Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Popularity of 7x57 vs. 6.5x55 in North America

Ruger chambers the Model 77, Remington had a run of their Model 700 Classic, Winchester offered it off and on in the Model 70 throughout the '90s until they closed in 2006 (there are two in the classifieds right now), Sako has occasionally offered the chambering for the U.S. market, etc. You also have the option of having a rifle re-barreled. Lots of choices besides the Tikka.

There are also CZ and Ruger #1 K1A in 6.5x55. I have a TIKKA and a #1 so chambered. Also a #1A and 70 FWT in 7x57. I prefer the #K1A with Hornady factory 140 gr loads for just about everything. Here is one that fell to the K1A http://www.alariver.com/index.php?o...g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1779

Gene, those old mausers were very well made, but I had reformed some brass from 25/06, the necks I did not turn, had not miked....until after I about blew up the gun. The primer blew and the case head cracked and stamped the back of the brass lettering into the boltface......the bolt body was cracked. The OD on the loaded round was .310, max was .297 IIRC.....never again. No forming brass as the necks were too thick and the base as you likely know is smaller in an '06 case.

The cock on close action, had the firing pin slam rearward bottoming out and about continued thru my head....scared my butt let me tell you. Ordered a new bolt, checked headspace, sold it off. Yes, I'd pick a CZ in a second for it's 98 style 3rd 'safety lug' as well as modern metallurgy. The old 96's had nice 4groove cut rifled bbls in 7.5" or so twist bbls. Throated long, I have seen them still shoot 85s well, though made for 156-160s. Likely the same article you read. Kimber sporterized '96s were a bargain for bent bolt, tapped for scopes, nickel plated/hard chrome, syn. stocks.......all for around $300. Heck of a knock about deer rifle.

Ed, my K1A loves the 130 Accubonds over IMR 4350 if you ever get around to reloading. Not that those 140s will ever have any trouble taking any deer Congrats.

I would like to mention that the accurate Steyr SBS is still available in 6.5x55. Perhaps the best 6.5x55 on the market if price is not a factor.

djs thats "elg" not elk, and they are the same as moose...

Never had a 7X57, but it's probably next on the list if I ever get another rifle (I'm currently going through one of those "what am I doing with all these guns" phases.) Two 6.5X55's and love 'em both though they're far apart on the dollar and pretty scale. One's a "jack knife sporter" Swedish Mauser (cut down, refinished, military stock, recrowned, Williams FP receiver sight. It's a deer rifle for rainy days in the woods. Shoots 160 grain Hornady RN's real well at around 2300fps. The other is a Sako 85 with a 2.5-8 VXIII that will consistenly shoot five 130 grain AB's into absolute bugholes at just over 2700. (I'm sure I could get more out of them but why bother, these work well on deer out to 400 or so, as far as I shoot.) What's not to like about this caliber?

Yeah, that caught my eye too. I believe the Swedes actually spell it "�lg."

I have owned and hunted many rifles and calibers through the years, and this topic concerns my two current favorites. I currently own Ruger M77MkIIs in 6.5x55 and 7x57, a pre-warning M77 in 7x57, and a Rem M700 MR in 7x57, and have owned others in both calibers. One major reason I love these calibers is my preference for heavyweight bullets for hunting big game. I still hold the SD of a bullet in high regard. In 7mm I prefer bullets of 160 grains or more, and in 6.5mm I prefer 140 grains or more. I have owned several rifles in calibers 7-08 and 260 Rem - arguably the American "counterparts" of the 7x57 and 6.5x55 - and none of them shot particularly well with my heavy bullets. My theory is that the most common rifling twist rates of rifles chambered for the American rounds are insufficient to stabilize the longer, heavier bullets I prefer. Maybe that's hooey, but I know what I like.

Regarding the difference in performance between the two: My position is that as long as the bullet and load produce sufficient penetration, and the bullet is placed correctly in the animal, the difference in field performance is negligable. Oh, a 160 grain 7mm bullet of like construction as a 140 grain 6.5mm bullet may theoretically make a slightly larger hole in the animal, but in reality shot placement and penetration are WAY more important than any percieved advantage of 0.02" larger bullet diameter.

Regarding the heavier bullets: A 175 grain 7mm bullet of decent aerodynamic shape fired at 2400 fps muzzle velocity shoots a lot flatter than many people think, and a 140 grain 6.5mm bullet fired at 2600 fps is even flatter. I have used loads exactly like these almost exclusively for several years and the results are totally acceptable. My rifles shoot both loads under MOA, and I zero both rifles/loads at 200 yards. The bullets impact within 2 inches of point-of-aim out to about 250 yards - basically right where I aim. This encompasses 90% of my shots on game. Beyond that range hitting the mark is a matter of knowledge of the bullet's trajectory, precise range estimation, and practice. Last week I placed a 6.5mm 140 grain Speer Hot-Cor from my 6.5x55 through both shoulders of a doe deer at about 325 yards. According to witnesses and the videotape, the deer jumped straight up about 6 feet into the air, landed on the ground, and never moved again. All I saw through the scope was a little cloud of dust where the deer previously stood. Several other deer have died similar deaths at the hands of my various 7x57s with my "slow" heavy-bullet loads. Now I ask you: What more does a deer hunter really need?

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Big Redhead, your 6.5x55 really needs to take a deer down with the Hornady 160 grain bullet. Ditto your 7x57 with a 175... we look forward to the field reports.

I have used the 6.5 Gibbs, the .264 win., and the 6.5x55 to some extent and never was overly impressed with the 6.5 calibers..They work well enough but I found them lacking to a degree... My self set standard for big game calibers begin at .277, and 284 suits me better and go up from there. At least from an advisory standpoint, and I realize that there are those who could use a 30-30 and get by fine the rest of their life on about anything.


The 7x57, on the other hand, has been my darling for many years..The 7x57 is the lightest caliber that I would, without hesitation, hunt any animal on this planet with if need be, and almost have with the exception of Lion, Elephant, and the big bears of Alaska, but it would include elephant as I have seen it used on elephant, and I was very impressed with the 175 gr. solids and softs on those big boys.

I can't see how 0.020"/0.5mm difference in bore diameter, cases that have a 3 or 4 grain difference in capacity, and a bullet weight difference of 15 grains can be all that different if you're shooting bullets that are close in design and construction.

IIRC, before WDMB used the 7x57 to shoot elephants, he used the 6.5x54 with long heavy solids and probably could have continued with the same degree of success that he had with the 7x57. It seems to me that if you shoot a 160 grain 6.5x55 bullet at the same velocity (+/-) as a 175 grain bullet fired from a 7x57, assuming that all other factors are kept as similar as is possible, bullet construction/profile/etc., you're likely to end up with the results that differ by a factor of rounding error.

Jeff

Reading Jack O'conner in outdoor life as a youth started my interest in the 7x57. Finn Aagard finished me off and I had to have one. John Barsness wrote a few very good articles about the 6.5x55. Maybe someday I'll get one of those.

Ron

Good stuff, 106rr, I was really drooling over a Steyr Mannlicher with gorgeous wood in mannlicher stock, it had some NICE wood, but the price matched.....now I drool over Blaser like this one:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=134786418

I am no lefty, but love nice quality, and just could not put some K95s down at the Shot Show.....some day I will get a 2nd mortgage perhaps

The Steyr looked like this one that I was eyeing....

http://www.steyrarms.com/products/hunting-rifles/classic/

But it may not have been the SBS, perhaps the model prior. Those euro rifles just exude quality, and from all reports shoot like a custom. Euro vs. US dollar exchange seems to not help....have to settle for my K1A Ruger for now. The Blaser might be the ultimate 'upgrade' over my Ruger for a nice single shot, and a Martini & Hagn and even the old Model 10 Dakota's did not look bad either.....

I have some old Norma 156s that need to go in my Ruger....if someone could just put me in front of an elephant....I'd try one!

I don't know about Sweden, but I hunted in Norway in 1996, meeting a total of about 30 local hunters while going after red deer. Not a single one carried a 6.5x55. Probably the most popular round was the .308, and the most popular rifle the Remington 700. (By the way, the 6.5.5x55 was co-designed by the Norwegians and the Swedes. The Norski military used it in the Krag-Jorgensen.)

I have never used the 6.5x55 on anything bigger than mule deer, while I've used the 7x57 on animals such as kudu, wildebeest and moose. I don't know why the 6.5x55 wouldn't work just as well on bigger animals, given all the other similarities between the rounds, but have never tried it.

In my earlier post I said that in my experience the 6.5x55 was more accurate. I didn't mention that I've found it to shoot all bullet weights well, light or heavy. From what I've read here and elsewhere that's pretty common.

Too bad no one chambers the 7 x 57 today, I guess its a long action cartridge in a short action world.

HUH??????

http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firea...h&blength=Barrel+Length&work=Yes

Maybe I just don't know that much about this question, but it seems to me that each have somewhat of a cult following here in NA but neither are as popular as they ought to be... they're kinda the "Rodney Dangerfields" of rifle cartridges.

I've got a custom 7x57 in the works and intend to get a 6.5x55 going soon too. They're both incredible cartridges, IMO.

To me the perfect three-rifle battery would be a 22 lr, a 6.5x55, 7x57, or 30'06 (none of these get the respect and appreciation they deserve just because they're not "new") and a 404 Jeffery or 416 Rigby.

too bad not one chambers in a bolt there BT.

I shoot 'em both and like both, little difference in either IMO, both work great....
Cat