Reloading for the 6.5 X 55 Swedish mauser

mbogo3 said:
Those loads are from a K98 right not a 38 or 96 Swedish mauser? Harold
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Umm, question? Other than NIB rifles or custom jobs, I thought all Swedes were 96's or 38's. The Krag being the exception to the rule of course.
Are you alluding to a custom re-bbl'd rifle when asking of a K98?
 
The recent target S+L target rifles[chambered in 6.5x55 Swede] are built on ex-German K98's for the most part ,aren't they? When someone says loads for the 6.5 Swedes,it is rather a generic term meaning anything from commercial 6.5x55 Swede to 38/96 Swede.You left out the 94 Swede..handloads should be tailored to the various actions according to their strength.....safety in mind....a 96 will never be a 98. .splitting hairs....Harold
 
mbogo3 said:
The recent target S+L target rifles[chambered in 6.5x55 Swede] are built on ex-German K98's for the most part ,aren't they? When someone says loads for the 6.5 Swedes,it is rather a generic term meaning anything from commercial 6.5x55 Swede to 38/96 Swede.You left out the 94 Swede..handloads should be tailored to the various actions according to their strength.....safety in mind....a 96 will never be a 98. .splitting hairs....Harold
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I spend too much time in 'Milsurps' lol.
Just making sure that I wasn't forgetting something.
Ciao
 
All one has to know about the M38/M94/M96 action strength is look at Norma Factory loadings.

They do not load "mild" at all. I have chrony'd a few Norma factory Rounds, and their 139 grain SSPBT leaves
the muzzle of my 700 Classic 24" at 2800 fps [+-10]

However, it is always good to exercise caution with older firearms. I absolutely love the 6.5x55 chambering,
and mine get shot a fair amount. AAMOF, my 700 Classic is on it's third barrel, about 150 rounds in, lol.

With my 6.5's, I have shot and killed with one shot; WT, Blacktail and Mule deer, Black Bear, Moose, Elk and a Speed Goat.
Effective and mild-mannered, that is the "Swede", still plugging along after all these years.

Regards, Dave.
 
tokguy said:
Umm, question? Other than NIB rifles or custom jobs, I thought all Swedes were 96's or 38's. The Krag being the exception to the rule of course.
Are you alluding to a custom re-bbl'd rifle when asking of a K98?
Click to expand...

K98 in 6.5x55....just picked up a Howa 1500 in this chambering as well....great round.
 
A half dozen or so M96 and M38 Swedes have been chugging along ... Most excellently..for decades now for me. 140gr seated long atop 48 grains of Reloder22 in Lap brass. A winner lood. Clocks 2675 fps in 22 1/2 inch mil. .265-266" bores.
 
Eagleye said:
All one has to know about the M38/M94/M96 action strength is look at Norma Factory loadings.

They do not load "mild" at all. I have chrony'd a few Norma factory Rounds, and their 139 grain SSPBT leaves
the muzzle of my 700 Classic 24" at 2800 fps [+-10]

However, it is always good to exercise caution with older firearms. I absolutely love the 6.5x55 chambering,
and mine get shot a fair amount. AAMOF, my 700 Classic is on it's third barrel, about 150 rounds in, lol.

With my 6.5's, I have shot and killed with one shot; WT, Blacktail and Mule deer, Black Bear, Moose, Elk and a Speed Goat.
Effective and mild-mannered, that is the "Swede", still plugging along after all these years.

Regards, Dave.
Click to expand...
How did you get them to all line up?

Seriously though...Santa brought me reloading equip this year, and I am off to a good start with hungry swedes simply by reading through this forum.
 
Great information folks, and thank you all so much for sharing. Some of your bullet/powder combinations aren't readily available to me and I've been doing load development with what I have. Maybe I should expand on my shooting platform. I'm using a sporterized and scoped Carl Gustav Swedish Mauser. My primary loading manual is the Lyman 49th. Edition Reloading Handbook, but I've been to both powder and bullet manufacturers websites to pick up their data regarding my loads. The best accuracy I achieved thus far was with Barnes 120 gr. TSX and Nosler 130 gr. Accubond, both on top of 39 gr. IMR4064. It gave me acceptable hunting accuracy (1-1/4" groups @ 100 yds.), but I'm still tweaking the rifle and trying to find the best possible load. I have 3 boxes of 140 gr. Sierra Gameking bullets, so I really want to find a powder that those bullets perform well with. I load batches of 5 rnds and I have home made targets divided into quadrants so I just put up the target and I can fire 5 different loads at the same target by choosing a different aim point for each load, tabulate the results, and then back to the drawing board. For each weight and brand of bullet I test load, I put one into a sized casing (no powder or primer), lightly lube the bullet and load it into the rifle. I gently close the bolt and then extract the round and measure the COL. I then seat the bullet 5 thou. off the lands. I've had conflicting input, which one expects on the forums, regarding whether or not the bullet should engage the rifling or do a little "jump" to the rifling so the jury's still out on that one.
I just finished loading up some of the Sierras with 33.5 & 35.5 gr. IMR4895, 34.5 & 36.5 gr. IMR4064, and 35.5 & 36 gr.Varget. As soon as I get to the range, I'll give them a work out. I'm using Sellier & Bellot and Winchester brass on CCI200 primers.
 
Hi. Did not read the entire thread. Been reloading 6.5 SM for years, my go to for hunting deer.
H4831 is wicked powder then I used reloader 19 hands down the best so far. Simple plain base soft points 129 to 139gr work the best as well. Beware North American resizing dies are made to a different spec as the original European spec, why? Not sure, partial size to get the best results. Brass varys a lot to S&B and win are marginal Privi and federal are the best I have used, some Privi brass I lost count how many times I have loaded, annealing the necks is a must to extend brass life.
Be safe
 
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