Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 6.5x55 or 6.5x47

What you recommend for a new build for a whitetail gun?

FWIW- If you're starting with a small rifle,ie a CZ, Sako, or maybe an M700 short action, the 6.5x47 would be impossible to beat. A 20" barrel and glass stock, with a small low-powered scope would weigh somewhere in the low 5# class, and SHOULD be accurate enough to hit well at up to 300 or so yards.
If you want to start with a slightly larger rifle, the 6.5x55 with a wooden stock, and a slightly longer barrel, ie 22"-23", maybe a Mannlicher-stock, would be hard to pass on, plus become a family heirloom, with all the huntin' stories that'd come from it.
Have fun,
Gene

Comes down to short action vs long action. Short action with the Lapua holds more appeal to me as a hunting rifle, but a long action in the Swede (or 6.5/06) would work too.

The 6.5X55 or .260Rem.

Pierce SA
Broughton, SS, 26" #3
McMillan Rem Sporter, Edge filled in grey
Rifle Basix trigger @ 2.5 lbs
PTG BDL bottom metal
Pierce 1pc alum picatinny 20 moa rail
Farrell alum 30mm rings
Nightforce 2.5-10 with NPR1 reticle
Cerakote in black





Oh yeah! 6.5x47 Lapua

My loads.

140 Partition
41.6 gr Rel 17
Fed 205M
Redding Type-S FL bushing die with .289" bushing

2869 fps


140 Berger VLD
42.1 gr Rel 17
Fed 205M

2963 fps
.53 MOA


With all the above, I may be starting all over again. I should be getting the rifle back from the 'smith who built it. I had him take 1-2 " off the barrel shank end and "mid-turn" the action, all to remove weight. He was supposed to have shipped it to me 2 days ago. I post pics when I get it. I hope to start with roughly the same loads and have minimal load workups.

A lot of my rifles weight is in the 19 oz NF scope but I love that scope and don't want to mess with some thing so good. So, metal first. If I still don't like the weight, then I'll take a look at a Leupold.

Alan

I was thinking same thing... ended up with a 6.5-06

If it is for long range work, look at the 6.5x284 Norma. It is a match caliber that also works for hunting.

If you are shooting to about 300 yards or so the 6.5x55 Swede is hard to beat. The ex-military Swedes like the heavy 140gr bullets. The Remington, Ruger, or CZs like the 120gr pills. For deer and under the 120s will do the job nicely and shoot fairly flat. For Elk and such the 140s will fit the bill.

Good Luck as the 6.5 (.260) is a great choice.

Design of the 6.5-06 trumps the 6.5X284 as concerned to bbl life.

130's are applicable to large game.
Barnes has the new 129 gr coming out.
Nosler AB in 130 grs is one to look at.

I'm a 139, 140, 142 gr fan myself.

Both cartridges are superbly accurate.

News to me - Barnes 127gr LR/X, be interesting to see how it might differ from a TTSX, thought they might have done a heavier TTSX than the 120gr i.e. a 130 TTSX, as the TTSX better BC than the 120/130 TSX.

If a rifle likes them, the 127 might hold alot of promise.

Cocadori, the 140 is often a fav in the larger cases, but in the AB line the 130 seems to please most all and I think some that have tried the 140AB come back to the 130, perhaps it outshoots the 140 in that bullet. If accurate the 140AB should be an outstanding bullet.

For a long range bullet, I'd be looking hard also at the 140 Ballistic Tip, a newbie that should hold much promise IMO as expansion is a key concern w/accuracy, for LR work.

for LR work.. hard to beat the 140 Berger.

I have a 6.5x47, 260, 260A/I, 2 6.5 creeds and the one I always seem to grab is the little 6.5x47 Lapua. It has almost no recoil, brass last forever and its as accurate as ANY caliber I have ever shot. I think everyone should at least try this round as there are very few downsides if you dont try to hot rod it much.

I have a 6.5x284. Looked at a 6.5x47 today and I am going with it.

I have and enjoy a 6.5x47L. I have been moving 120-130gr bullets from 2800-2900fps with ease and long brass life, and 0.5 MOA 5 shot accuracy with nearly every load.
I would be happy with this little cartridge for Whitetails to Sheep for life, and would go straight to the 6.5-284 if I wanted to shoot 140-142's.

Mod7nut

Do you still have either of the creedmore rifles. I'm wanting a semi custom to a full custom 6.5 Creedmoor, but I'm looking for a lighter handier rifle for hunting. Accuracy is obviously very important(only accurate rifles are interesting).......do you have any you are interested in selling? You always have the good s*!t

Long action or short action?

I have 6.5x55, 6.5-284 and 26 Nosler.

For a SA, I like the Creed and that's my next project on a .22-250 M-700 with a tired barrel. The Creed was designed around the SA.

DF

If you have or want a short action, i'd still go with the 6.5x47. I have 2; each with about 2300+ down their barrels. Still on the same original 100 cases for each rifle. Trimmed 2x only; 10th and 20th firing. Anneal every 1-3 firings. Accuracy is still phenomenal. The heavy rifle gets a steady diet of 140 Hybrids over H4350/CCI450's. I can hit milk jugs with it at 1 mile. The lighter rifle was re-scoped from the NF 2.5-10x32 to the NF 2.5-10x42. I now push the Canadian 142 gr Matrix VLD to over 2900 with Rel 17. Took a spike elk with it at 950 yds last Oct.

With that said, if the long action were the order of the day, I'd go with the 6.5x55......but........I threw a twist into the equation. I just happen to have a 30+ yr old Rem 700 LA sitting around so it's getting a 24" #3 fluted Hart in 6.5mm, 1:8 twist. It will sit in a D'Arcy Echols Shrike stock. Metal work to be done by Ron Young of Young Guns, Price, Utah and bedding and stock/metal finishing to be by Charley Santoni of CS Sports near Sacramento, CA. I've finished my conversations with both Dave Kiff of PTG (reamer and Go-Guage) and the guys at Whidden Gunworks (Bushing die, Micrometer seater and Hydraulic form die).

I'll be taking the great Lapua 8x57 case and necking it down to 6.5mm. Then blowing the neck out to 30 deg. Dave Kiff calls it the 6.5x57BR.

Like the 6.5x47 in a SA, their is plenty of room to seat bullets way out and chase the lands as I have in both my -47's. I think the same for the mid length -57 case in a LA.

Alan