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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.
just had a successful hunt with a 6.5Creedmoor. Nearly everyone in camp had a 6.5CM. 12 deer shot, all one shot kills at ranges out to 275yds. So your 6.5x55 pushing a bullet faster than the Creedmoor can, has to be able to perform to your expectations. Let me also add that all rifles in camp were 1:8 twist and there was quite the selection of bullets being used, from Hornady ELD and ELDx, Nosler partitions and accubonds, Hammers, Barnes, Swift......
 
Couple years ago, my hunting buddy and I went to Greenland for muskox and caribou. Because of some complicated travel logistics, we borrowed a rifle and ammo from the outfitter. The rifle turned out to be a Tikka T3X in 6.5X55; ammo was Sellier & Bellot 131 gr JSP. That combo cleanly took two muskox bulls and two caribou and made a believer out of me.

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I have a couple of 6.5 Addictions (basically 6.5x55 swede improved meant to fire a 140 RDF from a short action). Love the 6.5x55 swede, I was just telling my brother it has probably taken more moose and other animals than any other cartridge in Europe with as old and popular as it is.

Ammo can be a pain to find in stores, but is plentiful online. I've burned about 600 rounds of Lapua 139 scenar for the brass to reload. And 600 or so of sellier and bellot 140 to break in the barrels. I specifically chose it to build my one rifle for everything. It should have no problems taking most North American big game.
 
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I built a couple rifles on the old 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser actions. One I did significant modifications on and the other very little. The newest one came out of the factory in 1918 and the oldest in 1901. Both shot amazingly well. The more modified one had a lot of custom features but still the original action and barrel and it would shoot half-inch groups all day long. It shot all bullets well but did it's best with the 160 gr. Hornady round nose ahead of Rel 22. The older one would keep everything under an inch at a hundred yards using a modified original trigger and bolt, along with not much else beyond a shortened and trimmed barrel (removed the steps). Both I put in custom stocks. Well over a hundred years later manufacturers are still trying to meet that standard. I will forever be in awe of the craftsmenship.
 
Do not believe what you are seeing here. Tikka, especially in 6.5 Swede s worthless. I hav3 a Parker-Hale on 06, I will trade you for. It is a MAN's rifle, not a windy Swede round.

PS..if you take me up on this you are nuts. I use a sporterized Swede M38, would love to gave a Tikka, but suggest you keep your rifle. If concerned about performance; either reload, or do a search for better ammo. But, I will still trade😋!
 
My son shot this buck, this afternoon. Range about 40yds. Rifle, Savage model 16 , 260 Rem. Bullet, Badlands Precision copper mono ( now out of business ) 125gr BD. Shooting down hill . Buck was looking straight at him. Bullet entered from the front of the neck ( throat ) & exited dead center out thru the spine , just behind the shoulder blades. Virtually same performance as the 6.5x55.
 

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Back when I was a teenager, a friends dad had a 6.5 x 55 with a full Manlicher stock that he hunted with. I can remember handling that rifle like it was yesterday. That rifle piqued my interest in the 6.5 caliber.
 
Love the 6.5 x 55, I have a CZ 550 mannlicher w/ VX II 2 x 7, use 140 grain Sierra or 160 grain Semi Spitzer Sierra, it's a very accurate weapon, killed many Boar, Bucks, & Does with it.
 
Here is another one I have learned on the internet :rolleyes::

A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win cannot a kill an elk at 300 yards even though the same bullet would be travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
Blasphemy! There you go with that logical thinking again. You do know that the internet is "Pure True".
 
Just so happens I learned that the hard way a couple weeks ago. I was out Mule Deer hunting with the .308 AR10 I built loaded with Hornady Superformance 150gr SST factory ammo when a 6x6 Elk presented itself. At 300yds all the shoulder shot did was make the poor fella limp. The 250yd hit through his spine ½ way between shoulder & head fortunately dropped him like a sack of potatoes. Had I had my 6.5x55 with the 140gr Berger VLD Hunter round I've developed, I have little doubt his heart would've been pulverized with the 1st shot.
 

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