In danger of selling the swede!! (help!)

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Jolly Green

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I ordered 2x 250 round web-linked 6.5x55 ammo from Samco about a month ago. Having not recieved my ammo yet, I called them and asked about it. They responded by saying that they were sure they had it somewhere in their warehouse, but haven't found it yet. All problems with this company aside, it sounds like whatever ammo they find will be the nastiest most neglected bunch yet. I am thinking about canceling my order, but have nowhere else to get surplus 6.5x55 from. I cannot reload (just turned 18 and going to college in about 3 months) since it will be too high of a initial cost for me. I can't afford the factory produced either. Is there any other company that supplies surplus 6.5x55 in the US?

Its starting to look like I'm going to have to sell the m96 ... or at least set it aside for a while and buy a rim fire ( rather not b/c of expense and b/c my parents more than likely will not want me owning two rifles at this age).

Thank you for any reposnses.
 
there have been some nice thingsthat come out of the back of a warehouse. id call back and tell them if u dont get it in 2 weeks ur canceling

im only 19 and my parents just gave me a nasty look when i walked in the house with a new gun.... then my dad would ask how much i payed and my mom would say why do i need another. classic justifications for me were "not much i checked the price online and i got a killer deal, im gonna sell it in a few months and make some cash"(never have sold a gun), and "because i enjoy the history behind it. besides ill resell it later and make money"
 
The info that I read about the Samco Swede ammo is that it is corroded but most of the time it is functional. I'm not sure about the linked stuff. Most guys tumble the ammo to clean it to a usable state.

I would think that if you approach the idea of using a Lee loader, your cash outlay would be minimal. Buy a box of Prvi-Partizan ammo to shoot and load the brass. Buy a hundred primers locally, a hundred bullets of 139-140gr soft point, a lb of IMR4350 or H4350 and a lee powder scale. You'll be able to use the Hodgdon load site for data. Use the suggested starting load. You'll be able to have a total 120 rounds for shooting at a cost of around $100. You'll have enough powder for 50+ more loads, the brass and all your load equipment. The next 100 rounds will cost around $40 for components. One at a time is slow but you learn from it.

www.midwayusa.com/Search/#lee loader 6.5x55____-_1-2-4_8-16-32

Food for thought.



NCsmitty
 
Those 6.5 surplus in MG link are quite accurate on those M 96s. Be patient , the should be finding them. Unfortunately they are the only ones selling those as far i know.
 
I want to reload, but with my math I can't afford to reload and shoot (kinda takes the purpose out of reloading).

Since there is a huge gap between our quick calculations, Did I mess up somewhere?
Where can i cut the cost?


Lee Press & ETC --------------- 80
case length gauge/shell holder --05
Dies ---------------------------35
Brass-------------------------~40 for 100
Powder------------------------20 per 1lbs
bullets-------------------------150 per 500

Oh, i forgot to include in the original post : the reason i'm shying away from rimfire is I just recent bought a spotting scope so i could move onto the 200/300 range.
I know .22's/etc can be accurate up to that range, but I don't believe I'm that fine of a marksman yet (only been practicing for 6 months).
 
look into reloading, it really isnt that bad, I would suggest a lee hand press to start with, it will allow you to simply buy new dies when you get a new rifle
 
I second the notion of using a .22LR, just make the targets small and hone in on tiny groups. Great practice for shooting LR centerfire, and you can still use the spotter for seeing those tiny holes in the paper. Besides everyone needs a cheap, fun .22LR to take plinking.

I would also look into reloading (after the .22LR). Start small with a simple press and other tools (like the Lee Anniversary kit), buy cheap dies (but if you get Lee get some decent lock-rings to go with it), get small quantities of cases, powder, primers (which you forgot), and projectiles, and slowly work your way into nicer equipment. Reloading is a worthwhile venture for any rifle when you want to achieve precision, as well as economical for most chamberings. I really wish that I had gotten an earlier start myself.

:)
 
Jolly Green... If you dont want a .22 (which is crazy talk by the way) you should really look into a Lee hand press. I got one for my 22nd birthday a few years ago. The complete set up for me to shoot match grade .308 was around 150 bucks.

I know that can be a lot of money to some, especially a college kid. I was in the same boat, just out of the Army with a wife. But family and friends pitched in for my birthday and got me it.

But once I started using it, my shooting improved because I could shoot more. Match grade .308 runs about 25 to 30 bucks a box of 20. My handloads ran about, IIRC, 6 bucks a box of 20.

BUT. Really reconsidering buying a nice .22. My newest, a Savage MkII, was just over 100 bucks from Walmart. 500 rounds of ammo for 15 dollars cant be beat. They are plenty accurate for 50 and 100 yard shooting. Just use smaller targets.

A guy next to me at the range a while back was doing "cheap sniper training" by shooting at little green army men taped up at 100 yards with a .22. That was fun.
 
You have my sympathy, young feller. My first centerfire rifle, when I got out of college was a Carcano and I had the same problem. The cheapest rifles are often old milsups firing ammo that is expensive in its newly manufactured form and often in bad condition when surplus. My advice would be to sell the Swedish Mauser and buy either a Yugo Mauser in 8mm or better yet a Mosin Nagant in 7.62X54. There are lots of good condition military surplus ammo floating around the market at good prices in these calibers. 6.5 Swedes are great guns but like my Carcano of twenty-odd years ago, expensive to feed.
 
CornCod,

I think if it were me I'd keep Swedish Mauser, he'll be able to feed it in the future and they are nice rifles. A .22 is the way to go whenever you are on a tight budget.
 
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