Hornady 6.5x55 loading data
- Thread starter Dunk
- Start date
Dunk, there is one thing you aren't telling us.
What make of rifle are you shooting????
That would help a lot.
Many manuals will list loads that are safe for particular bullet weights. Most the loads are worked up for the Swede 96 based Mausers.
You can get away with just about any of their max loads in a K98 conversion or one of the modern commercial actions available today.
The SST bullets offered by Hornady, have long ogives and long bodies, with short boat tails. They do develop a bit more pressure than their counterparts. Not enough to worry about though. Any flat based 140 grain bullet load will be fine.
If you have a converted milsurp or one of the commercial 96 sporters in good condition, start mid range in the suggested loads and work up from there. If you have one of the rifles, imported with a pitted bore, use the starting load.
One thing about the 6.5x55, the case capacity of the round is almost ideal to get the most efficient burn of the powders suggested for it. Pressures, will go up quickly with such a small diameter for bullet length bore.
Remember, usually if you increase a load by 10%, weight or volume, a good rule of thumb is that you will only increase velocity by 1%.
I suggest a mid range starting point and increase or decrease your powder charge until you get the best accuracy.
Again, be very careful once you start getting close to max loads.
I've seen more than one old 96 action, commercial or milsurp, with the top of the receiver ring blown off.
What make of rifle are you shooting????
That would help a lot.
Many manuals will list loads that are safe for particular bullet weights. Most the loads are worked up for the Swede 96 based Mausers.
You can get away with just about any of their max loads in a K98 conversion or one of the modern commercial actions available today.
The SST bullets offered by Hornady, have long ogives and long bodies, with short boat tails. They do develop a bit more pressure than their counterparts. Not enough to worry about though. Any flat based 140 grain bullet load will be fine.
If you have a converted milsurp or one of the commercial 96 sporters in good condition, start mid range in the suggested loads and work up from there. If you have one of the rifles, imported with a pitted bore, use the starting load.
One thing about the 6.5x55, the case capacity of the round is almost ideal to get the most efficient burn of the powders suggested for it. Pressures, will go up quickly with such a small diameter for bullet length bore.
Remember, usually if you increase a load by 10%, weight or volume, a good rule of thumb is that you will only increase velocity by 1%.
I suggest a mid range starting point and increase or decrease your powder charge until you get the best accuracy.
Again, be very careful once you start getting close to max loads.
I've seen more than one old 96 action, commercial or milsurp, with the top of the receiver ring blown off.
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
Both hornady books I have (8th &9th) it says they use the mauser model 1896
That seems low to me. I've used the data from Hodgdon.
It starts at 41.0 and ends at 45.0
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp
FWIW, here's is what I was shooting this past weekend while doing some development.
140grSST
PRVI brass
CCI Primers
IMR 4350 - Loads from 41.0 up to 44.5 stepped every 0.5gr
seated at 3.150"
Shot from a husqvarna 1640.
My worst group was 3.5" at 100
My best group was 1" at 100.
All I did was quote the Hornady book as requested, obviously it is only one source of information and working up a load from a starting charge is required. The max load for his rifle could be more, could be less, and naturally he should be responsible for safety.
The load that seems to work well for a lot of my swedes is 43.5 gn of 4350 with the 140 gn hornady softpoints, no pressure signs. This is a middle of the road load with the Lyman and hodgons data I have. You may want to check in the milsurps forum as this has been discussed quite a bit there. Buffdog really knows his stuff about the swedes.
If you are using Hornady bullets that are listed in their reloading book then go by what they recommend and watch for signs of pressure. I find Hornady recommend powder loads much lighter than those of other manuals as they test with their projectiles so know what they are talking about.
You always need to check loading data with the type of bullet that is used.
Bearing surface, the "hardness" of the copper etc all have a huge effect on reloading.
Alaways
Be
Careful
You always need to check loading data with the type of bullet that is used.
Bearing surface, the "hardness" of the copper etc all have a huge effect on reloading.
Alaways
Be
Careful
I agree, for example Barnes bullets differ quite a lot and grain for grain when compared to a traditional cup and core produce different pressures and velocities.
Ignore sunray....
