Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Rechambering a 6.5x55

I have a CZ 550 American with Kevlar stock in6.5x55. I believe the barrel is a hair under24 inches. It shoots really well.

Am bored and am Thinking of a rebuild. Would like to get a liitle more range and FPS for open country shooting.

Any suggestions?

Depends on how many more FPS you want to gain...

Well... A 264 wouldn't quite get to shine with that length bbl, but you'd still see a good gain in velocity.

Seems that a 140 AMAX in your x55 may wake up its LR potential, if it'll stabilize them.

Know would be better with a 26 inch barrel.

looking to get an extra 200 to 300fps.

Have tried the 140's and shoot ok. Looking to get a bit more.

I'm thinking rebarrel.

Guess the next thing you need to ask yourself now that you've established that you want a 200fps-300fps increase over what your 6.5 x 55 will do is, "How far am I planning on shooting in this open country..?"

Out to 500 to 600 yds on targets.

No farther than 500 yds on game . Depending how it shoots and practice time.


maybe a 6.5 x 284 with a rebarrel?

Your x55 will be fine at that range.

Ha ha ha... Ribka, I understand being "...bored and thinking.."

And I would submit that it is indeed the boredom and not the ballistics of your fine 6.5 x 55 that is driving this "thinking."

Tanner is right, and well... you probably already know that your 6.5 x 55 is capable within those ranges.

But, don''t let that stop ya... Maybe it's time for a new build..?

Personally I think that your diameter/caliber of choice is very cool, .264" bullets sure like to perform.

Loaded at equal pressures, I don't think that you can reasonably expect to gain 200 to 300 fps with an additional 9 grains of case capacity, 57 for the 6.5x55 vs. 66 for the 6.5-284.

If you set the barrel back a little and reamed the chamber to 6.5-06AI, you'd get around 73+/- grains of case capacity. Even with about a 16 grain increase in case capacity, you'd still be 9 grains short of the 264 Win Mag's capacity.

Jeff

I should spend my time fixing the sink in the bathroom according to my wife instead of thinking of gun projects.

Yeh, the 6.5x55 shoots so well and predictable that it is boring. Recoil is about the same as my .223

I just picked up a pre 64 .264 Westerner from a friend. Just too pretty to take out hunting

I think you've got two great 6.5s right there. That x55 sounds nice , and you also own a gun that resides in my dreams in that pre64 264. Hunt that thing, it'd be a crime not to. Or send it out to Colorado and I'll christen it on a big fat mule deer.

Ah sinks come and go...

Again, Tanner is right.

Now, an option would be to drop that 264 Westerner into a McMillan and and run it like it was meant to be.

I don't think I could keep a 264 Winchester in the safe and out of the hunt.

Have you thought about using the Berger 130 gr VLD and loading up to "modern" pressures in your 6.5x55? With that bullet started at 2800+ fps, wind would be your only issue in going out to 600 yards for hunting, and wind is less of a problem with that bullet in a modern-loaded 6.5x55 than a lot of the less aerodynamic bullets in a much faster cartridge.

Here are some numbers for 1000 ft elevation, 10 mph crosswind, and 2800 fps muzzle velocity:
velocity and wind drift @ 400 yds: 2180 fps, 10.1" wind drift
velocity and wind drift @ 500 yds: 2040 fps, 16.3" wind drift

A. the 264 uses a different bolt face.

B. The 140 out of a 'Swede is slowwwwwww.

Just hold tight,it's cabin fever,it will pass....don't mess up the Swede...

If you must molest a Swede, maybe an AI.

I just assumed that a 264 or 6.5x284 would be the rechamber he was talking about, boltfaces notwithstanding, but I do always overlook the damn bolt faces

In that action, don't you think you could run a 140 up to 260 speeds?

One thing you need to remember, ballistic coefficient doesn't really mean squat until significant longer range. BC only defines how much better the bullet resists shedding velocity. When you start the bullet slow to begin with, BC doesn't help you much.

The 'swede shooting a 140gr bullet, is probably a 2500-2600fps load.

Just my current view on the matter is to spend the money on reloading components and optic upgrades rather than messing with a rifle that already shoots good. I have 1000 bullets, a keg of powder and 5000 primers arriving tomorrow. I will order more when that is gone. When I wear out my current barrels then I will upgrade.

With the 6.5x55 you have Lapua and Norma brass available and a whole slew of high BC bullets to test. Lots of recoil is not going to encourage lots of practice and you should be able to get to 600 yards without the bullets bouncing off even if you use the SAAMI limit low pressure data and start them "slowww"...

http://www.lapua.com/en/products/sport-shooting/centerfire-rifle/18#tables A 123 Scenar at 3000 is not terrible slow.