6.5x55 Interlock or SST?

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Embro, Ontario!!
So deer season is approaching (my 2nd) and last year I used 140gr hornady interlock in my reloads. I just picked up some 139gr SST for plinking.... Should I stick with the interlocks or use the SST's? I am hunting middle ontario (parry sound). The inter locks (through the chest in a frontal shot) took out several ribs and a shoulder and made some deer jelly in the heart and lungs.... Should I try these, or keep to the interlocks?

That or should I get somthing else? Not new to shooting or reloading, just hunting.

Thanks in advance!
 
The interbond shoot well enough... I have not tried the sst yet.... Soon enough I guess. My range is 100m but I'd be lucky to have a clear shot that far where we hunt. I was dumb last year and kind of a last minute thing due to a buddy pushung me along but and used my 10x bushnell 3200.... Nedless to say, I was lucky that I was in a stand when Mr. Deer steped out.... However the gun, optics and bullet functioned flawless and bagged me a 12pt buck.... Bang-> Flop more or less, maybe 20ft! Sausage mmmmmmmm! Light the bbq! This year its a 2-7 on the rifle, and I am having new open sights put on my 303 for pushes and walking. However I love the 6.5!

Now I'm hooked on hunting!
 
I don't reload but had great success with 6.5x55 Norma 156gr Oryx on Moose and Deer. Tried every factory round out there and all 156 gr Norma (Oryx, Vulkan, and Alaska) were the most accurate in my Tikka. Now my fav. cal.
 
NTTG,
Have found the interlocks to be consistently very good shooters on paper in many 6.5 swedes. Sst's not so much a slam dunk. I dont buy them anymore.
Interlocks have a long bearing surface to get closer to the rifling when seated out to max mag length.
Pleased to hear of your excellent terminal perfomance last season, been waiting for some first hand account's on #2630.
Sounds to me like go with what you know.
 
Same speed and same test material.

140gr Interlock
Hornady140grSP.jpg


140gr SST
Hornady140grTSS.jpg
 
Having shot a few animals with the 6.5x55, I didnt find a whole lot of difference on game with the 129's,139's or 140's wether Hornady, Speer or Sierra. The two bullets you are looking at, I've had better luck with the interlock on animals with quick kills and minimal meat jelly as you call it. But I also dont load very hot for calibre. I hit a doe in the neck with the SST in a 6.5 improved (bit higher speed) and not hitting the spine, the bullet still opened up quickly and left a very big hole, but it left me wondering if I had shot the deer in the ribs etc. This is just my experience with them.

I did find the 156 Oryx and 160 roundnose's from Hornady worked better for me at the closer ranges, deadly performance and bang-flops to this point when I do my job.
 
At one time, I had three 6.5x55's....I tried all the factory ammo I could find in my preliminarry tests...Totally different beasts! Sold one of em to pay for the others face lift..hehehehe....Once I got to loading for them...the other two of them really liked the 120 gr Nos/Bal/Tips. Awesome performance on deer. When I was doing my initial testing, the noslers were harder to get for a little spell, so I went with the SST's..... I found that the Hornady SST's hit the same POA...a great little bonus surprise for me. BUTTT....my roving eyes got a glimpse of something...sighhhhh..Sooooooo....I sold MY Favorite one of the last two....it was a 27" bbl mod 96 /new trigger/bent bolt/side safety/hinged floorplate/ pillared in a Ramline stock...friggin stooopid eyes of mine...fell in love with a TIKKA S/S Varmint!!... now, I'm down to only one 6.5 now..."her gun"..shorter LOP...I glassed it, redone the stock for her..1/2 " cloverleafs at 100yds with my loads...she loves it and shoots it well! Hoping to score on her first deer this fall.....ps...Loooooove that new Tikka!!
 
Never tried the Interlock, but my Swedish Mauser loves 129 grains SSTs. BTW my êrsonal recipe is 49.6 grains of N560. with Winchester LR primer. Groups within less than one inch at 100 yards. Gun is a sporterized Mauser 96, with barrel cut down to 24 inches.
 
I've shot several deer with both and have found the SST's to be a little more explosive and seem to have a more instant effect, but they do more meat damage when the shots are close. I'd shoot what is more accurate, leaning to the Interlocks if the shots are closer and to the SST's if they are expected to be longer.

I noted in your original post you said you had a box of 139gr SST's....just want to make sure thats a typo and that you didn't pick up some 7mm? As far as I remember Hornady makes 129gr and 140gr in 6.5mm.
 
A quick check of Hornady's website says Cappy is correct. .264 diameter bullets are 129gr and 140gr. The OP best do a quick double check to be sure that he has .264 bullets and not .284. Hopefully they wouldn't load into the brass or if they did, hopefully they didn't chamber. But if they did, it might get messy after that. But it's probably just a typo.
 
i use the sst's for hunting deer and bear.
but when i go for bigger stuff i use interBONDS.
what i really like about these two leads is that with the same powder charge they both hit exactlly the same ,out of my rifle anyhow.
try them both and see what shoots best and stay with that.
 
My bad, it was a typo! I just double checked the box, #26302 .264 140grn Hornady SST... My bad, thanks for the heads up.

Question... What powder do you guys use in 6.5x55. My rifle is a m38 swede.
 
As Mystic says, H4831 SC is a classic choice.

Reloder 22 would also work just as well.

Most people find these slower, small-kerneled powders work best with 140-grain bullets in 6.5x55.
 
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