Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 6.5 x 55 and 129 grain Hornady Bullets

I've been working out some loads for Pappy's Kimber Mauser 96 6.5x55 and I've not had bit of luck with this particular bullet.

The 120 grain Nosler BT and RL 19 works great, averaging 1.0-1.25 for 3 shots @ 100yards.

The 129 Hornady and RL 19 is averaging 3-3.5 groups.

Anyone have a pet load for the 129 handy?

Thanks for the input,

HBB

I never could get them to group in my Swede. R 19 and the Nosler BT's shoot great groups!

HMM I wonder if it is a long throat thing? The Nosler 120 is a hair longer (very technical hillbilly measurement ) than the 129 Hornady?

HBB

The best load I worked up for this bullet was using 48 grain of H 4350 for 2781 fps. Killed deer sized game DRT as they say. I tried this in a couple of model 96's and it was accurate in both.

AGW

Thanks AGW, I've got plenty of H 4350 on hand. This may just be the ticket.

HBB

I wonder if twist rate has anything to do with your accuracy!!! I read somewhere, that there were 2 twist rates used in the 6.5x55. Maybe your Kimber has the twist for lighter bullets. I believe it was stated that 1 rate for light bullets and the second rate for heavier bullets. Just a thought. Ken

I'm pretty sure that the Kimber 6.5x55s used the military barrels, so I'd doubt that they are too quick for the 129 grain Hornady.

Jeff

According to the information I found , Kimber did use the military barrels. Supposedly, they cut them off (29 to 22 inches) and rechambered them. The twist rate is supposed to be 1 in 7.8 inches.

HBB

my swedes shot the 129s pretty well, but at VERY close range (20-25 feet), i lost 2 deer to 129s that failed to penetrate. i much favor 140s in my current swede, whether they be winchesters, remmy core-lokts or hornadies. punched a 160-pound doe stern to bow one day with a core-lokt 140. the bullet entered you-know-where and exited through the neck.

I use 47.5g H4350, but if I were having troubles with a Swede, I'd pick a velocity (powder and charge), then mess with the seating depth before changing powder weight. I've not had trouble getting 0.030" of the lands in either a Ruger or a Win M70, but YMMV.

Jaywalker

I just finished turning off a batch of 129 Hornadys and H 4350. If all goes well I'll range test them tomorrow or Friday.

Thanks again for all the input.

HBB

Try IMR 4064 (34.3--39.3) with the 129gr. Hornady. I had one 96 Swede that wouldn't work with any combination until I tried this powder.

It's worth a try.

Rojelio

I`ve had pretty good luck with R22 and the 129gr Hornady SP in a couple Swedes. Work up to ~46-47 gr, velocity should run about 2750-2800 fps.
I can`t get the 129gr SST to shoot worth a hoot in my present 6.5x55 or 260s, the regular SP does fine though. If you have the SST try the std SP version.

If the H 4350 doesn't do the trick I'll try the 4064 and RL 22 next.

I have the flatbase spirepoint version.


Thanks for the input,

HBB

aa 3100 always worked best for me with the swede.

My best results in a 6.5x55 (Howa Lightning) were with IMR-4350 and the Hornady 129 gr Spirepoint. The most accurate load was 42.5 gr, but velocity was only around 2400 fps. Boosting the powder charge to 46.0 gr of IMR-4350 got the velocity up around 2650 and the accuracy was still quite good. If I were loading for a new shooter or someone recoil sensitive, that 42.5 gr load would be just the ticket.
I have also gotten good results with IMR-4064 and Accurate Data 86 Extruded (very close to 3100 in burning rate). My Howa seems to prefer the heavier bullets, as the 129 gr Hornady is the lightest bullet that can provide consistent accuracy. the 120 gr bullets turn in occasional good groups, but the 129 Hornady and the 140 gr Hornady seem to do it with much greater consistency. FWIW, Reloder 19 didn't work well at all in 6.5x55 regardless of bullet weight. Reloder 22 worked will with the 140 gr and 160 gr bullets.
As for the 90 and 100 gr bullets, I had no luck with them at all in my rifle. Not sure if it was the long throat or twist rate, but I gave up completely trying to get the Nosler 100 gr B-Tip or 90 gr Speer TNT to group under 4 inches at 100 yards from the bench. Good luck and let us know how it turns out for you.

I bought my son one of the Kimber Swedes when they were still making them up. His rifle shoots 140 grain Nosler Partitions over RL 19 quite well and it's pure poison on whitetails.

129's worked great in mine, can't remember the load but it was RL-22 pushing it; 4831 also works well in the 6.5x55

Hillbilly, I've got the same rifle. 129g Hornady SP, pushed with 40.7g IMR 4064, CCI 200 primer and 3.025" COAL. This works real well in my rifle. As always YMMV. Good luck.

I've been using 47gr. of H4831sc. Shoots moa, and does a great job on whitetail.