Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good load for 160gr 6.5X55 ?

I have a couple of boxs 160 gr hornady round nose bullets that I would like to try in my Remington model 700 6.5x55 swedish.Anybody have a suggestion for a good powder for this combonation? thank you

RE22......RE19....H4831sc...N560 or 160
these would be powders to start with....something slow...

I use medium burn rate powders...

particular 4064....a charge of 38 to 40 grains, work up...

that gives an MV of about 2400 fps out of my Ruger's 22 inch barrel..higher out of my model 70 and my Mauser which have substantially longer barrels...

hornady fourth edition. has loads developed in the 29" 96 mauser. 2600fps with 3 powders as max load. IMR 4350 42gr, H4831 44gr, H450 43.9gr as max loads in the old swedish mauser rifles. the 160gr rn hornady has a sectional density of .328

Thank you balz526.I wll buy the Hornady 4th edition.Thats the velocity I would try to get.I'm haveing a real hard time finding IMR4350 powder.Huntingtons/RCBS store here in California has a waiting list.

Here are a couple that have been very accurate for me in a Ruger M77 Mk II in 6.5x55. I love the look of this bullet in the Swede case.

160 gr Hornady RN, Lapua cases, Fed GM210M primers and either 45 grs H4831sc for average 2,429 fps, or 44 grs RL19 for average 2,487 fps. The H4831 load is especially consistent (very low SD), but both have shot several one hole 3 shot groups at 100 yds. Both seem near max so work up.

Good shooting!

Patrick,

You likely can't buy the Hornady 4th edition as it's a bit out of date. The current version is Hornady #7, but I believe the loads for the 6.5x55 haven't changed. If you wanted you could buy the LoadBook USA for 6.5x55. I think their loads for Hornady are from the 4th or 5th edition. You would also get an older load from Alliant powder for the 160g Hornady. They were since purchased by ATK (Speer/Federal) and now only show loads for Speer bullets.

I wouldn't expect to get 2,600 from a 160 grain Hornady using Hornady's loads. Remember, their test gun has a 29" barrel. I'm guessing that your Remington 700 has a 22" to 24" barrel. Expect to lose about 100 to 120 fps due to the barrel length differences. Not to mention that many times, the published velocities are hard to reach even if your gun has the same barrel length as the test gun. 2,400 to 2,500 is a realistic expectation using loads developed for a weak-actioned mauser.

Speaking of which, nearly all the load companies out there keep their loads low due to the old weak actioned rifles still out there. There are a few (Speer, Ramshot, Nosler, to name a few) that load to the more modern specs (~55,000psi) that your gun could handle easily. Of course, none of them have loads for the 160g Hornady.

Some good bets on powder would be:
Alliant Reloder 22
Accurate 4350
Hodgdon H4831
IMR 4350
IMR 4831
Hodgdon H4350

You may already be aware, but please note that there are 3 different 4350 powders and 2 4831 powders. They are NOT interchangeable. Don't use powder loads from one with a different powder.

IMR 7828 is a good powder for the 6.5X55. I use it from 120 to 160 grains. Excellent accuracy, good speeds, modest pressures.

Azar

The M96 is a weak action and as such can not be loaded to the higher pressures that a 700 can handle. You can indeed push a 160gr to 2,600fps in the 22 tube on the Remington.

Hornady #5 manual list a MAX! load of 46.6grs of H1000 in the M96, so in your 700 i would go up at least 2 more grs. Obviously so slow but that would be a good guide line. H1000 is THE powder for such a heavy bullet in the swede case. Win WMR is also listed with 45.5grs MAX for 2,400 fps but once again you can go 2 grains higher. Hope this helps

H380 is also a good burn rate powder for the 160 grain bullet in the Swede...

working up on my own..in a Model 70, I was able to exceed 2700 fps with a 26 inch barrel and a Hornady 160 RN...

Remington brass was used...

because of the old Mausers out there, you will not find load data that will correspond to modern metalurgy and what pressures that are safe in more modern firearms..

I normally use RL22 but having a large supply of Winchester 780 Supreme I worked up a 160 grain load for it and it worked nicely.

46.5 Grains Winchester 780 Supreme
160 Grain Hornady
Lapua Brass
CCI magnum primer

THIS LOAD WAS DEVELOPED IN A MODERN RIFLE.

DarkStar,

I wasn't intending to imply that his 700 couldn't reach 2,600fps with a 160g out of his 22" barrel. I was stating that he wasn't likely to get 2,600fps out of his 22" barrel using a load that was developed for a weak-actioned mauser with a 29" barrel.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

How much hotter can you load say a Tikka T3 than the loads listed in most of the manuals for the older Swedish mausers? I use varget for all of my 6.5x55 loads and I'm trying to work up a nasty 160gr load with varget and sierra's 160gr pill. I see a listing of 36 grains of varget max load on hodgdon's site......I was hoping for quite a bit more than that. I believe their listing is for a older mauser action? How much heavier of a load could the new production actions such as the tikka's handle?

Pat

The Hornady 160 loads I tested used..

RE22..N560...IMR4007ssc...H4831sc...H4350

Settled on 47/RE22 in Lapua case & Rem 9.5

Haven't clocked the load yet...but punches a 3/4" group

w/three shots in my Tikka T3...

The heavy 160 gr bullet should stop most anything...

Ive always been told that the steel used to have the swedish mausers constructed of was supeior to anyone elses steel and you can load em up a bit hotter and they will stand up to the excess,hands down most accurate load I ever shot out of my swede was 44.0 grains of reloader 19 with a norma 156 gr. Round nose.it is so stinkin accurate that I just dont mess with it in any way...........

The manual are worried about the old Krag actions also, that would be my guess.

I didn't know that Sierra makes a 160 grain 6.5mm bullet. I thought that the 142 grain was there max.

They used to make one. It was discontinued several years ago, IIRC.

Best Regards

Hehe and I bought nearly a 1000 of them at old pricing from a local shop. They shoot like mad.

I also cleaned out their 160 rn hornady 6.5's.

Pat

That's so wrong I keep hoping I'll run across the same thing!

I have a few of the Sierras, but not as many as I'd like; actually a lot more of the 170s for 7mm. I rather liked the RN stuff Sierra once made in many calibers. They seemed to have tougher cores than Hornadys and had some really great shapes for round point bullets.