6.5 day at the range.

I've attended the gun range 6 times this winter. Temperatures are near great for load development, similar to November conditions. It's fun to be at the range!
 
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I've attended the gun range 6 times this winter. Temperatures are near great for load development, similar to November conditions. It's fun to be at the range!
Not here. We had a long, cold winter. Went to the indoor range every week, but that's all handgun caliber stuff only. - dan
 
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Up here the wind as been blowing pretty hard and steady for the last ten days or so.
I’m waiting for it to die to no more than 5-7km/hr so it doesn’t feel like I’m wasting ammo hahaha
 
Nice cartridges... how.did it go?

I was out with my 6.5X55 and 6.5 Rem Mag a couple days ago... getting them set up and zeroed for fall hunting. For bears this spring, I have a .458 Win Mag and a Hoyt Spyder bow on the docket.
 
Nice cartridges... how.did it go?

I was out with my 6.5X55 and 6.5 Rem Mag a couple days ago... getting them set up and zeroed for fall hunting. For bears this spring, I have a .458 Win Mag and a Hoyt Spyder bow on the docket.
Fireforming went well in the 6.5-06, now to work up a good load. This 6.5 Swede is my 3rd or 4th. I had a lot of Sierra 140 gr GK's so was hoping it might like those. No joy in mudville though. Single best 6.5 Swede load I ever found (to date) was 120 gr Nosler BT's over RL19. So, I'll load up some different bullets and try those. - dan
 
Very nice! Real 6.5s are not seen all that often. One I never hear about anymore is 6.5 x 57.
I have a 6.5x57, chambered in a Mannlicher Schonaeur with a split bridge, with offset take-off mounts, with claw rings, and Haenel scope.

Lovely rifle, made from a Greek surplus Mannlicher. It retains the original trigger, rotating, fixed magazine, and 1-7.5 twist rate barrel.

It was originally chambered for the venerable 6.5x54MS.

It's a great rifle, very accurate, very strong, and capable of everything the 6.5x55 swede will do in a modern strong action, such as the Tikka T3, Remington, Winchester mod 70 or K98 Mauser.

The reamer used to cut the chamber is almost identical to that of my Tikka T3, and the reloaded cases don't need to be kept separate.

In all honesty, I wish I had found the rifle before it was "sporterised."

Still, the smith doing the conversion knew his stuff, and it's a joy to hunt/shoot.

When I found it hiding in a row of estate sale rifles at a Kamloops gun show, nobody wanted it, even though it came with a set of dies and a couple of hundred cases.

The bore is perfect, and it loves anything from 139 grain SSTs to 160 Bergers. Doesn't shoot anything flat base under 140 grains well at all. Likely the twist rate is just too tight.
 
Fireforming went well in the 6.5-06, now to work up a good load. This 6.5 Swede is my 3rd or 4th. I had a lot of Sierra 140 gr GK's so was hoping it might like those. No joy in mudville though. Single best 6.5 Swede load I ever found (to date) was 120 gr Nosler BT's over RL19. So, I'll load up some different bullets and try those. - dan
I'm shooting RL-19 aswell, but with 140 BT/AB's. I have been looking for good alternatives for my Alliant loads, given that the stuff is just too hard to find with the forever wars going on.
 
I'm shooting RL-19 aswell, but with 140 BT/AB's. I have been looking for good alternatives for my Alliant loads, given that the stuff is just too hard to find with the forever wars going on.
In the same boat. Going to try some W760 and 4064 next I think, I have decent supplies of that. - dan
 
I have a few other 6.5's. 6.5x54 MS, 260 Rem, 6.5-284. A 6.5 Rem Mag that is in parts at the moment. Used to have a 264 Win Mag, and a 6.5 STW for a while. Was hard to find good powders for those last two, but with all the slower powders available these days they might be worth a revisit. - dan
I had alot of love for the .264 WM... shot quite a few deer with them... have not had one for at least 15 years or so... I better not spend too much time thinking about that... this 6.5 Rem Mag, does everything I need it to do...

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I had alot of love for the .264 WM... shot quite a few deer with them... have not had one for at least 15 years or so... I better not spend too much time thinking about that... this 6.5 Rem Mag, does everything I need it to do...

View attachment 1142624
I’m quite fond of my .264, in the supergrade variety. Currently working on a 140 gr accubond load with retumbo.
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