I gave a friend a nice peepsighted 6.5x55 a few years ago, and he wants to introduce his 12 year old son to centerfires-he has been shooting his dad's 22.What is the lightest recoil load he could come up with for the 6.5x55?Do they make a 100 gr bullet for it?
lightest 6.5x55 load
- Thread starter ratherbefishin
- Start date
Cast or Jacketed?
Jacketed bullets go right down to 85gr, Cast is usually found in the 130gr range. The cast can be loaded down quite a bit lower than jacketed, using very little pistol powder, while the jacketed needs to stay up there a bit more, using published minimum loads. Don't go below minimum loads for jacketed - they're there for a reason.
Jacketed bullets go right down to 85gr, Cast is usually found in the 130gr range. The cast can be loaded down quite a bit lower than jacketed, using very little pistol powder, while the jacketed needs to stay up there a bit more, using published minimum loads. Don't go below minimum loads for jacketed - they're there for a reason.
Hornady makes a hundred grain bullet for the 6.5x55. I found that using IMR 3031 and the 2.5cc powder scoop that came with my Lee Loader (approx 32.8grs for 2500 fps) that it did not kick too much, and is considerably lighter than the loads listed at the Hodgdon site (more like 2750-2900 fps) for bullets in that weight.
Speer makes 85gr bullets that can easily top 3000fps according to the Hodgdon site, but I haven't yet been able to confirm how they'd shoot in any of my rifles and have heard that they sometimes don't do as well as the longer bullets due to the jump required to reach the rifling. I'd stick to the 100gr bullets for the purposes that you're talking about.
Good Luck,
Frank
Speer makes 85gr bullets that can easily top 3000fps according to the Hodgdon site, but I haven't yet been able to confirm how they'd shoot in any of my rifles and have heard that they sometimes don't do as well as the longer bullets due to the jump required to reach the rifling. I'd stick to the 100gr bullets for the purposes that you're talking about.
Good Luck,
Frank
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
Hornady makes .264's as small as 95 gr. and Speer has them down to 90 gr. as listed on their websites.
I had a son shooting my 30-06 when he was six years old. I used a cast bullet with about six grains of unique. I also had some 32 calibre jacketed pistol bullets which I used with about the same charge of unique.
Of course the stock had to go under his arm in order for him to get close enough to the scope, but kids just love shooting the larger calibres.
If I was doing it with your rifle and didn't have cast bullets for it, I would just get the lightest jacketed bullets I could, and load them with a few grains of fast pistol powder. If you get too light and the bullet happens to stick in the barrel, you will hear no noise from the shot. So, if in doubt, check to see that it got out the barrel. If it didn't, stand the rifle up and pour something like Hoppes #9 down the barrel, then the next day, push it out with a wooden dowel. You will then know what the real minimum load is!
Of course the stock had to go under his arm in order for him to get close enough to the scope, but kids just love shooting the larger calibres.
If I was doing it with your rifle and didn't have cast bullets for it, I would just get the lightest jacketed bullets I could, and load them with a few grains of fast pistol powder. If you get too light and the bullet happens to stick in the barrel, you will hear no noise from the shot. So, if in doubt, check to see that it got out the barrel. If it didn't, stand the rifle up and pour something like Hoppes #9 down the barrel, then the next day, push it out with a wooden dowel. You will then know what the real minimum load is!
