Need light load: 6.5x55 Swede

[roysclockgun]

I am loading 6.5x55 deer cartridges for my wife's rifle, but I need a very light load for her to use in practice, at the range.
Have 120gr. bullet or 140gr.
Any suggestions for the load with the least recoil, for practice?

 

[Guest]

If you can find one locally, pick up a copy of the 2009 Hodgdon Annual Manual. It has a good article about reduced loads. Here's the data from the 6.5x55 section using a 120gr Barnes TSX (but other 120gr bullets would also be fine here, at these charges):

H4198 31.5gr 2575fps approx.
IMR4895 38.4gr 2720fps approx.
IMR 4198 31.5 2565fps approx.

With all three of these loads, recoil is in the 8-10lb range. The two 4198 loads are the lightest, around 8lbs.

Another option is to take a look at the Hodgdon site and view their pdf file on "Youth Loads" as it includes a lot of instruction on reduced loads to mitigate recoil.

Good luck.

 

[1Shot]

This is the target load that I use in my 96 Swedes that is very accurate and is mild. It is the accuracy load from the IV edition Sierra manual.
37.8 grs IMR 4895, CCI-BR2 primer, Remington case, 140 Sierra Match King, OAL 3.050
These 96 Swedes have long throats and you really can't reach the lands and have the round work through the magazine. 3.050 OAL is as long as will work through these magazines but this OAL really shoots in my rifles.
You did not say what rifle you are shooting so your OAL may be shorter.

This is a max load 45.000 CUP for deer hunting but it is very accurate and is a real deer killer, and I consider it a light recoiling load.
46 grs Accurate Arms 4350, Federal 210M primer, Remington case, 120 Nosler Ballistic Tip, OAL 3.050 . From the 29" barrel of my sporter 96 Swede it will do 3000 fps.

With the 140 gr bullets like Nosler Partition, Hornady Interlock or Sierra SP drop down to 45 grs AA-4350 with everything the same as above for heaver game like elk.

The 6.5 Swede is a flat shooter and will kill way beyond what many think it will. Those long bullets just keep on trucking through things.

 

[Ol` Joe]

I know you said 120-140 gr bullets but you might want to look at Noslers 100 gr Partition. It was designed for the 260 Rem which is a ballistic twin to the Swede and with a starting load will give extreemly low recoil. I have used the 100 gr ballistic tip in mine with Varget and it was very accurate and kick was almost nil. This would be a good deer bullet along with being a good light recoiling load.
45/46 gr of H4350 or H4831 shold get you around 2500-2600 fps and a load of ~38/39 gr of Varget = 2900 fps. Be sure to verify these loads if you try them I`m offering them from memory and don`t have a manual in front of me at the moment.
Another bullet I have heard good about is the Hornady 100gr SP. Reports I`ve heard are it shoots accuratly and works well in on deer sized game. I haven`t personally shot them though.

 

[JD338]

+1 to what Ol` Joe said.
Load the 100 gr for target shooting and hunting or switch to the 100 gr PT for hunting. The 100 gr bullets are designed for deer hunting.

JD338

 

[YoteSmoker]

The following are low to mid range loads that worked well in a M95 Mauser small ring action, and kick less than my 243 with an 85 grain bullet:

125 Partition 44.5 H4350 (2700FPS)
129 Hornady SP 43.6 RL-22 (2700 FPS)
140 Partition 41.0 IMR4350 (2600 FPS)

Win Brass and WLR Primers

 

[roysclockgun]

Thanks very much, to all who contributed their knowledge and load hints.
Fortunately for me, I bought lots of bullets, primers and propellant before the great price increases that came to pass with the election of our current President.
The closest components that I had on hand, that matched the suggestions, turned out to work well for my wife, who is only 5'2" and 120 lbs.
I loaded the 120 gr. bullets, using Std. Win. primers and 38gr. of IMR4895, and once fired PMC cases. The OAL is 3.075" and the cartridges fit into the old M96 Swede Mauser magazine and feed without fail.
I had previously glass bedded the action and shortened and crowned the bbl. to 22". I also shortened the butt stock and with the Decelerator pad, the length of pull is 12". Off the bench, she is printing 2" groups at 100 yards and that was only her second time shooting a deer rifle and her sixth time at any range.
This forum has some really fine members, willing to share their intel.
Thank you.

 

[JD338]

The 120 gr BT is a great bullet for deer. Sounds like you have found a good load for her.

JD338

 

[roysclockgun]

Yes, thank you. I really hate to go lighter than 120gr. for deer, even when hunting N. FL. where a big buck is barely over 100 lbs. on the hoof. In Maryland, in the 1960s, I hit a number of deer in the heart/lung with telling hits, some of which cleaved the heart in two, using 100 gr. bullets out of a .243Win. They simply did not go down and in fact, had to be tracked, which is especially difficult to do in fading light. I learned that if I could not get neck shots on bucks with 100 gr. bullets, to not take the shot. Of course, more often than not, one can get a good shot at the boiler room and not the neck. I killed a lot of ground hogs with the .243Win. so I did not need to see much of the neck to make a killing shot, using 100 gr. bullets.
The deer that I have hit with 130gr. bullets out of a .270Win. were always anchored. The extra 30gr. of bullet makes a huge difference in the wound channel. Hopefully 120gr. bullets out of her 6.5x55 Swede will also anchor deer when a good heart/lung shot is made.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Roy's I've loaded starting loads of H4831 behind 140gr bullets in the sweed with suprisingly light recoil.

 

[JD338]

No worries, the 6.5mm 120 gr BT kills deer and antelope like lighting. :wink:
If your bride puts in where it needs to go, she will have her deer.

JD338

 

[1Shot]

You should be getting right at 2500 fps with your load of 38 grs IMR 4895 and your 120 gr BT in the 22" barrel. Let her practice with it a while and without telling her start increasing the velocity a little, bump the load up a little, and get her use to a little more velocity. If you can get her use to a load that will push the 120 BT up to 2750 fps or so it will kill better. You can do this with 41 grs. IMR 4895.

When my wife first started shooting her 38 special pistol I started her out with light loaded wad cutters and after a trip or to I started bumping the loads up until she was able to handle +P ammo which she carries in her pistol for self defense.

 

[roysclockgun]

I have read in the past, that reducing the loads to a degree where two separate "piles" of propellant can form within the case, and cause a dangerous explosion, as the ignition makes the jump from one "pile" of ignited propellant to the second "pile" of propellant. I have never seen this in practice.
How dangerous is it to reduce the starting load by one grain when loading 6.5x55, or when loading 7x57mm Mauser? Or by reducing 1 1/2 grains?

For me, this question has only come up since I have been hand loading for "little people". My problem has always been at the other end of the spectrum, where I work up hot loads in order to achieve the highest MV and still maintain accuracy.

 

[Guest]

The problem you describe, Roy, is real and can be catastrophic. But in this case, what is being recommended has been tested by Hodgdon in their labs. Check out the information here:

http://hodgdon.com/PDF/Youth%20Loads.pdf

This doesn't say anything about the 6.5x55, but the most recent (2009) Annual Manual from Hodgdon includes additional reduced recoil loads, including data for the Swede. Beyond all that, Hodgdon clearly states that using cast bullets, it's safe to reduce H4895 to 60% of published max loads for calibers and bullet weights they list in their jacketed data. Don't reduce jacketed loads this far, but it's safe to use the reduced load data they provide. H4895 apparently gives very consistent (and safe) ignition in significantly reduced charges, unlike some powders, which can produce the dual flame front and catastrophic pressure spikes you referred to.

 

[Powerstroke]

roy,

The 100 or 120's would work fine for deer out of the 6.5. We've used the 120 BT out of a M7 .260 on several occasions to take cow elk with excellent results. Have since switched to the 130gr AccuBond, but these are both excellent rounds for the smaller stature shooters.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Roy, Dubyam is right about the danger. An alternative is to use a slower powder. As an example I've loaded the 140's in my Sweed with 51 grains a WC860. It's a very slow powder, slower then H870, but I still get a full case of powder which eliminates the risk of a flashover, and a reduced load.

51 grains WC860
Win Brass
WMRP
140gr Remington PSP

out of a 29" barrel gives me 2378fps. It's increadibly accurate, just shoots a foot lower then my standard loads, using H4831sc with that rifle.

 

[roysclockgun]

Powerstroke wrote: "We've used the 120 BT out of a M7 .260 on several occasions to take cow elk with excellent results."

This dovetails what I was told by my father-in-law who was Norwegian and hunted many years above the arctic circle. In those Scandinavian countries, the 6.5x55mm round was very popular and used for all big game. He had taken a fair number of polar bear using the Swede military round, not to mention untold numbers of caribou.
When I was growing up in the 1950s, no cartridges bearing "mm" designations were popular. I believe because we had so many inexpensive rifles around in 30-06. The others did not have much of a chance. The old hunters seemed to cling to 30-30 for deer, but those who knew ballistics, usually carried the 30-06. Jack O'Connor did a lot to sell the American hunter on 270Win and that round is still going strong.
6.5x54mm was popular in Europe, but no 6.5 bullet made it big in the US, until the Swede military rifles began to come in as inexpensive surplus. The 264WinMag was beaten down as a barrel burner, even though it has now come back with a small, dedicated following. The 260Rem was introduced as a world beater and had it's day. Now we are seeing more interest in 6.5mm cartridges both in wildcats and production cartridges.
Very little can be done with larger case capacity using 6.5 bullets, that cannot be done with the old 6.5x55.
Only my humble opinion, of course.