6.5x55

mond

I am looking for an opinion on the Carl Gustov 6.5x55. Any and all opionions are welcome. Thanks

mond

hi all

im looking to download a few rounds in 6.5x55 for short range plinking use (yawn) for the teenage daughter at the range.(25yds)
& must be no more than 1710fps muzzle velo.

i have looked all over with not much success, can ya's help.
which head & powder??

a good site to refer to would be cool, too.

thanks[:)]

mond

Are Winchester and Ruger the only companies besides the military that have chambered rifles for this cartridge.

perry shooter

See if you can find an OLD lyman reloading manual or even older Ideal book they have lead loads. for cast lead bullets.the norma #65 manual has loads for 39.8 grains of the 204 powder that use a 156 grain bullet at 2093 FPS .accurate arms 2003 manual uses their 8700 powder that is a compressed load of 47.7 grains for 2018 fps with 140 grain bullet.Speer number 9 manual shows 87 grain bullet with 4759 powder 13.0 grains for 1611FPS up to 15.0 grains at 1851FPS Cheers Karl

nononsense

mond,

You can't always just download a cartridge to some low velocity just because you want to. Sometimes you have to switch cartridges in order accommodate a younger shooter or recoil sensitive shooter. I realize you're in the British Isles but if she needs experience with lower velocity and recoil, you might consider borrowing or procuring another milder rifle for her to start on. With that admonishment in mind, here are a couple of recipes that you could try. No guarantees but this is the powder of choice for downloading larger capacity cases. These are from the Speer Manual as noted:

6.5x55 SE - 120 grain Speer SP bullet, 17.0 grains of SR 4759 powder, CCI 200 primer, Federal case. COL 3.000". MV 1911 fps in 22" barrel. (Based on the Speer Reloading Manual No. 13.)

6.5x55 SE - 140 grain Speer SP bullet, 17.0 grains of SR 4759 powder, CCI 200 primer, Federal case. COL 3.035". MV 1797 fps in 22" barrel. (Based on the Speer Reloading Manual No. 13.)

Best.

v35

Phil Sharpe says to use loads for the 6.5 Mannlicher Schoenauer.
His old low speed loads used obsolete powders.
Maybe some old Lyman handbook will show lead bullet loads for these calibers.

JustC

downloading too much creates a chance for "secondary ignition effect" which in laymens terms means a BLOW UP. If the powder doesn't fill enough capacity, it will settle below the centerline of the case. When this happens, the spark from the primer jumps across the entire powder charge igniting it instanly rather than from from back to front. This causes a spike in the pressure curve which can destroy a rifle and possibly the shooter.

You are better off to find light bullets for the caliber, or as Nononsense suggested, switch to something the younger shooter can handle. Remember, the worst thing you can do to a novice shooter is to let the novice shooter, shoot something they are not ready for. This either scares them away,..or worse,..gives them a flinch. It takes a lot of work to get away from flinching.

TWalker

If you can find them, there were training loads for the 6.5 Swedish that used a very, very, light bullet propelled by just the primer I believe. These were accurate at short range and had no recoil. Just the thing for your need. I shot a bunch of them, then reloaded the brass with standard loads.

AdamsQuailHunter

Hello "mond"[:)]

"TWalker" took the words right out of my mouth. I had a bunch of these practice rounds that I picked up at a gun show in Jacksonville, Florida.

They made very little noise and would NOT penetrate three carpet reminants. I used then up on pesky rabbits and then reloaded the brass.

I will be in Jacksonville, at the December show. Would you like for me to look for them for you??

Another source could be Iconoclast. He is the moderator on the
"I WANTA" forum. If you made a request for those rounds on his forum hopefully he would pick it up and sell you a box or so.

Best Wishes[8D]
Steve Adams
AdamsQuailHunter on GunBroker, Shotgun World, Bear Tooth Bullets, E-bay and yahoo

Mobuck

Richard Lee's manual gives a formula for figuring the reduced powder charges on several cartridges and sounds like it should work.

agostino

The 6.5X55 is one of the recommended calibers for women and youth, so it's not exactly real heavy to begin with. Maybe you should consider some sort of recoil reducer-- pad and/or shoulder guard instead. I admit in a Swedish Model 38 carbine with a steel buttplate it's noticeable.

mond

thanks for all the tips guys, i appreciate a low load can be just as dangerous as a high load, thats why i need your experience guys ,(with a lot more experience than myself or most over here), although i been shooting game for years,(30+) the daughter can only shoot over a range at 25yds!! at here age (15)with this 6.5x55. so it is paramount she dont blow the back of the range out,witha full load.when she has experience with the 6.5 ,the authorities will let her use it over land, with me.
if ny data comes to hand ,(i will keep looking)i would be trully grateful. regards to all [;)]
mond

sandwarrior

Mond,

How are you doing? I was kind of thinking along the lines of what agostino said in that the 6.5x55 won't be a real kicker to start with. I would look for the lightest load you can get in the fastest powder with the lightest bullet. That is the least amount of powder for the least amount of bullet making it the least amount of recoil. For benchwork it is advisable for new shooters to use some kind of recoil buffer system anyways. At least for rifle with some moderate recoil. An AR15/M16 doesn't produce a lot of recoil so the U.S. Military doesn't use any. Other nations are usually using a gas operated weapon that will provide a reasonable amount of recoil reduction. So, with that in mind spend the 5 or so pounds(almost said bucks...) and get a Past pad.

jonk

Regarding secondary ignition- yes it is possible, but can be negated by using a ballistic filler. I like Pufflon. Or, the use of fast burning pistol powders, while they may only fill a slight part of the case, has never caused me or any of Ed Harris's fans any problem. I'd say for a 6.5X55 and a 140 gr bullet, I'd try about 10 gr of Red Dot. Very mild. Should be about 1300 fps, best guess without a chronograph.