Anyone load Tarvas 130gr in the 6.5x55? Iam thinking they may be a good option for roe deer from this cartridge. wondering what powder to look at with a shorter barrel. Normally n165 is what i would use with something like a mega but i wonder if its going to be a bit too slow for my CZ550 barrel.
Anyone load Tarvas in 6.5x55?
- Thread starter Karhumies
- Start date
Bear in mind that the bullet is designed to only "trumpet" slightly. So dreams of beautiful mushrooms are likely to lead to disappointment......
Most tests I have seen over here point to lack of expansion/over penetration although this is probably the lack of the tester understanding the bullets design parametres.....
Most tests I have seen over here point to lack of expansion/over penetration although this is probably the lack of the tester understanding the bullets design parametres.....
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
You might see a lot of runners !
Then again i have seen some crazy deer and some wimps. Have one crazy story about a white tail with a 22 lodged in its femur as i later found out tanking multiple 30-06 shots and taking me on a 2 hour search. He didnt get far but into very dense cover and was still barely alive. Took 2 to the chest and one adrenaline shot pulled to the liver.
@Acm OK, dumbass here - can you post a link to that site. Every time I look at the viht site, all I see is lapua stuff! Obvs doing something wrong. And I now see it - I've been looking at 6.5 x 55 SE, that data is for Swedish Mauser! Is it OK to use this for a 6.5 x 55 M695 - I assume so as the data is similar to what I've already used
download the app if you can, they update it. They list mauser and modern loads SEPERATE but the modern loads are exclusively lapua match bullets it seems. On The website are ypu sure you Look at 6.5x55 mauser and not SKAN? SKAN is the modern designation for modern comp rifles.
Being no expert but reasonably knowledgeable on the old military rifles tho, even those modern loads could be shot in the old rifles a few timed actually but the bolt lug recesses Will wear down due to the metal being softer and over time that will cause a potentially catastrophic spacing issue where your case may simply seperate. At that point the old mauser unlike its 98 relative has little contingency built in to protect the shooter.
just a little siderant. As far as i know any newer 6.5x55 made on a tikka, sako, cz or even sporter husqvarna action should take it.
But as for the load data, get the app or make sure on the website you look at MAUSER not SKAN.
looks like i misread, you did look at mauser data. Absolutely OK to use Mauser data for a newer rifle. thats like putting old 12/65 shells in a modern benelli. Its the other way around that is not OK. those mauser rifles are sometimes over 100y old and designed around the pressures of that time. You wouldnt want to put a modern 45-70 in an old cowboy gun for the same reason.
also you could find old military surplus doesnt fit your chamber well for instance. All 6.5SKAN does is tighten measurements and increase pressure to a modern level. I even heard that most of the time those modern pressures arent even where the accuracy is at and people end up shooting vintage level loads anyway.
You have that the wrong way round. Viht has two sets of tables: Swedish Mauser and SE/SKAN.
'6.5X55SE' is current CIP for new/modern rifles and loads produce up to 55,000 psi using CIP's version of Piezo crystal transducer measurement.
'Swedish Mauser' can be used in anything, other than possibly Norwegian Krag rifles and its loads are to an unspecified lower pressure ceiling suitable for rifles based on the Swedish M1894/96/1938 action. I used to think this would likely be ca. 45,000 psi, but now reckon it'll be similar to the US SAAMI ceiling (46,000 C.U.P.) equivalent to ca. 50-51,000 psi in US transducer type measurements (which aren't the same as CIP).
Viht's 'Swedish Mauser' table gets all the deer bullets and loads as the assumption appears to be that field shooting may see the entire gamut of rifles and action types/strengths. This apparently also applies to most or all commercial ammunition. (Accurate Arms Powder Co. tested Norma factory deer loads 20 odd years ago in a modern US SAAMI spec transducer pressure barrel and got average pressures of 51,000 psi on this measurement method and created its load data using that ceiling.)
As @Karhumies mentions, Viht's 6.5X55SE / SKAN data is restricted to match bullet loads and are dedicated to competition use in the Sauer STR-200 rifle. (This is also why three barrel lengths are shown for each bullet as the STR-200 is offered with them, it being a user DIY switch-barrel design.) Compare these tables' max charge weights against the Swedish Mauser equivalent where the same bullet is shown in both, and the SE/SKAN value is 2-3gn higher depending on the powder used. Such loads are quite safe in modern sporting rifles.
The 'SKAN' designation is a bit of a red herring insofar as loads and our usage go - they are no different to SE and there is no difference at all in max or safe loads. 'SKAN' refers to some very slight changes in chamber measurement tolerances and was adopted alongside the STR-200 rifle. Previous to that, problems sometimes arose in Scandinavian international rifle matches where the host country provides the ammunition - depending on how case/chamber tolerances worked out this could see over-'slack' or 'over-long/tight chambering when one country's cartridges were used in another's rifles. Adopting SKAN and the STR-200 created a level playing field in this specific circumstance.
basically that. iam not an expert but i have been around the cartridge a bit altho i am quite new to handloading it. Gets a bit tricky since we cant just stock Infinity powder in a household and they dont sell alot of pound bottles anymore. my local shop only orders 1kg and they cant be shipped.
In theory a rifle like mine on essentially a modern 98 action should handle the same pressure as my 30-06. Wether thats nessesary is another matter. One thing notable about the cartridge is that it doesnt need high speed or big chunky bullets to do what a .30 does. The shank pushes the thing trough, those things have quite alot of momentum for their frontal diameter.
I have had luck with tarvas factory ammo but havent been too satisfied on the consistency of it, i feel like every other box i have to rezero and i dont see that with Sako ammo or Norma.
In theory a rifle like mine on essentially a modern 98 action should handle the same pressure as my 30-06. Wether thats nessesary is another matter. One thing notable about the cartridge is that it doesnt need high speed or big chunky bullets to do what a .30 does. The shank pushes the thing trough, those things have quite alot of momentum for their frontal diameter.
I have had luck with tarvas factory ammo but havent been too satisfied on the consistency of it, i feel like every other box i have to rezero and i dont see that with Sako ammo or Norma.
terrible choice for roe IMO
They are an extremely hard bullet that acts like the Woodleigh hydrostatically stabilised bullets
Combined with a comparatively slow cartridge, thin skinned and light framed quarry, you can expect poor expansion unless you are stoking up the velocity and/or shooting exclusively high shoulder
They are an extremely hard bullet that acts like the Woodleigh hydrostatically stabilised bullets
Combined with a comparatively slow cartridge, thin skinned and light framed quarry, you can expect poor expansion unless you are stoking up the velocity and/or shooting exclusively high shoulder
hmm anything else to consider? i havent had too many difficulties killing roe deer with pretty mutch anything but i have had a lot of messy carcasses. To my family the meat is very important and i have had to throw away alot of meat on closer shots with fox bullets for instance, specifically 150gr in the 30-06. blood everywhere, fist sized exit holes. Wich seems to run opposite to what others say about them but that has been my experience.
Tarvas factory ammo had done the trick so far tho
but those have been high shoulder as you say.
So backing off tarvas a bit altho i have had succes with them so far (very small sample size due to quotas enforced on a local level) Fox has normally been my go to bullet but i havent tried it in the swede yet. How about peregrine vlr4, heard they can be tricky to load for accuracy. How would they perform on roe? Always figured them for more of a tough game bullet.
6.5x55 a slow cartridge tho? no slower than a 30-06 when i load it in my CZ550. should hit around 900m/s with handloads and 120-130 grain bullets. With lapua mega 160gr i have hit 810m/s on the chrono when vihtavuori suggests 770m/s.
6.5x55 a slow cartridge tho? no slower than a 30-06 when i load it in my CZ550. should hit around 900m/s with handloads and 120-130 grain bullets. With lapua mega 160gr i have hit 810m/s on the chrono when vihtavuori suggests 770m/s.
In my 6.5x55 I shoot either 120grn hornady cx or Barnes 120grn ttsx.
Both pushed at just a shade over 2800 fps.
I wouldn’t mind which of the above two I had to use for the rest of days. Would have shot a few hundred fallow and 40-50 roe with that combo.
tricky to get for a good price sometimes. barnes go for 2 euro a pop locally and CX i have never seen myself. Maybe il just try fox, those are locally available and competitively priced. Accuracy has never been a problem. Maybe in 6.5x55 they wont be so violent. Really doesnt take mutch to kill a roe. Guys do it with military FMJ in a 7.62x54r here wich is legal.
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
Try the powerhead blade, it’s very good in the swede
il keep it in mind. based on cost and material il try the fox classic hunter first, i heavily prefer brass over copper because sako TSX smeared my barrel something awful and brass bullets rarely require copper removal from my barrels. any pros and cons to using the 123 or 139 grain versions? i load this rifle to 60.000 psi maximum without issue. According to Fox i can use the 139 without issue if i remove the tips, something i ususally do anyway with these bullets because i found them to shoot slightly better without the tips. I dont have enough comprehensive testing to advise anyone else to do that but iam a little superstitious on it and my targets seem to back it up (in 30-06)
123gr is ofcourse adequate for both deer species i shoot (roe and white tail) but in 30-06 i found that fox performed more like i would want it to the heavier i went, somewhere between 600 and 840m/s seemed to be the ticket
I actually couldn't get on with the 123 grn fox classic hunter in my swede, see how you go but I found they lacked consistent expansion. My load put them out at 2724 fps average, after shooting 20-30 fallow with them it seemed that regardless of shot placement, the deer had a tendency to run.
I have found the fox bullets to be really great in the .243 and .30-06 though.
Also, they are a copper zinc alloy, not brass.
according to my knowledge of metalurgy that makes it brass. Wikipedia agrees. copper+zinc makes brass, wich just like bronze comes in many varieties and cupronickel comes in many varieties. Tombac is classified as a brass for instance.
100gr is also an option but at 950+ velocity i would guess its going to make a big messy blood blister at closer range at the benefit of 10cm less drop at 300m. So 139gr seems like a good option. Wonder of i can make them work with n550, velocity could be decent but only 89 or so case fill. I happen to have alot of n550 left. saves me a 3 hour drive to buy powder. Velocity would in theory be around 820m/s vs 870 with the 123gr. In 30-06 i havent had any expansion issues Even with 180gr. Just a big bloody mess with 150gr.
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