TarDevil
2) Long action is not in vogue right now
3) with all the old Mauser weak actions no ammo makers want to “hot rod 6.5x55” in case it gets in a weak action
I don't know why long actions are out of fashion, and for both of my commercial 6.5 Swedes, the makers used the long action, and there is considerable wasted space in the magazine. Might be as much as a half inch, I would have to get the rifles out to measure.
This is a mid ninties Rem Classic
Core Lokts shot well in this rifle, considering they are hunting bullets.
It really like 140 SMK's!
It did not like Remington Core Lokts
It loved 140 SMK's, and remember, based on the inprint gunwriters, three shot groups are the gold standard for accuracy and consistency
Because if you shoot ten shots, it takes a lot of time and the group will always get larger. Still, I consider this phenomenal for a featherweight at 300 yards. These lightweight, uber twitchy rifles are hard to shoot well.
A six and half inch ten shot group at 300 yards is not bad, and the conditions were not still. This cartridge likes IMR 4350 and H4350. I got more velocity with the 4831's.
From what I read, Dennis Demille, a former AMU shooter (maybe USMC shooter too) was primarily responsible for the concept. He was interested in a better across the course round and would have wanted something that would feed from the standard 308 Win short actions. Which, the 6.5 Swede is too long.
the cartridge concept came from a conversation between myself, Dennis DeMille and Joe Thielen of Hornady, at the 2005 National Matches at Camp Perry. Dennis was having a lot of problems with the 6 XC, with the non-standardized loading data causing lots of problems with stiff bolt lift and pierced primers. Bottom line was the 6 XC had to be loaded too hot, to give it the ballistics that the shooters wanted. Dennis said he wanted an off-the-shelf cartridge that was accurate enough to win, with less recoil than the .308 for rapid fire barrel life, comparable to the .308 and with the loading recipe on the box label.
from
The 6.5 Creedmoor — An interview with Hornady’s senior ballistician, Dave Emary