6.5mm questions... 6.5 Mauser vs Swede

I suggest you make the choice based on the rifles available to you. There is almost no practical difference in the cartridges or their terminal performance. If given free choice with no other external influence, i would choose the 6.5x57. No good reason other than it is in the '57 family, a long and illustrious line. My preferences lean towards the Germanic, not so much towards Scandinavia. I realize that's not entirely sensible. Nothing wrong with the 6.5x55, and cases/dies/ ammo are certainly more common and easy to source, i just never developed an interest in it.
 
Longwalker said:
I suggest you make the choice based on the rifles available to you. There is almost no practical difference in the cartridges or their terminal performance. If given free choice with no other external influence, i would choose the 6.5x57. No good reason other than it is in the '57 family, a long and illustrious line. My preferences lean towards the Germanic, not so much towards Scandinavia. I realize that's not entirely sensible. Nothing wrong with the 6.5x55, and cases/dies/ ammo are certainly more common and easy to source, i just never developed an interest in it.
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I kinda feel the same way. I have a K98 mauser in 8x57 and love reloading for it. I think a 6.5 and even 7mm x57 would be neat to own. I like mauser rounds
 
Slimbo, they are all the same family, as is the .308, .243, .358, 7mm08 No difference in any dimension except neck diameter. I believe the 8x57 is the parent round of the x57 cartridges.
 
Its been a while, but I think the 6.5 X 55 actually has a small case volume advantage over the 6.5 x 57. This is due to the fact that the base dia of the 6.5 x 55 is slightly larger that the 6.5 x 57.
 
Slimbo said:
Is the 6.5x57 based on the 8x57 or 7x57?
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I have never owned a 6.5x57. Picture below - Swede 6.5x55 on left, 7x57 in centre, 8x57 on right. Specs for Swede has slightly larger diameter rim and case head - .480" versus .473" for the x57's. 7x57 shoulder is further back - neck is longer - compared to 8x57. I do believe either x57 could be sized / fire formed into same thing?? Usable cases for any can be and have been formed from 270 Win, 280 Rem and 30-06. It was noted in reference books that Boers in late 1800's received some "short neck" 7x57 - from Mauser, I believe - those cases had likely been formed, initially, for the 7.65x53 round, and then re-purposed?

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I have owned both and both work well. Unless a person WANTS a 6.5x57, the Swede would be the better choice for ease of sourcing brass. Etc.
Mt dies were RCBS IIRC.
Cat
 
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sgt.rock said:
Having never owned a single 6.5mm rifle ever (yet I have bought and sold hundreds of hunting guns over the years), I think I may take the plunge. I am not interested in any newfangled rounds like the creedmore. I want to shoot a classic round. I may get a gun made, or if I can find a good original then I may do that.
Either way, I have narrowed down the rounds to 6.5 Swede or Mauser. Anyone have any experience with these and your biases are fine. Is one more capable than the other? If I have a gun made, I can fast twist for longer bullets. Please let me know which you'd choose and why.
Cheers CGN
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As mentioned before, they are almost identical in performance in any platform as long as the parameters, such as barrel length/pressures are equal.

Properly headstamped 6.5x57 brass can be difficult to come by, so buy enough when you find it to last a long time. 7x57/8x57 cases can easily be resized.

The 6.5x57 is the Rodney Dangerfield of the 6.5 cartridges IMHO.

I have a lovely Greek Mannlicher, with a finely tuned 3 pound trigger, fitted with a Hensholdt Wetzlar, mounted in home made QD claw mounts.

This is a very strong/butter smooth action and I load the S&B cases with 130-140 grain bullets to the same velocities I load my Tikka T3 6.5x55 with those bullet weights, which for the 140 grain bullets is around 2825 fps average.

I use the Tikka for hunting, mostly because of the stock. They're both inherently accurate and offer butter smooth bolt/feed operation.

IMHO, you can't go wrong with either cartridge.

Pro for the X57 is that brass can easily be formed from any case that is appx 57mm long with a .473 inch rim diameter.

Pro for the X55 is that brass is presently much more available, mostly because of the plethora of milsurps that flooded the market and gained a huge following of knowledgeable shooters that liked the performance and light recoil.

IMHO, the only reason the 6.5x57 didn't gain notoriety is that it was never a military issue cartridge and all the rifles chambered for it were in Europe, built as mid to high end sporters. All of the rifles I've seen chambered for this cartridge started out as mid price range or higher sporters.

Several European manufacturers offered the rifle and cartridges. Some still do.

Most North American and European manufacturers offer excellent 6.5x55 rifles and cartridges.
 
6.5SE is a great cartridge. I don't think I would ever bother with a 6.5x57, I'd just jump up to the 6.5-06 as it's a little more performance and easier to source components.
 
tradex had some nice husky 1600's in 6.5 swede

sgt.rock said:
Having never owned a single 6.5mm rifle ever (yet I have bought and sold hundreds of hunting guns over the years), I think I may take the plunge. I am not interested in any newfangled rounds like the creedmore. I want to shoot a classic round. I may get a gun made, or if I can find a good original then I may do that.
Either way, I have narrowed down the rounds to 6.5 Swede or Mauser. Anyone have any experience with these and your biases are fine. Is one more capable than the other? If I have a gun made, I can fast twist for longer bullets. Please let me know which you'd choose and why.
Cheers CGN
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Hitzy said:
6.5SE is a great cartridge. I don't think I would ever bother with a 6.5x57, I'd just jump up to the 6.5-06 as it's a little more performance and easier to source components.
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Yes. I have both a 6.5X55 and a 6.5-06 (and a 6.5-300 Win Mag). I thought about rechambering the 6.5X55 to 6.5-284 until I acquired the 6.5-06. The 6.5X55 AI offers no benefits over the 6.5-284, and some disadvantages. That said, the 6.5-284 has about the same case capacity as the 6.5-06, but in a Standard Action you can seat the bullets way out there (to an OAL of 3.35" in many rifles), providing additonal case capacity as the throat allows (before or after throat reaming).

No need for custom dies either.
 
cosmic said:
Its been a while, but I think the 6.5 X 55 actually has a small case volume advantage over the 6.5 x 57. This is due to the fact that the base dia of the 6.5 x 55 is slightly larger that the 6.5 x 57.
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this is dependent on the brass .... many loaded rounds ( remington off the top of my head ) use the same case head size and body diameter .
any extra volume would only be realized after "fire forming " to the chamber in question .
 
Longwalker said:
Slimbo, they are all the same family, as is the .308, .243, .358, 7mm08 No difference in any dimension except neck diameter. I believe the 8x57 is the parent round of the x57 cartridges.
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7x57 and 8x57 have a different shoulder location, was just wondering which one the 6.5x57 followed.
 
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