Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good 6.5x55 loads

Thanks,

I forgot to mention it's an Edge, probably 10-12 oz lighter than dense, fancy wood. IIRC, it's 28 oz. Ballance and handling are really good.

I wasn't aware they made an Edge McWoody until recently. It weighs a few ounces more than a painted Edge, but is still very light.

It's a bit more expensive than the std. McWoody, the Mauser required hand fitting by them at $50 an hour. There are a lot of variations in the Mauser family, one size doesn't necessarily fit all.

It's still much less expensive and lighter than a fancy custom Walnut handle. And, the Edge is stronger than wood.

DF

John Barsness in his Loads that Work article said to use .260 Rem. data and add 2 to 3 grains of powder. Start low of course. http://www.tulprpc.org/attachments/File/Handloads_That_Work.pdf

I checked a couple of cases and the 6.5 runs three to five grains more than the .260. I am comfortable with the 2+ grains but three may be too hot depending on powder. The other thing is the Swede likes slower powders that aren't used in the .260, not sure why a couple of grains capacity would make a difference.

My favorite load in my Tikka 6.5x55 is 50g of H4831SC pushing a 140 Nosler Accubond. Not the fastest load clocking around 2700, but is very accurate.

I've also had pretty good luck with 120 Ballistic Tips and 50g of H4350. Those get just under 3,000 Fps, and also shot pretty good. My last two 5 shot groups with this load hovered between 1/2 & 3/4's of an inch.

Dirtfarmer, et al,

I finally got the chance to run my loads over the chrony and check for repeatability. Both were a pleasant surprise.
Avg speed for 7 rounds over the magnetospeed = 2794fps (24" barrel) ES 11 Sd 9. 5 shot group right at .411

Next, I took it on the stand and popped a little axis doe at 109 yards. On the shot, her back end dropped and she did a 180 on her side and never even kicked.
Exit wound was around 1.75" with very little blood-shot meat in the shoulder. ( figure she live-weighed about 120)

Looking forward to hearing how it works for you DF

Just ran some R26 loads yesterday and they were too hot.
Lapua case 53 gr. R26 with 129gr NABLR federal 200 primers
Forbes rifle 24" barrel at 92 degreee temp.

First shot looked fine with 3,130 fps. Should have known that was too good to be true. By the third shot and with a warm barrel I was getting pretty flat primers. The 53 gr load had seemed fine with the 129 HBTSP and Winchester primers at 2,975 fps.

Suspect the heat, soft primers and long bearing surface of the Noslers are resulting in excess pressure. This combined with an overcharge too. Will drop back and switch primers and try again on another hot day. The Hornadays will be the fall back but I just wanted to see how the Noslers do at short to medium ranges on Deer.

I loaded 140 A-Maxes years ago with IMR 4350 and found 45.3 grains to shoot very well in my Featherweight M70, so very close to your load. It wasn't fast however; 2560-70 if I remember right.

I figure I'll either use the Amax's for 'practice' and save the ABLR for hunting loads. That or trade the Amax's off for something else. Still and all, I really like this rifle!

6.5x55 47.5grs Rel 19 120gr BT , 260 Rem 47grs Rel 19 120gr BT, 7mm-08 48grs Rel 19 120gr BT

My Swede, as shown, doesn't like light bullets, does best with 139 and 155 Scenars. I'm going to try 142 gr. ABLR and 143 ELD-X, just to see.

DF

43.5gr of Norma URP and Remington 9 1/2 Magnum primers in PrviPartizan brass gave me 2650fps with a Nosler 140gr Accubond. I'm going to build this load to see if I can get close to 2750-2800 before pressure builds?

Rifle: Tikka T3 Hunter 6.5x55

Nice!

I had my M70 Swede out this morning to try a couple of powders in new Hornady cases. I was shooting some 129 Interbond seconds I picked up a few years ago. I have heard reports that the bullet can be difficult to shoot well, but my rifle seems to like them combined with H4831. 3-shot groups, a pair of each at 48.0, and 50.0 showed good results. For some reason I couldn't figure out, both groups at 49.0 were larger. (50.0 grains is 1.5 grains above what Hodgdon calls for when shooting the 129 SP.)

I also gave H414 a go, but groups were widely spaced horizontally. 43.5 is Hodgdon's max for the Hornady 129 SP. Both 43.0 and 44.0 'seemed' alright judging from the fired cases. 45.0 threw a primer and stuck the bolt pretty snug. Obviously the rest of those are coming apart. I've leaned pretty hard with H414 in other cases with never a primer doing that. Apparently it isn't a good match in the Swede.

Thanks.

Didn't mention, McWoody is an Edge fill, weighs 28 oz.

DF

Yep.

I'm not interested in shooting 2500-2700 fps.

My W 70 also likes 49.5 gs IMR 4350 under 120 NBTs. They are +/- 3000 fps.

Jerry

I'm OK with 140's, etc. at 2,700 fps. This Swede does great with 139's, 140's, 155's, not as good with 120's.

I'm not going to try to make it a LR gun, have others more suitable for that, so I can get by at this velocity.

120's do very well in my Creed; I'll work up optimal loads for each gun.

DF

DF -

My M 70 Swede seems to like or at least tolerate the 120s. It has what I'd call a medium throat. It's not real short but I can reach the lands w/o any problem.

I can live w/120s at 3000 fps. Where I hunt on any given day I 'could' see something I want up to 400 yds. I've seen a couple of gooduns and I want to be prepared for most opportunities.

I haven't shot the 120s a lot but they certainly have promise. I may not hunt the Swede this yr but it's not far from being ready to go.

I have a Rem M 6 in 06 that's ready and I haven't hunted it at all. I want to bloody it this year.

Jerry

My Swede has the std. long throat, which probably has something to do with preferring long, heavier bullets.

It's amazing how well it shoots the139 gr. Scenar vs NPT's, NBT's, etc.

And with MRP, said to be similar to if not the same as RL-22.

Sorta finicky, but a real tack driver with what it likes. I can live with that. Scenars are not a compromise...

DF

Here is what my little M70 Featherweight 6.5 Swede did with Hornady cases, CCIBR2 primers, 7828SSC and 140 Accubonds. I was very impressed with them. Didn't chrono them but I imagine they'd be fast enough.

I've always liked 7828 in the Swede; one of my favorites, but have none on hand at the moment. I've run both 7828 and RL19 with 120 NBTs with very good results.

That looks pretty good and I bet the speed is great too at 50 gr IMR 7828. Like the 140 gr AB as well, going to also try a few of those in my Wife's Tikka. Have a handful left to try with IMR 4955 and some 140 gr Partitions as well.