Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles swede question

I am looking at buying a Tikka T3 hunter in 6.5x55 and I have never loaded for it, just the 260 rem.

When I really dig into the reloading manuals there is quite a bit of difference in max load velocities, primarily I suspect because of the number of old Model 96's that might not stand up to modern pressures.

Given the rifle I am looking at is modern, is there any reason I couldn't load this to 260 velocities if I used a chronograph to verify velocities.

Thoughts?

No. But the standard Swede in the bad old weak '93 and '96 actions still kills emphatically.

JW

Yes. I load for two different 6.5X55 on Rem 700 actions. I have never loaded for the .260 but based on velocities as listed on data.hogdon.com meeting or exceeding the .260 is safe and easy.

140 pill in the .260=2755 fps; 2800 fps is no problem with 6.5X55 on a modern action. I use R22.

125 pill in the .260=2876; 2900 w/H4350 or R19 for the modern swede

100 pill in the .260=3171; this is close but 3200 is doable w/Varget.

Ok Ok, I don't know what I'm talking about and this is totally unsafe. Then just pull out Barnes #3 and compare the two.

While it won't beat the .260 by much, in a modern action it can safely equal or exceed it.

Martin,

I regularly load and shoot both calibers..

just take your standard 260 loads and use them in the 6.5 x 55...

you can even work up a few more grains from your max 260 loads, if you feel the need for an extra 100 to 150 fps out of the muzzle..

neither cartridge is overly finicky when it comes to accuracy..

The Swede case capacity is 57 grains compared to 53 for the 260 Remington. You should be able to squeeze more velocity out of the Swede. An excellent cartridge by the way.

The Swede will do anything the 260 will.
Most manuals today load the Swede to ~ 51K psi a gain over the SAAMI psi of 46K. You`ll note they say to reduce by a grain or two for older rifles from the books max, no where does it say to increase for modern rifles.
The Speer #13 shows a 120gr SP From the 260 running at 2888fps with 46gr of IMR4350. One grain more 47gr of IMR4350 in the 6.5x55 drives the same bullet 2884 fps.
Same with 140 gr bullets. 46gr of R22 in the 260 = 2701fps and 48gr of R22 gives 2671fps in the Swede. In both instances the Swede was clocked from a 2" shorter BBL.

I have a 6.5x55 and shoot a reloaded 120 grn Barnes TSX with RL-19 at 2950fps. The caliber kills great even at much slower speeds. Used a 140 grn 2600FPS and it dropped a Whitetail in 4 steps. Interesting I have hit big Canadian deer with much bigger calibers 30-06 thru 300 win mag. They seem to run more with the bigger calibers for me. The 6.5x55 puts them to sleep.
This is a wonderful caliber for killing power, accuracy, and lack of recoil. Those boys knew what they were doing a 100+ years ago. Buckfever1