6.5 Swedish vs 7.5 Swiss

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nathan

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Which is more accurate and has greater downrange BC? K 31s are quite plentiful and underrated. The Swedish M 96 and M 38 are getting rarer to find and more pricey. I dont have either of the two but a lot of rave reviews on both.
 
Don't have a K31, but do have two Swedes (one of each) and really like them. Put a peep sight and a Bold trigger and glass bedded the M96 and sporterized the M38 thumbhole stock scoped Bold trigger glass bedded the action. Wife shot it once and said this is mine. Very low recoil and extremely accurate. They are fantasic rifles and the 6.5x55 is one of the best deer calibers going. Gave two of them away.:banghead:
 
flip a coin

I own both. A Swede Mod38 that I have modified into a semi scout configuration and a K31 restocked with a Boyds Stock. I have never fired them on the same day and it seems that the one I am shooting on any given day becomes my favorite. The Swede is scoped and the K31 wears Peep Sights so I guess the Swede is my favorite scoped rifle and the K31 my fav iron sighet rifle. Both shoot so well that I often have to shoot groups in the presence of the those that scoff at my reply when asked how well they perfrom. You are trying to decide between two of the finest rifles EVER produced. If all else fails..... flip a coin.
 
Get them both. Seriously. You won't regret it but you may regret losing out on the opportunity to have one of each. They complement each other well and have different personalities. The Swede is more accurate beyond 300 yards. The Swiss can be loaded to near 30-06 performance. Both are accurate as all get out.

It helps if you reload.

Go for the one that is harder to get in your area. Get the other later.

Bill
 
The biggest difference is it's possible to find modern rifles in 6.5 Swede. CZ makes some fantastic ones. It's also possible to find a wide array of factory loads for the Swedes. With the 7.5 Swiss there's not a whole lot besides the S-R's and K-31's as a platform, and commercial loads are not as easy to find.

Ballistically the Swede has better sectional density esp in the heavy loadings. But the smallness of the round limits its practical utility for most of us. The 7.5 Swiss can be used just as a .308 Win.
 
For a hunting rifle, I like the Swede. Mine is one of those sporterized by Kimber, and I glass-bedded the synthetic stock and added a Bold trigger.

The K31 is longer and heavier, and probably not a real good candidate for sporterizing.
 
Both cartridges are ballistically very close to the .308. For the range of bullet weights usable in the rifles, there are much more slippier bullets offered in the 6.5 making it a better choice for extended ranges. Accuracywise, with condition of two rifles being equal, I'd expect the Swedish mauser to shoot as good as a K-31 if not slightly better and with less recoil.

The biggest advantages I see for the K-31 are:
Cost- you can still find them for under $200, Swedes are going for nearly twice that, especially M38s.
Easy to scope- you can get nice clamp on mounts that don't need gunsmithing- I highly reccomend them. Swedish mausers require drilling and tapping and having the bolt handle reforged.
Length- K31s and M38s are short (about the length of a modern sporting rifle) M96s are very long and unwieldy in any place other than a shooting range or open country.
 
M -96's are very pricy, I just saw a nice short rifle a 1914 Obie, all matching priced at 695, high in my opinion so I passed, as I have a 1900 with two digit serial number.

Swiss are nice I have 6 K-31's and all are excellent shooters, better than the all of the Swedes I have, but the best of all is a 1911 Schmidt Rubin , predecessor to the K-31. Not as strong due to locking lug placement but probably the most accurate open sighted rifle I have or have ever shot. Once with it I shot a a much smaller group than a friend with a Weatherby accumark with a big Ziess scope. May have been a fluke that day but I felt good about my old rifle that probably cost about 15-20% of what his set up cost.
 
I bought a 96 Swede years ago. Super shape for something like 115.00. I have three K31's that I shoot more often. The St. Marie clamp on is the way to go if you want to scope one. I can't bring myself to even think about drilling a Swede......Essex
 
If you are comparing cartridges as opposed to the original military rifles that were chambered for those cartridges, then 6.5 Swede is going to be better than 7.5x55 Swiss. With modern bullet designs, 6.5 Swede is going to get you better ballistics, especially when it comes to long range. When you've got 6.5mm bullets weighing in around the 140s with BCs in the high .5's, it can't be beat by the 7.5x55 with the modern 30cal offerings. That's not to say 7.5x55 can't keep up, but I think the advancements in 6.5 bullets over 30cal bullets make 6.5x55 the inherently better round.
 
bought a 96 Swede years ago. Super shape for something like 115.00. I have three K31's that I shoot more often. The St. Marie clamp on is the way to go if you want to scope one. I can't bring myself to even think about drilling a Swede......Essex

Agree, I would not drill any of my Swiss either.
 
6.5 all day , every day. no one shoots for accuracy or long range, a 7.5 bullet, but a bunch of peeps shoot, 6.5 swede, 260 remington, 6.5-06, 6.5-284, 6.5-300wsm, as well as many others. the 6.5 b.c. is monstrous, and can be had in many weights. 6.5 swedish ammo can be bought at any gunstore, or any gunshow. plenty of rifle makers make a 6.5, cz, tikka, sako, ruger, kimber, among others.
 
I own a few K-31's and a custom 6.5x55. I enjoy shooting High Power competitions from time to time. Because of that, I started to buy a Swede, but I already own several rifles that shoot .30 caliber bullets, so the choice was natural; the K-31(s). Also, I shoot 90% cast bullets and occassionally hunt with cast bullets. IMHO, the 6.5 with cast bullets is entirely too small for deer hunting.
Don't buy the balogna about the 6.5's having higher B.C. There's a PLETHORA of high B.C. .30 caliber bullets. Regarding production numbers, I don't know how many 96's and 38's were made, but there were only around 500,000 K-31's made. They seem plentiful at this point, but I assure that suppliers are scraping the bottom of the barrel and in a few years prices for the K-31's will skyrocket. They've already almost doubled in less than two years.
To me it boils down to this: if you reload, get a 7.5x55 TONS of good .30 caliber bullets out there, but not many factory loads. Conversely, if you do not reload, get a 6.5x55 as there are more factory loads for it.
You might find this interesting:
2007 National Trophy Rifle Matches & SAFS Vintage Military Rifle Match Results

A Swede rifle won it, and of the top 20 competitors, 7 shot Swedes and 10 shot Swiss's! In fact if you scroll down through the results, the entire match was dominated by Swedes and Swisses!
35W
 
Well of course 6.5 mm bullets have better ballistic coefficients than 30 caliber. But, unless you are shooting 1000 yard matches, the difference is not worth arguing over. If the most you ever shoot the thing is 300 yards, both cartridges will put them where you want them. And do an outstanding job of knocking down whatever gets hit.

As said before, the 7.5 Swiss is very close, if not a tad more powerful, than a 308. It does have more case capacity so the case is not the limiting factor.

As others have said, more commerical rifles exist in 6.5 Swede. Ammo is easier to get.

As for what is the most accurate, well , my out of the box K31's give me slightly better groups than my M96's, M38's. But it took a couple of decades before I could outshoot the things, so, are you that good of a shot?

If not, then you won't notice the difference.
 
I own 2 M96s (a 1903 Oberndorf and a 1916 Gustav) and 2 K31s.

I like the 6.5x55mm cartridge better for its efficiency, availability and bullet design. I like the K31rifle better for its quality of build, accuracy and wonderful trigger.

Looks like I need to chamber a K31 in 6.5 Swede.

6 of one, half dozen of another.
 
Swede all the way

Accurate, easy to shoot and some of the finest examples of Mauser ever offered.
 
< Looks like I need to chamber a K31 in 6.5 Swede. >

One of my recurring fantasies.

The other is a K31 with a 20" barrel.

Bill
 
Well of course 6.5 mm bullets have better ballistic coefficients than 30 caliber.
Not quite. The .30-06 is actually older than the 6.5 -- it dates back to the .30-40, introduced a year or two before the 6.5 Swede. Like the 6.5 Swede, the .30-40 used a long, heavy bullet, with a matching fast rifling twist.

The same long, heavy bullet was used in the .30-03, and when the .30-06 was developed to shoot a lighter, faster bullet, the rifling twist was not changed.

So both the 6.5 Swede and the .30-06 were developed originally to shoot long, heavy bullets and are rifled for such bullets.

The highest BC I can find for the 6.5 Swede is the Hornady 140 grain boattail A-Max, with a BC of 0.618.

For the .30-06, I find the 240 grain Sierra Matchking with a BC of 0.711.
 
If we stick with conventional bullet technology (not solids), the Berger 140gr VLD is 0.64, and the 240gr SMK starts at 0.71 and degrades as it slows.

A more accurate way to characterize BC in terms of these cartridges (ie, intermediate sized non-magnum cases), is that the 6.5's can drive a ~ 0.6 BC bullet at 2800-2950 fps, while in the same case size, the .30 caliber cartridges such as .308 or 7.5 Swiss can only drive a 0.6 BC bullet such as the 210gr Berger VLD at 2500-2650 fps, tops.

Sure, the 240gr SMK has a big BC, to shoot it at a reasonable velocity, you pretty much start with .300 Win Mag and go up from there.

-z
 
Vern Humphrey said:
The highest BC I can find for the 6.5 Swede is the Hornady 140 grain boattail A-Max, with a BC of 0.618.

For the .30-06, I find the 240 grain Sierra Matchking with a BC of 0.711

This 144gr bullet from Lapua in .264" has A BC of .636.

Of course I'd rather spend an afternoon shooting 144gr pills than 240s.
 
For the .30-06, I find the 240 grain Sierra Matchking with a BC of 0.711.

I doubt that you will get anything over 180 gr or so to work well in the K-31 chambers- the leades are extremely short. As it is, a 168 gr SMK is seated very deeply into the case to get it to chamber. I've never tested it myself but I could imagine that a VLD type bullet over 200 grs isn't going to sit well in the case neck- possibly the widest diameter of the bullet being below the case neck. Swedes ont he other hand have a very long leade, and can effectively use a much longer bullet- I know this for a fact as I load 140 and 142gr SMKs in 6.5x55 Swedes all of the time.
 
In addition to a better selection of "practical" high BC bullets, the high quality brass available in 6.5x55 FAR AND AWAY exceeds what is available in 7.5x55.

Don
 
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