6.5x55 any good for deer

My Tikka T3 stainless 6.5x55 has set for years. Had worked up a couple loads, but never hunted it. Still like new. So broke down & decided to hunt with it this year. Here in Montana I have to hunt deer & elk at the same time. So, Worked up a load using the Barnes 6.5 127gr LRX, at 2900fps. Having taken elk for years with my 260 Rem & Barnes bullets , I knew I could count on the 6.5x55. White tail here are plentiful. Muley's are few in my zone, & a special tag must be drawn. Therefor, because I can just walk out the door & hunt white tail, it makes it easy. Our land is heavily forested, so shots can be close. I've taken deer at 15yds & elk at 30. This deer came at the long range of about 70yds. So, long range shooting for me. Had to shoot thru a narrow spot between trees. Shot was down hill a bit , angling away to my right. Bullet entered at the back of the right shoulder , angled across & out the neck.

Hespco said:

My Tikka T3 stainless 6.5x55 has set for years. Had worked up a couple loads, but never hunted it. Still like new. So broke down & decided to hunt with it this year. Here in Montana I have to hunt deer & elk at the same time. So, Worked up a load using the Barnes 6.5 127gr LRX, at 2900fps. Having taken elk for years with my 260 Rem & Barnes bullets , I knew I could count on the 6.5x55. White tail here are plentiful. Muley's are few in my zone, & a special tag must be drawn. Therefor, because I can just walk out the door & hunt white tail, it makes it easy. Our land is heavily forested, so shots can be close. I've taken deer at 15yds & elk at 30. This deer came at the long range of about 70yds. So, long range shooting for me. Had to shoot thru a narrow spot between trees. Shot was down hill a bit , angling away to my right. Bullet entered at the back of the right shoulder , angled across & out the neck.

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Nice job!!!

Congratulations!

Nuthing wrong with the Sweede or Tikka. Years ago the Tikka lite in 6.5x55 got the call. The load was R22 and 147eld. It has sat in the valt since suppressors have been added as the barrel is too lite to thread.
A few others have been taken but they all have one thing in common= It dropped everything in its tracks!







The original 106 year old Sweede engineers carbine has taken a couple too. Never used it on deer but it worked for a few antelope..

Looks like it works to me! Nice shot and very little bloodshot meat. Looks like he's going to eat well also.

I went to Kodiak 7 years ago and my buddy had an old 6.5x55. We were hunting the Sitka black tails on an island with more bears than people. The swede did great we encountered no bears, but we did have a couple of 300's close if needed. Good job

One of the things I have learned on the internet is that:

There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.


Congrats - Love the Swede

MachV said:

It has sat in the valt since suppressors have been added as the barrel is too lite to thread.

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I have a Tikka T3 Lite that is suppressed. Can't remember the name of the technique the gunsmith used but it can be done.

Nice work, what powder did you use under that LRX ?

Great cartridge, yep... it looks like it's working great to me from the photos. I've only owned one 6.5x55 Swede, in a very nice M96, an up-scale military target version with original diopter sights. It shoots crazy good. I've only killed one Deer with it. The rifle spends most of its time on the flat range in old military competition games. Cheers

Hespco said:

My Tikka T3 stainless 6.5x55 has set for years. Had worked up a couple loads, but never hunted it. Still like new. So broke down & decided to hunt with it this year. Here in Montana I have to hunt deer & elk at the same time. So, Worked up a load using the Barnes 6.5 127gr LRX, at 2900fps. Having taken elk for years with my 260 Rem & Barnes bullets , I knew I could count on the 6.5x55. White tail here are plentiful. Muley's are few in my zone, & a special tag must be drawn. Therefor, because I can just walk out the door & hunt white tail, it makes it easy. Our land is heavily forested, so shots can be close. I've taken deer at 15yds & elk at 30. This deer came at the long range of about 70yds. So, long range shooting for me. Had to shoot thru a narrow spot between trees. Shot was down hill a bit , angling away to my right. Bullet entered at the back of the right shoulder , angled across & out the neck.

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I live in central Montana and I understand, close is 5yards long can be a bit different , out to 1000 yards . For me it depends on what im hunting. I often hunt elk/mulies at longer ranges, most of my white tail are between in you face to 130 yards. Congrats on taking out the Swede.i love that round

I've been hunting and reloading the 6.5x55 cartridge since 1995. It is the only centerfire cartridge I have multiple platforms of with the first being a 1994 Rem 700 classic, a Lilja rebarreled L/H Tikka T3, and the most recent a CZ 550 Full Stock. I am comfortable to use it on any North American big game animal under 500 yards away; further distances for the lighter of those game I find acceptable as well. I prefer the swede over the 260 or Creedmore simply due to the long action; it allows seating VLD design bullets to whatever depth each firearm prefers and maintains ample magazine clearance while doing so. I.E. the 700 likes the Berger 140gr VLD Hunter seated at 0.005 off lands and there's still approx. 3/8in mag clearance. The CZ & Tikka are a little tighter at that COAL with about 3/16in mag clearance. If I had the notion to develop a load for the Sierra 160gr (Was a special order only bullet years/decades back, no idea if its still an option at all,) the Remington would easily accommodate. When chambered in a modern action, the Swede will match performance with the 260 & Creed all day long. All 3 cartridges provide ample knockdown performance for North American Big Game within distance while remaining easy on the shoulder like 243, 7-08, 257R, 22-250, etc. I am finding that factory loaded ammo is becoming much more difficult to find for the Swede and 260 these days; it seems the Creed has surpassed both in popularity by leaps and bounds. A factor to consider if reloading is not an option.

MachV said:

It has sat in the valt since suppressors have been added as the barrel is too lite to thread.

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I thread my T3 1/2x28 and she wears my Omega can. It can be done
James

med358-boise said:

I have a Tikka T3 Lite that is suppressed. Can't remember the name of the technique the gunsmith used but it can be done.

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A gunsmith can thread on a barrel stub or other cut offs from older barrels that is larger in diameter and then taper that into the barrel profile, leaving larger diameter, threads and shoulder for the suppressor.