6.5x55

[264shooter]

Hello all 6.5x55 fans
It was one of those days when everything worked as expected.
6.5x55 SE in a Bighorn long action w/ 29" Bartlien 5R 1/8 twist
123gr Scenar
Lapua brass / large rifle primer
H4831 SC / 49.6gr
CCI BR2
My Oehler 35P chrony finally stopped working after many years of good service, so I decided to upgrade to the Garmin. Form factor and simplicity make it worth the money for me.
I had planned on shooting a 10 shot string but a cease fire was called so I only got 6 shots down range.

 

[lm32188]

Anyone have a load using 156gr Berger EOL? Powder?

Currently shooting 143gr eldx and want try 156. It’s out of a Ruger no 1 with a 28” Douglas barrel in light Palma contour. A modern day Quigley Down under. lol.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Dieseldaddy]

142g SMK? I have a ton of these from bench rest rifle from years past. Sweet spot with the 6.5-284 was pushing them 3,000. This would be fairly easily done with the Swede I think. Brass is still cheap and high quality,
What’s not to like?

 

[Dieseldaddy]

We have a local prone bipod match out to 600 that I think the swede would be a killer. Those 140-142 SMKs were the cats’ whole ass 15 years ago, I wonder what happened. I rarely see anything about them.

 

[straightshooter1]

142g SMK? I have a ton of these from bench rest rifle from years past. Sweet spot with the 6.5-284 was pushing them 3,000. This would be fairly easily done with the Swede I think. Brass is still cheap and high quality,
What’s not to like?

We have a local prone bipod match out to 600 that I think the swede would be a killer. Those 140-142 SMKs were the cats’ whole ass 15 years ago, I wonder what happened. I rarely see anything about them.

What happened??? I think Berger happened!

Though I have and use a lot of Bergers (like 140 Hybrids and 153.5 Hybrids), I also really like and use a lot of the 142 SMK's that I have for my 6.5 PRC. I feel they're the best Sierra bullet for this caliber. As good as they are, I think the Berger's have just a slight edge. . . particularly in terms of the spec's consistency.

 

[Dieseldaddy]

What speeds are you getting with the 153.5’s?

 

[straightshooter1]

What speeds are you getting with the 153.5’s?

I get good results with the 153.5's at 2980 - 2986 fps. out of a 26" Krieger barrel with either N565 or H4831SC

 

[Dieseldaddy]

I get good results with the 153.5's at 2980 - 2986 fps. out of a 26" Krieger barrel with either N565 or H4831SC

I’m more inclined to try the 140
Berger. I have maybe 1,000 142SMKs still
And a ton of brass for the 6.5x55, I guess it’s time to start playing around with it again. I love using old calibers in new ways. Plus if I ever needed to shoot meat, there’s always hunting ammo on the shelf of any box store. I dig it.

 

[Stephen Bachiler]

Shoot the 160gr LRN..they do better than you'd think

 

[Dieseldaddy]

Shoot the 160gr LRN..they do better than you'd think

At what velocity? Post up some groups I’d like to see them.

 

[Dieseldaddy]

I have a new 6.5x47 criterion barrel I impulse purchased that I think really needs to be a 6.5x55.

 

[AZgeek]

For those of you shooting lighter bullets, I'm going to be testing the 129 Nosler ABLR and the Hornady 135 Atips next week. I have a Gustaf 17" carbine length barrel on my build that really likes the 108 Scenars best so far.

 

[AZgeek]

Got out today to test the Nosler 129 ABLR, Berger 156 EOL and 120 Nosler BT bullets in my Swede Carbine. Had some 108 Lapua Scenars also in the mix. The 156 EOL shot best with the ABLR second, both using IMR 4350. I tried CFE223 with the 108's, 120 BT and ABLR. None shot well with this powder and the recoil impulse was way sharper!

Threw CFE in the mix due to the short 17" barrel. Wrong assumption! Spoke with Berger today to get their load data for the 156 EOL and the confirmed slow powders is the only way to roll with the Swede. They are sending me their load data (hopefully today) for the Swede.

 

[John?]

Please
Share the data if you don't mind

 

[AZgeek]

Please
Share the data if you don't mind

No problem.

 

[AZgeek]

Finally got a chance to test some loads albeit very limited. Chrono tested 3 loads with 3 different bullets. Slow speeds but to be expected with such a short barrel. Tested 3-shots with the 129gr ABLR , 135gr Atip and 156gr Berger. The Berger shot best at about 1.5 inches with one pulled for sure.

Going to stick with the Berger's going forward since its the only bullet I can get remotely close to the lands with this old carbine barrel. If had to guess its only about 85% fill capacity with the 42.0grs of IMR 4350 I used. Moving to slower powders on the next go round.

Berger provided me with their unpublished load data for the 156 in the Swede which is attached for reference.

 

[AZgeek]

Forgot to add that I did shoot one round of a very hot load. Got the Lapua 108 Scenar rocking with 47.6gr of IMR 4350. This is too hot based on previous testing. Need to break them down and reload to a max of 47.2.