Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Recommend a 6.5x54 MS load?

I have a couple hundred Hornady 160 gr #2640 RN bullets. Looking for a hunting load in a MCA carbine. Is IMR 4350 my best bet?

It's been some years, I'd have to look around and see what I loaded.

I will say there are better bullets for it than the 160gr Hornady RN. Try a Norma Oryx 156 or 155gr Lapua Mega. I don't think Sierra makes a 160 any longer.

thanks

IMR4350 would probably work. I've always used H4831 with bullets in the 160-grain class, partly because I got my rifle in a trade with Steelhead, and that's what he'd been using. It worked not only with the 160 Hornady, but the 156 Norma Oryx, but it gets over 100 fps more with the Oryx.

Tried Varget and Norma MRP (which is essentially Reloder 22) with 160's. and neither shot as well as H4831.

Would also agree with Steelhead that there are better bullets than the 160 Hornady. Have seen it break both a deer's shoulders and exit, and also fail to reach the far ribs on a behind-the-shoulder lung shot. Phil Shoemaker has also had similar experiences. The Oryx is bonded, which solves the problem.

From my Hornady 3rd Ed. Manual (all max loads from 18" bbl):

39.0 gr IMR-4350 - 2,200 fps
40.4 gr H-4831 - 2,200 fps
42.0 gr N-204 - 2,200 fps

Thanks all. Interesting info about the 160 hornady. Not what I would have thought. I guess their interlocks are a lot different. Always had good luck with them.

The 2019 Hodgdon Annual Manual has a great article in it on the 6.5 MS. Always wanted one(don't really know why). And now I want one more!
I got the Manual as a Christmas gift, but I think its well worth the asking price of $9.99.

I picked up a 1903 last February and have tried several loads including MD's H4831 load. My stutzen has shot most everything I've tried in it well, including some old Norma 139 gr factory loads I ran across. I'm using them up right now, but will go with MD's load, 160 gr Hornady RNs and 40 gr of H4831, as soon as they're gone. Can't help it....I'm just a traditional sorta guy! The M-S's reputation was made before WWI with 160 gr RNs, and that's what I will use in it.

BTW 222, I would love to see that article. Maybe I can track it down.

Sakoluvr,

The difference isn't in how Hornady's making their Interlocks--they're still making them the same way as always.

Instead I suspect the difference is due to the wider amount of exposed lead in the roundnose, which tends to make them expand more even at moderate velocities. The Spire Points have far less lead exposed.

Have heard of the same erratic performance in other Interlock roundnoses, and even experienced myself once with their 150 RN Interlock in the .30-30.

Thanks JB. I used to use the spire point interlocks in an old .358 Win BLR. Performance was stellar on deer and hogs.

I have those same factory loads. They shoot OK and are a good source of brass and since I have a couple hundred 160's and IMR 4350 that I use in a Rem 6mm, thought I would go that route

I use 4350 in my 1903 6.5X54.
I use the 160 grain Hornady and also the 156 grain PPU. I have not killed anything with the PPU bullet however. Anyone out there have reports on the PPU bullet?

I did kill a buck antelope a few months ago with this rifle, but I used a Sierra 160 grain RN which you can't get anymore because Sierra quit making them. That bullet hit the neck and did some weird things but dropped the buck instantly because it hit the vertebra.

The bullet hit the neck and something came out the front of the throat 90 degrees from the direction the bullet was going leaving a hole that was about 1.5 inched wide and 1" high. There was an exit wound on the other side of the neck that was about 1-1/4" around, and then a round hold next to it, about 1" away, that looked like a pistol bullet entrance wound. I believe the bullet came apart, but I don't know for sure because the pieces exited. I can't say if the off-side woulds were made by metal or bone or both, and I can say the same for the exit on the front of the throat. Weird wounds but nothing left of the bullet to examine.
Here are some pics.
2018 #1 Ant. Buck 2 by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
You can see the small entry wound and the large exit very near it it here.
2018 #1 Ant. Buck by Steve Zihn, on [bleep]


I agree that the Oryx bullet is likely to be better than what I am shooting in every way, but I didn't have any. Still don't. I love shooting this old classic, but I am not wealthy enough to practice with bonded Norma bullets and so far I have yet to find any to buy for hunting. When I find them it seems money is too tight. When I have a bit of money to play with, I can't find any.

I also have heard of the Hornady breaking up from some other shooters (fired from 6.5X55 Swedes) but those I used in the past worked well for me from my old Swede. I don't have the rifle anymore, but when I did I had good success with it.

This is the only kill I have made with the Sierra bullet and I have only 18 of them left, so I doubt it would mater if they were good or bad at this point. A friend of mine killed a nice buck deer with one about 8 years ago and the bullet didn't exit the deer. He could not find it either, so again we can't really say for certain what it did. If they "suck" I don't think I'd buy more even is sierra made them again. I think I am going to settle on the PPU as my practice bullet.

What about cast for for practice? Even if you don't want to DIY them, I'd imagine somebody sells them.

I bought a few Lee molds during the Crunch, just in case, but it was over before I got desperate enough to use them. All I've cast in the past was ML bullets.

Do any 6.5X54 users recommend any lighter bullets - or is the throat too long for good results ?

Another good load in my rifle is the 129 Hornady Spire Point with 44.0 H4831. It gets just under 2500 fps from the 18" barrel, and is more accurate than the 160 RN loads.

The Norma Oryx is a flat-tipped spitzer.

Thanks, John. I gave a 6.5 MS to my son-in-law, and will recommend that load to him. He's been using 3031, I don't know the results.

The 6.5 m/s carbine that I enjoy shooting the most likes IMR 4064 and the Sierra 160 gr RN. This load shoots well and also works perfectly for the barrel sights as issued. It was built in 1912 and seems to have about .002 larger groove dia. than the std. .264. I should try the Norma Oryx or the Lapua Mega bullets but have a couple life time supplies of the Sierra bullets so not a lot of incentive to experiment.

Gardner's Cache sent me some bullets. They were not RN but the quality was spotty. I am going to load them and play with them (practice ). I though Gardner's should have thrown 25% of those bullets back in the pot as I do if I get bad looking bullets. I sent some of them to a friend but picked out some of the bad ones before I mailed them. Probably it was a cosmetic thing but I would only sell cast bullets that look good. Must ask if He has loaded and shot some yet. Rusty