Swedish M96 6.5x55 potential

mcp1

mcp1

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There are alot of guys "in the club" in the rifles section with the 6.5 Swede. In what ways if any would you be limited reloading for the Swedish M96 (ie one of the Tradex rifles)?

As I'm just getting into reloading it would be nice to have one of those "different" chamberings to experiment with, but not if you are limited by an older rifle.
 
What do you mean by "limited" in the reloading sense? Black powder only? Bullet weight? Pressure?

I've reloaded mine without any issues what-so-ever. You should be good with bullets up to 140ish grains, 160's (I've heard they're out there) may not be accurate due to rate of twist.
The only reloading issue I've had with mine is with brass. Igman brass has a small flash hole, and is thicker brass. Normal loads with Remington brass are a compressed load in Igman. They still shot fine, though.

(E) :cool:
 
mcp1 said:
There are alot of guys "in the club" in the rifles section with the 6.5 Swede. In what ways if any would you be limited reloading for the Swedish M96 (ie one of the Tradex rifles)?

As I'm just getting into reloading it would be nice to have one of those "different" chamberings to experiment with, but not if you are limited by an older rifle.
Click to expand...

If you mean limited by pressure then yes its generally not advised to load the M96 as hot as a modern action but all the data that is published in manuals is safe unless specified for modern actions only. The M96 was my first 6.5x55 rifle and it was just as accurate as my Tikka. A good way to get into the game for not a lot of money.
 
Sorry I meant limited as in pressure. As long as I stick to published data not specifically labelled as for modern actions I should be ok?
 
Yup you are on the right track. I shoot 44 grains of IMR 4350 behind a Hornady 140 grain interlock in my 96. It is listed as a max load and I do not doubt it. I get almost 2700 fps in my 24 inch barrel. A hard load to improve upon.
 
As with any rifle, start low and work up. Worst pressure excusion I have ever seen was a 6.5x55 M96 loaded with a START load. Their Start load might be Max in your rifle.

I love these rifles. No kick and very accurate. Kill deer & moose very well.
 
i do have a couple of this rifles and i love them, like Ganderite said start low and work your way up, this rifles really shine with the heavier bullets 140gr and up, try some slow burning powder, i use imr7828.
 
Consider one thing - the 6.5mm Swede is to Sweden what the .303 British is to Canada - old but still golden. It has probably taken more moose there than any other three other rounds put together. And that's with the older rifles and cast bullets included.

Work up gently, aim carefully, enjoy greatly.
 
Not really much limitation with a 6.5x55. I've been shooting one since 1960. With completely safe pressures you can get almost 3100 fps with a 100 gr bullet and 2400 fps with a 160 gr bullet. A 120 gr bullet at 2800 fps is good for any deer and a quality 140 gr bullet at 2600 will take elk, moose, caribou etc.
All with great accuracy and low recoil.
 
I load 45 g of IMR 4350 with 120 g Nosler Ballistic Tips and have killed nurmerous deer and one large Billy Goat that dropped in his tracks. In my M96 I get 2913 fps with this load however I do have a douglas barrel and a tight chamber. I must say the velocity did surprise me and I have never seen pressure concerns/signs in my rifle. It Shoots 1 inch all day and also likes 120g barnes. I have played with Reloader 19 and 22 with good results as well. I always start low and work up whenever I try a new bullet/powder combination.

I took a 6x6 bull elk and 6.5 foot Black Bear with a 140 g Nosler Partitian but lost the load data and my memory can't come up with it. The elk was the longest shot I ever made on a big game animal until my whitetail last fall. He was 285 yards and dropped in his tracks after my friend missed him 5 times with a 35 whelen. It was impressive to see that from my "little rifle" and my buddy was equally impressed. I own a few rifles but the swed is by far my fav.
 
I've loaded several different bullet weights with quite a few different powders in a M96.
Follow published material, start light and work up and you won't have a problem.
Several combos have met published velocity, never had any pressure signs and had excellent accuracy.
The cartridge is truly a pleasure to load and shoot.
 
160 grain Hornady round nose and Re22 powder work well. The old 96 mauser is a very strong gun (when in good condition) and worries of the two lug 96 vs the 3 lug 98 are mostly not an issue when dealing with the 6.5X55 chambering. The swedes have been shooting hot factory Norma loads out of 96's for ever.

Darryl
 
Well I think my mind's made up. Once I get reloading figured out for the current guns I own I'll be investing in a 6.5!
 
The fact that the M/94/96/38 are weaker actions than the M/98 calls for many reasons; fisrt, it is a small ring Mauser, second, because of the time period of it's design (lower pressure rounds of pre-1898) it does not have the capabilities of handling case failures like the following designs (M/98 series).

Keep your loads in the safe limits of recently published reloading manuals and you'll be OK, and try avoiding low charges (of under 85% of the case capacity) of slow burning powders like IMR 4831/H4831 and slower, wich often cause the "starting load high pressure signs".

For hunting, any of the sporting Husqvarna are very good arms, For a hunting rifle, the late models (640 series a.k.a. "Commercial M/96") are the first I would pick followed by the earlier one (M/46B) and my second choice going to the ex-military ones like Stiga and Vapen-Depoten.
For target shooting and varmint, the CG63/80 are hard to beat.
If you want to load to rocket speed, a modern action would be much better adapted and safer.
 
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I had 3 different 96's over the years. They all shot good....and two in peticular were exceptional shooters. I just sold my second one last year...it was a sporterized/modified husqy. It had a 29 1/2 " barrel on it and would cloverleaf 140 gr/160 gr RN's allll day @ 100 yds.
The last one I have is also a tack driver!!..it was "bubba'd up by ???...so once I got rid of all the "bubba" and started loading for it...WOW!!..it has a shorter mid-weight barrel. For a favorite meal, it loves to eat 120 gr Balistic tips on top of 42.3 gr of IMR 4350 WLR Primers. I never used a chrony on the load, but, for me it doesn't matter...I load for accuracy first :)...long time ago, when I was just getting started into reloading an old fella told me ~~~~speed KILLS...but accuracy kills MORE!! I've always stuck to that rule. It also helps out the longetivity of my barrels life. I want a new Tikka T-3 Laminated Stainless in 6'5x55...ultimately...down the road, I'd love to have a T3 Stainless/ Varmint in 6.5x55....aaaahhh....someday.....olo davemachine will "give" me his :D :D
 
The Speer loading manual has two sections for this round, one for military actions and one for modern commercial actions. Military is considered M94, M96 and Krags. The U.S. Industry operating pressure for these is 51,000 PSI. With these modest loads there is only 2 grains difference from their start loads to max loads and they caution not to reduce loads under the stated start loads. They also indicate the cartridge has a steep pressure curve.
They list the load for IMR 4350/120gr. bullet as 40 and 42 grains start/max respectively@ 2601/2705 FPS. This is the quickest powder they list; Varget the slowest giving up about 100FPS.
 
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