M98 to 6.5x55 swede or....?

[3-0-hate]

Well, I got the bad news a few months back when I put a bore scope down the M24 barrel of my M98 and found that it is officially ruined. Pitting down most of the lands and grooves beyond bore pasting repair...

So, there is a silver lining though. I have been strongly considering switching it from a .308 to something with a bit more reach and wind bucking capability. 6.5x55swede scores to my mind. The actin is long enough, even off the heavier projectiles, it is a by soft shooter, extremely rich in inherit accuracy and will easily perform out to 1500 yards with the right loading.

So with that said, I think I have my mind made up on the 6.5 swede, but before I put any greenbacks on the table for a new barrel, I figured I would post here to get some more opinions from those "in the know" more than me so to speak.

I still have a couple more .308's in the safe as well, so I wouldn't be giving up on that cartridge. In fact Gary Eliseo is building me a chassis for my 700SPS and my M1A loaded will be getting a chassis of its own very soon if I decide to take it out of XTC match service entirely.

So what do you guys think? 6.5x55 swede or......?

 

[George63]

Re: M98 to 6.5x55 swede or....?

the good: Lapua brass for this is cheaper than for 6.5x47 and others

the bad: bolt face has to be opened up - reamers/load info etc is less common/available

 

[Deej]

Re: M98 to 6.5x55 swede or....?

lapua and VV will give you all the data you need. it was the long range champ for along time. i been thinking about it myself. just not sure how hard i can push it, depends on the action go with. i went with a creedmore for 1st but strongly considered it.

 

[leadbullet]

Re: M98 to 6.5x55 swede or....?

just rebarrel in 260, same bolt face, tons of load data and all kinds of brass.

 

[Gundude45]

Re: M98 to 6.5x55 swede or....?

6.x55 swede is an amazing round, used it on antelope for years. Lapua brass is easy to come by and there's a fairly hefty amount of loading data around for it nowadays.

Saying I love the round is a understatement..

 

[3-0-hate]

Re: M98 to 6.5x55 swede or....?

So what's the hype about .260? It doesn't seem to be able to reach out quite as far and it doesn't have nearly the same case capacity as the 6.5 swede.

Just wondering why I would want the .260rem vs the 6.5swede. My range reaches out to 1050yards on the big end and I routinely head out to the desert where I try to really push my limits in terms of distance. The 6.5 swede seems like it would do everything I'm looking to do and with mild recoil and cheap brass to boot.

An I missing something obvious?

 

[DocB]

Re: M98 to 6.5x55 swede or....?

SVThuh,

Long action vs. short action. With the Mauser action, not a problem. Go with the Swede.

HTH,
DocB