Thread: 6.5x55??

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147 eldm at a shade under 2700 carries about 2000fps to 600 yards, 107tmk at 2900 has the recoil of a 243 and legs a long way out but with great barrel life. Working with a mates 308 at the moment...to me it has all the properties of a club.

Originally Posted by Fisherman

147 eldm at a shade under 2700 carries about 2000fps to 600 yards, 107tmk at 2900 has the recoil of a 243 and legs a long way out but with great barrel life. Working with a mates 308 at the moment...to me it has all the properties of a club.

So should I load a 147 pill?

Apologies if that's a stupid question im still trying to get a grip with ballistics

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Originally Posted by Matt610

So should I load a 147 pill?

Apologies if that's a stupid question im still trying to get a grip with ballistics

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When you're new to something there are no stupid questions.

A better way to look at this is what are your requirements? What are you likely to be shooting - targets or animals? How far away are you likely to be shooting them - the answer to this relates directly to your amount of shooting experience and ability.

As a beginner hunter it would be wise to limit yourself to 250m shots or maybe 300m in good conditions. Under those conditions most of the standard projectiles in factory ammo will work fine on goats,pigs and deer. Same goes for any of the standard cup and core bullets you can reload like the Sierra Pro Hunter, Hornady Interlock spire point or Speer Hot Cor or Boat tail soft points.

If you get more confident and start to extend your range a bit (hopefully after having done lots of practice with your well sorted rifle at a range like Sparrowhawk) then you'll discover the benefit of bullets with better ballistic coefficients - this helps to minimise wind drift at longer range. The wide open nature of a lot of Canterbury hunting means that the wind will often play a part when you take a shot.

The Hornady 147 Eld-M is a projectile that has quite a high BC at a middling price. There are many anecdotal reports on here of them working well on deer size game when fired at muzzle velocities you can expect from a 6.5*55 (2600 - 2700fps). Find a load with an extruded single base powder (like ADI AR2217 for example) that gives you the velocity you want and acceptable precision and go shooting. It's the bullet I've chosen for my do-it-all load launched at 2670fps from the Swede's upstart younger sibling.

Originally Posted by Matt610

So should I load a 147 pill?

Apologies if that's a stupid question im still trying to get a grip with ballistics

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Yep.
I have been using them since the 143eldx shortage.
Running 44.8 of 2209 and hornady factory length.
They shoot better than I can

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A lot of good info here. Im gonna stick my neck out and say that if you settle on a load from above, using either 143 -147 projectiles, ELDX or DM, that chances are very high that it will perform well from your rifle. And animals will fall over.

Greetings @Matt610,
You have set out on an interesting journey. The 6.5x55 is a great cartridge that has tipping over large deer for way over a century. Handloading the 6.5 can be bewildering for the novice. Much of the published data for the available ADI powders is low pressure and contradictory. Some of the loads that appear on the internet are smoking hot. After 20 years fiddling with a M38 in 6.5 my T3 arrived in 2,011 and I wrestled with the light and conflicting data for a bit. Eventually I settled on working up to the velocities listed for the 260 Remington plus a little due to the larger case capacity. For the 147 grain projectile this works out to around 2,700 to 2,750 fps in a 24 inch barrel.
I also strongly suggest that you find a mentor to guide you through the process. Happy to answer questions including by PM if you prefer.
Regards Grandpamac.

I recently got a 6.5x55SE and this thread has got me itching to start reloading!

Fantastic first rifle, beautiful scope as well. Before I bought my .308 I saw on trademe a wooden stock, 6.5x55 tikka with a Greystone integrally suppressed barrel... I hesitated, not knowing how good it would have been. Ah well, such is life.

That’s one hell of a good buy, can’t go wrong with that, I run 143gr ELDX, 129 gr sst, and 120 PPU bullets in my 20 inch barrelled Tikka and have found that all these projectiles seem to shoot to the same point of impact out to around 250 yds. They aren’t the fastest out there but they get things done, you won’t be disappointed.

Originally Posted by will.i.em

I recently got a 6.5x55SE and this thread has got me itching to start reloading!

forget BC and do SD and bullet construction, the 2 greatest Swede bullets made period are the 155gr Lapua Mega and 140gr Naturalis

Originally Posted by Billo

forget BC and do SD and bullet construction, the 2 greatest Swede bullets made period are the 155gr Lapua Mega and 140gr Naturalis

Interesting... why so?

The inherent SD of 6.5 cal bullets means that anything other than good old cup and core bullets is a waste. They fully penetrate anything. I use the old 140 Amax still and they pass through big reds often enough. We are not shooting Moose.

140 amax would have to be the most accurate bullets Ive handloaded for my x55 then they stopped making them

I’ve only ever shot 143gr Eldx through my T3 .
They group better than I can shoot and travel at 2730 fps .
Everything that I have shot with those has been Dead when I walked up to it .
Another question though in my brain is ….
In my 6.5 CM I have gone to lighter projectiles 129 SST and 130 TMK with great results, I’m wondering now if my 6.5x55 would shoot/group them OK and they should be able to be pushed a fraction faster than the 6.5CM .