6.5x55 M94 mauser handloads?

O

OlRounder

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I know its not a BR question but does anyone have any experience at handloading for an old M94 6.5x55 ?
I'm looking to shoot 140gr partitions for game hunting.
My question is just where should I start for powder charges in this old action? This is a 1934 built action with a very short barrel.It was my stepdads saddle carbine for alot of years and has taken more game than any three rifles I know of. I haven't got the chance to scope the barrel yet but I can tell you it'll still shoot 1 moa at 100 and 200 yds with the old 156gr norma round noses. If I didn't have the desire to fiddle with it I would just hunt with the four or five boxes of factory ammo I have left. But...I am compelled to fiddle...
 
check out your loading manuals, they all list safe loads for the 94/96/38 swedish mausers. my swedes all shoot well with IMR4064 and 140gr hornady SST's.
 
load data

I have taken many whitetails with 39.0 Grains of IMR 4064 with a Barnes 140 grain bullet using a 96 swede. IMR 4831 works as well but my data shows that it was better with lighter bullets.
 
I`ve had 3 Swedes, and still have 1. 2 were on modern actions and 1 old M96, all liked slow powders such as 4350 or 4831 but, R22 performed best with 120 and up wt bullets for me.
The manuals have data for the old rifles or tell you in the cartridge intro what to modify in their data to make it exceptable for use in the older rifles. IIRC I used 46gr of R22 with Hornady 140s in my old M96 with a couple more grains added for the commercial rifles. This is in Norma brass with WLR primers. Today I use any of the domestic brass and prefer the 129gr Hornady SP, still with R22.

Double check my load with a good reference as you should all web data. My rememberer is getting old but, the powder & bullet I`m sure of.
 
OLRounder,

The only powder I've used in 6.5x55 is VV560 and it works very well 140gr-ish bullets.

I shot a 1915 production Swede 94 in factory class at Hawks Ridge a few years back. With Norma mil surplus ammo (green lacquer primer seal) 1K groups were around 12". Handloads with Lapua brass and 46 gr VV 560 powder and 140/142/147 gr bullets produced groups in the 6"-9" range at 1K. With the Weaver 24x-40mm scope and B-Square scope mount I used (it should have been shimmed at the rear), only the 140 Hornaday A-Max's would zero at 1K so that's what I shot. With that combo I won for score more than half the factory matches I shot. Charles Wooten won all ten factory matches for group with a 40X, Berger 155 VLDs and RL 15 that same year. The next year the Factory Class became Novice Class and my Swede an Charles' 40X were retired.

I've shot A-Max, SMK, Scenar, Clinch River bullets over that same load of 560 with excellent results. I haven't tried the Partitions but expect VV 560 to be an excellent choice for them as well in the 6.5x55.

Greg
 
160 Gr. Hornady, seated to channalure, H4831, is accurate. Touch makes pressure, and is no more accurate.
 
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Thanks guys, I settled on rl22, a powder I already have. I'll try 44 to 46 gr and see if it starts to show pressure. Then I can keep it below that and see what shoots.
 
Shot great, really pleased. tryed a "ladder" from 44.5 to 46.5 gr rl22. No signs of pressure anywhere. looks like anything around 45.5 to 46 will be very servicable. around 1moa at 200yds. Really short barrel so velo's are around 2500,should be plenty fatal for game at normal ranges.
 
Glad to hear you found a good load.
I have always had good luck in the Swede with R22, and lower pressure/good load density with the slower powders is a plus with the older rifles IMO.
 
Mil Swede at 1K

Greg, which scope mount system did you use ? Can you also post a pic please ? That is amazing shooting !!
 
Flouncer,

The scope mount is a one piece Weaver style rail for the 96 Swede action made by B-Square. When I screwed it down to the front ring there was a space of 30-40 thou between the rear action bridge and the mount. I should have shimmed it then but pulled it down with the screws and used Burris Signature rings to compensate for the induced angle;not quite enough though. I think its been resolved in the meantime. You'll have to cut, weld and bend the bolt handle and cut a bolt recess in the stock also of course. I'll post a picture early next week when I get back to the rifle.

I found that 96's need to be supported by the front rest very close to the action (under the rear sight is about right) or you'll get lots of vertical. And hang on pretty tight. That skinny little round forend and steep buttstock don't exactly ride the bags. A six pound trigger demands a firm grip as well.

BTW, RL 22 as recommended by many others is basically Norma MRP which appears to be the same powder that Norma loads in their military contract 6.5x55 ammo. So there is very wide agreement for that powder choice.

My experience with Swedes certainly supports their reputation for fine accuracy and mine is no creampuff.

Back at you latter with the photo you requested.

Greg
 
H414 or W760 ?

The OP said he has a very short barrel. 18-inches ? Would that work better with some slightly faster powders ? A lot of the old stuff has 23.5 or 29-inch tubes. Gregg, which barrel do you have ? I have a 1917 rebarreled Gustafs with a step contour mil 23.5 and a new/old - very old in wrap 29-inch on the shelf. If you had the $$ to switch and headspace, etc, which would think is better for the 1K shot ??
 
Flouncer said:
The OP said he has a very short barrel. 18-inches ? Would that work better with some slightly faster powders ? A lot of the old stuff has 23.5 or 29-inch tubes. Gregg, which barrel do you have ? I have a 1917 rebarreled Gustafs with a step contour mil 23.5 and a new/old - very old in wrap 29-inch on the shelf. If you had the $$ to switch and headspace, etc, which would think is better for the 1K shot ??
Click to expand...



Mine is a 1934 Gustof its 17" from front of the action to muzzle...At the muzzle end there is an inch of barrel that I was told was added to make these legal in the american hunting market when the importer decided to sell here. This one inch really amounts to a very deep recessed crown/ muzzle, Its inside dia. is greater than the cal. and of course not rifled.
I really don't think this is a newer barrel either, I have a couple rifles from this time frame and the barrel scope seems similar to the others.


You are right, I thought about some of the powders that might suite the short barrel better. I have a .223 with a twenty inch barrel and went from benchmark and varget to W748 with good results.Its just that I had the re22 already.
I am actually just astonished at the way it is shooting. there is probably a tenth of an inch of the throat gone from this barrel.luckily the bullets I want to shoot have a steep ogive and arent really really far from the lands. I seated the bullets with .264 into the brass, with this I can have in in the pipe and one in the top of the mag.
I wish I had the photo's in my computer but this rifle killed lots of elk and deer and even Dahl sheep and caribou. Step dad was a houndsman too so maybe even bear and couger.
 
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I used 4198 for my 18 inch barreled Persian Mauser 8mm many years ago but only in reduced power handloads, don't know how well it would work with full power loads. Accuracy was very good, less than 2 MOA anyway.
Muzzle blast was greatly reduced.
I forget the charge weight but it was below 40 gr, not much above 35 gr.

4198 has also worked well for the short tube of the No.5 Carbine, a friend acheived sub MOA groups out to 600 yards with his using 4198 in a full power load for that cartridge.
 
Flouncer said:
Greg, which scope mount system did you use ? Can you also post a pic please ? That is amazing shooting !!
Click to expand...

Flouncer,

This mount requires a bit of modification to or removal of the hanguard as you can see. Not beyond the range of a Gerber though.
 

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Flouncer said:
The OP said he has a very short barrel. 18-inches ? Would that work better with some slightly faster powders ? A lot of the old stuff has 23.5 or 29-inch tubes. Gregg, which barrel do you have ? I have a 1917 rebarreled Gustafs with a step contour mil 23.5 and a new/old - very old in wrap 29-inch on the shelf. If you had the $$ to switch and headspace, etc, which would think is better for the 1K shot ??
Click to expand...

Flouncer,

The Swede I shot in factory class is a M96 with the 29" barrel. I think the extra 6" is of benefit at 1K but I wouldn't spend much money to change a barrel. I think there is a pretty good chance that your new in the wrap barrel will clock and headspace just fine on your receiver. It would be simple enough to give that a try and just switch back if it doesn't work out.

Faster powders can reduce muzzle pressure and blast but won't restore any lost velocity in short barrels, so it depends what you mean by better.

Greg
 
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Greg,

In that picture above, a "Gerber" may have been used to remove a section of the top handguard. Couldn't a "hacksaw" have been used to shorten the weaver rail?

I use "Gerber" and "Hacksaw" jokingly of coarse.

Paul
 
Paul,

I gave fleeting consideration to the time honored "hacksaw vs cutting torch' conundrum before deducing that I might want to employ the foremost crossbolt slot in the mount. Besides, I couldn't find the lighter for the torch and the Gerber was in my pocket. Time was running short. I had only a few hours to get packed and drive to Hawks Ridge. Could have left the handguard off but decided not to subvert the innate ambiance of my patina shrouded treasure.

"Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk and split it with an ax." Don't worry though, anything worth a hundred bucks or more goes to a pro.

Greg
 
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