Who loads 6.5 X 55 Swede?

[gunsmith007]

PS. My sweede likes 139,140,156 grain bullets best I have a 1895 sweede carbine 3 digit serial no. Shoots like a dream

 

[Dwesson]

Well, talking about the 6.5 Swedish cartridge, it's a bit of an unsung hero, for sure, at least, in North America. Having said that, over here in Northern Europe and Scandinavia this modern-looking cartridge, introduced way back in 1895 [yes, 1895], has been dropping Elg - that's moose to you - since the day it came out. Note that OUR mooses are BIGGER than YOUR mooses, mainly 'cos we'e had them longer, or so the naturalists say. Here they go around 1200# for a bull in good condition, only a little less for a moosette. That 140gr bullet, particulally with partition bullets - we call them H-mantel - has a very high BC and gets right through the chest from side to side in most 3/4-ering shots, taking out the lungs and heart in one fell swoop, often dropping the animal where it stands right there in its hoofprints.

The Alaskan Moose, A. gigas is the largest of the sub-species.

Edit to Add: A Roosevelt Elk in the US is of similar body size to an average European Moose to put it in perspective vs an Alaskan Moose.

 

[servicerifleman1]

Took many big game animals with the Swede and my go to rifle is a Tikka M695 Whitetail Hunter Series Master Trapper model with a compact tube 18-20 inches on the outside. Many years I used a sporterized Swede. Still own a 1906 Made 1896 Carl Gustav Made. Handloads with Remington brass and Winchester LRP have had great results with Speer Hot Core 140 and Regular Hornady interlock 140gr bullets with 40.0 grains IMR-4350. Took a Young Bull Moose in the Vernon B.C. Area at a lasered 308 yards. Bull didn't so much as wiggle after he went down. Had great results with both IMR and Hodgdon 4895. Nobler Ballistic tips and Partition 125-140. Remington Corelocts as well work well. Great flat shooting caliber that puts game down with authority. Really shines with Handloads although some factory loads are hotter than others as per their specs. Good shooting.

 

[gunsmith007]

Actually there were 1894 sweedish Mausers the Germans made 1894/1895 Mausers for the sweedes a little over 12,000 tolal and the sweedes purchased the right to produce their own rifles in 1896 they adopted the 6.5x55

 

[servicerifleman1]

The contract was so important for Mauser as only the finest Swedish steel was to be used the Mauser Company built a new factory to build the rifles. King Carl specified that the rifles were to equal the finest sporting rifles of the time. Anytime I pick up my 1896 Mauser I am amazed at the artistry that went into building it and the bolt and magazine follower are finished in the white and show zero corrosion and it was made in 1906. What a beauty and talk about a shooter with the 29 inch tube. Sniper city.

P.S. Along with those 1894 Carbines there were like 40,000 1896 long rifles. I once owned a 1900 dated Mauser built long rifle converted to 1896/1938 specs. It has the micrometer rear adjustable sight and threaded barrel for the blank firing device and or flash suppressor.

 

[MikeInOr]

I used 4064 for 6.5x55, 308, 30-06 and 8x57 for many years. Several years ago I switched to Varget (mainly because I couldn't find 4064) and found I like Varget better. Varget is pretty much the same cost as 4064 but measures better for me and seems to burn cleaner so I stuck with it. The cleaner burning isn't really an issue with a bolt action but I found I do a lot less cleaning on my Ljudgman (Sweed semi-auto battle rifle in 6.5x55). I found accurate Varget loads were pretty close to the same amount of powder as my 4064 loads... switching powders and working up new loads was a pain in the rear though.

I prefer to minimize the number of powders I stock in my reloading room. If I can use one powder for several calibers and find good accurate loads in those calibers I will.

 

[tac]

It has the micrometer rear adjustable sight and threaded barrel for the blank firing device and or flash suppressor.

Blank firing attachment, but not any kind of flash suppressor. The Swedish military rightly believe that any self-respecting rifle should go 'BANG!'.

 

[servicerifleman1]

I mentioned flash suppressor that is an aftermarket accessory. I know the Swedish military had wooden training bullets that they used that would shred upon firing with the blank firing adaptor threaded on the barrel. Numrich arms E-gunparts had the flash suppressor/diffuser that helps lesson muzzle flash especially on the shorter barrels.

 

[servicerifleman1]

I have used many rifles and different calibres for hunting and taken many species of game and I always return year after year to the 6.5X55 Swede Mauser. Accurate and deadly and just puts the game down fast. Up close or far away it penetrates and kills cleanly when the shot it placed well. Easy to load for and easy shooting. 120,000 Swedish Alg Moose are taken every year predominantly with the 6.5x55. In Norway there was a survey done of 9000 Moose kills and documented many aspects of successful hunts down to how many yards the game went after being shot. 6.5x55 ranks right up there with the bigger more powerful and harder blasting rounds. Cheers/Skol

 

[tac]

Oooof.....One of the arsenal drilled for an original Swede diopter sight is what I'd really like to find now. Those tiny sights are a real pain for the old(er) eyes. Even with glasses. There was one, for not too much on GB some time ago. I should have bid on it.

Shoulda.

Mine was $175 here in yUK.

 

[tac]

It has the micrometer rear adjustable sight and threaded barrel for the blank firing device and or flash suppressor.

FIFY.

 

[DirectDrive]

FIFY.

In the spirit of neutrality, there was a Bang! flag attachment.

 

[tac]

Smurdy-fjurd.

 

[lucky guy]

Oh wow thank you for pointing that out!

Please do not mix up Switzerland and Sweden - I guess it's an American thang, our forum on gunboards.com is chock-filled with people making the same mistake. I guess that over here in Europe we are more familiar with our local geography....

Nor would a real Englishman confuse Great Britain and Europe! No wonder Americans are stupid, we keep getting all this bad info about geography and cuisine!

 

[tac]

Well, Great Britain - the larger island that contains England Scotland and Wales - is considered to be part of Europe geographically, as it sits on the same physical land-mass shelf. The island of Ireland is also contiguous to mainland Great Britain, and whether the citizens of the Republic like it or not, it IS geographically part of the so-called British Archipelago of islands, which also includes the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Man. The former is, in fact, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but the latter is a self-governing Crown Dependency, like Gibraltar and The Channel Islands.

Collectively, they ARE called the British Isles by geographers.

Politically, however, people who live in these islands have very mixed feeling about being CALLED Europeans.

And FYI, there is nothing boastful about the name GREAT Britain. It is a modern usage of the old title of GreatER Britiain, distinguishing it from Lesser Britain, now called Brittany, and part of NW France. It was settled by Brythonic [Welsh] speaking immigrants fleeing the post-Roman invasions of Great Britain by the Jutes, Angles and others, hence the similarities between modern Breton and modern Welsh and Cornish.

Lesson over.

 

[Phantom Man]

Mike, Speer's data is pretty good. I'll attach a picture below.
I am loading for a modern action in it. Just did a test batch of loads for Hornady 140SP using WMR.
Looking at Speer's loading table, I have RL19, RL22, IMR 4350 & Accurate 4350 on hand. I'm happy to give you samples of each so you can do workups and see what your rifle likes. Or just give me some bullets and I'll load you some rounds to test.
I am loving the cartridge, and it's everything Tac says.
@tac , your 7mm pills should arrive any day, as tracking claims they left Heathrow on 24 November. Seems funny - your K51 likes the 168SMK, and I also have ~2K of those on hand (great bullet at a fantastic deal).
View attachment 522802

@Reacher120 See this post. All three pages

 

[Ura-Ki]

Try this one Mike

 

[Phantom Man]

I have worked up some loads to test with Vihtavuori N150. 35gr-37.5 pushing Sierra 140 MK. COL 79mm. Using Swedish military surplus wood practice rounds cases.
Firearms:
M38's
& M96's

 

[P7M13]

I have worked up some loads to test with Vihtavuori N150. 35gr-37.5 pushing Sierra 140 MK.

View attachment 614917

Please post your results and what you're using for a boom-stick.

 

[Phantom Man]

Please post your results and what you're using for a boom-stick.

P7 I edited my post...