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

I have a lot of PMC brass and it all fits the RCBS #2. So does all of my Norma and Swedish made Herters brass. I bought a bunch of Winchester brass once and found out after ripping the rim of a case in the sizing process that about half fit the #3 shell holder and the other half fits the #2. I no longer have that brass. I have had one box of Remington Factory ammo that fit the proper Swede holder and another box that did not. There are several boxes of Winchester factory ammo I have not checked yet. That might just get sold, as I now need neither the factory ammo or the brass.

I never particularly noticed any problems that might have resulted from small diameter head size or any extraction problems.

Unless you want a game of musical shell holders, be careful what you use. I intend to continue the Norma and the PMC and next time I buy more brass it will be Norma or Lapua.

Hey Jeff. Not meant to insult the finely executed workmanship and steel (for if too hard/brittle my action would have let loose). My post was to warn reloaders who might use reformed cases to watch for OD on loaded necks, as 'crimped bullets' will make pressures skyrocket into a zone not really safe for any action IMHO. It was perhaps a rare thing that I experienced, but one look a the cracked bolt threads holding the striker causes one to really think.....safety. In a nutshell, the striker blew back under the escaping gas until it bottomed out so hard against the bolt body, it cracked the threads the full length of all those threads....I felt lucky to be alive.

BTW, on the posts re: brass specs, I have seen small differences, and use whatever shellholder needed, but in my Ruger #1, I have only used Lapua brass and the accuracy has been great, just over an inch at 200 yds, the last time I got serious using a 6x scope w/#4 reticle....

Long live the fine Swede!

You all have a wonderful Christmas.

I bought my '96 Swede about 4 years ago more from a collector standpoint than any other. Still in the packing grease, looked completely unfired, and all matching serial#'s. Then I began the cartridge research and did I luck out?! What a phenomenal little performer?! Original open sights at 100 yds I regularly printed 1.5" groups. After the sporterization (4" cut, crown, drop-in McMillan, "scout" scope mount, and Burris 2.5-7 handgun scope) I made a beautiful .75" group at, no lie, 250 yards! I was researching the 7-08, and many others, but what sold me on my little Swede was bullet choice. Not many calibers rival the .30 for weights and selection, but the Swede is one of them. From 85gr varminters to 160 gr Elk killers, and everything in between.

BTW, I love the results that I have gotten, but haven't hunted with it, yet. I've been researching all the premium bullets (mostly on this website) and every one bar none has had real world catastrophic failures like not opening and complete disintegration. I understand that with the MV of the Swede, some of these are of no concern, but several (NPT's, TSX's, NBT's, etc) were experienced in .308, 7-08 and 30-06 velocities! The above grouping was done with 140gr NPT's over 41grs of IMR-4350.
Then I read (again, on this website) that Partitions are sometimes just too heavily constructed for light to medium game like antelope and deer. I really like the TSX's and Sciroccos, but, again, they're not without criticisms.

Any help?

I'd try 129/140Hornady SP and Sierra 140s, the 140 AMAX is not a bad choice either. I'd expect the 140 Accubond to perhaps do as well if not better than others based on my results w/130 ABs.

You have a great shooter, as most are if not overly pitted in the bore, or excess wear, but having been stored in cosmoline, they are often pristine in bore condition in the ones I have owned.

Capitalist, what scout mount did you use?

I have one because I read a well sourced article about sectional density and ballistics coefficients that stated that the current two calibers with the best selection of bullets for both are 6.5 and .338.

I was in the process of acquiring parts for a custom when my wife bought a M96 Carl Gustafs for me for my birthday. So ... I have a Swede. My dad then proceeded to buy me 100 rounds of ammo for it. 40 Swedish 138 gr FMJ (brass looks like Norma?), 40 Sellier and Bellot, and 20 Core Lokts.

Now I want one in a sporter.

you havent appreciated the swede yet until you shoot 100 grain bullets at 3250 fps with no recoil. its heavenly.

i have no .243 anymore.

g5m:
I had my buddy's gunshop install Burris rings which I bought right along with the scope. And the shop that did the sporterization drilled and tapped the barrel just in front of the chamber on the barrel. Then they modified a weaver mount by honing about .75" off of the underside of the mount facing the chamber (thus allowing about a 1.5" overhang over the thickest part of the barrel, but not where the Carl Gustav info is). This places the scope completely forward of the bolt and action with no turning necessary, no funky spacers to level the scope, nothing! The smith originally told me sporterizing a Mauser wasn't worth the investment and told me to go buy a new rifle. I told him to just turn it into a "scout" and it was like a light bulb went off in his head! He had no headaches, and it was done in a matter of hours once he began! I'm pretty sure he'll recommend this procedure to other Mauser shooters! BTW my scope is a 2-7x not a 2.5-7x like I stated.

65BR:
I was all set to order some Sierras (the accuracy needs no introduction!) when one guy said he shot a deer in the chest, cooked up the backstraps, and bit into the jacket fragments! I kept reading and he was one of many with fragmentation and separation problems. So I was about to order the TSX's and then found out they are $40 for 50 bullets! I'm still looking.

The 6.5x55 Arch was an improved 6.5x55. It was described by Ackley in Vol 1 of his 1962 Handbook. My copy is a paperback 9th printing, with the description on p.361. The name comes from the cartridge's developer, Dr. E. L. Arch of Wenatchee WA. Ackley briefly mentions some of Arch's experimental work, including use of 200-grain Barnes original bullets in a 5.25-inch twist barrel. Arch also produced 6mm and .25 caliber versions.

As I recall, Bob Jourdan did not consider the Arch version a "real" AI. In the 1990s he developed and published his own version.

--Bob

For deer, lopes, and yotes...you can't go wrong with 130 Accbombs or 129 Interlocks.

Thanks for the info, Capitalist.

Guys will you please stop this talk about a 6.5 Swede!!!!
You got me wanting to buy or build a Swede and I don't need another rifle.
I have a .257 Roberts, 7x57, 8x57, and 9.2x62.
Do I really need something between a .257 Roberts and a 7x57?

+1 on the 130 AB's. They are extremely accurate out of my Sako and at the speed I shoot them (2700) they just flat out kill deer without a lot of excitement.

Forget need,do you want one? Now if I take the shelves out of the safe I'll have some room.

Yea,you goy some gaps to fill...LOL The 6.5's will do a lot of what you already have,but then it's a start,because you will want to add the.260, 6.5x54 MS and a 6.5x57 and maybe a .264WM...I hunt a lot with 6.5x55 and my 9.3x62,but that leaves about 40 something rifles at home to play with.

Cole,

It's not about need. It's about holding heritage, class, and panache in your hands. Besides, your 7x57 needs a little brother.

Buy it. Shoot it. Cherish it. You know you want to!

Oh my, yes! Everyone should have at least one 6.5x55.
Accurate. A pleasure to shoot. Saved the world for democracy. Well, sort of.
By all means you NEED one.

the only PMC 139 grain ammo I ever bought for my 96 it blew the primer completely out of the case 2 of the first 5 rounds I shot so I pulled the bullets and reloaded it. But in my 96 I reload all the loads we have in in our loading manuels now.

the 6.5X55 AI only gets about 100 to 150 more FPS