6.6x55, why not?

jackie schmidt

jackie schmidt

New member
The 6.5 284 is a proven winner in the long range game, and the new 6.5x 47 Lapua is certainly becoming a real threat in the 600 yard game.

Why haven't more shooters opted for a 6.5x55. The Lapua Brass is some of the finest I have ever seen. The case capacity is between the 47 and the 284.

I know it was invented in the late 1800's, but the Lapua cases in a modern Rifle make all of that a moot point.

I helped a friend build a 6.5x55 Ackley, shoots the big 140 grn Berger at 2950 with ease, and good accuracy. Just wondering about the standard 6.5x55........jackie
 
Jackie, I suspect it will work real well. If it will push the 140's to the magic 2950 mark with a grain or two less powder than a 6.5-284, that would be a good thing. Good Lapua brass is available and it is significantly less expensive than 6.5-284 brass. I have looked at it several times but we already have a successful program built around the 6.5-284 so it would be fairly expensive to change cartridges at this time.
One good thing about the 6.5-284 though is that it is sort of like the small block chev or the 6PPC. All the bugs have been worked out.

Joe
 
Jackie, I think it's a just a matter of fashion. And some serious people do use it, or at least, the Ackley version. You remember Steve Shelp who travelled to Rachels' Glenn with me? He shoots a 6.5x55 AI at 1K, as, for a while, did Dave Tooley.

Steve did some testing, and depending on the brass one uses, the 6.5x55 AI has the same capacity, or a little more, or a lttle less, than the 6.5/284. They are that close. The standard case you mention would be a little less, but still bigger than the .260 Remington.

Far as that goes, the 6.5s themselves aren't in fashion now. That was the late 1990s / early 2000s. Now it's all small 6mms. The 6.5s will be back -- sort of like wide ties.
 
In the F-Class 1000 yard matches it appears there is a change from the 140 gr 6.5-284's to the 180 gr 7mm's. Cases vary from the .284 Win to the .284 Shehane, the 7RSAUM, the 7WSM, the 7/270WSM, the 7/300WSM, and others. Shooters are looking for the magic 3000-3050 fps case with just the right amount of powder. They may shoot at a slower velocity for accuracy but they want to be able to try 3000-3050 fps. Notice one of the first bullets Berger made in the new hybrid style was the 7mm.
 
6.5x57

I use the 7x57 case to modify into a 6.5 blown out and a 30 degree shoulder that I call the 6.5 Mallory. It gets the right vel. with 3 gr. less powder than the 6.5-284. A friend has a 6.5-284 and we shot his and my 6.5 MI through 2 cronys. end to end. We used the same powder and same gr. bullet. I used 3 gr. less powder and got 20 more fps. on average with 2" less barrel. I like the case head on the 7x57 better then the 6.5x55 also. Now you can get Norma 7x57 brass or 6.5x57 RWS brass.
 
Welll, I shouldn't, but I couldn't hold it.......

You ask Why Not???

I can tell you Why Not.

Better yet, you're a testing sort of guy Jackie.... Make up some 6BR cases using the 6.5X55 cases and run 'em head to head. Won't cost you nuttin....you've already got the stuff.

al
 
alinwa said:
Make up some 6BR cases using the 6.5X55 cases and run 'em head to head. Won't cost you nuttin....you've already got the stuff.al
Click to expand...
Won't work, Al. Now, everyone knows that us Scandinavians are bigger in some ways than the rest of the world, but the Swedes are peculiar. Instead of something useful -- increasing their prevelance in the gene pool -- they chose to make a bigger case head. The 6.5x55 (Swede) has a case head and rim of .479. Normal for a .308 is a case head of .470 and a rim of .473. What's the problem with the extra 6-9 thou? Enough that when Tooley made Steve Shelp's 6.5 AI using a Panda action, he had to open up the boltface. Maybe, just maybe you could cram one of those reformed 6.5x55 cases in your 6BR chamber, but those of us with normal chambers in our rifles (however large our body parts) would have trouble.
 
Charles, that is probably the big reason, that extra 6-9 thousanths causes just enough problems with a stadard bolt face.

The brass is sure nice though. In terms of wall thickness variation, the Lapua 6.5x55 is as good as it gets.......jackie
 
Well if I can turn 338 Lapuas to fit a magnum boltface I'm sure Jackie could spin a couple thou off the 55's...... ;)

IMO you will find that the case won't take pressure. It will be just like a 22-250/.243/308/260/.257/7X57 etc case. Lapua ain't magic brass, it's really not much harder than Winchester. NICER, but hot a lot harder.

Try it...........

This is specifically why I shoot the 6.5X47L case, it flatout beats all the above cases.

al

You'd probably have to hone out or even bore the rear of the chamber too...... but this isn't a hard machining process.
 
jackie schmidt said:
The 6.5 284 is a proven winner in the long range game, and the new 6.5x 47 Lapua is certainly becoming a real threat in the 600 yard game.

Why haven't more shooters opted for a 6.5x55. The Lapua Brass is some of the finest I have ever seen. The case capacity is between the 47 and the 284.

I know it was invented in the late 1800's, but the Lapua cases in a modern Rifle make all of that a moot point.

I helped a friend build a 6.5x55 Ackley, shoots the big 140 grn Berger at 2950 with ease, and good accuracy. Just wondering about the standard 6.5x55........jackie
Click to expand...

Jackie, The 6.5 x 55 Swede used to be a great round and in a modern rifle with a good barrel and a good action it certainly has potential to be a winner out to 1000 yards. The problem is some guy invented a cartridge a few years back that doomed the 6.5 x 55 swede into certain extinction. The fella named his new cartridge the 6.5 Jackie Sakki as I remember.
 
Paul, you almost got it. I had a reamer ground to make a 30 caliber out of the 6.5 Japanese, an attempt to make a minimum case capacity HBR round. I did name it the "30 Jackie-Saki".:D
 
Hey Jackie, make a 30X47L and you'll have a nice baseline against which to compare :)

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

al
 
Jackie,
I'm curious if you have bought and measured any newer 6.5x55 Lapua brass? And if so, how did it measure up? I've fired the 6.5x55AI for 10yrs now and as good as Lapua brass is... the 6.5x55 stuff sometimes is way out in left field believe it or not. I'm talking 7 to 8 thousands out of round in front of the case head using a NECO case gauge. And when they are fired you can spin them and physically see the banana shape of the brass with the naked eye.
The Norma & RWS brass has always measured deadnuts for me. As in 2 to 3 thousnads OOR worst cases out of a batch of 100. But the RWS brass right out of the box measures .0015 to .002 smaller then box stock Lapua or Norma. So be carefull what you base your reamer specs from.

If there is anything I can help you with in regard to the 6.5x55 AI, let me know and I'll tell you what I have tried or what worked for me.

Charles Bailey made a 6.5x57 Improved case years ago and he ended up with almost the same load and velocity as I was shooting in my 55 case. 2900 to 2950 all day long without pushing pressures way up and accurate. I have stepped on the pressure before and shot 140gr bullets at 3100 out of a 30" barrel before. But the groups would be measured in minutes-of-deer and not to BR standards. But would make a great deer round.

I've always wanted to go to a slower twist, 30 degree shoulder, shorter throat and try a good custom 120gr +- bullets for 600yd work. I've got to shelf those thoughts for several years until these teenage boys move out and quite eating all my food and depleating my bank account with orthodontists bills. :)

As far as the odd bolt face, it doesn't take a fancy machine setup to open up the bolt face a couple thousands and then work on getting a proper length extractor to feed a std .473" diameter case without a problem.

Steve
 
Steve,
Where do you buy the RWS brass?
Click to expand...

Joe,
I bought 200 peices about 6 or 7 years ago from Huntington's. I'm still working on that batch. I also shoot a 30 Boo Boo in my HG and use RWS for that chambering also.

I've heard that there is some more RWS brass being imported in the next couple of months. But its not on dry land yet, so not getting any hopes up.

Steve
 
Well as you know the 6.5x55 is a joint development by the Norwegian and Swedish military, and is currently used by Norway, Sweden and Denmark in our National Rifle Association, the main rifle being Sauer 200 STR ( Scandinavian Target Rifle) in 6.5x55 or, 308 or 22lr as practice. Its now being tested with the 223 Rem.

Active Members:
Norway: 160 000
Denmark: ?
Sweden: ?

Not sure about the other countries members, but close Norways. So, 300-400 000 active shooters in those three countries use the 6.5x55 as their main cartridge ( I would say 80-90% atleast). Altough its mostly 300m, 3 positions or rapid shooting:

Stangskyting (rapid shooting) 200meters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfY899uNOk0

Going up against a G-3 ( the former nations military rifle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrtI8wDj3aQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75gUcOOAp9o&feature=related
Three targets. (Helmet sized target at 160 yards, upper body sized target at max 300 yards, or a smaller yet at 250yards.
 
Northman said:
Well as you know the 6.5x55 is a joint development by the Norwegian and Swedish military, and is currently used by Norway, Sweden and Denmark in our National Rifle Association, the main rifle being Sauer 200 STR ( Scandinavian Target Rifle) in 6.5x55 or, 308 or 22lr as practice. Its now being tested with the 223 Rem.

Active Members:
Norway: 160 000
Denmark: ?
Sweden: ?

Not sure about the other countries members, but close Norways. So, 300-400 000 active shooters in those three countries use the 6.5x55 as their main cartridge ( I would say 80-90% atleast). Altough its mostly 300m, 3 positions or rapid shooting:

Stangskyting (rapid shooting) 200meters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfY899uNOk0

Going up against a G-3 ( the former nations military rifle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrtI8wDj3aQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75gUcOOAp9o&feature=related
Three targets. (Helmet sized target at 160 yards, upper body sized target at max 300 yards, or a smaller yet at 250yards.
Click to expand...

I realize this is bringing up an old thread. I have a CG63 Swedish Match rifle. Love it. Surprising accuracy. I was looking for info on the 6.5x55 to possibly eventually build a custom rifle that has what I need, a left hand action. While I've played around with using my middle finger to fire the rifle before, doing it with a right hand action is pointless. HOWEVER.......watching how these right hand guys work the bolt and fire with their middle finger is jaw dropping. It's simply a matter of practicing it til they get the feel right. At the level these guys perform, it has clearly taken years.

Watching the guy SMOKE the other guy with the G-3 was simply amazing to me.

The mild recoil of a 6.5x55 has to contribute to the speed these guys show. The accuracy of the 6.5x55 can be impressive. I enjoyed the other posts talking about using it in a BR rifle. I'm curious if it's been long enough since this thread that folks have revisited the 6.5x55 as a BR round.

Northman (or anyone else who knows), if you happen to see this, do the CG63 or CG80 still get used much or does the lack of ability to do quick mag changes render them obsolete? Is the STR 200 much more accurate than a well setup CG63 or CG80?

Thanks for all of the info!

Greg
 
Swedes

jackie schmidt said:
Charles, that is probably the big reason, that extra 6-9 thousanths causes just enough problems with a stadard bolt face.

The brass is sure nice though. In terms of wall thickness variation, the Lapua 6.5x55 is as good as it gets.......jackie
Click to expand...


I own several......... never had a problem with extraction using std. rem. extractors....... you`re rite about brass....... it`s great.........load development........ well......... they been using it for 100 yrs..... no need to reinvent the wheel.....
bill larson
 
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