an itch, learn it, and scratch it, and it's all fun in the name of R&D. Never Not killed when using something I have been spending time with at the range.

Preparation determines Success.

The context was MPBR -
aka - trajectory.


hint


Jerry

Moose are pretty scarce hereabouts as well. Never had a Swede, but based on data from the loading manuals, I'd not hesitate to use it on deer and such at any sane range with the proper bullets. Ditto for its' ballistic twins the CR and .260. Without getting into a bunch of ballistic gack, I can't see where a couple hundred fps would make that much difference at even 3-400 yards, again assuming appropriate bullets.

I fell into the .270 habit as a result of an opportunity on a gray rat pre-64 that was about to get pawned if I didn't bite. The cartridge has been so satisfactory that if, perish the thought, I were limited to only one rifle, it would likely be a .270, although many others would do just fine, including the Swede.

I purchased my first 6.5 Swede about a month ago. Just waiting on 130 accubonds to arrive via mail and I'll work up a load. The 6.5 Swede will get hunted extensively this coming year and I'm sure in years to come. I've always been a fan of the 270 and for the last 3 years hunted the 270 more than any other cartridge. The 270 has become one of my favorites by far.

I'm expecting the 6.5 Swede will impress me and who knows! It might do even more. I intend to find out



Shod

That is exactly where my brain is these days. In these recent years of tough to find components, I have never failed to find 270 everything from rifles to brass to bullets and so on. As I get older I just don't enjoy waiting on gunsmiths and chasing down this and that and cluttering up my head with all the hooha. Just want to go with simplicity and spend more time in the rain and mud and forrests. My best friend from back in grade school hunted the past fifty years with nothing but a 7mm rem mag and actually has very little interest in anything close to rifle looneyism. Just shot that one rifle and stacked up the critters.

Many good rounds that all do the job, 270 was my dream round as a teen, and it's still a good one as many.

MPBR - I know what that is - and also having owned a dozen Swedes, 260s, Creedmoor, and 47 Lapua, know what they do, as well as having run several 270s.

Point being, at ranges where a bullet TRULY falls flat on it's face, well you have to compensate. I've seen enough comparisons between a 270 and a well loaded Swede, and you paint a picture like there is a ton of diff between the two when using good loads and same POA/POI sight in. Nothing wrong with factory 270 or a Creedmoor if one does not like loading.

Swedes are not for all, but do a damn good job for many applications.

Yes, Robert. Life would be much simpler for many rifleman to use just one good one. Like Chuck Connors

65 - Man I've been handloading nearly as long as I've been deer hunting. I have more loading stuff than any normal man has any business having.

I have been dropping down in bullet weights in the Swede to get the vel hi enuff to flatten it out. I'm close but not quite satisfied yet.

<<< OTOH when you reduce the bullet weight you 'lose' the length that gives the 6.5s those great BCs. >>>

I've just been loading, graphing, shooting, & hunting 270s, & 7mm RMs so long--I'm not impressed with most small 6.5 velocities.


Another OTOH - I have NOT been saying nor implying that the Swede is not useful for many applications.

I am NOT satisfied with the Swede -so far- but it's NOT for sale. I LOVE the rifle! I can list many cartridges that I will not own, load, shoot, or hunt. The Swede is far better than some.

Even where I'm hunting now it covers 80 % of my possibilities. But the other 20% is there. I WOULD CHOOSE the Swede for many applications>>>just not all.

I hope these explanations define better where I am with the Swede.


Jerry

For MPBR hunting it's very difficult to beat the 270 IMO. I've hunted mostly with the 270 for a number of years now.


The big question is then why on earth did I even consider purchasing the 6.5 Swede that I just added to my arsenal. Though I consider myself to be a rifle loony I'm not necessarily the kind of rifle loony that aimlessly goes about purchasing rifles just because I can't help it. I have a well thought out plan and intention for each purchase that I make.

These are my specific reasons for my 6.5 Swede purchase.........

I enjoy shooting and reloading and in fact enjoy it so much I find I'm always at the range sending lead toward a target. In all these years of shooting I began to notice two things.

One, my shooting ability had moved far beyond MPBR

Two, some of the open country that I hunt often presented opportunities at well beyond MPBR

While most on this forum have likely shot far more game than I, I have shot enouph to recognize that the velocity in which my bullet hits the target is important to how well I expect the projectile to do its work. With all the practice and shooting I've found in the last few years in hunting with the 270 that when shooting game at 500 ish yds that I really wasn't seeing projectile performance that I was comfortable with though the critters did die. What I was seeing as far as terminal performance was telling me to back off to 400 ish yds or come up with something different. The logical answer to me was a bullet that didn't shed Velocity and a barrel twisted to stabilize such a bullet.

For me this is where the 6.5 Swede came into focus over my favorite the 270. With the right bullet and twist the 6.5 Swede effectively extended my Velocity range 150 yds. For some of the open country hunts I pursue 150 yds would be a big plus and at the same time my comfort level in making 1st round hits at those distances is not an issue. While I do realize it is true there are high BC bullets now available for the 270 the truth is in the factory rifles I like to use there are no 270s twisted to stablize these bullets with certainty. In the 6.5 Swede you get 8 twist barrels all day long.

This coming hunting season I'll be useing both my 270 and 6.5 Swede for two different hunting situations.

The 270 will be used for a Western Montana elk hunt loaded with a 150 partition and will be likely used at 300 yds or less.

My 6.5 Swede is now topped with a SS 6X42 MQ and loaded with a 143 hornady ELD X at 2790 ish fps. For small game such as deer and antilope in the velocity department I expect to see an effective improvement in game I shoot between 500 and 600 ish yds where I intend to use it this year.

It's been a lot of years practicing and learning to get to where I am but I am more than confident in the ability of my chosen cartridge, rifle, bullet, scope, and my ability to get this done.

The 270 wasn't getting this type of hunting done for me in a satisfactory way unless I were willing to go custom and I wasn't. If I did decide to go custom I would still chose the 6.5 based on the much higher bullet selection over the .277 More options is always a good thing


For shooting elk at 300 ish yds or less. My 270 and the 150 partition will go every time!

For my Eastern Montana open country hunting I think the 6.5 Swede will likely stomp a lung outta the 270




Shod

Do yourself a favor. Go with a 280. 😁

Shodd: How do you know the 6.5 will show a substantial improvement in lethal effect over a 270 at (say) 500 or 600 yards?

The numbers?

I'm curious what the velocity differences at 600 yards would be between that 143 ELD X,and a 150 gr ABLR from a 270 started at 2900 fps?

I could look it up but I am lazy....


Rhetorical question: If the 6.5 is anticipated to be so much better why would anyone use the 270 on an elk?

Have both, but the Swede is the more accurate of the two.

fwiw,
Being a plinker at best I will defer to Nathan Foster at www.BallisticStudies.com ...

Please keep in mind I am building my current custom rifle in 6.5mm before hurling stones...

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/6.5x55.html

A wee clipping from Nathan's thoughts on the 6.5x55 Norwegian versus the .270 Winchester...

"Performance

The 6.5x55 has generated a huge amount of interest throughout the world since the influx of surplus military rifles became available on international markets. Articles relating to the Swede appear in every gun magazine yet there is still a lot of misinformation over the performance of the 6.5x55 on game. Authorities state that the Swede is useful for all game up to the size of Moose with its long for caliber bullets giving deep penetration. Comments have also been made that beyond 200 yards the Swede ballistically out performs the .270 while giving less recoil. In truth, the Swede is a rather modest performer. With factory ammunition, performance is generally in the same class as the .30-30. Wounding is slightly narrower than the .30-30 but penetration is usually deeper. The trajectory of factory ammunition is poor.
With light 120 grain bullets hand loaded to between 2900 and 3000fps, the Swede is a fast killer on lighter medium game. Most 120 grain bullets produce shallow penetration therefore this bullet weight is not particularly well suited to larger bodied game unless using the 120 grain Barnes TSX or XLC.

The hand loaded 130 grain bullet weight is neither fish nor foul. It has neither the high SD’s and BC’s of the 140 grain bullet weight or high velocity achieved from hand loaded 120 grain bullets. Performance is identical to budget .270 Winchester factory ammunition at 2900fps.

The 140 grain bullet is the most versatile bullet weight in the Swede. Hand loaded to between 2750 and 2800fps, this combination produces the best balance of wounding versus penetration. Nevertheless, regardless of high BC’s and SD’s, the Swede can be a slow killer at ranges beyond 200 yards. Conventional projectiles, regardless of SD, often fail to produce deep penetration. The 6.5x55 is simply not in the same class as the .270 which it is often compared to, regardless of hype."

Regards, Matt.

Mmmm........no comment.


Other than to note, if I wanted "more" in open country than a 270 offers, my move would be to a Big 7 and a 160-ish at 3000-3200 fps.

No issues with a 175 or more at 2900+ either. Hold the 30/06 capacity cases. Give me some powder volume, thank you

You can spell it "7mm Remington Magnum" but it has other names as well.

performance is generally in the same class as the .30-30. Wounding is slightly narrower than the .30-30 but penetration is usually deeper

Performance is identical to budget .270 Winchester factory ammunition at 2900fps.

the bloke who wrote this is a dikhead srsly

anybody who owns a Swede would reload

he basically states in a roundabout way that a 3030 is a 270 lol

Bob,
Have you looked at Nathan's 7mm Practical? Essentially a .300 Winchester Magnum necked down to 7mm...

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/7mm+Practical.html

He really is a super nice guy and humble as the day is long. Don't let my [bleep] stirring ruin his work for those who have not had a chance to read through it... Darcy has been impressed enough by his work to include one of his books with every new Legend. Granted it is cheaper to just buy the book outright...

Regards, Matt.

Matt : Yes sir....and I have read several times what Nathan wrote about the Practical.

This was discussed in another thread,but I was making Practical brass using 7RM neck dies back in the 1980's. A friend had a reamer,and another had rifles so chambered back then. We were familiar with the case and it's capabilities but for some reason I never got around to it.

This may have been an ingrained aversion to wildcats at the time.

Today I do indeed have a 7mm Mashburn Super built by Gene Simillion, which is the same as the Practical with a slightly longer neck.

As mentioned....the Swede totally outweighs the gay 270 just in the cool factor...just being 122 yrs old is enough for me...