swede 6.5

MrYou

Well-Known Member
Been doing some loads , the usual stuff, but cannot remember the best OAL , i measured some privvy, remmy & normal all are diffrent,but privvy shoots nice @ AOL of 3.015, yet the reload data is 3.150, what ya recon for the AOL guys ?
 
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This confused the hell out of me when I started. Read four books and you will get four different answers! The only thing I found that worked was to load up a variety of COL's and see what worked in my rifle. You will find it varies from bullet type to bullet type, rifle to rifle etc.etc.

I bought a stoney point OAL gauge, modified case, a good pair of calipers and a comparator and then tried varying lengths until I found a sweetspot for the rifle. I could give you the information that I produced, but i am sure it would be different in your rifle. Strangely I have found two sweetspots now, one loaded to the factory length (Hornady book length), deep into the cannelure, and one seated long.

I am afraid all i can suggest is trial and error, but starting from the makers recommended length will be a good start.

ft
 
well personally my tikka t3 likes 3.100" !

does not matter what powder , or bullet or primer !

3.100" gives me half inch group every time

cheers lee
 
I may have missed the bleeding obvious here, so i am sure i will be told if I am wrong but surely the optimum length is when you chamber a round the bullet gentely touches the breach rifling. As i batch reload all my cases for a batch are the same and trimmed to the same length after use. Then i resize a case and without a primmer add a bullet to the case and then gently load closing the bolt very slowly this should force the bullet into the case so when you unload it should give you the optimum length.

So if you now reload to this length there should be no gap between your bullet shoulder and the breach rifling. Hence a better group. Most factory rounds are loaded very short to accomadate all rifles.
 
Forcing a bullet into the case by chambering the round is a good way to have the rifleing hang on to the bullet momentarily on opening the bolt, giving a false dimension.
 
There is no way to know what your own rifle "likes" the best without conducting trials. There is no guarantee that it will be at its most accurate with a very short jump - though it may well.

I had an extremely accurate 222rem which was rubbish with the bullet out at the lands. Trial and error established that it needed a jump of 100thou - 2.5mm to group well. Once it got that, it would shoot literally any 50gr bullet sub .5" on 21.5gr Reloder 7.
 
I may have missed the bleeding obvious here, so i am sure i will be told if I am wrong but surely the optimum length is when you chamber a round the bullet gentely touches the breach rifling. As i batch reload all my cases for a batch are the same and trimmed to the same length after use. Then i resize a case and without a primmer add a bullet to the case and then gently load closing the bolt very slowly this should force the bullet into the case so when you unload it should give you the optimum length.

So if you now reload to this length there should be no gap between your bullet shoulder and the breach rifling. Hence a better group. Most factory rounds are loaded very short to accomadate all rifles.

Now you did say it:-

I may have missed the bleeding obvious here

and boy have you :lol: the optimum seating depth will vary with bullet shape/type and powder burning rate. What flytie has found is two positive or negative, depends on whether the barrel is at the top or bottom of it's arc, timing nodes. Best accuracy is when the bullet leaves the barrel at the exact point when the barrel is at maximum deflection and is about to reverse direction, in that split second the barrel is stationary and so if the bullets leave the muzzle at that point then then should land in a nice tight little cluster. But if they leave the barrel whilst it's swinging through it's arc in the middle somewhere the group will more than likely be strung out.

I don't fully understand the maths behind it but you can work it out and the Quckload programme has such a feature once you have a few basic mesurements.

Now back to the real world rather than the one of mathimatical theory :cool: in my rifles I have so far never found having the bullet in or near the leade to provide the best accuracy depsite what the "Experts" write in the magazines/articles etc. I have found a deeper seated bullet has provided the accuracy and and consistancy I require. Some rifles due to the long leade it's actually impossible to seat some/any bullets so they can touch the leade and remain in then case neck such as the 6.5x55 Sporterised Swedish Mauser.

As Finnbear points out our courting diaster :( it's just a matter of time before it goes wrong and either your left with an action full of unburnt powder when you extract the round or something goes wrong with the pressures. Bench rest techniques are best left there on the bench and have no real applications in the field just as a Formula one car has no real application is daily traffic ;).
 
All of the above. There is no one "optimal" length. Start .010" less than magazine length and work inward incrementally.~Muir
 
Forcing a bullet into the case by chambering the round is a good way to have the rifleing hang on to the bullet momentarily on opening the bolt, giving a false dimension.

Shooting a rifle with the bullets sat on the lands/rifling is dangours & causes pressure spikes & not recomended for standard/stalking rifle as such. Yes this can be the case in custom benchrest/F-class rifles but they are built on custom actions built to take the pressure.
As said rifles are like people & have diffrent likes so it is best backoff 10thou & do this with loads till you find it works. I stard with 10-20thou off & load batches of 5 bullets with 4-5 loads between minium & maxium for the powder i work till i get a sub 1" then on that load you can play with seating depth.
 
Shooting a rifle with the bullets sat on the lands/rifling is dangours & causes pressure spikes & not recomended for standard/stalking rifle as such. Yes this can be the case in custom benchrest/F-class rifles but they are built on custom actions built to take the pressure.
As said rifles are like people & have diffrent likes so it is best backoff 10thou & do this with loads till you find it works. I stard with 10-20thou off & load batches of 5 bullets with 4-5 loads between minium & maxium for the powder i work till i get a sub 1" then on that load you can play with seating depth.

F-Class rifles are built to take higher pressures?? I don't think so.

The "pressure spikes" you describe are possible but unlikely to cause any problems. It actually causes greater pressure spikes when the bullet is seated deeper. Known in the trade as "plugging", this can happen when the pressure curve is suddenly sent upwards by the bullet hitting the rifling and sealing the bore. In either setting, the bullet is moving forward and pressure decreasing by the nano-second. How much impact either situation has depends on the powder, bullet diameter and a combination of other items. I have used both methods and found use in both of them depending on the rifle and its throating. With a hunting rifle, seat to fit the magazine.~Muir
 
I have recently acquired a 6.5X55 and was given 100 Lapua new cases as an early 77th birthday present.
I tried 46gr of Viht. N160 with a Federal match 210 primer and it shoots into one inch at 100yds.
Bullet used is the Hornady Interlock 140gr SP.
My OAL length is 3.12 inches and seems to just miss the rifling of the Tikka Varminter and over the chrony the speed is about 2726 fps.
At this setting I have one-calibre-grip at the neck.
No doubt a younger person with sound vision could improve on my results.
I am getting a lift out in the morning and hope to zap a few Carrions & Maggies.

HWH.
 
I tried 46gr of Viht. N160 with a Federal match 210 primer and it shoots into one inch at 100yds.
Bullet used is the Hornady Interlock 140gr SP.
HWH.

Mr You, I am probably going to teach grandmother how to suck eggs here but! I don't know if you are new to reloading but the above information did not have the caveat of "start well below this and work up" added to it, which I believe it should!

I use 46gn of N160 for my 129gn SST's and this is just below the book maximum for the 6.5x55, I worked up to this! Now I know that people will say that in the modern 6.5's you can exceed these maximum loads because they are made with the older actions in mind. But be careful and check for pressure signs when doing so. End of warning;)

ft
 
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I loaded 120g hpbt, with 44gr of vit 160, @ aol 3.015/.017 the groups at 100yds are sub 1", with privvy 139gr the groups are similar. Its the OAL that confuses me, as at the stated 3.150 in the reloading data, the heads dont look seated into the brass enough, also. Thanks to all.
 
This seems to be a problem with lighter weight bullets in the 6.5. If I use the OAL guage my 129gn bullets are barely seated in the case after being pushed into the lands, so I seat them a little deeper into the case, enough to give me a solid seating.

ft
 
Hmmmm have you guys considered that most 6.5x55 rifles are throated so they can take the 156 & 160 grain RN bullets?
 
Hmmmm have you guys considered that most 6.5x55 rifles are throated so they can take the 156 & 160 grain RN bullets?

Yup, tried them too! 156gn Oryx worked a treat, but i wanted to try something smaller and faster for a change. Thats why I sympathised, it's tricky to know how best to reload smaller bullets in the 6.5.

ft
 
Ok, i messed a little this afternoon, 120gr s/p & hpbt sierra . The best OAL for bullets in my A Bolt 6.5 swede is 0.010" back from the lands was 3.10. i used a marker pen to blue the head , so i could see the entry, & moved it back . Now to test her ! ;)
 
Yup, tried them too! 156gn Oryx worked a treat, but i wanted to try something smaller and faster for a change. Thats why I sympathised, it's tricky to know how best to reload smaller bullets in the 6.5.

ft

Flytie,

Perhaps I have been lucky but the Speer 120 grain flat based bullets over a charge of IMR 4350 worked a treat loaded to a COL of 3.005". I have acquired a couple of boxes of Norma 77 grn SP's that shot quite well too. Of course this is in a Real Swede :D a 1904 ish Gustave action with a 22" surplus Swedish screwed into it.
 
this thread is a perfect example of why you should never belive anything you read on the internet. ps. the 6.5 is a fantastic hunting round. :rofl:
 
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