6.5x55 for PRS

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I just shot my first PRS match with my friends .308 (humbling to say the least) and now I have the itch to turn my tikka into a prs rifle.
I'm thinking about a 7.5 twist 6.5x55 throated long for 147 ELDM's.
what do you PRS guys think about using the swede?

 

[Steel head]

One of the well known guys in my area uses/used a slightly modified 6.5x55 with good success.
It’s totally doable.
Should be able to get some decent speeds with 147’s with a nice case volume to run 4831SC.

 

[b6graham]

if you have the action length, brass, and dies, no reason not to itll do the same thing as other 6.5s

 

[just browsing]

You might looking into the Addiction as well if you load your own.

Could always go with a “long action” chassis and mag system if you were worried about mag length restrictions but otherwise it should do fine from a SA too.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I'm using a Tikka 3006 action so plan on a la chassis and mag.
Another option I'm considering is a 284 win throated for 180 eldms, might be too much for prs though..

 

[b6graham]

I'm using a Tikka 3006 action so plan on a la chassis and mag.
Another option I'm considering is a 284 win throated for 180 eldms, might be too much for prs though..

it would definitely be more than the normal. but that being said i'm about to be shooting a 7SAW. 162 at 2900+ or 180s at 2700+

 

[Sheldon N]

I just shot my first PRS match with my friends .308 (humbling to say the least) and now I have the itch to turn my tikka into a prs rifle.
I'm thinking about a 7.5 twist 6.5x55 throated long for 147 ELDM's.
what do you PRS guys think about using the swede?

If it's what you've got on hand already and can use to go shoot matches, I say go for it. Run what you brung and have fun.

If you are talking about chambering a new barrel or spending real money for the sole purpose of building a PRS competition gun, I would say the 6.5x55 is a bit much. A good caliber and capable, but a bit on the overkill side for energy on target and recoil. I have several friends who are top level competitors who have run the improved version of a 6.5x55 (Addiction) but they have all since switched to 6mm's of one flavor or another.

 

[Estes640]

Beautiful thing about a tikka is that you just need a short action bolt stop and you can run a short action caliber with that bolt face if you wanted that route as well. Plenty of options.

 

[260284]

Most stages are 8-12 rounds, so keep that in mind when you pick a caliber. Not sure how many rounds will fit in a LA AICS mag. I turned a Tikka 270 into a 22BR match rifle. I used the attached adjustable bolt stop and am running 12 round MDT mags that hold 13.


https://highvelocityhuntingaustralia.com.au/products/tikka-t3/tikka-t3-bolt-stop/

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

If it's what you've got on hand already and can use to go shoot matches, I say go for it. Run what you brung and have fun.

If you are talking about chambering a new barrel or spending real money for the sole purpose of building a PRS competition gun, I would say the 6.5x55 is a bit much. A good caliber and capable, but a bit on the overkill side for energy on target and recoil. I have several friends who are top level competitors who have run the improved version of a 6.5x55 (Addiction) but they have all since switched to 6mm's of one flavor or another.

I guess I was thinking 6.5 for those longer shots in the wind.
I got my ass kicked on targets from 600-1000, and there were a lot of them..

 

[Sheldon N]

I guess I was thinking 6.5 for those longer shots in the wind.
I got my ass kicked on targets from 600-1000, and there were a lot of them..

There's not much difference between a 6 and 6.5 as far as wind, but there's a significant recoil difference. Both will be a lot better than the 308 you shot.

 

[sav338lapua]

well if you get a 6.X55 with the correct throat you wouldn't need to do anything else, the standard load for it was with 156 gr round nose bullets. i have no problems loading up 140gr hornady SST's with 48grs of IMR 4831 and getting 2800+ FPS with sub 1" groups at a 100.
our gun makers are always messing with established set ups and screwing them up just like Remington

did with the .260. long before we knew about long for bore projectiles the swedes and Norwegians were shooting moose and winning tons of 300 meter bench rest matches.
heck i use sierra's 100gr HP at 3300 fps and get ,75" groups all the time, you should see what it does to ground hogs at 300 yards
complete and utter separation. i'll put my 102 year old swedish mauser M96 against any new manufacture rifles.
SB

 

[yej0001]

I got a US version of the sig sauer SSG 3000, and had a 27” benchmark barrel made for it in 6.5x55. It shoots one bughole groups with RL26 and 147 ELDM. I believe that benchmark uses PTG match chamber reamer with the standard SAMMI throat, not the long European throat. I cannot sit the bullet out as long as in Tikka 6.5x55 rifles, but I easily got 2850-2900 FPS without any pressure sign. It was very easy to develop a load for the benchmark barrel. Changing barrel with SSG 3000 is super easy (3 screws). Head spacing is not required because bolt locks into the barrel extension set at factory.

If someone got this rifle and want to try 6.5x55 with it, it’s easy and economical because no smithing work is needed. 6.5x55 is what this rifle was designed around.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I got a US version of the sig sauer SSG 3000, and had a 27” benchmark barrel made for it in 6.5x55. It shoots one bughole groups with RL26 and 147 ELDM. I believe that benchmark uses PTG match chamber reamer with the standard SAMMI throat, not the long European throat. I cannot sit the bullet out as long as in Tikka 6.5x55 rifles, but I easily got 2850-2900 FPS without any pressure sign. It was very easy to develop a load for the benchmark barrel. Changing barrel with SSG 3000 is super easy (3 screws). Head spacing is not required because bolt locks into the barrel extension set at factory.

If someone got this rifle and want to try 6.5x55 with it, it’s easy and economical because no smithing work is needed. 6.5x55 is what this rifle was designed around.

Thanks for sharing, that's great velocity from a saami throat.
Do you remember roughly how many grains of powder you were using?
And how light was the recoil?
I'm really considering a 6mm for prs as well, but to equal a 6.5's performance it sounds like barrel life will suck..

 

[Vargmat]

There are a few hundred Nordic PRS and long range shooters that would say that the 6,5x55 Swede is the ONLY way to go. If you ask me, I would say that it is a great round, I shot mine with Lapua 139 grain Scenars and a lot of people around here use the Norma GT or Diamondline bullets with great results. Most shooters use the Sauer STR (SSG3000) and a lot of people run Tikka T3 Varmints.

 

[machinistbutler]

I have a sauer str 6.5x55 skan match barrel coming for my ssg3000 this week, and a benchmark 6.5x55 for it later this month. I can't wait to see how it does.

Had a meopta zd 4-16 on it until I started reading the reviews about the Steiner P4Xi 4-16, so now have that on top of the SSG in a Near Alphamount.

 

[Sheldon N]

Not that this is the be-all end-all source of information, but I do find it interesting to note that out of the top 150 PRS/NRL shooters in the county not one of them used a 6.5x55 or 6.5x55 improved in 2018.

Rifle Caliber – What The Pros Use

Welcome to “What The Pros Use” 2018 Edition! I recently surveyed the top ranked shooters in both the...

precisionrifleblog.com

A 6.5x55 is not a bad round, but the fact that no one has chosen it is a pretty strong indication that it's probably not the right round for PRS.

@Westernhntr If you want to turn your Tikka into a PRS rig for getting started out, I would suggest something like a KRG Bravo chassis if you're on a budget or MPA chassis if you've got a bit more $$, run conventional AICS short action mags, and pick one of the commonly used PRS calibers listed in the article above.

I can tell you that in your neck of the country the top competition shooters are mostly running Dasher. The Idaho NRL match was just a week ago and out of the top 10 shooters I believe there were at least 7 shooters running some sort of small 6mm based on the 6BR brass (one of them was a 22BR). I won a PRS club match in Eastern WA the same weekend running Dasher with 115 DTAC's at 2810fps. Not necessarily suggesting you go build a Dasher, just giving you insight that a big case 6.5 is way more than you need to be competitive, and would actually probably hinder your performance.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

Not that this is the be-all end-all source of information, but I do find it interesting to note that out of the top 150 PRS/NRL shooters in the county not one of them used a 6.5x55 or 6.5x55 improved in 2018.

Rifle Caliber – What The Pros Use

Welcome to “What The Pros Use” 2018 Edition! I recently surveyed the top ranked shooters in both the...

precisionrifleblog.com

A 6.5x55 is not a bad round, but the fact that no one has chosen it is a pretty strong indication that it's probably not the right round for PRS.

@Westernhntr If you want to turn your Tikka into a PRS rig for getting started out, I would suggest something like a KRG Bravo chassis if you're on a budget or MPA chassis if you've got a bit more $$, run conventional AICS short action mags, and pick one of the commonly used PRS calibers listed in the article above.

I can tell you that in your neck of the country the top competition shooters are mostly running Dasher. The Idaho NRL match was just a week ago and out of the top 10 shooters I believe there were at least 7 shooters running some sort of small 6mm based on the 6BR brass (one of them was a 22BR). I won a PRS club match in Eastern WA the same weekend running Dasher with 115 DTAC's at 2810fps. Not necessarily suggesting you go build a Dasher, just giving you insight that a big case 6.5 is way more than you need to be competitive, and would actually probably hinder your performance.

Thanks and congrats on the win.
Must have been the Findlay Cup?
I was there, tough shoot for sure.
Are you using standard aics mags with the Dasher? How's it feed

 

[Sheldon N]

Thanks and congrats on the win.
Must have been the Findlay Cup?
I was there, tough shoot for sure.
Are you using standard aics mags with the Dasher? How's it feed

The match I won was the Rock Lake match on 3/23, my buddy Ray won the Findlay last weekend second year in a row. We shoot and train together pretty often. He's running 6x47 with 115 DTAC's. I'd like to have gone to Findlay but it's a long drive and I can only make so many 2 day matches with the family schedule.

I'm using AW mags with the HRD spacer kit that I've got tuned to run really well, but have also used AICS mags with a spacer kit in the past.

 

[yej0001]

Thanks for sharing, that's great velocity from a saami throat.
Do you remember roughly how many grains of powder you were using?
And how light was the recoil?
I'm really considering a 6mm for prs as well, but to equal a 6.5's performance it sounds like barrel life will suck..

46.5-47.0 gr of RL26 is a stable node with my barrel. I let the 147 ELD-M bullet touching lands.
Recoil very mild with an AI brake installed.

 

[TRG65]

I run an addiction. It’s a fun caliber. Mine has been very accurate for both barrels, actually more accurate than I usually got from the 6.5x47. Is it the best for prs, no. Is it good enough yes. You are going to toast barrels quicker and have to deal with more recoil than a 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5x47 and way more than a dasher. That said I usually finish in the top quarter or close at local matches. That’s the same as when I was shooting a 6.5x47, so I don’t think it has hurt at all. I also recently had my best finish at the ASC in about 5 years. That’s a match I prefer to run with a bigger caliber. A downside is finding gunsmiths that are set up to chamber barrels. I’ve only found PVA and Sawtooth.

 

[ddavis]

Speaking from experience. Don't try to turn a long action cartridge Tikka into something that needs to use LA detachable mags. I've got the MDT set up, but it's proprietary mag length. Regular AICS mags aren't going to work and you are very limited on chassis, etc. I love 6.5x55 and it's a great hunting round, but 6.5 Creed does 98% what a x55 will do and it allows you pretty much every stock/chassis/mag option on the market.

The better ballistics of the 6.5s are a nice bonus but the real advantage over 308 is the recoil reduction.