6.5X55 Overall length with 140gr Hornady Interlock?

Does it fit in the rifles magazine, without getting jammed into the lands?

That's your COL.

The book values are meaningless, seat so they work in your rifle.
 
Thanks, just didn't want to change the volume of the case too much and increase the pressure but getting the case mouth on the cannelure is about 2.940". I'll try dummy round to get the correct length for rifling.
 
The Swede chamber has a long throat, it was originally designed for the 160gr RN projectiles. In general since each type of bullet has a different ogive, I recommend loading a dummy round when trying a new bullet for your rifle take a dark sharpie paint the bullet and keep adjusting your OAL until you see marks from the lands contacting the bullet. For the Swede just remember to keep enough bullet in the case to create sufficient pressure. The Swede will usually be accurate regardless of OAL. It's pretty forgiving with different powders as well.
 
samsplacci71 said:
The Swede chamber has a long throat, it was originally designed for the 160gr RN projectiles. In general since each type of bullet has a different ogive, I recommend loading a dummy round when trying a new bullet for your rifle take a dark sharpie paint the bullet and keep adjusting your OAL until you see marks from the lands contacting the bullet. For the Swede just remember to keep enough bullet in the case to create sufficient pressure. The Swede will usually be accurate regardless of OAL. It's pretty forgiving with different powders as well.
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In military surplus Swedish Mausers I ended up seating 140 gr. bullets quite a ways out past the cannelure. This was done to ensure reliable feeding. Best to make up a few dummy cartridges as others here have suggested. You will be checking the throat as well as feeding.
 
Fassteel said:
H
have you seen some short throated 6.5 x55 rifles?
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Doesn't matter, short throated or long, you seat the bullets to fit your rifle, so it will work through the magazine, the bolt will close on it and it will feed properly.
It is absolute folly to look at some manual in an attempt to know where to seat the bullet in your rifle.
As has been stated, it doesn't matter, anyway. And please don't tell me that changing the seating of the bullet a few thousands of an inch will alter the pressure when the rifle is fired! That is just one of the many theories on CGN that can't be proven and is thus hogwash.
Rifle bullets often have a groove in them for crimping. With the majority of rifles you can seat to that crimping groove and the cartridge will fit. But, at least some, of the new Savage rifles using the crimping groove will not let the cartridge go in the chamber. They have to be seated so the cannalure is completely covered in the neck of the case, in order for the load to go in the chamber.
 
It does matter how long or short you seat your bullets, for accuracy. I make a makeshift oal gauge. I cut an empty, resized case with a dremel. 4 cuts down from the neck to the shoulder. I then just barely put the bullet into the case, so that the base of the bullet is all that is in the case, that I want to load into the chamber, close the bolt, carefully extract the round and measure. That tells me my oal with the bullet that I intend to use in my rifle. I do it a couple times and that gives me the throat dimensions where my bullet touches the lands. Then I subtract 0.010 inches, and that is my oal load length.

If it is too long for your mag, well, sorry. You can jump more than 0.010 inches, and sometimes it doesnt harm accuracy, sometimes it does. I have a 300 win mag that will not jump the heavy 200gr plus bullets. The groups are atrocious, sometimes not even on paper.
 
The M38 rifles have a shorter throat than their M96 counterparts. My Ruger has a shorter throat than any of my other 6.5 X 55's - both commercial and military, by a mm or two...
 
This is an opportunity to make a Sticky that explains fitting OAL to your rifle and the various factors involved. If I was good with drawings I'd do it.

Effect of OAL on pressure and accuracy, throat and freebore, etc.
 
H 4831 is correct. Just for giggles I calculated that moving a 6.5mm bullet .040" further into the case decreases the case volume by .00219 cubic inches or .0359 mL which is less than 1% of the case volume. I'd guess there is more variation than this between cases of the same manufacture in many instances.
 
Does anyone know of mag well dimensions for different versions?

I would assume that the modern guns run a shorter mag but I see COL at 2.9in and 3.0in but yet the cartridge drawings show 80mm (3.149in) as a max COL.

140gr fit in the mag is probably still well off the lands of a 96 mauser.
 
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