thoughts on new project.

[shademtman]

couple of questions to throw at ya.

1st of all have settled on the 6.5 cal, mostly because i want something different.
1st question , does a 6.55X55 AI give enough of an increase in velocity over the standard 6.5x55 swede?
what kind of velocity in a 24" to 26"barrel?

2nd I have heard it said that the 6.5-284 does not feed real well. ?

this will be a deer hunting rifle with a sporter weight barrel. The 6.5-06 is another option, but i'd rather not go that route, I would prefer to use properly headstamped brass, although i realize the 6.5x55 AI would not be stamped AI, at least it wouldn't be stamped 25-06 as the case with the 06.

 

[liltank]

Your looking at about a 200fps increase going with the AI. As far as feeding is concerned with the 6.5x284, Savage is making a production model for 2010 in a repeating action. This tells me that feeding should not be a problem.

Tank

 

[adam]

I went with 260AI based on this article, and the fact that my guy had the reamer.
Terry's Tactical Two-Sixty AI

So far getting 2860fps on a stiff fireforming load of H4831SC. I fully expect to be 2900-2950 fps from a 28" bbl with the finished loads. which seems to be the sweet spot people are looking for in the 6.5-284. Brass is a little more available than -284 brass, slightly less costly. Just like the article mentions, I'm getting low neck thickness variation and low runout with a very little sorting of new brass which equals less prep time and more shooting= yay in my book

Any strait wall or AI is going to be a little trickier to feed.

edited to add: not much problem finding detachable magazine sizes that fit the *08 cases either if thats your game

 

[shademtman]

actually am seriously considering just the plain old 6.5x55 swede, which i understand is WAY UNDERRATED. seems in a modern bolt and higher pressures, a 125 grain nosler partition can easily be pushed to 3000 fps, and that even most reloading manuals for the old swede lean toward the conservative side when it comes to pressure. Over the years iv'e shot a pile of deer with the wiz bang boomers, mostly 300 winny and almost as many with a 7 rem mag both do the job well. But these last few years been shooting the 25-06 and seems they go down just as fast with a whole lot less powder and fuss, the last deer being just last week. The shot was from one side of the hollow to the other, 175 yards tops, but had to sneak that little bullet between alot of trees, squeeze the trigger nice gentle buck to the shoulder and wal-la.... he went 5 steps if that. so anymore i like the sound of 50 grains of powder vs 75....sweeeet...... and a 6.5x55 swede seems just alright.

 

[liltank]

The 6.5x55 Swede is a long action caliber. Its casing is longer than the 260 and will out perform the 260. I remember reading an article that explained this, but can't remember everything. I am seriously considering this caliber for my 6.5mm cal. if I don't just jump to the 6.5x284.

Tank

 

[shooterpunk2]

Another bonus for the 6.5 swede is the Lapua brass

 

[shademtman]

I have never used Lapua brass... what makes it better than say win brass cases? Also any factual info on top velocity on the 6.5x55 swede and the AI version would be appreciated, note: i,m not intrested in velocity figures in a 28" barrel i will be building on a 24" or 26". some will say the swede is at it's best at moderate vel..... but i have alway's been one to tweek as much as i can from every cartridge i own..
thanks

 

[liltank]

Norma, Nosler, and Lapua are going to be your top of the line brass. These are all very consistent in weight, the quality of preparation from factory. None of these really need to be prepped very much especially the Nosler brass. My Norma required the flash holes to be cleaned up, but no biggie. It has performed wonderfully and is lasting quite well. My cousin is having great success with his Lapua brass for his 308 and 338 Lapua. The Lapua is a little heavier and better constructed.

Win, Federal, and Remington are all decent brass. They usually require a lot of prep work before the first loading. You generally need to trim to length, clean up the flash holes, and straighten up the necks. I know with my Winny brass I had to run them all through the sizing dies to make sure they all had concentric necks. Some of them were beat up from shipping. There weights are all over the place, but if you take the time weigh and seperate they are just as accurate as the above. Some guys complain the Remington has some issues with primer pocket consistency. I have had decent results with Remington, but I only load for short distance woods load for deer.

So it is a matter of picking your poison.

Tank

 

[adam]

I forgot to mention my velocity's were with 140gr hdy sst

Everything i have read indicates that the 260 and 6.5x55 are essentially identical in performance. Its going to come down to your personal preferences on brass and actions and fun factor of your preferred wildcat.

There is a slightly larger case volume in the swede, (57 gr of water vs 53)
Case Capacities


But the 260 will be slightly more efficient with a slightly shorter powder column. Ackley improving a case will add between 2.5-5% volume, depending on the taper. I think the 260 will benefit slightly more from AI, either way the actual performance will be within 25-65 fps given equal bbl lengths with a slight edge to the swede.

So bottom line you can safely estimate 50-100 fps more for AI to both cartridges... (usable case volume for the 260AI with h4895sc is in the 48.5gr range.)

Subtract 25-50 fps per inch from the 28" bbl and get a reasonable expected speed from both of around 2800-2900's in the 140 class bullets.

I believe the only other consideration (aside from brass availability) will be action availability and preference... if i am not mistaken the 6.5x55 has a slightly larger rim diameter which will mean opening the bolt or using an action with the correct bolt head size.

 

[trueblue]

Shade,
Your original post mentioned a 6.5-06. I would AI it and go with the 6.5-06AI.

 

[shademtman]

yes the 6.5-06 looks like a winner and would be fun to tinker with. But as mentioned above, i shoot a 25-06 quite a bit ,and i also own a 270, so not having properly headstamped brass is a little bit of a concern. i realize by being safe and careful not to mix, i should never have a problem, but ya never know. Also i have a couple of different actions to use, all long action. a savage 110, a ruger77, and a howa 1500 ,oh and a model 70 blind magazine. which one to use?