Disagree, blaser, Mauser, sako, tikka, sauer and several other makers still chamber it.
6.5x55 Tikka shortage.
- Thread starter Jelen
- Start date
wildfowler.250
Well-Known Member
Agree. It’s still got a strong following here. To be honest it drops all uk species perfectly well
Maybe listed. But actually available ?
A quick scan of Guntrader.
Item Search Results
Quite a few Tikkas available, and one Mauser M12. New, this is. All about £1200. Plus a new Browning X-bolt varmint for £900.
The OP, @Jelen desires a very precise configuration which would probably be a custom. So long wait, if ever. Seemingly frustrated by the realities. Which is where this thread started, and maybe will finish.
Disagree again. The op asked about a bog standard tikka after having no joy with his special request and by my quick searching I think he could have one in his hands by the end of next week if he really wanted one.
Sako never chambered the s20 rifle in swede and faced enough backlash that the latest rifle, the 100, is chambered in it.
Not knocking the creedmoor at all, I’m sure it’s great. But it is to the swede what the .308 is to the .30-06. A well marketed, short action inferior product.
And why would it not ? Not sure about the "strong following" bit though, despite some vocal advocates. Maybe jealous of the new (quite old really and certainly proven by now) kid on the block, the 6.5 CM. Glib derision that it is for "poofs" or requires an alternative lifestyle to even consider chambering, together with disparagement such as calling it the "need more" tell us more about the man, than the chambering. Get over it.
No, he was very precise about what he needed/wanted/desired. wanted one in a Laminate stock, Stainless Steel, 20" barrel with a set trigger.
Which is bizzare, AFAIK Tikka, et al. do not do set triggers. If he was meaning a direct trigger, as opposed to a 2-stage, well Tikkas come as standard with direct triggers, and very good ones too. The 2-stage is usually a custom option.
If he really wanted one, and was prepared to compromise a little, he could have one, in a couple of days. Otherwise he is just messing about. Same applies, in spades, to choosing a 6.5 CM (the wisest choice).
Get over this short action/long action thing too. If you buy a Tikka they are all long action., just the bolt travel is lessened to suit the chambering. The receivers are all the same length, nobody seems to complain. As for 308 vs 30-06 comparisons, you have your view, I have mine. Both excellent. The 308 more so. Even more so given modern powder developments.
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Tikka and Sako (I have one) do set triggers, have a look on their website. Yes I was precise because that is what I wanted as my last forever rifle - i'm a pensioner of some years now, so to me it's not bizarre and I'm not messing about. I'm not prepared to compromise, or buy from Guntrader sight unseen. I had a scan through several websites and noted the shortage of 6.5x55. I was surprised when my local RFD said 2024. Hence my little rant - if you can call it that. As for 6.5 Creedmoor I was being tongue in cheek, as I was re Speedos and Tweed. I fully realise that the Creedmoor has a slight edge over the old 6.5x55, but not enough of an edge as I dial my turret at longer ranges, nor do I want to ditch my top of the range reloading kit and replace it for over £350, that's if - and when - it's in stock.
Ronin
Distinguished Member
Last ten years 6.5 calibers I’ve rebarrelled or made as full custom
30% creed needy
10% 260 Rem
50% 6.5 x 47
20% 6.5 x 55
Oh and One 6.5 PRC and two 260 Improved
6.5 55 is not dead and very much alive as deer killer or target round
The young pretender is no “better” than 55 or 260
It does offer a performance (velocity) advantage over 47 in terms that it will handle above 130 g class bullets
Level playing field otherwise
30% creed needy
10% 260 Rem
50% 6.5 x 47
20% 6.5 x 55
Oh and One 6.5 PRC and two 260 Improved
6.5 55 is not dead and very much alive as deer killer or target round
The young pretender is no “better” than 55 or 260
It does offer a performance (velocity) advantage over 47 in terms that it will handle above 130 g class bullets
Level playing field otherwise
Sako75Hunter
Well-Known Member
The deer season kicks off in few days here in Ireland, so I ordered in a couple of boxes of Sako Blade for my 6.5x55, a Sako 75 stainless synthetic.
I thought it was noteworthy that this relatively new type of ammunition is only offered in 6 calibres, including 6.5cm and 6.5x55, but NOT .243 or .270, for example.
(I also noticed that, in contrast to the 6.5x55 Powerhead 2 I've been using, this stuff is rated by Sako as also suitable for boar and moose, as well as deer. I'm sure some people will dispute that, but still.)
I reckon the Swede will be with us for a long time yet.
www.sako.fi
I thought it was noteworthy that this relatively new type of ammunition is only offered in 6 calibres, including 6.5cm and 6.5x55, but NOT .243 or .270, for example.
(I also noticed that, in contrast to the 6.5x55 Powerhead 2 I've been using, this stuff is rated by Sako as also suitable for boar and moose, as well as deer. I'm sure some people will dispute that, but still.)
I reckon the Swede will be with us for a long time yet.
Powerhead Blade
Sako has developed the new lead-free BLADE bullet to meet the needs of the most demanding lead-free hunters. One of the challenges in development of the bullet with alternative materials has been the inadequate performance either situations: not expanding for small game/long range impacts or...
Interesting! But, of course one thing to remember - the overwhelming 'winner' in this list, 6.5X47L, is virtually unavailable as a factory chambering and was only barely so in its heyday some years back, so you go to a gunsmith if you want one. Creedmoor, 260, and 6.5X55, even PRC will see several factory product sales elsewhere for every gunsmith production. That is also of course if you can find anybody actually putting 260 Rem or 6.5X55 examples out of the factory gate (as opposed to listing them). Which brings us back to the OP and the reason for this topic.
Remington shamefully failed to support its 260 even in the days when it was being widely used and gaining huge publicity in US tactical and sniper disciplines. AFAIK, Remington never produced a single match bullet version of the cartridge and seems content to let it drift on as a second if not third tier deer cartridge. The company's motto seems to be that if an introduction doesn't prove a huge success within 18 months, then forget it and try something else.
The 6.5X47L is a lovely little cartridge, but was never going to be a commercial success. No major US manufacturer was going to adopt it, if nothing else because it wasn't invented in the USA, and it moreover it represented a downsizing when the entire market trend in the US was in the opposite direction to larger and larger cartridges with ever higher MVs / MEs.
6.5X55mm was never going to be more than a niche market number in the world's (far!) largest market, the USA. Funny foreign design; long action (unacceptable to many Americans who've grown up with received wisdom that everything can and should be crammed into short action designs - cf 300WSM; 338 Federal and lots more); low-pressure / low performance US produced factory ammo (SAAMI MAP 46,000 C.U.P. and most US offerings actually well below that). As soon as the Creedmoor appeared, US designed and made, same or higher performance, cheaper factory ammo and short action, 98 out of 100 Americans stopped even considering the old Scandi design.
The interesting question to me re the absence of actual 6.5X55s being turned out by their traditional makers is WHY? and the key subsidiary question there is: Have new European buyers / users entering stalking / shooting stopped considering the cartridge preferring the Creedmoor and others, or is it just that more business and higher turnover can be generated in the short term by prioritising and tailoring production decisions to meet the demand of the currently overheated US firearms market? If the former, 6.5X55 is on the slippery slope although European factory ammo will continue to be made for decades to supply existing rifles. If the latter, SAKO and Tikka can just as quickly switch back to producing 6.5X55s if and when US demand declines.
alberta boy
Well-Known Member
This ^ . The same market forces have relegated a number of perfectly good cartridges to obsolescence . The 308 Norma Mag and 300 H&H mag are both great rounds , I've owned and used both over the years . The 300 Winchester Mag buried both of them in the North American market . The selection of loaded ammo for the Winchester version out numbered both of its predecessors by about 10 to 1 . Both of the older designs will hang on , I prefer the Norma version myself , but only because of people who like something a little different . The 6.5X55 has had a huge following here , going back into the 1960s , long before most in the US had ever heard of it . IVI / CIL loaded ammo for it for many years , it was one of their better selling products at the time . One old friend of mine used a Swede firing 160 Kling Kore soft points almost exclusively for Moose for over 40 years . It still has a faithful , but decreasing , following . The amount of rifles chambered in 6.5 CM and the variety / availability of ammo for it will be the end of the 6.5X55 eventually .
AB
AB
antsa
Well-Known Member
AFAIK just the one. The T3x Arctic. That is assuming that they carried this over into their version.
Apparently it is possible to "cheat" the T3 safety so that it is possible to operate the bolt whilst still blocking the trigger from operating. Not sure I would like to rely on it though. Best to assume that the rifle is potentially hot. and take the necessary precautions. Its not as if the Tikka safety blocks the firing pin from operating either, Just the usual trigger or sear block, assuming all is in good working order.
Their take on the Canadian Rangers rifle. The rangers were adamant that they required a three position safety, as well as a two stage trigger. And a ten round magazine. Which they got, in the Colt Canada C19.
Colt Canada C19 - Wikipedia
The C19 has the following modifications from the original Tikka T3 CTR:[3]
Larger bolt handle and enlarged trigger guard to accommodate gloved hands
Protected front and rear iron sights
Laminated stock in unique red colour with Ranger badge
Two-stage trigger with three-position safety
Interestingly I see that the Tikka version is now also being chambered in 6.5 CM, as well as 308. Clearly they perceive a market for that version.
dies sell well and there are lots of lightly used 6.5 mm chambered rifles hitting dealers shelves. Personally speaking with so many rifles hitting the dealers secondhand racks , thats where i should be looking . Cheap but needing a new barrel or a safe queen etc .
I never came across its 6.5X55, but it was CIL 'Dominion' brand 7X57mm that got me going with a souvenir Boer War M1895 long Mauser some 36 years ago. It also taught me that the oft-repeated "7X57 is a gentle recoiling cartridge" claim was a load of hogwash. A heavily loaded 175gn SP load and the M1895's straight 'English shotgun style' buttstock would see the rifle rise and smack the right cheek hard unless the rifle was gripped really hard and pulled into the shoulder. The ammo had been in a warehouse that had a fire, or maybe just fire alarm, and the cartons were water slightly damaged, so I got it at a bargain price and reloaded the resulting brass repeatedly until all the necks had split.
alberta boy
Well-Known Member
Lol . I used the same ammo in a cut down Chilean 98 years ago . A handy little rifle , but unpleasant to shoot the 175s through .
AB
alberta boy
Well-Known Member
A quick update , I was at the local hardware store today and had a look at their ammo selection , hardware stores sell ammo here , and got a bit of a shock . A box of Hornady 6.5X55 Match ammo ( all they had in stock ) was over $100 CDN . There were about six different varieties of 6.5CM for sale . The cheapest , federal , was $ 30 CDN a box , the most expensive was $ 48 . That alone will spell the end of the 6.5X55 as a popular cartridge . I'm a reloader so it doesn't really affect me , but for those who use factory ammo , it would be an obvious choice .
AB
AB
norcan
Well-Known Member
Here in Scandinavia, there are 2-300.000 active competition shooters, shooting only 6,5x55 exclusively each week.
Would guess 10-20 million rounds each week.. for decades.
And factory loaded Lapua match ammo costs $1 pr round...
The 6,5x55 is the entire reason why there is so many good 6,5mm bullets...
Would guess 10-20 million rounds each week.. for decades.
And factory loaded Lapua match ammo costs $1 pr round...
The 6,5x55 is the entire reason why there is so many good 6,5mm bullets...
thanks - will investigate, bey they dont do a left hander!!
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