6.5 x 55 as a long range precision round for a beginner?

6.5 x55 as a long range round I shoot against as 300 win mag and a 300 Wetherby
they are adjusting for twist and wind all the time .
no only is a target round but it punches holes in everything it hits .
The buddy phones me up to tell me that his 300 had a hard time stopping a big bull
yet my little 6.5 x55 dumps a large bull at 400 yards
3604C537-D2B5-4899-B6F1-6D8E0402806A_zpsagzpk5jf.jpg
 
Gunslingr said:
6.5 55 is a good LR cal. A gentleman on the board Vviking, who will hopefully tune into this soon uses a mauser action (I believe M96 but my memory escapes) exclusively for LR shooting and he gets CCB hits on out 950yrd gong all the time. The cal doesn't run out there either. Its no mile caliber but those long slippery bullets cut through the wind well and can make for a very good shooter in a good rifle with a tuned load.
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That man's 6.5x55 Mauser rifle is a marvel to behold and to shoot. :)
 
Im not sure what you consider to be long range, but ive had really good luck with my Tikka T3 lite in 6.5x55 at about 400-600 yards. Here is a group at 200 yards loaded with SSTs over H4350.



 
prevost12 said:
Im not sure what you consider to be long range, but ive had really good luck with my Tikka T3 lite in 6.5x55 at about 400-600 yards. Here is a group at 200 yards loaded with SSTs over H4350.




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I think there is something wrong with your group, better start from scratch and work up another load! ;) I love my 6.55x55 that's the rifle I first started out with when I started deer hunting when I was 12, I am definitely going to get a Tikka as I have had good luck with all my other Tikkas as well as my Tikka in .260 Rem. :)
 
prevost12 said:
Thanks, I cant say enough about the Tikka. Shoots like a dream. I just did some load development actually. I cant seem to get the VLDs to shoot for me but the accubonds and SSTs shoot great. The 160gr RN will get tested next week hopefully.

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I hear ya; I love my 6.5x55 Tikka. I'm in the process of load development right now, so I haven't any pictures of groups, but she is my favorite rifle for sure.
 
Gunslingr said:
6.5 55 is a good LR cal. A gentleman on the board Vviking, who will hopefully tune into this soon uses a mauser action (I believe M96 but my memory escapes) exclusively for LR shooting and he gets CCB hits on out 950yrd gong all the time. The cal doesn't run out there either. Its no mile caliber but those long slippery bullets cut through the wind well and can make for a very good shooter in a good rifle with a tuned load.
Click to expand...

cyclone said:
That man's 6.5x55 Mauser rifle is a marvel to behold and to shoot. :)
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Just now stumbled on this thread ...
Both meself and 'Ol Fugly the 6.5 here, .. we are just a'blushing away from all those kind compliments ^.

After 35+ years of messing about with the M94 Swede Mauser platform, I'm finally ready to concede to it's inherent limitations.

Velocity. Or rather, .. the lack thereof ...

140gr/2675 fps is the highest I've ever achieved with 1/2moa, at sane pressures.
Partly due to action limitations, partly to the oversize .265-.266" groove Swede M38 nos arsenal barrels I've grown so fond of.
That speed with a .600 bc projectile goes transonic out at 1300-1400 yards. And with such low energy levels present to spot one's misses with, also becomes problematical.

So... what's a feller to do about that? ....
BUILD A NEW SHOOTER, thats what.
(hopefully, be my last custom build) (I'm a poor guy, and getting somewhat long in the tooth y'see ...)

The goal is 2900+fps at 1/2 moa.

My last '98 FN Supreme 6.5/06 build exceeded both those parameters nicely ... but alas, the bore charred itself at 900 rounds, basically just when some tricky digital scale issues finally got resolved. (Determinator ... binned to circular file, hehe) ... the economics are just not acceptable with this badly overbore /06 case..
Sooo, ... how be we take an inch off the back of that otherwise accurate montana rifleworks magnum contour barrel, rechamber to 6.5x55 ... call it another vvik "~custom~" rifle! Ha haaa!.
 
Mangosteen said:
http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/10/14/rifle-calibers-what-the-pros-use/

Check this link out. I am agonizing over which exact 6.5 mm cartridge to get a new falling block in. Then there is the 260 Nosler but they say the barrel only good for a thousand rounds.
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Interesting, thanks for that Mangosteen.

My choice would be 6.5x47 for the readily available Lapua brass.

I'll never again build another heavily used precision rifle in an overbore cartridge.
For seldom fired hunting use? ... hell yes
 
vviking said:
Interesting, thanks for that Mangosteen.

My choice would be 6.5x47 for the readily available Lapua brass.

I'll never again build another heavily used precision rifle in an overbore cartridge.
For seldom fired hunting use? ... hell yes
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Lots of 6.5x55 lapua brass as well! I bought 20 boxes
I love the stuff
 
so im running a rem 700 action on a kreiger 27 inch barrel on a McMillan stock
running 49 max almost to hot \RL22 at 2950 fps and reamed out to 3.129 col
im good out to 1000 and tested out some of the new noslers 142 LR reduced my powder for the same ballistics path
 
2930fps here with 139 scenars, and half moa or better performance at long range. 24" tikka sporter.
Definitely go for the tikka for a dedicated 6.5x55, the reciever is much more rigid than the typical Remington long action or savage long action.
The 6.5x55 is a very flexible cartridge, it can be loaded low to Mauser standards for soft shooting and long barrel life, or it can be cranked up to bridge the gap between a creedmoor/.260 and a 6.5x284 in competition.
The only thing I'd recommend if you're having a barrel made is to use a custom reamer to bring the lands back. It's almost impossible to seat vld style projectiles to the lands in a standard swede chambering.
 
Tikkam65 said:
6.5 x55 as a long range round I shoot against as 300 win mag and a 300 Wetherby
they are adjusting for twist and wind all the time .
no only is a target round but it punches holes in everything it hits .
The buddy phones me up to tell me that his 300 had a hard time stopping a big bull
yet my little 6.5 x55 dumps a large bull at 400 yards
3604C537-D2B5-4899-B6F1-6D8E0402806A_zpsagzpk5jf.jpg
Click to expand...

Sorry to go a bit off topic but if your buddy is having a hard time stopping a "big bull" at 300 its not the caliber. Bullet selection and shot placement is more important than the caliber.
 
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