Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles If I have a 6.5x55...

...do I have a need for a 30-06?

Am thinking along the lines of elk hunting.

Not really. The Swedes have been killing moose with it for years. I guess it all depends on what your max range would be and what grain bullet do you want to shoot.

Everyone needs a 30-06. Its un-American not to.

I have one sitting in the corner of my safe and can never figure out when to use it, but i like having it there...just in case.

What is this need deal one is speaking of? I thought it was all about "want."

I think I have two 06's, and I know I have a 6.5x55.

Maybe, but if you have a 6.5 Creedmoor you sure don't need a Swede.

I think it's the other way around...…..if you have a Swede you don't need a 6.5 Creedmoor

Wants and needs LOL. Boss and I are having that discussion right now. A good Swede will do what you want if you do your part.

Mechanics are mechanics.

The rest is Fluff.

Hint.............

A Swede topped off with a 129 grain Hornady is capable of a lot.

You have a 6.5x55, do you really need a 257 Roberts?? 😀

Just get what you want. There is a lot of versatility in an 06. That being said I have a Pre 64 M70 FWT that hasn't seen the light of day in over a decade. I just had a Swede built and have other rifles I much prefer over an 06. Befor I bought an 06 I'd take a close look at a 280, 7x57 in either the std chambering or Ackley Improved. I have a 7X57 AI that I wouldn't hesitate to use on an elk.

How swede' it is!



and though I generally roll my own,



I have become a fan of the 156 gr. Norma Oryx's performance on deer and hoglets!

YMMV

ya!

GWB

No.

I have both and hunted both.
Great cartridges in their own right.

But if your elk hunting will take you into grizzly country I would bend towards the 06', although encounters with ursus horribilis are pretty rare.
Not saying a 6.5 140 partition or Barnes 130 is lacking, just that a .30 180-200gr. is more better.

...and as usual, GW pushes the rifle envy factor up several notches every time he throws up pics of his beautiful blasters.

Yes,you will need a back-up rifle in case something happens to your 6.5x55.

He Dub, have you run those through a chrono? I wouldn't mind trying some someday.

No.

When doing load development I always shoot over a chrono. However as the rifle came with 5 boxes of the Norma Oryx factory rounds, I did not. Two hundred yds. would be max distance I would need to shoot. If I thought I was going to stretch it out to 300 to 400 yds. I would take a different rifle.

Here is the factory dope on the 156 Norma.

https://www.norma.cc/us/Products/Hunting/65x55-Swedish-Mauser/Oryx/

IMHO, 2,559 fps. MV is perfect for this type of hunting, and game, as it does very little meat damage.

IIRC this buck was shot at +/- 90 yds.



He had come in and was walking perpendicular to going right to left. Either something spooked him or he got my wind. He turned and started to walk the other way. When he stopped he was quartering toward me with his head and right front shoulder at 5 o'clock and his flank at 11 o'clock. The Oryx bullet caught him about half way down from the top of his withers just in front of the junction of his neck and shoulder. He did a complete back flip and was DRT. You can see where the bullet exited just in front of his left rear hindquarter. I like that kind of penetration.

ya!


GWB

Excellent, thanks!