samsplacci71
Regular
- Location
- Toronto area
My oversized bolt handle and bolt shroud and bottom metal are sitting at the post office from atlasworxs in Australia as we speak! Cant wait to pick it up tomorrow
Very, very nice!
for the love of 6.5x55
- Thread starter jogforfun
- Start date
Very, very nice!
I just recently got myself a lefty Tikka T3 in Swede. I've been looking for one for so long, and I finally snagged a good used one on the EE. I love the 6.5 as much as I dreamed I would. Hoping to take a deer with it this fall.
Thanks for the stories, this has been a great thread to read.
Thanks for the stories, this has been a great thread to read.
My 6.5x55mm story also involves gunsmith 'John Pullen' along the way, too.
Circa 1991 a friend, who has sadly since departed, introduced me to the 6.5x55mm when we were sighting in other rifles at the SVIR range. His rifle was a Winchester Model 70 featherweight in 6.5x55mm. I was hooked right from the start. At the time factory sporters in 6.5x55mm were quite scarce.
Within the next few months I picked up a Model 96 Swede short rifle [24' brl] that was no longer minty but the barrel was shiny inside & the price was right. [Think it was around $175 at the time]. I sourced an after market synthetic stock from an ad in the old "Gunrunner" newspaper that used to come out each month. ['Course this thing call the Internet was not heard of in those days]. Eventually, took my Swede to 'smith John Pullen & had the action drilled & tapped for Weaver scope mounts, the straight bolt handle bent & a low scope safety installed. Barreled action was then bedded to the synthetic stock. I mounted a cheap Tasco 3-9x40mm on it & bore sighted using buddies Bushnell boresighter. However, after being spoiled with my buddies M70 F/W 6.5x55mm that sporter Swede just couldn't measure up. Nor should it have really been expected to. I never did hunt with it but plinked many targets at the range.
Circa 1992 the sporter Swede & I had parted company when I lucked into a NIB Ruger Model 77 MkII blued in walnut stock in 6.5x55mm from Lever Arms while on a trip to Vancouver, B.C. That Ruger was then topped with a B&L Elite 3000 3-9x40mm. It shot like a house on fire right out of the box. While I didn't hunt that rifle it shot circles around my old Swede sporter punching lots of paper.
Ruger 77 MkII 6.5x55mm
I kept the Ruger until on an early incarnation of CGN I lucked into a Remington Model 700 Classic in 6.5x55mm off the EE. I sold the Ruger after acquiring the Remington.
Remington 700 Classic 6.5x55mm
Then a couple years ago I was able to find my 'Holy Grail' of rifles..... Finally, a Winchester Model 70 featherweight in 6.5x55mm:
-------------
NAA.
Circa 1991 a friend, who has sadly since departed, introduced me to the 6.5x55mm when we were sighting in other rifles at the SVIR range. His rifle was a Winchester Model 70 featherweight in 6.5x55mm. I was hooked right from the start. At the time factory sporters in 6.5x55mm were quite scarce.
Within the next few months I picked up a Model 96 Swede short rifle [24' brl] that was no longer minty but the barrel was shiny inside & the price was right. [Think it was around $175 at the time]. I sourced an after market synthetic stock from an ad in the old "Gunrunner" newspaper that used to come out each month. ['Course this thing call the Internet was not heard of in those days]. Eventually, took my Swede to 'smith John Pullen & had the action drilled & tapped for Weaver scope mounts, the straight bolt handle bent & a low scope safety installed. Barreled action was then bedded to the synthetic stock. I mounted a cheap Tasco 3-9x40mm on it & bore sighted using buddies Bushnell boresighter. However, after being spoiled with my buddies M70 F/W 6.5x55mm that sporter Swede just couldn't measure up. Nor should it have really been expected to. I never did hunt with it but plinked many targets at the range.
Circa 1992 the sporter Swede & I had parted company when I lucked into a NIB Ruger Model 77 MkII blued in walnut stock in 6.5x55mm from Lever Arms while on a trip to Vancouver, B.C. That Ruger was then topped with a B&L Elite 3000 3-9x40mm. It shot like a house on fire right out of the box. While I didn't hunt that rifle it shot circles around my old Swede sporter punching lots of paper.
Ruger 77 MkII 6.5x55mm
I kept the Ruger until on an early incarnation of CGN I lucked into a Remington Model 700 Classic in 6.5x55mm off the EE. I sold the Ruger after acquiring the Remington.
Remington 700 Classic 6.5x55mm
Then a couple years ago I was able to find my 'Holy Grail' of rifles..... Finally, a Winchester Model 70 featherweight in 6.5x55mm:
-------------
NAA.
My first c.f. rifle was my Ljungmann, about 30 years ago.
Bought at a local auction where no one had a clue about it. I got it for 60, or 70 bucks. Was fiddling with it when the action snapped shut, and everyone jumped! Got my first few deer with it. I haven't owned a rifle where cost in vs meat/lb out ratio has been so good!
Have to fast-forward a decade before I actually fell in love with 6.5x55, or knew anything of the Ljungmann (other than to mind the fingers). Have owned a few Mausers since, still have one, and in the last couple of years added Norwegian Krag too.
The round itself is very well developed. Very capable for freezer filling, and target fun alike.
Bought at a local auction where no one had a clue about it. I got it for 60, or 70 bucks. Was fiddling with it when the action snapped shut, and everyone jumped! Got my first few deer with it. I haven't owned a rifle where cost in vs meat/lb out ratio has been so good!
Have to fast-forward a decade before I actually fell in love with 6.5x55, or knew anything of the Ljungmann (other than to mind the fingers). Have owned a few Mausers since, still have one, and in the last couple of years added Norwegian Krag too.
The round itself is very well developed. Very capable for freezer filling, and target fun alike.
jogforfun;
Good afternoon to you sir, hopefully this finds you well and thanks for the interesting reading this thread provided.
My personal relationship with the 6.5x55 goes back to about '82 when surplus 96 Swedes were being brought in by Century Arms in great condition and good numbers. A cousin that I farmed with as well as a chap I worked for had examples of them and although they didn't hunt with them the rifle/cartridge combination intrigued me.
In 1984 my wife and I migrated west off of our family farm near Yorkton to the Okanagan where we live today. It was a time of mending fences for me between my parents and I and one of the things my late father and I talked about was going hunting together again - but he no longer had a rifle.
So although it was a lot of money for us at the time, my wife and I decided to gift Dad with a rifle so we could hunt with him. I ordered a 96 Swede from Century Arms who had a screaming sale in "the Gunrunner" paper - paid the $5 premium for the "extra clean/hand picked one" and soon a 1903 vintage Carl Gustav was in my hands for the princely sum of something like $58.
I shortened the barrel and recrowned it, had another bolt handle welded on, drilled and tapped it at a buddy's place and epoxy bedded, reshaped and checkered the stock. Here's a photo of my late father on the day I gave him the Swede.
He hunted with us until the late '90's and between us there were about a dozen local whitetail and mulie bucks that took a last ride in the back of one of my beat up 4x4's via that little Swede carbine. When his health no longer allowed him to hunt with us, Dad gave the rifle back to me, saying he hoped that one of his many grand kids would put it to good use.
Shortly after Dad passed on our girls got old enough to take their CORE course and go hunting with me in the mountains surrounding our BC home. Wouldn't you know it, our eldest spotted the little carbine in the back of the safe one day and asked about it. When she learned it's history she asked if it could be hers and so it's been ever since.
With it, she's taken a total of 9 mulie and whitetail bucks some of which were up close and some which were a good long walk from where she shot them - they all took exactly one bullet from her Swede.
Biggest mulie.
Pointing to the entrance hole and yes sir she did mean to hit it EXACTLY there.
Big bodied, odd racked buck that I still shake my head at how far away it was....
Anyway here's where the story takes an interesting turn for me personally in that in all the years we hunted together, since we started loading the fine Barnes 130gr TSX bullets for her Swede we've yet to "catch" one. That and the tissue damage created by the combination of the Swede's uber fast 1:7½ twist and the monometal bullets was out of proportion to the mild recoil and blast produced.
I was/am impressed enough by the combination that after the last buck I shot with my main walking around gun - a very worked over parts gun 98 Mauser .270, that I went into the garage, twisted the barrel off and sent the action up the valley to a gunsmith who agreed to my unique project. That project was to lathe a bit of the chamber area down on a very nearly new 96 Swede military barrel, make a bushing up to fit it onto a 98 action and then rechamber it to a standard throat 6.5x55.
The result is this rifle that tips the scales at an honest 7lb 2oz fully loaded with 5 rounds of 120gr TTSX or GMX bullets.
It's 2 oz heavier than it was as a .270, but the weight is in the barrel and makes it hang just a bit better for me when I'm shooting offhand.
Anyway you could say we're fans of the 6.5x55 at our house sir.
Thanks again for the thread, thanks for reading and all the best to you this weekend.
Dwayne
Good afternoon to you sir, hopefully this finds you well and thanks for the interesting reading this thread provided.
My personal relationship with the 6.5x55 goes back to about '82 when surplus 96 Swedes were being brought in by Century Arms in great condition and good numbers. A cousin that I farmed with as well as a chap I worked for had examples of them and although they didn't hunt with them the rifle/cartridge combination intrigued me.
In 1984 my wife and I migrated west off of our family farm near Yorkton to the Okanagan where we live today. It was a time of mending fences for me between my parents and I and one of the things my late father and I talked about was going hunting together again - but he no longer had a rifle.
So although it was a lot of money for us at the time, my wife and I decided to gift Dad with a rifle so we could hunt with him. I ordered a 96 Swede from Century Arms who had a screaming sale in "the Gunrunner" paper - paid the $5 premium for the "extra clean/hand picked one" and soon a 1903 vintage Carl Gustav was in my hands for the princely sum of something like $58.
I shortened the barrel and recrowned it, had another bolt handle welded on, drilled and tapped it at a buddy's place and epoxy bedded, reshaped and checkered the stock. Here's a photo of my late father on the day I gave him the Swede.
He hunted with us until the late '90's and between us there were about a dozen local whitetail and mulie bucks that took a last ride in the back of one of my beat up 4x4's via that little Swede carbine. When his health no longer allowed him to hunt with us, Dad gave the rifle back to me, saying he hoped that one of his many grand kids would put it to good use.
Shortly after Dad passed on our girls got old enough to take their CORE course and go hunting with me in the mountains surrounding our BC home. Wouldn't you know it, our eldest spotted the little carbine in the back of the safe one day and asked about it. When she learned it's history she asked if it could be hers and so it's been ever since.
With it, she's taken a total of 9 mulie and whitetail bucks some of which were up close and some which were a good long walk from where she shot them - they all took exactly one bullet from her Swede.
Biggest mulie.
Pointing to the entrance hole and yes sir she did mean to hit it EXACTLY there.
Big bodied, odd racked buck that I still shake my head at how far away it was....
Anyway here's where the story takes an interesting turn for me personally in that in all the years we hunted together, since we started loading the fine Barnes 130gr TSX bullets for her Swede we've yet to "catch" one. That and the tissue damage created by the combination of the Swede's uber fast 1:7½ twist and the monometal bullets was out of proportion to the mild recoil and blast produced.
I was/am impressed enough by the combination that after the last buck I shot with my main walking around gun - a very worked over parts gun 98 Mauser .270, that I went into the garage, twisted the barrel off and sent the action up the valley to a gunsmith who agreed to my unique project. That project was to lathe a bit of the chamber area down on a very nearly new 96 Swede military barrel, make a bushing up to fit it onto a 98 action and then rechamber it to a standard throat 6.5x55.
The result is this rifle that tips the scales at an honest 7lb 2oz fully loaded with 5 rounds of 120gr TTSX or GMX bullets.
It's 2 oz heavier than it was as a .270, but the weight is in the barrel and makes it hang just a bit better for me when I'm shooting offhand.
Anyway you could say we're fans of the 6.5x55 at our house sir.
Thanks again for the thread, thanks for reading and all the best to you this weekend.
Dwayne
Yes great story for sure. My step daughter turned 13 today and was already talking about the hunting course and what gun she can use. I think her deer gun will be a Sweed for sure. BC30, do you have a load recipe that you can share for the Barnes TSX bullets? I just picked up some TSX and TTSX in 120 gn to try.
Thanks'
Scott...
Thanks'
Scott...
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So jealous......
Oooh.... how much$$??
I stopped reloading once i found factory lapua
Scott;
Top of the morning to you sir, hopefully this finds you and yours well on this still Saturday morning.
One of the nice things about the Swede is that it's remarkably forgiving with different powders, so much so it reminds me of the .308 in that regard.
We've had acceptable results with powders as fast as the 4895's, but her Swede prefers the slower powders for sure with the 129/130gr bullets. I lump them together Scott as we're using the same charge of powder and same primer which enables her to use the excellent 129gr Hornady for practice and the Barnes for game.
Without going to look at the reloading log book- which I will try to do later on Scott - her's is happiest with a max load of H4831 so 48gr I think it was. I'll get the speed we're getting from our respective rifles late too - her's is a 20" barrel and mine is a 21" - again going from foggy memory it's about 2660fps. Close runner up powders in both rifles are RL 19, N 160, IMR 4350 and my rifle prefers IMR 4831 with the 120gr Barnes TTSX.
If you're using a fast twist, military Swede barrel like we are, we've found that the deep grooves and fast twist can be quite hard on many conventional cup and core bullets when they hit game - for instance coming apart in 6" of chest cavity and destroying the lung on the entrance side only.
The combination of Monometal bullets and the deep groove Swede barrels appears to be a fine match and we're more than satisfied with the results on deer sized game.
If it's of any interest to my fellow 6.5 enthusiasts, here's a photo of some of the monometal offerings out there.
I just got the Hornady GMX yesterday so haven't shot any yet, but was happily surprised to see they closely resemble an A Max in shape - which hopefully bodes well.
Hopefully that was helpful sir, kudos to you for taking your step daughter afield with you and good luck on your hunts together.
Dwayne
Top of the morning to you sir, hopefully this finds you and yours well on this still Saturday morning.
One of the nice things about the Swede is that it's remarkably forgiving with different powders, so much so it reminds me of the .308 in that regard.
We've had acceptable results with powders as fast as the 4895's, but her Swede prefers the slower powders for sure with the 129/130gr bullets. I lump them together Scott as we're using the same charge of powder and same primer which enables her to use the excellent 129gr Hornady for practice and the Barnes for game.
Without going to look at the reloading log book- which I will try to do later on Scott - her's is happiest with a max load of H4831 so 48gr I think it was. I'll get the speed we're getting from our respective rifles late too - her's is a 20" barrel and mine is a 21" - again going from foggy memory it's about 2660fps. Close runner up powders in both rifles are RL 19, N 160, IMR 4350 and my rifle prefers IMR 4831 with the 120gr Barnes TTSX.
If you're using a fast twist, military Swede barrel like we are, we've found that the deep grooves and fast twist can be quite hard on many conventional cup and core bullets when they hit game - for instance coming apart in 6" of chest cavity and destroying the lung on the entrance side only.
The combination of Monometal bullets and the deep groove Swede barrels appears to be a fine match and we're more than satisfied with the results on deer sized game.
If it's of any interest to my fellow 6.5 enthusiasts, here's a photo of some of the monometal offerings out there.
I just got the Hornady GMX yesterday so haven't shot any yet, but was happily surprised to see they closely resemble an A Max in shape - which hopefully bodes well.
Hopefully that was helpful sir, kudos to you for taking your step daughter afield with you and good luck on your hunts together.
Dwayne
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Great thread you started JFF.
My first encounter with the Blonde was at our local gun show many moons ago.
I spotted a rifle that peaked me interest.
The crowd just wouldn't move.............dang wahdlers.
So me patience wuzz runn'n owt. I'd inch me arse closer, then BAMMM, nudder
quack facker would grab that rifle.........chit me pense.............it's gawn.....no, no, no ........wait,
it got put back.
Annnnnnnnnnd, finally I git this kritter in me hands. The gent explains what it is and the bull barrel
isn't stamp with nadda.
He said he knew the owner that is now no longer on this planet. Ammo was shown and there were a
kupple boxes of bullets.
We pushed and shoved for a price and another folk was trying to git that beast from me mitts.
I think we settled on a kupple brown ones and a green oar two.
Got it home and mounted a scope, bore sighted it and found some dies. Loaded up ammo and
shaahzaaahm.........cloverleafs.
Butt me lawrd, she was pushing 12 pounds.
Then Thing 2 wished to start shooting and hunting and wanted this rifle to be hers.
I told her it was a bit heavy to be packing around out in the bush.
She promised me she would carry it. I took one of my lighter rifles on the next hunt as I knew
how the story was to turn out.
Ten minutes out in the bush...........Dad.......oh daaaaaduh, this thing is heavy.
Traded rifles and cussed under me breath.
Sold that beast oh burden and ended up with another one.
Kid got a new rifle for a grad present, tad lighter, I must say.
One thing 'bout those 6.5x55, they sure ain't shy of mak'n clover leafs.
My first encounter with the Blonde was at our local gun show many moons ago.
I spotted a rifle that peaked me interest.
The crowd just wouldn't move.............dang wahdlers.
So me patience wuzz runn'n owt. I'd inch me arse closer, then BAMMM, nudder
quack facker would grab that rifle.........chit me pense.............it's gawn.....no, no, no ........wait,
it got put back.
Annnnnnnnnnd, finally I git this kritter in me hands. The gent explains what it is and the bull barrel
isn't stamp with nadda.
He said he knew the owner that is now no longer on this planet. Ammo was shown and there were a
kupple boxes of bullets.
We pushed and shoved for a price and another folk was trying to git that beast from me mitts.
I think we settled on a kupple brown ones and a green oar two.
Got it home and mounted a scope, bore sighted it and found some dies. Loaded up ammo and
shaahzaaahm.........cloverleafs.
Butt me lawrd, she was pushing 12 pounds.
Then Thing 2 wished to start shooting and hunting and wanted this rifle to be hers.
I told her it was a bit heavy to be packing around out in the bush.
She promised me she would carry it. I took one of my lighter rifles on the next hunt as I knew
how the story was to turn out.
Ten minutes out in the bush...........Dad.......oh daaaaaduh, this thing is heavy.
Traded rifles and cussed under me breath.
Sold that beast oh burden and ended up with another one.
Kid got a new rifle for a grad present, tad lighter, I must say.
One thing 'bout those 6.5x55, they sure ain't shy of mak'n clover leafs.
The 6.5x55 is my go to rifle at this point in my life. I am not aging as gracefully as I would like to and my joints are worn badly from the type of work I did as well as some other adventures in life.
I first fell in love with the Swede back in the mid sixties when those nifty little M94s were still affordable and in reasonable quantities to be able to select a decent one without a lot of searching.
Those little rifles just loved 140-160 grain bullets and were perfect for the ranges I was shooting game at. The biggest problem we had back then was finding ammo.
Dominion loaded it but only in the 160 grain round nose and even though it was a good accurate cartridge with phenomenal components it was loaded very close to the Norma offerings and the little rifles were pure hell to shoot off the bench.
I never did drill and tap that little carbine for a scope. I was using it in old growth timber right beside the alfalfa fields just before dark and early mornings. Seldom was a shot over 200 yards and of course my eyes back then were much better.
About 1968 I bought my first single stage press along with several sets of dies which included the 6.5x55. It was an old CH press that was very true to its axis and very strong. It came out of an estate sale along with a bunch of reloading components and a half dozen rifles. It was a hell of a deal for me and I have never looked back. I can't remember when the last time was that I bought loaded ammo, other than surplus stuff.
Now to the real meat of this post.
Back in the day around 1972 International Firearms out of Montreal brought in a new shipment of M96 rifles and a few M38s. Most of the M38s, just like the M94s were destined to be cleaned up and shipped to the US markets for quick bulk sales. Go and Google Ye Olde Hunter ads. The M96s were all FTRed to as new condition. Most had their Walnut stocks replaced with Beech or Elm but some of them were as good as any sporter made at the time or today.
Another thing that was available were cartridges with corrosive primers and wooden bullets. They had a minimum limit on how many you could purchase at the time which was 5000. Now, along with this surplus ammo was included a powder called #44 powder and was the equivalent of 3031. Very good powder in those days but a bit fast for the Swede. Surprisingly the Swedes actually used a similar powder in their FMJ loads. They also included your choice of 160 cupro nickel flat base/exposed lead/round nose, 140 grain FMJ flat base spire point, 140 grain spire point soft point and 95 grain flat base hollow point bullets. You had to decide how many of each you wanted and along with the powder they shipped it all to you for their asking price. It was a great deal. Pulling the wooden bullets was easy. The powder behind them was a very fast flake powder that I used in my hand guns, especially the 45 long colt.
This was a good thing but of course we were limited by the relatively weak actions of days gone by which were plenty strong enough for their issued cartridges. Because of this limitation we had a great cartridge platform that was under utilized as far as its true potential goes.
Today we are blessed with modern and very strong actions. We are also blessed with a great selection of powder choices as well as component choices.
I have a Tikka T3 that came from a fellow in Kelowna very shortly after they hit the Canadian market. It came with dies and components and he was unloading it cheap because he had gone through a messy break up with his GF whom he had bought the rifle for.
I used the rifle for years and experimented with the powders I had on hand to wring as much velocity out of it as possible without pressure signs.
One powder I was reluctant to try was IMR 7828. BIG MISTAKE. In the Swede, especially the short cut version, that powder really shines. I picked up some loads off the internet from respected hand loaders I knew and proceeded from there.
So far I have only made up 140 grain loads but what a difference when loading to the higher pressures with this slower powder makes.
My settled on load is 140grn flat base X CCI Magnum 250 primer X 50 grn 7828. This load gives me 2850fps on average over my Chrony without excessive pressure signs. DO NOT USE THIS LOAD in a 38/94/96 Swede action or any Krag action. It may be OK in one of the 98 actions but that would be your choice.
I first fell in love with the Swede back in the mid sixties when those nifty little M94s were still affordable and in reasonable quantities to be able to select a decent one without a lot of searching.
Those little rifles just loved 140-160 grain bullets and were perfect for the ranges I was shooting game at. The biggest problem we had back then was finding ammo.
Dominion loaded it but only in the 160 grain round nose and even though it was a good accurate cartridge with phenomenal components it was loaded very close to the Norma offerings and the little rifles were pure hell to shoot off the bench.
I never did drill and tap that little carbine for a scope. I was using it in old growth timber right beside the alfalfa fields just before dark and early mornings. Seldom was a shot over 200 yards and of course my eyes back then were much better.
About 1968 I bought my first single stage press along with several sets of dies which included the 6.5x55. It was an old CH press that was very true to its axis and very strong. It came out of an estate sale along with a bunch of reloading components and a half dozen rifles. It was a hell of a deal for me and I have never looked back. I can't remember when the last time was that I bought loaded ammo, other than surplus stuff.
Now to the real meat of this post.
Back in the day around 1972 International Firearms out of Montreal brought in a new shipment of M96 rifles and a few M38s. Most of the M38s, just like the M94s were destined to be cleaned up and shipped to the US markets for quick bulk sales. Go and Google Ye Olde Hunter ads. The M96s were all FTRed to as new condition. Most had their Walnut stocks replaced with Beech or Elm but some of them were as good as any sporter made at the time or today.
Another thing that was available were cartridges with corrosive primers and wooden bullets. They had a minimum limit on how many you could purchase at the time which was 5000. Now, along with this surplus ammo was included a powder called #44 powder and was the equivalent of 3031. Very good powder in those days but a bit fast for the Swede. Surprisingly the Swedes actually used a similar powder in their FMJ loads. They also included your choice of 160 cupro nickel flat base/exposed lead/round nose, 140 grain FMJ flat base spire point, 140 grain spire point soft point and 95 grain flat base hollow point bullets. You had to decide how many of each you wanted and along with the powder they shipped it all to you for their asking price. It was a great deal. Pulling the wooden bullets was easy. The powder behind them was a very fast flake powder that I used in my hand guns, especially the 45 long colt.
This was a good thing but of course we were limited by the relatively weak actions of days gone by which were plenty strong enough for their issued cartridges. Because of this limitation we had a great cartridge platform that was under utilized as far as its true potential goes.
Today we are blessed with modern and very strong actions. We are also blessed with a great selection of powder choices as well as component choices.
I have a Tikka T3 that came from a fellow in Kelowna very shortly after they hit the Canadian market. It came with dies and components and he was unloading it cheap because he had gone through a messy break up with his GF whom he had bought the rifle for.
I used the rifle for years and experimented with the powders I had on hand to wring as much velocity out of it as possible without pressure signs.
One powder I was reluctant to try was IMR 7828. BIG MISTAKE. In the Swede, especially the short cut version, that powder really shines. I picked up some loads off the internet from respected hand loaders I knew and proceeded from there.
So far I have only made up 140 grain loads but what a difference when loading to the higher pressures with this slower powder makes.
My settled on load is 140grn flat base X CCI Magnum 250 primer X 50 grn 7828. This load gives me 2850fps on average over my Chrony without excessive pressure signs. DO NOT USE THIS LOAD in a 38/94/96 Swede action or any Krag action. It may be OK in one of the 98 actions but that would be your choice.
Uploaded at Snapagogo.comThird batch of 400x 150 grain Lyman RNGC cast for me by a friend. This is a great caliber, in the last 25 years I've owned and sold 3 of them. Early last year I was informed of a pre 1912 bolt action rifle match in the US, using only cast lead bullets. I bought a 1900 mfg Obendorf M1896 Mauser and built about 600 gallery loads using Red Dot. In one of the US matches I shot, I took 3rd Place, the next match I took 4th Place. These loads are a gas to shoot and give me about 5-6 inch groups at 200 yds.
I understand at the matches next February the targetry is moving back to 300 yards so it's time to experiment again.
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Great story! Thanks for sharing! At some point in your life I suspect YOU will do the same for a young and enthusiastic (but $$$ challenged) new shooter and you will "relive" those magic moments of your own youth! Reading your story brought back memories of my own "first rifle" a well used '94 32 Spl bought at auction for $25 ... later traded it for a tooled leather purse for my girlfriend - 50 years later - still got the "young lady" and another '94 32 Spl (along with a safe full of old Winnies)!
I bought my first one for $49.99 out of the SIR catalogue in 1979, a 1911 made model 96 full length M96.
I turned down a nice M38 at Lever Arms in 1980 because I thought the threaded end had been used as a grenade launcher and perhaps bulged the bore. How was I to know what they were threaded for and Lever didn't tell me either. Bought 200 rounds of milsup ammo though and still have some.
I didn't know how to read the stock disc either. It was hard to find that stuff out pre-Internet, though I finally found a milsurp magazine from the US that explained it to me.
I subsequently bought an M38 at a gun show and was disappointed and sold it. Slobbered over sporterized milsurps for years but never bought one.
Finally my 'smith built me a "poor man;s custom rifle" out of a Spanish Mauser '95 action and a Tradex 6.5x55 barrel and a donor stock he had. Turned out disappointing my receiver's scope mounting holes are out of line so I could never correclty sight it in and though I did shoot it, after every shot the bolt almost needs to be opened with mallet.
Gave up on it and accepted the gift of a commercial 1955 Husqvarna 7x57 from a buddy.
Still have my 1911 though. Sweet shooter. My daughter was punching holes at 100 m with it when she was 12!
Her son's 11 now. I should take him shooting when he's 12.
I turned down a nice M38 at Lever Arms in 1980 because I thought the threaded end had been used as a grenade launcher and perhaps bulged the bore. How was I to know what they were threaded for and Lever didn't tell me either. Bought 200 rounds of milsup ammo though and still have some.
I didn't know how to read the stock disc either. It was hard to find that stuff out pre-Internet, though I finally found a milsurp magazine from the US that explained it to me.
I subsequently bought an M38 at a gun show and was disappointed and sold it. Slobbered over sporterized milsurps for years but never bought one.
Finally my 'smith built me a "poor man;s custom rifle" out of a Spanish Mauser '95 action and a Tradex 6.5x55 barrel and a donor stock he had. Turned out disappointing my receiver's scope mounting holes are out of line so I could never correclty sight it in and though I did shoot it, after every shot the bolt almost needs to be opened with mallet.
Gave up on it and accepted the gift of a commercial 1955 Husqvarna 7x57 from a buddy.
Still have my 1911 though. Sweet shooter. My daughter was punching holes at 100 m with it when she was 12!
Her son's 11 now. I should take him shooting when he's 12.
