Hey guys I was just wondering what type of bullets are popular for the guys reloading 6.5x55. I just bought a Tikka the other day in a LH syn/stainless and just pumped about taking it out. There is not a very good bullet selection out there in the factory loads. So I am going to learn to reload from a couple guys from work. What kind of bullets are you guys using I was think of 130 barnes tsx any suggestions?
6.5x55 What type of bullet should I use?
- Thread starter explicent_content
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I am glad you would like to start reloading, I hope you will like it.
6.5x55 is a very forgiving caliber for loading.
In my Tikka T3 HV for taget shooting I use Sierra Match King 140gr with
47.5gr of Re22, my gun love this powder and Lapua brass.
My hunting load is 140gr Nosler Partition with 48.0gr of Re22
6.5x55 is a very forgiving caliber for loading.
In my Tikka T3 HV for taget shooting I use Sierra Match King 140gr with
47.5gr of Re22, my gun love this powder and Lapua brass.
My hunting load is 140gr Nosler Partition with 48.0gr of Re22
I have taken many deer and a couple of Black bear with my 65x55 swede-nothing went very far-much over 20 or 30 yards,just with the 140 gr-but if I was going for moose,I think I'd load some 160 gr -if I could find them.Norma loads 6.5x55 in 160,I believe.
I have had excellent results with 120gr Speers and 129 and 140gr Hornady's, both Interlocks and SST's. All were 1 shot drops on deer and have yet to recover any. IMHO no need for preium type bullets when shooting deer, bullets aren't traveling fast enough. The wife got drawn for cow elk this year and we are loading up 130gr Accubonds for them and I have faith they will perform just fine.
Wow Thanx thats really impressive haha I don't think there is a possible follow up question after seeing that. I was looking for some 6.5 130gr accubonds but they seem a pretty rare find???
For a less costly bullet in the 6.5 x 55, try the 129 or 140 grain Hornady Interlock. I've killed deer with both in the 6.5x55 and would say that both work very well in terms of accuracy, penetration and killing ability.
If you want to try a premium bullet, I would recommend the 130 grain TSX's. They're very deadly on game.
On a recent African plains game hunt, I used the TSX's (130 grain .270 and 140 grain 7mm (7x57)) exlusively and they worked absolutely flawlessly. The difference between a 130 in the 6.5 and a 130 in the .270 or a 140 in the 7x57 Mauser on game would be negligible AFAIC (my .270 velocities were around 2,975 fps and the 7x57 chrono'd at 2,883 fps).
We only recovered one bullet out of 21 animals killed with the TSX. The rest sailed through, leaving a generous (but short) blood trail:
There's some pictures posted here:
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174930
A-Zone,
what barrel twist do you have in your rifle?
And to what velocities you load your rounds?
I have a little dilemma, I am going to take two rifles for moose this
year and one is going to be 9.3x64, the next one I would love to have
6.5x55, but I would need to have velocity of around 2900fps so I can
use it for 400yr if needed.
Thanks
what barrel twist do you have in your rifle?
And to what velocities you load your rounds?
I have a little dilemma, I am going to take two rifles for moose this
year and one is going to be 9.3x64, the next one I would love to have
6.5x55, but I would need to have velocity of around 2900fps so I can
use it for 400yr if needed.
Thanks
My 6.5's are a Sako 75, a Tikka 695 a 98 Mauser and various M38's. Not sure about the twists, off hand. They're all very accurate to 300 yards.
Velocities of the 6.5 x 55 ammo with a 140 grain Hornady would be between 2,600 and 2,700 fps and about 100 fps faster with the 129's.
With the .270 Win., my chrono'd velocity with the 130 grain TSX averaged 2,973 fps. With the 140 grain TSX in the 7x57, the average velocity was 2,883 fps.
I'm not sure what to suggest for your 400 yard requirement. I'd be very comfortable using any of those cartridges inside of 300 yards, though.
