Opinion on 6.5X55

TonyR

Well-Known Member
Few years ago bought one of these it was a stainless Browning and really liked the feel of the gun.It had been recommended by a gun dealer I knew as excellent for deer ,a while before he went to prison for tax evasion ,you know the one, but have to admit I did like the guy ?
Went stalking with it with a friend who had authority on a good piece of land.Across a small valley about 200 yds shot at two roe deer .One ran away through the wood and the other stayed in the wood ,my friend was going ballistic for apparently missing the deer.I wasnt feeling very good either.
We went to look and found the deer that my friend finished off.The deer had been hit by me in the engine room with a small entry wound and small exit wound the bullet not having expanded , from the location I would have expected damage to the heart.
The other deer had left a blood trail that my friend assured me was from the lungs.
The ammunition I used was 129g soft point ,this was all they had as this calibre was reasonably new (as regards being popular) in this country at the time.
I then went stalking on an estate in Scotland after Red deer and the keeper asked what rifles I had brought and told him I had the 6.5 and a 270,
He said that he did not mind me using the 270 but did not want me to use the 6.5 as they had had some runners recently and they had all been from people using the 6.5 ?
I returned the rifle to the shop.
I know a lot of people use the round so have I just been unlucky ?

TonyR
 
Very good cartridge for training dogs. I would not hunt with someone using one. In the past most days were ruined by searching for runners.
To be fair it was mostly because of wrong bullet choice. The plain simple federal blue box 140gr seemed to work much better than some fancy Moose bullets that just ****ed through Sika without expanding.
edi
 
Its a good round and know for being accurate. Problem is America manufacture ammo on the safe side and because a lot of old 6.5 rifles cannot handle the higher pressures they have developed ammo based on them. It is a slow round anyway, 140 grain being pushed at about 2600fps. If you understand the caliber and handload for it you will have no problems at deer stalking ranges.
 
Ejg is spot on, I have seen this a thousand times...6.5x55's are notorious for runners with bad factory ammo. pick the right ammo and ideally re-load yourself, and it's a good performer.

My brothers in law, my oldest hunting buddy, my father, etc. etc. ALL shoot 6.5x55's with factory ammo...and yes, even with good shots, bloody runners all the time from roe to red stags or sika..
 
It's probably my go to rifle for stalking in the midlands which shows as I've nearly ran out of ammo .I quite like it but I quite like the others in the cabinet too don't think mine will be for sale any time soon .
norma
 
6.5x55 is no worse than any other caliber, eventualy if you shoot enough deer you get runners with any caliber, all the bullet has to do is pass between the ribs on both sides without touching them.
I have had runners with 270 / 30-06 / 222 /22-250.
I have also absolutely flattened Sika stags with a 6.5 x 55.
 
6.5x55 is no worse than any other caliber, eventualy if you shoot enough deer you get runners with any caliber, all the bullet has to do is pass between the ribs on both sides without touching them.
I have had runners with 270 / 30-06 / 222 /22-250.
I have also absolutely flattened Sika stags with a 6.5 x 55.

I think this is a more balanced view. I'm using Norma 140gr Oryx factory with good results on small and larger deer.
 
As Edi said, it is all about the bullets.

Relatively tough, heavy for calibre bullets at modest velocity don't expand quickly and there is less damage on a clean chest shot - you will get runners.

Now, load that modern 6.5 with a 120gr bullets at 2900fps plus, which is perfectly achievable, and you will see a different outcome. I shoot mostly Sika with a 120gr 6.5 ballistic tip, I get very few runners.

It's been said before, a competent handloader can turn the Swede into a passibly useful deer rifle....
 
To get the best out of a 6.5 with factory ammo is to use European ammo manufacturers I.e RWS , sako etc they are loaded to shoot faster

if you use American ammo I.e Winchester etc they are loaded on the low side so shoot slower

Start of with the right ammo to start with then go from there

this is quite well known



obviously if you hand load then there is no problem
 
The 6.5x55 was designed for penetration through many layer of winter clothing when in use by the Swedish army so it can't be suprising that a Roe deer, which has a ribcage width of about 8 inches, is not much of a medium for bullet expansion. Use the Swede on a Red or Elk and it shows it's breeding.

I had a 6.5 briefly some years ago and sold it in short order for this very reason. I must admit it is a nice accurate cartridge though.
 
I find that it kills better with a little more distance between you and the beast, I have had a couple run (all be it not very far) when shooting from close range but out at 100-200 yards I find it flattens most, this is on Roe only as haven't taken any reds yet with the 6.5 yet.
To be honest I don't think I will be selling mine anytime soon either!
 
Like has been already said I find mine fine with federal Powerstock or Fusion 140gr. The only time I found it had problems was when I was trying to use up a load of 156gr Norma oryx which caused a lot of runners.
 
The 6.5x55 is often mentioned as being great for Moose/Elk. I have no experience with these animals but found it interesting what VihtaVuori wrote about Elk shooting and bullet development in their 4th edition of the reloading manual. ....not with a single word did they mention the 6.5x55. They were mentioning the 7.62x53/54R (close to 30-06) as being marginal and went into more detail about using the 9.3x62 which was more appropriate.
I think, taking a large animal like an Elk with a 6.5 chest shot sounds more like taking a fox with a 22lr....the animals will die.... at some stage.
edi
 
If you look closely at that moose article in the Viht manual, much of the author's shooting was in heavy, close cover. He was also on call-out for tracking young bulls looking for their own territory who are injured in RTAs down for humane despatch. The issues mentioned would make a large calibre, very high energy bullet which also penetrates well on 500-1,000 kg size animals, not to mention often shooting through twigs, pretty well mandatory I would have thought. The feature is entirely about moose too, no mention of deer or what he uses on them.

Whilst I'd think (can't go further as no experience) that the 9.3 is one hell of a good number for this kind of shooting, how much relevance does that have to a roedeer or even larger example of our species in British field conditions?
 
Not thats its something I would attempt, But the American long range shooters are taking Elk at 700yds with 6.5-284 and with the same bullets as the 6.5 x 55.
Short distance never was a problem for my Swede I shot deer from 20 yds to 230yds with it

The worst runner I had was a Red / Sika hybrid shot with a 30-06, it was shot through the heart with a 150grn bullet and it walk and trotted and ran about for about 5 minutes in the middle of an open field.

Nothing else has gone very far, a few have run but no more than 50 yds into the timber, you just have to give them time.
 
If you look closely at that moose article in the Viht manual, much of the author's shooting was in heavy, close cover. He was also on call-out for tracking young bulls looking for their own territory who are injured in RTAs down for humane despatch. The issues mentioned would make a large calibre, very high energy bullet which also penetrates well on 500-1,000 kg size animals, not to mention often shooting through twigs, pretty well mandatory I would have thought. The feature is entirely about moose too, no mention of deer or what he uses on them.

Whilst I'd think (can't go further as no experience) that the 9.3 is one hell of a good number for this kind of shooting, how much relevance does that have to a roedeer or even larger example of our species in British field conditions?

Yes, but also mentioned open terrain 30 cal shooting of bull elk, not only close cover as Lapua was developing a bullet for 30 cal Elk. The Author seemed disappointed with the outcome.
I only mentioned this because I think the 6.5x55 with the right bullet might be fine for smaller to medium deer but I do not think it is suitable for the large species as many make it out to be. There are more suitable cartridges for those animals.
The British and Irish field conditions don't differ too much. Some permissions are small (we sometimes are asked to shoot deer in back gardens), some are close to roads etc. meaning we often have to drop them quick. A runner can mean awkward situations retrieving that is why one is better off with a bit more whack. Despite what others might think I believe a much larger bullet delivering much more energy will in all likelihood drop an animal quicker, it is not rocket science.
edi
 
Ok - that begs the question..... what should we be using? I have no particular axe to grind, but have found that 140gr Norma Oryx factory has dropped everything cleanly from Muntjac through Roe to the largest fallow in the rut. I haven't shot Red. I have a .308 and 30-06, so I am not short of calibres. Where does this leave the staunch supporters of the .243?
 
Ok - that begs the question..... what should we be using? I have no particular axe to grind, but have found that 140gr Norma Oryx factory has dropped everything cleanly from Muntjac through Roe to the largest fallow in the rut. I haven't shot Red. I have a .308 and 30-06, so I am not short of calibres. Where does this leave the staunch supporters of the .243?


a 6.5 55 is running 27 -2800fps but a 243 only 0.5mm smaller is running 3200fps?

I havent shot enough deer to be much on empirical data but all the deer I hit with a 243 fell over OK except one i shot with a 100g soft point really close (40m) which ran about 50 yards

ATB

Mark
 
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