6.5x55s and Barnes/monos...what are your winning combos?

bruiser1 said:
My varberger 6.5x55 is the most accurate rifle I own. CFE223 works well with Barnes 115,120 and 127 grain and it likes RL16 with 130 CX.
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Those Varberger 757 actions were built by Sako. They should be plenty strong enough for modern, higher pressure loads.

Most folks won't load their modern actions or even 98 type actions to their full potential, because they don't want to exceed loading manual specs or they rely on factory made commercial offerings, which are mostly loaded to specs appropriate for the 96 Swede actions.

I remember a fellow on this site, quite a while back, who mentioned it was possible in Norway/Sweden/Finland to purchase loads which were unsafe in the 96 actions and purpose built for stronger actions, such as the 98 Mauser and others.

That being said, I've seen "COMMERCIAL" 96 Swede actions chambered for cartridges generating much higher pressures straight out of the factory.

The fellow was going on about a 96 type action which was chambered for the 284 Winchester, which is no slouch.
 
bearhunter said:
Those Varberger 757 actions were built by Sako. They should be plenty strong enough for modern, higher pressure loads.

Most folks won't load their modern actions or even 98 type actions to their full potential, because they don't want to exceed loading manual specs or they rely on factory made commercial offerings, which are mostly loaded to specs appropriate for the 96 Swede actions.

I remember a fellow on this site, quite a while back, who mentioned it was possible in Norway/Sweden/Finland to purchase loads which were unsafe in the 96 actions and purpose built for stronger actions, such as the 98 Mauser and others.

That being said, I've seen "COMMERCIAL" 96 Swede actions chambered for cartridges generating much higher pressures straight out of the factory.

The fellow was going on about a 96 type action which was chambered for the 284 Winchester, which is no slouch.
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Yessir...like a sportered 96 and a Stiga. I don't think they're the same beast either. A 30-06 Stiga is safe.
 
Joel said:
Yessir...like a sportered 96 and a Stiga. I don't think they're the same beast either. A 30-06 Stiga is safe.
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The stiga actions are built for standard SAAMI pressures many decades ago or maybe even the 7.62x63, which a few Scandanavian nations adopted as their standard military cartridge after WWII. The pressures generated by those loads were right around 47,000 POUNDS per sq inch, which was comparable to those generated by the 6.5x55, 8x57Mauser, 7x57 Mauser, and several more, which the rifles were chambered for.

IMHO, those cartridges are approaching maximum strength thresholds, but still have a decent safety margin in actions which are in excellent condition.

Hot rodding those cartridges could lead to Kabooms or other damage. Be careful.

That being said, I have friends with 96 type rifles chambered for 308Winchester and 243Winchester, who handload as well as shoot factory ammo out of them quite regularly.

Neither of them is factory chambered for those cartridges.

I have a very nice 96 chambered for 6mm Remington, which I've converted to #### on opening, for some obscure reason which seemed important at the time. I load it too median specs, listed in the Lyman manuals, with 100 grain bullets. I have a notation in my "personal" load data book, "Do not exceed 50K psi" Luckily, the loads it shoots into 1/2 moa, with H4831 and W760 are just below median spec, so less than 50k psi. The barrel on this rifle has a 1-9 twist and started life as a factory Remington barrel, fitted to a Mod 700 and is Varmint profiled. It shoots very well
 
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Joel said:
Very cool! They remind me of Swiss GP11. Both in looks and apparently how well they shoot
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They're the proverbial unicorn, out of my CG63 they're exiting at 2560 fps over the 20 round average. I'm getting close with 139 Lapua Scenars over VV N150, with the ability to still add 1.5 grains to the suggested max charge! The reloads are printing under 1 MOA at 500m, and cloverleafing the blown paint on the 300m steel. I have about 70 rounds of the RWS JAKMATCH 100gr HP ammo, it's exiting at about 2700 and change it's good stuff. But I'm definitely leaning towards the 139 gn as my preferred bullet weight with the 6.5X55, as it'll handle the crosswinds better. So I'm using them up slowly to compare at each distance marker, the brass is high quality and is great for reloading.

Beretta will own "the leading European provider for small caliber ammunition." That includes such brands as Norma, Rottweil Munitions, Geco, and RWS, which should be well-known names to keen Canadian shooters.
 
PPCLI-Jim said:
They're the proverbial unicorn, out of my CG63 they're exiting at 2560 fps over the 20 round average. I'm getting close with 139 Lapua Scenars over VV N150, with the ability to still add 1.5 grains to the suggested max charge! The reloads are printing under 1 MOA at 500m, and cloverleafing the blown paint on the 300m steel. I have about 70 rounds of the RWS JAKMATCH 100gr HP ammo, it's exiting at about 2700 and change it's good stuff. But I'm definitely leaning towards the 139 gn as my preferred bullet weight with the 6.5X55, as it'll handle the crosswinds better.
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Sounds like a really good combo compared to others in that class, like 308 etc
 
bdb.hunting said:
Speaking of Lightweight I do shoot a factory 100gr Jaktmatch ammo that was made by RWS and I don't think it can be found anymore. Shoots 5 into .5" to .6" everytime. 3 Shot groups are usually in the .3" so the Tikka barrel I have loves the lighter stuff. some 100gr TTSX are likely on my horizon.

3100fps is cooking!
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That ammo shot extremely well out of my ruger and my zastava. Better than the Lapua stuff I bought and very reasonably priced.
 
slinkylegs said:
Good to know! I have one in 6.5x55, and I've thought of starting a build around it, but I've never done anything like that before. I love the action itself, but the trigger is heavy, and the barrel isn't exactly pristine anymore
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I have a Nice 280 AI built on one ! Benchmark Barrel - Wildcat Stock - Timney Trigger - Leupold Scope in Talleys đź‘ŤRJ IMG_9923.jpeg
 
127gr LRX, Rem 9 1/2 primer, 48gr RE22 at 3.15"OAL. I have to check my notes but it might have been just over 2800fps. This is in a Tikka. Same load for 130gr Accubonds.

I have given up looking for RE powders so when my current small stock of RE22 is done I will use something else I can find. Staball6.5 is showing a lot of promise in the Swede. 45.5gr put 5 129gr SST's well under 1" the other day.

Years ago I played with 120gr TTSX but couldnt get them to shoot very well. 130gr TSX shot well. Both were with RE19, VV N560 and RE22.

I have a few 100gr TTSX left and want to try them. i have seen them great things in a friends .260.
 
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