When I ran my 6.5-06 I had outstanding results with the 139gr Hornady, 125gr Nosler Partition and the 120gr and 140gr Nosler BT. With that rifle I killed everything from coyotes to bear and elk and loved that rifle. My uncle gave my daughter a 6.5x55 Sweed with a lifetime supply of brass and hunting loads mostly heavier 140gr and 156gr Norma factory stuff. I am looking for a modern production 6.5x55 for myself now and will be reloading for both of us. My question is what bullets do you all prefer for the a round with the velocities of the Sweed? Any recovered bullet pictures? Thanks for the time.

ACLakey. Two cow elk the old federal 140gr part. 200? or so yards broud side at about 2500fps muzzel. Thay down load fore old rifles but that is what makes them so leathel get close and or hunting. The 156gr could go throu four trailer houses end for end Just a thought. Or moose rather big themselves.

Just maybe two on moose. Please just do'nt try to make it a magnum!!

For large Deer I have had great results with 120 Barnes TSX. RL-19 at max book in new action @ 2950FPS accurate and deadly although they run up to 50 yards then lights out. Buckfever1

I haven't killed anything with it, but my Ruger MKII 6.5X55 really likes the 140 gr interbond and partitions with IMR 4895. Very accurate.

Haven't killed anything with mine either, but it really likes the 130 Accubonds. I think a 130gr class bullet makes the most sense compared to velocity, and case capacity. Mine will shoot the heavies, but the 'Swede is no speed monster.

For my son's 6.5x55 I load 125g Nosler partition with I4350 as per the manual for hunting, there has not been a bullet recovered (no surprise) This has been a very effective load on deer sized animals; effective enough that I have not loaded another round for hunting. Accuracy is good and consistent.

For varmint shooting I load the 95 grain Hornady V-Max with I4064 2.3 grains below max as per the manual. This is a nice practice load and very effective on our "gophers".

WE have 3 6.5X55s in the house my son's Tikka T3 and 2 milsurps. I am giving serious consideration to getting another in the house. Great little calibre. GRF

I have hunted with 140gr Sierras and Speers. Both work like magic from my Rugers #1A and M77MkII. Have not recovered one yet, which is just the way I like it. Hit them in the shoulders and they go plop. Hit them in the ribs and they run 50-100 yards before going plop. It's just like a 30-06 except it doesn't kick as hard. Very nice deer hunting caliber IME.

I'm shooting 140 VLD's in mine..Makes the old cartridge about 80 years younger.

Both the 125 and 140 grain Nosler Partitions have worked quite well for me in the 6.5x55 Swede. So well, that I'm not even looking for another 6.5mm bullet.

i've killed elk, deer, hogs, black bucks, axis deer, and pronghorn antelope with the 6.5x55. most were killed with a 120 ttsx.

still trying to stop one.

For the 6.5x55 velocity the Remington core-lokt work great. I have had a Remington model 700 classic 6.5x55 swed. since 1994 and everything it's taken with a core-lokt has been a pass through or a perfect exspansion. I buy the core-lokt 140 gr. bullets from Cabelas.They use to have a good price on bulk Remington bullets but they have gone up.

Used the 129gr Hornady flat base in mine on about a dozen deer
Performance from dropping on the spot to a little run depending on the hit.
Ranges 25 to 300yrds. I would not hesitate to use it again.

In the past 5 years, I've had five 6.5x55's and one 260. I've shot multiple deer and a bunch of hogs with those cartridges using several bullets: 120gr NBT, 120 TTSX, 125 NPT, 140 NPT, 140 SGK, 140 AB and 140 VLD. I've been pleased with all of them for those applications. I've read consistently good results about the 129gr Hornady and 130gr AB as well. Lots of good 6.5mm bullets to choose from!

Wow lets see. I've used 140 corelockts, Powerpoints, Speer hot core, Sierra Game kings, and Horns. I've also used the 125 partition and am currently running the 129 Hornady interlock.

All have worked great! I don't think you can find a bad hunting bullet in the Sweed. I'm liking the 125 nosler and the 129 Horn in some book loads for a milsurp rifle. No noticeable recoil and my young nieces (9 and 13) can shoot it all day long. They flatten deer and hogs.

I'm with mohawk, hard to find a bad bullet in the swede. I've had really good luck with the now discontinued 160 Sierra and have a couple of hundred Lapua mega bullets to try out. Have also had good luck with 156 Alaska bullets.

Thanks for the replies. I found this link and thought it was an interesting read.

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledge+Base/6.5x55.html

BCSteve also did some good work on 6.5mm bullets

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...s/1481504/Huge_264_Bullet_Test_with_lots

Part II

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...s/4783400/Huge_264_bullet_test_Part_Deux

130 & 140 gr Accubonds working great for me

Great information, thank all.

Unless the barrels have been set back, Swedish Mausers are throated pretty deep. Mine generally shoot the best with bullets 140 grain or heavier, so I generally load the 140 grain Partiton or AMax.

Jeff

For youth loads which are fine on deer...100 grainers, your choice...I've run them from 2500 fps to 3400 fps in several different 6.5 x 55s I have, depending upon barrel length and powder charge...

just about ANY 6.5 bullets work well...

My Swede is a Tikka T3 Hunter that I use for mule deer. I load 120 grain Nosler BT with Varget to get right at 2700 fps. Haven't had a deer go more than 20 yards after getting hit with that load.

I have 2 6.5 sweeds, my favorite bullet is the 140 partition. I've used that bullet for everything from antelope to elk. Was able to take 7 elk with 7 shots. However none were bigger than an average raghorn, and the range was rather short. For the real big bulls I'm sure that it would work well, but I would feel better with my .30-06. My son uses a 160 grain bullet ( maker unknown ) and he claims nothing penetrates better. He has shot all his elk with that bullet. 140 or 160 hit em where they live and the hunt is over.

I had good luck with 120 gr NBTs. Always wanted to try the 130 AB.

These days I shoot just two bullets out of my only 6.5 x 55, 120 gr Speer SP and 120 gr Barnes X's. In years past, I was pretty much a 140 to 160 gr bullet guy out of the Swede. I found out that the 120's are plenty bullet and shoot very flat Then again I also keep a few loads in my pocket load with 156 gr Oryx from Norma. I shot a lot of 160 gr Hornady RN's that bullet always was accurate, but it would do some strange things when it hit meat from time to time. Moot point I hear Hornaday discontinued that one.

The 129 Hornady seems like a tough bullet to top in the Swede when you factor everything in. It seems tough enough for just about anything, it's accurate, it shoots fast and flat relative to many other hunting types in the caliber, and it is priced reasonably relative to the rest.

The new 140 Ballistic Tip is going to be one of my main "GoTo" bullets for mine now..

There seem to be plenty in the pipeline. Perhaps the rumor started because the .268 version does seem to be finished. GRafs, I think, has .268 blemished 160 RN on deep discount right now by the way. The .264s are in stock at regular prices.

+1...

What? I thought the Swede would spit anything other than 140s back at the shooter ... unfired

I shoot a 6.5mm Rem Mag in a M673 with a 22" barrel and like the 125 gr PT and 130 gr AB. Both loads are running 3050 fps which is a little faster than you would get from your Sweed but you get the idea.
125 gr PT

130 gr AB


JD338

It's no rumor. Hornady confirmed to me by email when asked. (Twice, though I only asked the question once).



They discontinued the 7mm 154g RN at the same time but left the 175g RN alone for now....

Unless they started production back up for 2012 I imagine what's in the pipeline right now is what's left.

In 6.5x55 and .260 Rem we have shot 120 Speer, 120 Rem Accutip and 129 Hornady. The Hornady is hard to beat. In the .260 we add 49.9 gr of H4831. In the 6.5 I think it is 50.5 gr. FWIW