Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5 Swede ???

Why is the 6.5 Swede becoming so popular? What will it do that a 7mm-08 won't ?

panache

Lonnnnnnngggggg bullets that buck the wind and shoot flat, and they come with a pack of Lutfisk.

heritage

Maybe just as good a question might be why is the 7-08 becoming so popular; what will it do that the Swede or 7x57 won't do?

Others hit the nail on the head for me, and the shootist put the technical point out there in favor of the Swede... 6.5 cal bullets and its typically faster twist allow it to buck the wind and such better than other calibers.

When one looks at how long the Swede has been around, and how easily it does so many things well, it makes it easy to come to the realization that many cartridges were developed just for the sake of developing another cartridge.

if only Remington would have called the .260 rem the 6.5 Swede Short and twisted it 1-8 it might still be among us in other than the occasional concession to RL's.

The average hunter needs to keep in mind that the high BC bullets don't make a difference until you go past 400 yards and even then more like 500 yards. Either one would work fine.

If only Remington had started chambering some rifles in 6.5 Swede... they'd still be selling them.

I am curious to know how a bullet "bucks the wind"!

The question's practical answer is "nothing". Reverse the question and you have the same answer. This is no different than the endless debate of the relative merits of the 270 vs the 280, or as somebody else pointed out the 7-08 vs 7x57. So if you have a 7-08, you really need to have no particular practical concern. Circumstances pointed me at the 6.5x55. I tried it and I like it and will use it. I give its relative merit to some other cartridge no thought. I have no doubt that if I had got hold of the 7-08 or a 7x57 first, that I would like either one just as well.

I guess I would add that the 7-08 might be better for the user of factory ammo, since it is not faced with the necessity of having to work through older action designs.

They did, for exactly one year in their classic, and then never did another....as to why it`s gaining popularity, it`s just so damn sexy.

6.5 bullets are long and skinny, with a relatively high BC and sectional density.

Wind deflection does not primarily happen because the wind blows against the side of the bullet. It happens primarily because the bullet noses slightly into the wind because that produces minimum drag.

The drag vector points directly out the tail of the bullet. The main component of that drag vector is back toward the rifle, but because the bullet is pointed into the wind, it also has a small component in the direction the wind is blowing. So bullets with high BC are less deflected by wind.

It's a great caliber and when properly handloaded will blow by the 260 Rem as 6.6x55 factory loads (except Norma) are weaker because of the sweed 94/96/38s.

They kill losta "Elk" (Moose to us) in Scandanavia with them ever year.

wind deflection is the product of wind speed and lag time. a high BC will minimize lag time, and thus minimize wind drift.

Back in "94 Remington made the Classic in 6.5x55. My buddy ordered two, he had to wait four months to get one. They apparently sole lot hot cakes

If Norma's 6.5x55 loads are hotter than our domestic loadings and are manufactured in the country who's service arm was the 6.5x55. And shooters in that, and many other countries routinely use models 94, 96 and 38. I think it's highly probable that they shoot Norma factory ammo in those rifles. I have never seen a post on this or any other forum, or in print that says, DO NOT use Norma loaded 6.5x55 ammo in the before mentioned rifles. What do they know (Norma) that the rest of us don't?

Norma loads are hotter than other factory loads.

The 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser is simply a great looking case. It just looks right.The word sexy has been used.

I think European CIP max pressures are set higher than SAAMI.It can run the other way around on Americian cartridges. CIP averages also can run closer to max.Look it up in A-Square's manual.

My chronograph records tell me that Winchester, Remington, PMC (with the Sierra Gameking bullets), and Federal Factory 140 gr loads travel about 2,500-2,550 fps. Norma 139 travel 2,580. That is two widely separated batches of Norma ammo and the result is the same in both lots. Their recoil is also milder than the 2,750 fps level as well, not much, but you can tell if you look for it. I realize the Norma reputation for hotter ammo, which is precisely why I bought it in the first place. Reality (as checked by two different chronographs) told me different. It is also possible that I have two mild lots I suppose, but that is what I got.

The hot factory ammo I have shot is the old red and white box PMC 139 gr load. The bullet looks like a hybrid between a Hornady Interlock and a Winchester Powerpoint. That stuff went out the muzzle @ 2,780.