for the love of 6.5x55

When I was working at the gun stores, whenever I could, I would put youth and women into the 6.5x55 rifles from Tikka, CZ and Howa for their first hunting rifles.
Quite often the husbands or fathers would question the choice vs a 270 or a 30-06 for their kids or wife's first hunting rifle, but after a little discussion about the intended big game (usually deer and perhaps moose), terrain to be hunted and expected distances, a comparison of some ballistics and recoil, and the fact that 100,000 moose a year are harvested in Sweden/Norway every year with the 6.5 Swede usually won the day. Almost every single one of those husbands and fathers came back with their wives and kids to buy more ammo and to show pictures of groups shot and game harvested by those women and children. They were all excited about how well those rifles shot, the comfortable level of recoil, the game harvested and wanting to get back out and shoot those rifles some more!
One young lady of 16 used her factory Tikka T3 in 6.5x55 to take 2nd place at the Burns Lake 1000 yard shoot with less than a year of shooting experience and coaching from a friend of the family.
I sold quite a number of rifles in 7mm-08 too, but got way more enthusiastic feedback from the ones shooting the Swedes!
 
I'm glad to hear that 6.5x55 is a good round because I recently purchased a Husqvarna m38 with aftermarket stock. I haven't fired it and it's not up to where I want it to be yet, but on my budget I think I ended up with a serviceable hunting rifle. I went out to buy 6.5x55 rounds locally and nobody carries it!

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BTWinnipeg said:
I'm glad to hear that 6.5x55 is a good round because I recently purchased a Husqvarna m38 with aftermarket stock. I haven't fired it and it's not up to where I want it to be yet, but on my budget I think I ended up with a serviceable hunting rifle. I went out to buy 6.5x55 rounds locally and nobody carries it!

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That's a great looking rifle and a great way to get into a quality hunting rig.
I have a similar one in a much uglier stock and really need to get it out more. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty confident it's the gun I shot my first deer with. Had 2 6.5x55 and can't recall which was with me that day.

Really surprised that you are having trouble finding ammo. Many of the sponsors here have it but shipping makes it problematic. Hopefully you can find a few different things to test it out with.
 
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Its funny I have heard a lot of people say 6.5x55 is a great first gun or good for wife, its a great round end of story. when people have tried to tell me that i need a bigger caliber for elk or moose I let them know I fill my freezer every year and shoot the round/rifle I am most accurate with. its fine if someone needs "nothing smaller than a 338", I am comfortable with the size of my manhood.
 
jogforfun said:
Its funny I have heard a lot of people say 6.5x55 is a great first gun or good for wife, its a great round end of story. when people have tried to tell me that i need a bigger caliber for elk or moose I let them know I fill my freezer every year and shoot the round/rifle I am most accurate with. its fine if someone needs "nothing smaller than a 338", I am comfortable with the size of my manhood.
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It is amazing to over hear what many of the young guys behind many gun counters are telling new shooters and hunters these days...most of them go straight to the 300 Win Mag as the best first rifle for moose and elk hunting. Or if the shot at a deer maybe 300 yards or more! And if you talk to them afterwards, you find that most of them haven't hunted moose or elk themselves yet. More often than not, they own or have shot 300 Win mags, but have no idea what a 6.5x55 or 7mm Mauser is. They are just parroting what they have heard other people or someone in their family or circle of friends say.
While working at the gunstore, a young lady came in before hunting season to buy a new rifle for the upcoming season. She was about 20 and maybe 5'4" and 120 lbs. She had been hunting deer for a couple of years with a 30-30 and wanted something with a little more power and reach. She also didn't want something that kicked too hard, but was ok with shooting her Dad's 270. So the fellow helping her put her into a 300 Win Mag. I asked him afterwards why he didn't sell her a 270, 30-06 or even a 7mm Rem Mag, why the 300...his answer was she needed a 300 for elk! The fellow had only ever shot a deer once with a 308 Win, and grouse with a .410.
I know a relative of mine told me years ago that for elk I must have a 300 Win Mag, as he had seen a friend of his drop an elk in its track at 150 yards with one. He had been hunting moose his entire life with a 30-06, but he was convinced it wasn't good enough for elk (although he had never shot an elk). He shot his friend's 300 once, but didn't like it as it kicked too hard.
 
BTWinnipeg said:
I'm glad to hear that 6.5x55 is a good round because I recently purchased a Husqvarna m38 with aftermarket stock. I haven't fired it and it's not up to where I want it to be yet, but on my budget I think I ended up with a serviceable hunting rifle. I went out to buy 6.5x55 rounds locally and nobody carries it!

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I think you will be happy with your rifle, its looking great.
 
vagrantviking said:
That's a great looking rifle and a great way to get into a quality hunting rig.
I have a similar one in a much uglier stock and really need to get it out more. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty confident it's the gun I shot my first deer with. Had 2 6.5x55 and can't recall which was with me that day.

Really surprised that you are having trouble finding ammo. Many of the sponsors here have it but shipping makes it problematic. Hopefully you can find a few different things to test it out with.
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I ended up ordering from Trade Ex.
 
First rifle I ever bought was a sportered m96. I just thought I bought a neat old gun with a longer barrel and in a more uncommon caliber. Turns out I had my first taste of the 6.5x55 Koolaid and I was hooked after that. Since then I have added more 6.5x55 rifles to my collection and have already reserved more space in the safe for others :). I keep coming back to the 6.5x55 cartridge for so many reasons and suggest it others whenever I can.
 
My introduction to the 6.5x55 started in the early 80's when SIR was selling boat loads of different surplus rifles. I had never heard of the caliber but assumed Carl Gustaff Swedish made rifles had to have decent quality for a mil surp so I ordered the M96 (49.95), the M38 (69.95), and the M42B Ljungman (75.00), along with the military issue cleaning kit, ammo pouches, and bayonet which fit all three rifles. Total investment was just north of 200 dollars. The only ammo available locally was Norma 156 gr. round nose and was extremely expensive but needed as a brass supply for reloading. At the time I was involved with a silhouette club and the 96 in stock military configuration was an amazing performer. It was impressive enough that several other members ordered up a bunch of these cheap military rifles and started customizing them into delightful little sporters. It took about two years for the 6.5x55 to dominate the silhouette range. Since then the military rifles have gone but have been replaced with modern action guns and will always be my favorite caliber. I was out at the range yesterday with my most cherished of the four in the safe. A beautiful Swedish Lakelander heavy barrel that consistently makes me look like a better shot than I actually am.
I must give thanks to the Creedmoor crowd for making the 264 caliber so popular because for us 6.5x55 reloaders', we now have an awesome selection of bullets to choose from.
 
Well I shot my 6.5x55 Husqvarna the other day and it only took 4 clicks on both axis on the scope to get it zeroed in at 100 yards. I'm really impressed with how it performed but realize now that my cheap scope does not let a lot of light in so I think I will be upgrading that sometime in the future.
 
Old thread but yeah, still my favorite 6.5 cartridge is the 120+ year old Swede.
Great in light weight hunting rifles, great in heavy barrel target rifles, just easy to load for, easy to shoot, and works on just about everything you can hunt in Canada.
 
Love the Swedes. Bought my first surplus Husqvarna M38 from SIR by mail order in 1978. I think it was about 80.00. I shot my first Mule deer with it. I had it sporterized, safety changed to a Buehler ? and the bolt turned down to mount a scope. This one still lives here. My wife hunts/shoots it some days.

A M42b followed it home shortly after a year or two later, also by SIR mail order. This one saw a lot of target shooting in the foothills of the Rockies when I cowboyed out there for a few years. Unfortunately, I sold this one off.

When Ruger brought out the M77 Mk II in 6.5 x 55 I couldn't wait to buy one from Wholesale Sports. I had Custom Gun add some open sights and mounted a Leupold scope. Lots of game has fallen to this rifle, Whitetails, Mulies, Coyotes, and a couple Pronghorn Antelope. I bought one of those sub caliber adapters that are powered by a .22 blank, and have shot lots of grouse when hunting big game.

When I first started shooting 6.5, ammunition was scarce as hens teeth. About all you could buy was factory Norma. This was the push I needed to start reloading. This hobby has expanded to a many different calibers over the years.
 
Love the Swede, my favourite bolt rifle caliber. Just last night I loaded up a bunch of 129 Hornadys for my brother and his son. My brother has a sporterized model 38 and I gave his son a model 70 featherweight classic I had a few years ago. A moderate load works well in both rifles and at the ranges they hunt. I have a custom rifle in the Swede now after previously using many others and if I had to go to one rifle, it would likely be that one. I remember a commentary from an old Nosler manual that said, "Feed the Swede a good Nosler bullet and any reasonable load and it will sing a pretty song.". The Swede and partitions have been singing for me for many years.
 
My first custom i built was off a finnlight in a swede. It has a s5" RKS gain twist barrel with a mcmilan stock. I have taken the 142 smk's out to 900 yards with amazing accuracy. and for hunting the 140 partitions into tiny groups. everything from elk to bear have been taken with it. The last couple years i switched over to the 160 gr woodleighs and they are very accurate also. I liked the gun soo much, that i sold my Cooper 280 this year since it never gets used anymore. (and that was one of those guns i said i would never get rid of)
 
I have a Danzig Mauser (1917) that was converted to 6.5x55 with a heavy barrel and M1 Garand sights. Something that was used for target shooting in Denmark after WWII after the Germans left all of their stockpiles behind. I love the rifle, its my only heavy barrel, and it has won a bunch of competitions (by previous owners lol) as seen by all of the silver tags on the right side of the stock. Hopefully one day I'll be good enough to bring her out and win a compeition or two.

The gun shoots great, and every time I look at it, it makes me want to buy a couple more 6.5x55 rifles!
 
diabeticfreak said:
I have a Danzig Mauser (1917) that was converted to 6.5x55 with a heavy barrel and M1 Garand sights. Something that was used for target shooting in Denmark after WWII after the Germans left all of their stockpiles behind. I love the rifle, its my only heavy barrel, and it has won a bunch of competitions (by previous owners lol) as seen by all of the silver tags on the right side of the stock. Hopefully one day I'll be good enough to bring her out and win a compeition or two.

The gun shoots great, and every time I look at it, it makes me want to buy a couple more 6.5x55 rifles!
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I got one of those too.. except it's a Kornbusch, fun rifle for sure.
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so now all the rave is about the 6.5 creedmore yet the 6.5x55 sweed as better bullestics,you woul think it would be way more popular here in north america .
Nice rifle Hitzy
 
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