Help with 6.5 x 55 load and COAL

big ears

Well-Known Member
Hi just starting loading for 6.5, have had great success with 120gr Norma/nosler BT factory
plan to reload 129gr sst. With N160.

have just measured my chamber on my T3 at 3.280. If I load 20 thou off lands which is what i would do for my 223 & 308, that is very little bullet in the neck. The Norma measure 2.90 and are loaded to the canulure.

sould I start off loading to the canulure depth on the sst and vary loads then play around with length?
Does the swede like to jump? If so how far? I see some lengths in the loading data as 2.935 (hogdon for the 129 hornady sp which is a different profile to sst) which would seat more bullet in the case would this be a good starting point even though the profile as said is different? On SD some have loaded sst to 3.082 should I start there?

any help as always is very welcome


​BE
 
Hi just starting loading for 6.5, have had great success with 120gr Norma/nosler BT factory
plan to reload 129gr sst. With N160.

have just measured my chamber on my T3 at 3.280. If I load 20 thou off lands which is what i would do for my 223 & 308, that is very little bullet in the neck. The Norma measure 2.90 and are loaded to the canulure.

sould I start off loading to the canulure depth on the sst and vary loads then play around with length?
Does the swede like to jump? If so how far? I see some lengths in the loading data as 2.935 (hogdon for the 129 hornady sp which is a different profile to sst) which would seat more bullet in the case would this be a good starting point even though the profile as said is different? On SD some have loaded sst to 3.082 should I start there?

any help as always is very welcome


​BE


Each and every rifle is a lw unto itself as to what it likes.

I found out years back that trying to seat close tot eh lands was futile in a lot of rifles. So I start loading with the bullets base seated to the neck/shoulder juncture and if needed work out from there. Both the rifles I had in 6.5x55 were throated for the 160 grain round nose and there is no way that the 100 and 120 grain bullets could be seated out close to the lands.

My 7x57 BSA also shot better with the bullets seated deeper than they it ever did with bullets close to the lands.
 
Thanks brithunter,
just read the thread for the 308 written a few days ago and it is probable that all that was said there applies here. It just seems such a huge jump and not what I was use to with the 308.
i will load as you suggest to the neck/ shoulder line and go from there.

​BE
 
Using the Speer 120 grain #1435 flat based bullets my loads were 3.005" average in overall length. That is head of case to bullet tip. I never bothered buying or making a fancy OAL gauge. With the Speer 140's #1441 th OAL was 3.010". H 4350 or Reloader 19 were powders of choice here for me.
 
Thanks again,
will look at bullet lengths and see if I can get an approximate measure for the ssts
looks like about 3 will be a good starting point and if I can keep this set then the groupings for different charges should all be valid.

​BE
 
Oops. Just noticed OP had already measured chamber. Sorry!

IMHO if u want to get fussy about this then u need a coal gauge to measure your own rifle. You may get a surprise. I did! my Sauer 202 seems quite "short". If you do load well below spec length then be careful as it can affect pressure. As always, start low and build up carefully. Happy shooting.
 
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IMHO if u want to get fussy about this then u need a coal gauge to measure your own rifle. You may get a surprise.
That's what I did to get the 3.280 which was a surprise as I was shooting bullets at 2.90 hence the OP. most 120-130gr load seem to be 2.900-3.100 so plan to plump for the midpoint and only vary the load so can be sure to minimise variables.

BE
 
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