Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5s Old and New

Just read the piece on the 6.5x54 MS in "The Big Book Of Gun Gack. Ballistics with bullets up to 129gr or so run pretty close to 6.5 Grendel loads. Good "zone" to be in, I'm thinking.

I have a 6.5X54 and I like it a lot. My load however is the old round nose 160 grain bullet, which is the one (either 156 or 160 grain) that made the cartridge famous.

I have made a lot of 6.5X55 Swedes in my life and I think VERY highly of the shell, but as of now I don't own one.

The Swede, the Creedmoor and the 260 Remington all have similar ballistics, with my old 6.5X54 coming in a bit behind them, but I don't care. I like my Mannlicher and when I carry it I feel no need for more speed or more power.
If I have need for more I step up to a 270, or my 300 mag.

Yeah, the 6.5x54 being about the same as the Grendel ain't a bad thing. I started both my son's out with 6.5x55's. My 8 yo took a 250 lb PA whitetail with his shooting a 100 gr BT at 2600 fps. one shot, DRT.

Been a big fan of the 6.5's for ever. Currently shoot the 6.5 Grendel, .260, 6.5x55, 6.5x57, and 6.5x65. Been thinking of turning one of my Husqvarna 1640's into a .264 Winnie.

My next project will be to rebarrel a Norwegian Krag. It was sporterized but the bore is rough. That's be a fun one.

She'll be on my lap for Saturday's New York opener loaded with 156gr Norma Alaskan's.

Somewhat partial to the 6.5x54 here. There are a couple or so around the house. One of my favorite's is a rifle version that has a Lyman folding rear peep sight.

The only game I've shot with them has been Whitetails but have never had a problem there.

Z1r if you decide to re-barrel it remember the barrel threads are left hand

Yup, thanks. The action wrench is the real hold up. Gotta make one.

SQUEELER "She'll be on my lap for Saturday's New York opener loaded with 156gr Norma Alaskan's".

That is a beauty!

I have a couple of custom Arisaka Type 38 carbines in 6.5X50MM that I still havent shot yet. Someone put a lot of money into them probably back in the 1960s

My 6.5X57R is also a good chuckar-killer. It's a 16ga Sauer drilling with a 6X Hensoldt. It shoots best with Prvi 129gr spitzers over 44.5gr IMR 4350 at 2,675 fps. It's not a hotrod, but it's accurate and a deer killer.

You don't need that rifle...


I DO!

I wish somebody could convince Kimber to produce some mannlicher classic select french walnut 84m rifles in 6.5X57 it would be almost as cool as new Savage 99s produced in 6.5X55.

Even your dogs are classic. Always wanted a nice drilling for combo deer turkey hunts. Wish I had picked up a WWII pilot one before they got so expensive.

One of the older 6.5's, a 6.5x58R Sauer, I have to make brass from the 9.3x72R, the case on the right, 243Win on left.



Drilling built in 1926, still shoots sub MOA groups with 90 Speers and smokes coyotes. I use it mainly when hunting thicker country 1oz of NP BB's in the shotgun barrels.

Here is my favorite 6.5, kind of a crappy picture but it is the only one I have on this computer. It is a first model Newton in 256 Newton. It really likes the 140 NPTs.

NOW that's what a rifle should look like!

Better pic. Engraved by Austrian master Albin Obiltschnig.

What's all that "scratching" all over the bottom??


Fantastic artistry!

Some fine rifles here.

After studying up on the .256 Newton I decided to build a 6.5-'06, that was about 1980. It is still shooting well from its #3 Shilen barrel that I cut to 600 mm (23.6") and mounted on a Rem M700 action. Starting that project today I would go with something short and wide, oh wait that would be the 6.5 PRC I decided to build.

jim