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6.5 x 55 Mauser
cajunman
Member Posts: 50 ✭✭
Hello,
I have just purchased a 1942 Swedish Mauser in 6.5 x 55 mm. I bought a set of dies and some 140 gr. bullets. I have not had a chance to fire the gun yet. What grain bullet are the military sight regulated for?
Cajunman
I have just purchased a 1942 Swedish Mauser in 6.5 x 55 mm. I bought a set of dies and some 140 gr. bullets. I have not had a chance to fire the gun yet. What grain bullet are the military sight regulated for?
Cajunman
Comments
6.5x55
Where used: Swede M94, M96 series, M38, and AG42
Designation: m/41
Bullet Weight: 140gr
Muzzle Velocity: 2625 fps
Muzzle Energy: 2126 ft. lbs
Dates Used: Mid 1890s to late 1940s
Don't overlook the Hornady 160 gr. RN bullets, they shoot quite accurately in all of my military M96's and M38's because of the longer throat. They are a great hunting bullet. The Hornady 160gr RN bullets are a nice match for the original 158gr RN 6.5x55 service ammo, especially if you have a Swede M96 where the sights haven't been changed over to the later spitzer ammo. V V N-165 is the powder of choice for me when I use this bullet. But H-4831, Re-22 and AA-3100 will work just fine. Lapua has a good page of load information for the V V class powders.
Federal, Remington, Speer, and Winchester each offer the 6.5x55 with a 140 grain spitzer bullet at a muzzle velocity (MV) of 2,550 fps and a muzzle energy (ME) 2,020 ft. lbs. Hornady has two 6.5x55 offerings in their Light Magnum line, a 129 grain Spire Point bullet at a MV of 2770 fps with ME of 2197 ft. lbs., and a 140 grain Spire Point bullet at a MV of 2740 fps and ME of 2333 ft. lbs.
European loads for the 6.5x55 tend to be hotter than the standard U.S. loads. Sellier & Bellot of the Czech Republic load their 140 grain soft point spitzer bullet for the 6.5x55 SE at a MV of 2645 fps. Sako of Finland offers a wider range of loads, including a 100 grain FMJ spitzer bullet at 2,625 fps, a 139 grain match bullet at 2,790 fps, and a 156 grain round nose bullet at 2,625 fps. Norma of Sweden loads their 139 grain Vulkan bullet to a MV of 2854 fps and ME of 2515 ft. lbs. They offer several loads with 156 grain bullets, the fastest of these being the Vulkan bullet at a MV of 2644 fps and ME of 2422 ft. lbs. These loads are typical of the performance European hunters expect from the 6.5x55.
The reloader with a modern bolt action rifle can do very well with the 6.5x55. Here are some specifications of interest to reloaders: bullet diameter .264", maximum COL 3.15", maximum case length 2.165", SAAMI MAP 46,000 cup/51,000 psi.
Best.
I loaded some with 7828 and some with Win Mag Rifle powder.
I use 140 gr bullets from several manufacturers....even have some Hornady A Max loaded up now...just waiting for a range day to see how they do.
Of note, if you are having a problem with seating depth being the same every time, I had to drill the seating plug with a 1/8" drill bit...so that the seating plug pushed on the ogive of the bullet...instead of the tip (found this when loading the A Max bullets - it broke the tip. By accident, now ALL of my bullets seat exactly now....
I have RCBS dies. Hornady New Dimension dies already take care of this problem by design.
I was digging back through some of my 6.5 x 55 files and ran across this article. It's interesting and pretty good background information:
Loading the 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser
American Rifleman, Nov/Dec 1998 by Matunas, Edward A
CARTRIDGES employing a nominal bullet diameter of 6.5 mm/.264" have captured the admiration of a small-but loyal-group of shooters who prefer them for everything from varmints to moose. Certainly, many of the various 6.5 mm cartridges have seen considerable use for military and a wide range of sporting purposes. While many 6.5 mm cartridges have faded into history, one such round has stubbornly remained popular for more than 100 years: the 6.5x55 mm Swedish. In 1894, this cartridge was adopted by Sweden, Norway and Denmark as their standard military round. Over the years, Scandinavian shooters enjoyed the numerous virtues of this cartridge: inherent and impressive accuracy, modest recoil, flat trajectory, and proven performance on game as large as Scandinavian moose.
Early 6.5x55 mm military ammunition was loaded with around-nose, 156-gr. bullet at a muzzle velocity of 2295 f.p.s. called the PRJM39. Later, this was updated by the PRJM41 with a ballistically more-efficient 139-gr. spitzer boat-tail bullet at 2600 f.p.s.
The latter earned a well-deserved reputation as an accurate, flat-shooting load. For this reason, most hunters prefer the 139- or 140-gr. bullets to match this combination of accuracy, mild recoil, and flat trajectory. In most Scandinavian countries, moose must be hunted with the 156-gr. soft point as it is the only 6.5x55 mm loading that produces the required amount of energy on target at 100 meters.
Nominal maximum average breech pressure for 6.5x55 mm ammunition is about 45,000 p.s.i. for safety in older Mauser Model 94 and Model 96 rifles. However, European ammunition manufacturers commonly load 6.5x55 mm ammunition to a higher maximum average breech pressure. This higher breech pressure level is for modern, commercially manufactured rifles and Model 96s that have been thoroughly checked by a competent gunsmith.
Most 6.5x55 mm military ammunition is loaded with .199" or .216" diameter Berdan primers and brass or steel cases. Military surplus 6.5x55 mm ammunition of recent vintage is loaded with non-corrosive primers while older military surplus 6.5x55 mm ammunition may have corrosive primers. Commercial 6.5x55 mm ammunition is offered with reloadable brass cases having Boxer, large rifle primers.
Popularity of the 6.5x55 mm in the United States has been enhanced by the availability of inexpensive, surplus Swedish Model 96 military rifles and carbines. These rifles are usually found with an arsenal-installed brass plate fitted into the buttstock indicating the dimensions of the throat and condition of the bore. This information enables savvy buyers to confidently purchase good shooters. Recently, several major U.S. firearms companies have chambered quality bolt-action sporting rifles for this cartridge. These include the Ruger Model 77 Mark II, the Remington Model 700 and the U.S. Repeating Arms Model 70. Imported sporting ammunition is available from Norma/Dynamit Nobel and Lapua. Domestic ammunition manufacturers such as Federal, Speer and PMC have recently added this caliber.
By state-side standards, the 6.5x55 mm will never be judged a suitable moose cartridge. Nonetheless, it has certainly proven an excellent choice for thousands of deer hunters. Indeed, the 6.5x55 mm, is a good choice for several other species including caribou, sheep, goat and javelina. The 6.5x55 mm's sterling reputation among European target shooters also has not gone unnoticed by American shooters who have found this cartridge fully satisfactory as a paperpunching target round.
Because of its mild recoil, the 6.5x55 mm cartridge is often considered an ideal caliber for beginners, women and shooters of small stature. While this is a positive attribute for any cartridge, the inherent accuracy and flat trajectory of this cartridge also explains its popularity for lightweight mountain rifles.
Experienced reloaders have found the 6.5x55 mm favors much slower-burning powders than its relatively small case seems to suggest. Moderately slow-burning to very slow-speed powders perform best. Powders from IMR 4350 to Reloder 22 are the best possible choices for combining accuracy with the highest practical velocity. An exception appears with 100-gr. or lighter bullets. Here, fasterburning powders such as Reloder 15 and H380 can also be used to good effect.
If off-season varmints are on your agenda, it certainly makes sense to test light bullets of 85 to 120 grs. Nonetheless, bullets lighter than 100 grs. seldom prove satisfactory as it is difficult to seat such lightweight bullets close to the rifling origin where they can reach full accuracy potential. Too, the fast twist of many rifles was designed to produce best results with bullets of 125 to 140 grs. Common twist rates for the 6.5x55 mm cartridge have included 1:9",1:8 1/4", 1:8" and 1:7 1/2".
The 6.5x55 mm is as easy to reload as it is to shoot. I recommend your starting efforts focus on bullets of 140 grs. in order to establish the accuracy capability of your rifle. Start with Alliant Reloder 22, then try some Hodgdon H4841 and, finally, have a go with IMR 4350. Within this limited testing schedule, a top-performing load is often found. Start with an overall cartridge length of 3.150" then try slightly longer lengths as may be permitted by reliable feeding from the magazine. Because 150- to 160-gr. 6.5 mm bullets are generally of a round-nose configuration, most hunters will prefer 140-gr. pointed types. Sierra's 140-gr. MatchKing hollow-point, boattail bullet is superbly accurate and is the logical choice for serious target shooting.
One caution however: While most 6.5 mm component bullets are 0.264" in diameter, some are 0.263" in diameter. If you are using 0.264" bullets do not use data developed for 0.263" bullets! My data is for 0.264" bullets. Data listed was taken from loads that have performed best for me over the years. Additional data may be found in most current reloading handbooks.
Although most surplus Swedish military rifles appear in good condition, always have any surplus rifle carefully checked by a competent gunsmith before firing it.
The 6.5x55 mm Swede has a great deal of potential despite its rather diminutive bullet diameter. In the hands of careful shooters it can stand up to most medium game hunting tasks and double nicely as a modest-range varmint cartridge. Its combination of mild recoil, flat trajectory and inherent accuracy assures the 6.5x55 mm Swede cartridge many future years of service to new generations of shooters.
Copyright National Rifle Association of America Nov/Dec 1998
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved