I purchased a new Hornady die set (item#546282) which says 6.5 X 55 /SCAN (Scandanavian?). The guy at Epps said that these are the correct dies for reloading the Swedish Mauser round. I admit that I was thrown by the "Scan" part, but I took his word for it. WELL!!!!!!!! Things are not good in reloading land! I took a cleaned and lubed casing to get the re-sizing die set up. The casing binds with about 9/16" of the cartridge still sticking out of the die! I degreased and cleaned the dies when I bought them and a bore light shows no visible defect in the die itself, so I'm at a loss. I've contacted Hornady customer service and I'm awaiting a reply, but I thought I'd reach out to my fellow gunnutters as well and see if anyone has encountered this problem with Hornady or reloading Swedish Mauser ammo. Any solid input would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.
PROBLEM! 6.5 X 55 Swedish Mauser
- Thread starter LawrenceN
- Start date
The guy at Epps is wrong! There is nothing at all wrong with either your Hornady dies. Or the Swedish brass.
The 6.5 X 55 Skan. and 6.5 X 55 Swede are dimensionally different cartridges. The 6.5 Skan is longer in overall case length: 2.194", versus 2.165" for the Mauser. Case body length to start of shoulder: Skan: 1.710". Swede: 1.704". Neck length Skan: .339". Swede: .313". Cartridge overall length Skan: 3.25" Swede: 3.149" Ask me how I know this? Many years ago I was conned into believing they were the same cartridge by some dummy behind the counter who didn't know what he was talking about.
My advice: Take the dies back. Make Epps replace them with the correct 6.5 X 55 SWEDISH dies. If they want to argue about it, tell them to consult "The Illustrated Reference of Cartridge Dimensions".
There is nothing at all wrong with either the Hornady dies, or your brass.
The 6.5 X 55 Skan. and 6.5 X 55 Swede are dimensionally different cartridges. The 6.5 Skan is longer in overall case length: 2.194", versus 2.165" for the Mauser. Case body length to start of shoulder: Skan: 1.710". Swede: 1.704". Neck length Skan: .339". Swede: .313". Cartridge overall length Skan: 3.25" Swede: 3.149" Ask me how I know this? Many years ago I was conned into believing they were the same cartridge by some dummy behind the counter who didn't know what he was talking about.
My advice: Take the dies back. Make Epps replace them with the correct 6.5 X 55 SWEDISH dies. If they want to argue about it, tell them to consult "The Illustrated Reference of Cartridge Dimensions".
There is nothing at all wrong with either the Hornady dies, or your brass.
Alex, thank you thank you! I sort of thought that was the problem, but your input was invaluable. I'll be by Epps in the not too far distant future and we'll get this put right. Thanks again. Lawrence
ackertjosh
Regular
- Location
- Bruce County Ontario
also have a an old Hornady die set that is marked the same.. ran into issues like yourself.. used my Lee die set. no issues.... dunno why they would mark them the same... but deffanitly not...
