Hi guys nice to find another stalking forum, I notice one or two guy from other forums on here and some of you may recognise me from Passion for stalking or Modern Stalking. This site looks a good one.
So for my first post I am going to be a bit controversially, and criticize the 6.5X55. I am fully aware the criticizing a stalkers calibre of rifle is tantamount to calling his wife a prostitute. So here goes:-
I aim this not a you guys who have a 6.5X55 as if you are happy with it then fine but to anybody that is looking for a new rifle calibre, also to try and give some of these threads a bit of balance.
I am not anti the 6.5 bore size and would consider a 6.5-284 or a 6.5-06 for a one rifle does all. But as this government still allows us to have more that one rifle I will use the most appropriated “tool for the job”.
The trouble with the Swede is that it was designed over 100 years ago and the maxim pressure that it can be loaded to is modest compared to more modern cartridges this leads to low muzzle velocities.
A number of comments have been made on here in various posts in favour of the 6.5X55 I will counter some of these.
The 303 does kick more than a 6.5 sure but the military loaded it with 174gn or even 210gn bullets put a 210gn bullet in a swede and tell me it don’t kick. The other problem with the Enfield is poor stock design (a good stock can make a big difference to felt to recoil.) I have shot a sporterized .303 using 150gn soft points and found it’s recoil very acceptable. The British military had a prototype small bore rifle before the start of the First world war the P14 in .276 cal (a .270 or 6.8mm bore) the start of the war meant it was never introduced in to service, and we still had the .303 to after Korea.
The Japanese used a 6.5mm rifle at the start of WW2 they found it performance lacking and then in the middle of a major conflict changed to 7.7mm (.30 cal) cartridge. This lead to supply problems as you could imagine, good for us Tommys though.
If I was facing a Jap doing his Banzi bayonet suicide charge I would be looking for some big 210gn round nose bullets with plenty of knock down power, not a small bore 6.5 that just puts knitting needle hole though him.
Someone mentioned that it was flat shooting round and that is why it is used at 1000yrds.
It is not Flat shooting, it drops a third more at 300yrds than a 270 using top reloads in both calibres and 130/129gn bullets, moving up to 140gn bullets does not help it ether.
When shooting at a 1000yrds the amount of bullet drop is not a issue. You just have to dial in the right elevation so long as the bullet stays supersonic. It will reach the target. To win you need to be able to read the wind and having a bullet that is less effected by wind is a big advantage. Bullets with high BCs are less effected by wind hence why the 6.5mm bullets were used. But remember that the target shooter will reload his own cartridges and often will not use the reloading manual but will load until he see’s signs of high pressure then back off a bit. In a single shot modern target rifle with a something like a RPA quad lock action and good quality brass, his reloads will be well hot compared to the manual recommended loads.
I know of one guy who run his so hot that I would not dare put that load on a open forum, as some dim wit would try it in his old military 6.5X55.
The favour cartridge coming to the fore now is the 7mm WSM for long range shooting. This cartridge is every thing the 6.5 swede is not.
The 6.5X55 is soft on recoil because it pushes it bullets slowly, if you were to down load a 270 or a 308 with the same bullet weight to the same velocity as the swede you would find the same level of recoil.
Unfortunately for every reaction there is a equal and opposite reaction, and even the “mighty” swede can’t beat science. With this low recoil comes poor down range effectiveness of its bullets. A High velocity bullet kills in two ways one is by the tissue damage and bleeding and secondly by hydrostic shock. The hydrosic shock is what drops a deer on the spot with a heart shot, the bullet passing though the heart sends a shock wave down the major arteries to the brain cause instance death. This phenomena can be seen when looking at the shock waves in ballistic gel, or think of the bow wave of a boat as it pushes though water.
The low velocity of the swede means that it has to rely more on tissue damage that producing hytrostic shock. Remember as you local Camera Safety Team (tax collection unit) keeps telling us “Speed kills”.
You will hear people extort the penetrative properties of the 6.5 this is because it drives it bullets slowly so they are not expanding correctly, this leads to over penetration. Seeing that I have shot Sika stags face on in the chest and it has exited out it’s a**e how much penetration do you need for UK deer species.
Moving to subjective evidence after using his 6.5X55 on Red stags for a number of years my mate has had enough of having to give them more that one bullet to put them down. The final death nail for the 6.5 was watching the 270 dropping even the largest rutting stag on the spot.
For a “light” deer rifle I would pick a 243 not for any ballistic performance this round may or may not have, but because I find that it is the largest calibre I can shoot and providing the rifle is a good fit I can still see the bullet strike.
To summarize the 6.5x55 produces slightly more power than a 243 after all it’s modern equivalent the 260rem is only a 243 necked up, with this in mind and don’t make it your first chose for Red or Sika stags ect.
Could somebody explain what science makes a bullet perform better at 140yrds than a 50yrds?
Now digging a deep foxhole and putting on tin hat to wait for incoming but hey you lot only have 6.5X55s so should be pretty safe.
B-B