6.5x55s and Barnes/monos...what are your winning combos?

Joel

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Would be really interested to hear from anyone loading the 6.5x55 Swede and Barnes bullets or other monos. Do you have any favorite combos, or any suggestions that worked for you?

So far I've tried the 100gr TTSX and 42 grains of VV N150 and the 127gr LRX and 44 grains of Hunter in a Tikka T3x, but would really dig hearing what you guys shoot. Including Hornady CX and other styles.
 
I have not put any monos down my 6.5x55 Swede however I do have a ladder test loaded up of some 120gr Nosler E-tips. My 6.5 PRC hated them so I am hoping the Swede likes them. I believe they are loaded over some Big Game but not 100% sure and don't have load notes with me right now.

B
 
Joel,
My 6.5x55 Tikka T3x lite shoots the 120 TTSX at 2920 with a moderate dose of Vit 560. 0.75 moa. This load is still above 2200 fps at 330 yards.
 
I have several 6.5x55's and none of them shoot the light bullets very well. I have used the 140 gr. Barnes match burners with pretty good success but get much better groups with Nosler custom competition. As far as a hunting bullet I prefer a bonded bullet over mono just because of the lower velocities with the swede. Love the TSX and TTSX in my 243 where they have excelled time and again.
 
I shoot a 140 gr Barnes XLC (yes, the old blue pills) ahead of 47 gr IMR 4831 in my Rem 700 Classic.

Produces 2,818 fps and has taken moose.
 
Joel,
My 6.5x55 Tikka T3x lite shoots the 120 TTSX at 2920 with a moderate dose of Vit 560. 0.75 moa. This load is still above 2200 fps at 330 yards.

That is awesome performance, thank you! VV's website has load data to start with thankfully so appreciate the pointer!
 
I shoot a 140 gr Barnes XLC (yes, the old blue pills) ahead of 47 gr IMR 4831 in my Rem 700 Classic.

Produces 2,818 fps and has taken moose.

Now that is kicking it old school. And awesome performance too.

Great rifle you have there as well.
 
Still have a few of these left, and if I'm around long enough, will probably be used for caribou or bear.
Definitely hope you get the chance!

How long have you been hunting/shooting that 700 Classic?
 
I have several 6.5x55's and none of them shoot the light bullets very well. I have used the 140 gr. Barnes match burners with pretty good success but get much better groups with Nosler custom competition. As far as a hunting bullet I prefer a bonded bullet over mono just because of the lower velocities with the swede. Love the TSX and TTSX in my 243 where they have excelled time and again.

3100 fps with a 100gr TTSX has done pretty well here so far, but only just gettin started with it!
 
I have not put any monos down my 6.5x55 Swede however I do have a ladder test loaded up of some 120gr Nosler E-tips. My 6.5 PRC hated them so I am hoping the Swede likes them. I believe they are loaded over some Big Game but not 100% sure and don't have load notes with me right now.

B
BTW, good luck with this one! Hope it works out and they shoot well!
 
Speaking of Lightweight I do shoot a factory 100gr Jaktmatch ammo that was made by RWS and I don't think it can be found anymore. Shoots 5 into .5" to .6" everytime. 3 Shot groups are usually in the .3" so the Tikka barrel I have loves the lighter stuff. some 100gr TTSX are likely on my horizon.

3100fps is cooking!
 
Speaking of Lightweight I do shoot a factory 100gr Jaktmatch ammo that was made by RWS and I don't think it can be found anymore. Shoots 5 into .5" to .6" everytime. 3 Shot groups are usually in the .3" so the Tikka barrel I have loves the lighter stuff. some 100gr TTSX are likely on my horizon.

3100fps is cooking!

Holy cow, its a hammer!

The data for the 100gr TTSX I pretty much plucked from Noslers 100gr page
 
Joel, you would likely get more information if you posted the make and model of the rifle you intend to use these loads in.

I'm saying this because I know of a local nimrod who blew the top of his M38 Swede receiver ring off his rifle last weekend.

He went onto a site which gave "HOT LOADS for the 6.5x55 Swede" and without reading any of the caveats, proceeded to load up ten rounds to take to the range for testing. First shot "Kaboom"

He didn't get hurt, other than his pride, especially when we went onto the site together and his rifle model/make was listed very clearly as one not to even consider shooting any of the loads listed.

His rifle is of course a paper weight as is the low end Leupold scope, which has a bit of a bend at the turret module.

Now that caveat aside, I'm going to assume you have a modern/strong action and give you a load I've recently been playing with, to see if I can find a decent accuracy node.

I did try Hornady #26110 GMX, but my Tikka T3, which normally isn't fussy, will not shoot them well, with any powder I tried.

So, I've moved onto the Barnes TTSX 120 grain bullets, which are very close in length, bearing surface to the Hornady SST 140 grain bullets.

In my T3, H4831 or IMR7828 gave me the best results with the 140 grain bullets, so IMHO they were an obvious choice for a bullet with similar bearing surface(friction) and length, even if it is lighter in weight.

51.0 grains of IMR7828 were about all I could squeeze into the case before compressing it too much, with the 120 TTSX bullet seated to fit in the magazine. Results have been good. 3000+fps, when comparing bullet drop from 100-300yds and 1moa accuracy is norm.

This is a good load with very consistent results so far.

H4831 results were OK but, velocities were slower and pressures showed before they could be brought up.

I haven't tried this load yet, but because I lucked into a shootable quantity of H100V which could be considered to be a "ball" type IMR4831 or RL19, it may work better. It will be 45.0 grains of H100V, over CCI250 primers, under TTSX 120 grain bullets, in Lapua cases. I'm hoping this will retain or exceed the 3000fps achieved above and with slightly better accuracy.

I can live with 1moa, without worry, but this rifle is capable of better, if I do my part and the load is consistent, with enough tweaking.

Even though it's been around for quite a while, I'm not familiar enough with H100V to be able to predict its parameters, without some more due diligence on my part, in my rifles. It's very similar all around to H450, long discontinued. Maybe a resurrection???

My 280 Remington, loves H100V, as does the 270 Winchester, both with 120 grain TTSX bullets.

I wasn't a fan of "monolithic" bullets, mostly because I was trying to apply rules for cup and core bullets into the equations. They're different, but similar and performance will vary greatly between rifles.

I have two each, 280 Rem/270 Winchesters, all in good quality receivers/stocks and excellent barrels as far as smoothness/consistent diameters/weight goes. Both of the 280 chambered rifles, shoot the TTSX bullets very well. The 270s, one is a custom, built by myself and it really likes the Barne's TTSX, the other is a Kimber 84L Mountain rifle with a light barrel and it won't shoot them nearly as well as the other three rifles.

So, no matter how fast you get your rifle to shoot these very good bullets, the specific rifle may not shoot them well, for reasons unto itself.
 
Good point on listing the actions, you're right. Should have specified I'm talking modern, strong commercial rifles.

Thanks for the info
 
My varberger 6.5x55 is the most accurate rifle I own. CFE223 works well with Barnes 115,120 and 127 grain and it likes RL16 with 130 CX.
 
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