I recently fulfilled a dream from my high school days by acquiring a 6.5X55mm for hunting. Living in the the Inter Mountain West ,Elk or Wapiti may be on the hunt schedule.What is the collective wisdom of the forum on the appropriate bullet for heavy game out of the 6.5X55mm? I understand the Swedes use this caliber for their Moose.
6.5X55 for heavy game
- Thread starter gjkershul
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headoftheholler
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I wouldn't hesitate one second to use the 156g Norma Alaskans on elk
140 grain Partition.
T.R.
Member
My wife hunts with a custom Browning in 6.5mm Swede. She has taken 3 elk with her rifle, the bullets did not bounce off. I load the Nosler Partition 140 grain bullet for accuracy and penetration thru the vitals.
TR
TR
Sav .250
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Good shot placement.............your should be good to go.
CarJunkieLS1
Member
140gr Nosler Partitions would be the way to go. OP just keep in mind that load data for modern rifles is hard to come by and most of what you'll see is for the older military guns.
Take this with a grain of salt and USE WITH CAUTION but in a modern rifle 48gr of RL-22 w/ 140gr bullets are what I see alot of people using.
Take this with a grain of salt and USE WITH CAUTION but in a modern rifle 48gr of RL-22 w/ 140gr bullets are what I see alot of people using.
With the Howa you can run hotter ammo than you can in a 96 Mauser. I'm pretty sure most factory loads run milder for the milsurps out here but you have a handloaders dream there.
There are lots of good recipes out there and like others have said, 160 grain will easily take elk down.
There are lots of good recipes out there and like others have said, 160 grain will easily take elk down.
Kaeto
Member
My mother used to hunt whitetail deer with an Obendorf made 6.5 mauser. Still have it and am planning on returning it to military configuration.
denton
Member
The 6.5x55 has a reputation for being more effective than paper ballistics would indicate, vs. large game like elk and moose. Also, it's pretty much a handloader proposition, because much of the commercial ammo is pretty wimpy.
I agree that a 140 grain bullet is probably the optimum balance between weight and muzzle velocity. OTOH, this week I will be working up managed recoil loads using 125 grain Partitions for my 13 YO granddaughter, who wants to try for a cow elk tag. A friend of the family is a professional guide, and wants to treat her to a hunt. At 2800-2900 FPS, the elk will not shrug off its effects.
I agree that a 140 grain bullet is probably the optimum balance between weight and muzzle velocity. OTOH, this week I will be working up managed recoil loads using 125 grain Partitions for my 13 YO granddaughter, who wants to try for a cow elk tag. A friend of the family is a professional guide, and wants to treat her to a hunt. At 2800-2900 FPS, the elk will not shrug off its effects.
txcookie
Member
Long bullet accurate and has an excellent SD. I have a sporterized 96 from when I was a kiddo. I think your GTG with sellier and bellot or Norma would be better if you could reload.
denton
When my daughter was 12, I got her a Ruger M-77 Youth Model in .260 Rem.
Bottom of the manual loads with 120 gr. bullets were still too much for her at that time, so I spoke with a technician at Sierra bullets as they had the lightest bullet (85 gr.) that I could find (but couldn't find data).
Turns out that they had an 85 or 87 gr. load (been a long time ago) for the .243 Win. and since the only case difference was the caliber they couldn't see why it wouldn't work in the .260.
What they recommended to me was an 85 gr. bullet over 10 grs. of Unique. We still use this load for her practice shooting; recoils only slightly more than a .22 and is very accurate and confidence inspiring. I'll bet they can give you data along the same lines for your grand daughter's Swede.
To the OP, the 140 gr. Barnes X or Nosler Partition, the 156 gr. Norma Oryx or the 160 gr. Hornady Interlock will more than meet your needs. Although the Swedes do use the 6.5 X 55 regularly on moose, your shots on elk will likely be of a longer distance; for that reason, I would (& do) stick to the 140 grainers.
Sam
When my daughter was 12, I got her a Ruger M-77 Youth Model in .260 Rem.
Bottom of the manual loads with 120 gr. bullets were still too much for her at that time, so I spoke with a technician at Sierra bullets as they had the lightest bullet (85 gr.) that I could find (but couldn't find data).
Turns out that they had an 85 or 87 gr. load (been a long time ago) for the .243 Win. and since the only case difference was the caliber they couldn't see why it wouldn't work in the .260.
What they recommended to me was an 85 gr. bullet over 10 grs. of Unique. We still use this load for her practice shooting; recoils only slightly more than a .22 and is very accurate and confidence inspiring. I'll bet they can give you data along the same lines for your grand daughter's Swede.
To the OP, the 140 gr. Barnes X or Nosler Partition, the 156 gr. Norma Oryx or the 160 gr. Hornady Interlock will more than meet your needs. Although the Swedes do use the 6.5 X 55 regularly on moose, your shots on elk will likely be of a longer distance; for that reason, I would (& do) stick to the 140 grainers.
Sam
NCsmitty
Member
Here's a link to the Realguns site with loads developed for use in modern actions only. It's a deep penetrating round with great sectional density, and is capable of taking any of the large deer family with good vital shots. Bonded bullets should be a good choice for solid bullet performance.
http://www.realguns.com/loads/655mmswede.htm
NCsmitty
http://www.realguns.com/loads/655mmswede.htm
NCsmitty
MJ
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I have a friend who shoots international service rifle at 1000 yards with the RL22 at 48g and the 139g Senecar and the M41b winning many matches against modern equipment. I don't have that kind of distance so use 46g of RL22. It's his opinion from talking with the South African team that they will use the 6.5X55 on anything they hunt. Now that covers a lot large meat cri
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It is a little known fact but most people who say the Bell killed all of his elephant with a .275 Rigby are incorrect. He used a .256 Mannlicher (6.5x54) on about a third of his elephant kills. The 6.5 with heavy for caliber bullets is world renowned for it's penetrating ability.
CopperFouling
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scaatylobo
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Cz 6.5 x 55
Been looking at the CZ in that caliber and have come VERY close to tripping the credit card on one.
Mannlicher stock was the one I saw and I love that style.
The caliber is one I shoot in a sportized Swede [ sadly I had it cut ] and I like that round.
I would love to find a few different models and companys that make this caliber.
Been looking at the CZ in that caliber and have come VERY close to tripping the credit card on one.
Mannlicher stock was the one I saw and I love that style.
The caliber is one I shoot in a sportized Swede [ sadly I had it cut ] and I like that round.
I would love to find a few different models and companys that make this caliber.
Fella's;
CZ is replacing the 550 Mauser-action line of centerfire rifles with the 557's. The new guns will have an action in the genre of Tikka/Remington without the Mauser controlled feed feature. It also seems as though the CZ550 fullstock in 6.5 X 55mm Swedish Mauser is the hot ticket item at this time. In other words, if you can find one, don't waste any time buying it. I don't have a dog in that fight, I'm a lefty.
900F
CZ is replacing the 550 Mauser-action line of centerfire rifles with the 557's. The new guns will have an action in the genre of Tikka/Remington without the Mauser controlled feed feature. It also seems as though the CZ550 fullstock in 6.5 X 55mm Swedish Mauser is the hot ticket item at this time. In other words, if you can find one, don't waste any time buying it. I don't have a dog in that fight, I'm a lefty.
900F
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