Tell me more about the 6.5x55....

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saturno_v

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I read that this cartridge is highly regarded especially in Europe for its superlative accuracy, very high SD and BC and mild recoil.

Because of its high penetrative capabilities, in north Europe has been used very effectively on Moose and the Big Bears (however, probably the typical size of such animals in Europe is a bit smaller compared to North America, on average)

So such high praises are justified?? Is really that great of a round??
 
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Yes. I don't have one, but several people i know do, and it is a great little thing. It is the ballsitic equivilent of the .260 remington. It is superbly accurate, and the high BC bullets help that. A few people here have F-class rifles chambered in it.
 
So such high praises are justified?? Is really that great of a round??
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Yep! I had a custom built F Class rifle made in this chambering. High quality Lapua brass is readily available, and with the high BC 6.5mm bullets driven at about 2950fps, it only takes about 25MOA from a 100 yard zero to reach 1k.

Don
 
Use mine for hunting. In a modern rifle, you can get right at .25-06 velocities with equal bullet weights (120 grain @ 3000+). Comes very close to .270 velocities with equal bullet weights (129-130 grain @2950+/-) . Uses less powder to do it, and all else being equal, has less recoil. Bullets tend to be long for weight, so carry velocity very well over longer ranges. Do I like it - YES.
 
It's a great round, one of the all time classics (and probably superior for service rifle use to 30-06, 7.62x54R, 303, and its other more widely adopted contemporaries).

Nice round for hunting. I had not heard of it being used for bear in Europe -- seems like that might be stretching it a bit, performance wise, though I'm sure it could work. I wouldn't want to be in charge distance of a big bear if I was going to take a shot with 6.5x55, though . . .
 
Yes and yes. Low recoil, exceptional penetration, exceptional accuracy, exceptional velocity retention, low noise level, etc. all combine to make this an outstanding round for whitetail deer and mule deer sized animals.
 
Why do you think the bear and Moose are smaller in, say, Sweden than they are here? Little country, little animals? :rolleyes:

What they call alg (sounds sort of like elk) are moose. Moose are moose.

The 6.5x55 is the all around hunting round in Sweden, and widely used for moose.

I had a Swedish Mauser and unwisely traded it away. Excellent accuracy, minimal recoil. And the deer I took with it didn't know it was a small foreign caliber.
 
The Swedish moose may well be a bit smaller than its American relative but its still a large animal. The European brown bear that we have is not a animal to be taken lightly either.
Älg Tjur shot on my place 2003
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Älg Ko 2008
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These two were shot with a .308 but a 6.5x55 would have done the job just as well. The 6.5x55 is still popular here in Scandinavia. A nice calibre to shoot on the running moose range and cheap ammo as well
lgbana007.jpg
 
Another 6.5 fan here. This round is very pleasant to shoot, so an excellent introduction to big game hunting for younger hunters or others put off by recoil. Accuracy is good, selection of components is good, it's just a user-friendly chambering.

Only downside I know of is availability at C-stores, but I try not to buy ammunition there anyway. 260 rem has all the same virtues, but may suffer long term because its only advantage is that it fits short action rifles.
 
Why do you think the bear and Moose are smaller in, say, Sweden than they are here? Little country, little animals?
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Well is a well known fact that many of the wildlife in Europe are, on average, a bit on the smaller side compared to their American counterpart.

Has nothing to do with the size of the country...:rolleyes::uhoh::banghead:

It has to do, among other factors, mainly because of higher density of population over a smaller continent (non including Russia) which reduces the animal's habitat extension (harder to get food) impacting their size.

Said that, it doesn't mean that the Scandinavian Moose is the equivalent of our cute little whitetail or the North Europe Brown Bruins are teddy bears ....
 
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I like rifles and carts in particular, from a merely mathematics point of view, most of the time, before I actually go and shoot them. You long distance shooters, that are shooting for tiny , accurate groups, inevitably choose something between 6 and 7mm, with the 6.5 being the most popular.
It has lots of great advantages; tiny side exposure, huge b.c. and s.d., still a
tiny meplat, smooth straight ogive, lots of bullet mfgrs make tons of diff bullets to use, for lots of purposes, fast, slick through the wind, without barely any ' regrab' by the passing wind or atmosphere. just a great all around bullet.
Now you could get a lot of these same good effects with a 7mm and a heavier bullet, even a 180 grainer, but you are going to give up some things; and get some more things, like bigger carts, longer actions, more recoil, and other things.
so the 6.5 is really a nice blend of all the things you want, gets rid of things you don't, and still stays mild, like a cool glass of tea in summer.
 
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