Hunt Moose with a 6.5x55 Swede?

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Northern Shooter

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So I recently picked up a Swedish Mauser and would like to bring it up to the Fall Moose hunt this year.

I know this calibre has been used to harvest elk and moose in Scandinavia for more than a century, but how does it fare against our North American large game?

Would you feel confident taking a Moose with a 6.5X55? What bullet would you recommend?

I'm keeping the gun bare bones with the iron sights so any shot will be within 100M.
 
Northern Shooter said:
So I recently picked up a Swedish Mauser and would like to bring it up to the Fall Moose hunt this year.

I know this calibre has been used to harvest elk and moose in Scandinavia for more than a century, but how does it fare against our North American large game?

Would you feel confident taking a Moose with a 6.5X55? What bullet would you recommend?

I'm keeping the gun bare bones with the iron sights so any shot will be within 100M.
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You answered your own question. If it kills Scandinavia moose, it will kill Canadian moose; just do your part properly. 140-160gr.
 
I would say is equivalent to 338 Win Mag at least, if bullet strike is above, under, ahead or behind that moose?? Place that bullet where it should go, and dead is dead - a bigger / faster bullet can not make it "deader". I suspect that 6.5x55 was popular because rifles were cheap to buy, there - and worked. From others, I understand 9.3x57 and others also worked for Scandinavian moose. I read something that might be seeing a shift to 30-06 or perhaps 300 Win Mag for Norway and Sweden moose hunters - but is likely to get more range, perhaps, or general increase in affluence of the hunters, or perhaps North American marketing seeping through ...
 
6.5x55 is still completely new to me so I still have some reading to do regarding ballistics.

What is 6.5 comparable to, .270?

How far out will it maintain the 1500lb-ft of energy? I've read that should be the minimum for moose.
 
Here's ballistics to 300 yards for my 160 grain loads

160RN 48gr 4831

Range Vel
(yd) (ft/s)
0 2570
20 2508
40 2447
60 2387
80 2328
100 2269
120 2211
140 2155
160 2099
180 2044
200 1989
220 1936
240 1883
260 1832
280 1781
300 1732

Energy slows to less than 1500 between 160 and 180 yards

2347
2235
2127
2024
1925
1830
1738
1650
1565
1484
1406
1332
1260
1192
1127
1066
 
Northern Shooter said:
6.5x55 is still completely new to me so I still have some reading to do regarding ballistics.

What is 6.5 comparable to, .270?

How far out will it maintain the 1500lb-ft of energy? I've read that should be the minimum for moose.
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More like 6.5 creed than 270win if we're keeping it within saami specs.

It also depends on the rifle you're using though, modern rifles like a tikka can take higher pressure than what 6.5x55 is spec'd for, which gives you the possibility of exceeding 6.5cm by a reasonable margin. But it's still behind 270 in case capacity.
 
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I looked in Nosler #7 manual for these numbers - that one still has longer range tables - their #9 does not.

So, as mentioned above - 140 grain and 160 grain was really common for 6.5x55 - looks like Nosler's heaviest is / was 140 grain - Accubond and Partition and two others. Is three powders listed to take 140 grain over 2,750 fps at muzzle, so I will go with that - 140 grain bullet, Partition (B.C. = .490), at 2,750 fps at muzzle from 23" barrel. I did have some 160 grain Round Nose by Hornady - if you prefer that weight, can maybe still find some?

Interpolating from table on p. 813, 2,750 fps for bullet with that B.C., has 2,224 fps at 300 yards. A 140 grain bullet, at that speed, has 1538 or so foot pounds - interpolated from table on p. 840. I do know from the energy formula on the SAAMI website, that bullet construction does not enter into an "energy" calculation - is just bullet weight and speed that matter. So any bullet weighing 140 grains and going 2,224 fps will have that much energy - is the Nosler sales pitch and my own experience that the Partition will let you get penetration that normal "cup and core" bullets will not. Accubonds have even higher B.C., so will have more foot pounds at 300 yards, then will the Partitions - I have no experience with Accubonds on game, but have heard and read that they perform very similar to Partition.

I guess would be up to you to compare that with 270 Win or whatever. Try to keep your comparisons as much "apples to apples" as you can. Around here, many moose hunters would opt for 150 grain or 160 grain for their 270 Win - for various reasons - although no doubt a bazillion moose and elk have been taken with 130 grain 270 Win.

I suspect that hitting a shoulder joint or not; hitting a rib or going in between ribs; a moose shot angling away versus fully broadside - will often have different results - and a lot of us will have experience of only one or two successful shots in our lifetime, so far - could have been lucky, or could have been "good" - personally, I will take "lucky" over "good" most days, any more...

I do know a local guy who takes EVERYTHING with his 16 1/2" barrel 243 Win - a Ruger Compact - coyotes, grey wolves, deer and moose - would be next to impossible to explain to him that his cartridge is not adequate, for what he kills. His sons use 7mm Weatherby Mag and a 28 Nosler - the old guy does not think he needs those boomers for what he does. I suspect he fits in to category "good". He has had too many dead things to be just "lucky" - we have eaten many pounds of deer and moose meat from him.
 
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I killed a good sized bull with an eighty yard shot using 140 grain bullet. The bullet entered in his front chest (facing me) and travelled the complete length of the moose and exited near his anus. Bull went 30 yards and dropped. The bullet was a swift A frame. Since I have hunted with Hornady 160 or old lot Imperial 160 grain bullets. The Swede kills very well. To quote my old long gone gunsmith friend, "that 6.5 Swede with 160 grain bullets will auger right through a moose".
Darryl
 
madtrapper143 said:
I killed a good sized bull with an eighty yard shot using 140 grain bullet. The bullet entered in his front chest (facing me) and travelled the complete length of the moose and exited near his anus. Bull went 30 yards and dropped. The bullet was a swift A frame. Since I have hunted with Hornady 160 or old lot Imperial 160 grain bullets. The Swede kills very well. To quote my old long gone gunsmith friend, "that 6.5 Swede with 160 grain bullets will auger right through a moose".
Darryl
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Agree, good cartridge for most hunting in NA. - dan
 
And much better than a pointy stick and a rock for those things in N/A not recommended by "books". Is not what I would chose for white or brown bears, but would be some commotion, if push came to shove. Not real sure about bison - I never shot at them, but most definitely have been chased out of a pasture by a crew of them - and that was when I was inside a 4x4 1/2 ton pick-up!!!
 
Northern Shooter said:
So I recently picked up a Swedish Mauser and would like to bring it up to the Fall Moose hunt this year.

I know this calibre has been used to harvest elk and moose in Scandinavia for more than a century, but how does it fare against our North American large game?

Would you feel confident taking a Moose with a 6.5X55? What bullet would you recommend?

I'm keeping the gun bare bones with the iron sights so any shot will be within 100M.
Click to expand...

i think anything Swede and on its Back / Your back is Fantastic idea.................... So its a Yes from Me.

;)
 
Potashminer said:
And much better than a pointy stick and a rock for those things in N/A not recommended by "books". Is not what I would chose for white or brown bears, but would be some commotion, if push came to shove. Not real sure about bison - I never shot at them, but most definitely have been chased out of a pasture by a crew of them - and that was when I was inside a 4x4 1/2 ton pick-up!!!
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Heavy bullet in the right place sorts them out too. Same with bears, though as with most things you shoot, bigger holes bleed them out faster. - dan
 
I've whacked a few moose with various 6.5's, including the Swede and Rem Mag, mostly with 140 partitions and Accubonds, but would be completely confident with any 140 grain and up cup & core bullets.
 
I guess my second question is where to find some of these hunting appropriate 6.5x55 rounds in stock right now?

Most of what little I'm seeing on www.arsenalforce.ca is FMJ.

I see Sellier and Bellot and PPU both sell affordable 156 grain soft points and Nosler sells 140 grain accubonds for about double the price.

I take it any of these will do the trick?
 
it s a great caliber but an historical one ... when i hunted in sweden and finland for drive, people used a lot the 30-06 and 9.3x62 and the finns even more the 308. but remember those guys had to do a shooting test to get qualified every hunting season.

they loved the 6.5x55 for training not for hunting anymore.
 
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