6.5mm - Is there a "consumer" cartridge?

[MrBorland]

Ballistically, .260 Remington's the equal of the Creedmoor, but many opted for the CM because the .260 Remington brass available at the time needed a lot of prep to get it match ready. As Jim Watson pointed out, though, the relatively recent availability of Lapua .260 Remington brass was a game changer.

For me, it was a toss-up between .260 Remington and 6.5CM. I went with the .260 Remington and have no regrets, but I'd likely be able to say the same had I gone with 6.5 CM.

 

[Sorrenson]

Hi guys i'm new to the "Highroad" so this is my first post. I was instantly interested in this post as I have hunted with the 6.5x55 in Australia for many years with great success. I'll admit that i'm a sentimentalist when it comes to calibres and just love shooting calibres with history. (my two favourite "go to" guns are a 6.5x55swede and a 30-06) that said, when it comes to hunting, especially deer, I have two rules, its needs to be bang flop dead, and there needs to be something left to eat. I think the 6.5x55 shooting 140G NBT's is just the ticket.

 

[Cleveland48]

I killed 20 deer with the 260 and it performed fantastic. Now I have the 6.5x55 I've killed 5 or 6 with it. I like Swede a little better mainly cause it's older, but I can honestly say on deer the performance has been identical.

 

[hatt]

Why the need to have a "mainstream" round? Especially with a reloader. Pick one that fits your needs and go for it. The Walmart test may have had merit 20 years ago but components and ammo is available 24/7 from hundreds of outlets these days.

 

[Sean Edmunds]

Buy a 260 Remington.

 

[Water-Man]

6.5x55SE does what a .260 does and a little more.

 

[rszwieg]

I'm a 6.5 Swede fan but don't think any .264 caliber cartridge will ever really take off in the US. It seems to me only target shooters and reloaders keep the 6.5 rounds alive here.

 

[Water-Man]

I'm a 6.5 Swede fan but don't think any .264 caliber cartridge will ever really take off in the US. It seems to me only target shooters and reloaders keep the 6.5 rounds alive here.

You forgot hunters.

 

[rszwieg]

You forgot hunters.

Reloaders that hunt.

But many hunters don't reload. Joe Average hunter will pick a round he can get more easily than 6.5 and for less money at Farm & Barn like 30/06 or 243 Win on sale. Good ole base economics wins.

I'd like to see a 6.5 round become truly popular but that probably won't happen. That's a shame.

 

[CB900F]

sirgilligan;

I've reloaded for the 6.5 Swede for a long time, several rifles, and never had a problem getting components for it. The cartridge has been around for something over a hundred and twenty years now, and the reason isn't because you can't get ammo, or components. It seems to survive quite nicely because it can be highly accurate, has modest recoil, and kills all out of proportion to it's bore diameter.

If you look into the reasons for it, you'll see that the short action/long action debate is pure bullfeathers for about 98% of the shooters in the world today. It has no validity unless you can prove you can shoot well enough to out-shoot the best of the standard length match guns. Which only applies in paper-punching, not hunting. The game dies just as well if the bullet enters .0003" from where it would from one of the esoteric short action bench guns.

My 6.5 Swede consistently shoots to sub-.500" and has done better than that upon occasion. With a 22" Lilja medium sporter weight barrel no less. This is a hunting gun, not a bench gun. There's no real problem getting something chambered in the round either. Both CZ and Tikka currently catalog several varieties of their guns in the caliber. I'm sure there are others also, such as the above mentioned Ruger #1's. Which I may have to save up a bit and get one. Winchester has produced some excellent model 70's in the Swede, and Remington did the Classic one year (1994) in it. I'm sure that there are other modern sporting rifles available in the caliber too.

If you want a 6.5, get a Swede. The rest are just Johnnie-come-lately's, and don't offer anything that the original can't do.

900F

 

[sirgilligan]

Again, thanks for the replies, I read them all very carefully and sometimes I read them a couple of times.

From what I have learned I feel that there isn't enough difference in the .260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor, or the 6.5 Swede to make a decision based on the cartridge alone.

As for a modern cartridge versus one 100 years old, well, I have a .30-06, not a .270, not a .308, but a .30-06. Why? It is part of my family's approach to firearms, and everyone has always said since I was a little feller that a .30-06 is the first hunting rifle you get and if you can never afford another you will be in good shape. Now granted when I was even smaller I was given a .22 LR, everyone has to have a .22 LR. I have shot many a ground hog and other pests with that rifle.

So, now it may come down to my preference of the rifle make. I was raised on Browning, Remington, and Ruger. I have strayed from the pack and have a CZ and really do like it a lot. I have always wanted to give Weatherby a try as well.

So, I start to look at things like barrel profile and weight, magazine, floor plate, safety mechanism, bolt lugs, controlled feed or not, etc.

The question as to weather or not I should factor in the ability to buy off the shelf ammo, well it is important to me. For one thing, I like to have 200 rounds of ammo for any new caliber that enters the collection. I like it to be high quality ammo as well. Yes, in a hunting rifle, I may never shoot it, but that is just me and what I want.

I also use the factory ammo to set my expectation. If the rifle shoots match ammo well then I have a place to start. I am very lucky, my Browning .30-06 and my CZ 527 are both what my brother labeled "ammo insensitive". No matter what we put in them they grouped the same. Once in the .30-06 my brother shot three rounds, one 110 grain handload and two 165 grain factory rounds, and all three made a little mickey mouse shape. He said he wished his 300 Win Mag would do that, he said on it the point of impact would change inches with the slightest change in the load.

So, again thank you. I now have to think about the rifle and action, etc, etc.

Please continue the discussion, I don't want to stop anyone who has interest. It will really be months before I make a decision, several months. I plan way ahead, get things figured out, and then watch for deals or changes in the platforms.

 

[lightman]

My long range bench rifle is a custom 6.5-284. I got to wanting a long range varmint rifle and looked at all of the 6.5's and ask myself all of the questions that you are. I finally built another 6.5-284. Why? Well, my decision was based on the fact that I had brass, powder,and 2 sets of good dies. I also own the reamer that was used on both of them.

If I had not shot the 6.5-284 in competition and had all of the gear I would have went with either the .260 Remington or the 6.5 Creed. The 6.5-284 and the .264 Remington mag have a reputation as barrel burners. The competition life of a 6.5-284 barrel is probably around 800-1000 rounds.

 

[Oldschool shooter]

I can't speak from personal experience, but the 260 Remington looks like a good choice. I can speak from experience on the 6.5x55, and it has been a great choice for me. I bought a bubba'd Swedish Mauser for $100, the barrel had been cut down, I had the barrel re- crowned, and have a nice hunting carbine with 20" barrel. This gun, even bubba'd puts 5 shots inside of 2" , and I'm sure it is more due to the rifle and not me.

 

[MrBorland]

My first 6.5 was a Swede - a CZ550. I liked it's provenance and what I read about it's ballistics. I was looking for a deer rifle at the time, and there were more hunting rifles available in 6.5 Swede than .260 Rem or 6.5CM.

I ended up selling the rifle because our ergonomics didn't agree with each other, but I eventually replaced it with a .260 Remington rather than another 6.5 Swede for a few reasons: First, I enjoy hunting here than there, but my interest leans more towards targets than game, and it just makes sense to go with a true short action if you're getting short action ballistics. And besides, the .260 Remington is a darned fine hunting round in it's own right.

Secondly, the more I read about different 6.5x55-chambered rifles, the more confusing it got. Some seemed to have longer throats, and some had slower twist rates, etc. My CZ550 was pretty fussy with loads (which I've read several times by others with the 6.5x55), so it was tough to decide which spec was better, and even tougher to find it in a particular rifle I wanted.

Finally, there seems to be some slight differences at the rim between US-made and European-made brass. It was very hard, for example, to open my CZ's bolt after firing Winchester (or was it Remington?) brass, whereas it had no trouble with Lapua.

 

[Water-Man]

^^No such trouble with my Tikka.^^

 

[Swampman]

Consumer cartridge?
Does that mean you're cheap?
Like me!
6.5x55 Swede is going to be your best bet.
A bit more case capacity than the .260, but it's not what you'd call a barrel burner.

Can you tell me another round where you can pick up 800 once fired, primed Norma brass cases for less than 40 bucks + shipping?
I didn't think so.

The Tikka T3 is available in 6.5x55 at reasonable prices, not common but available.

Shoot me a PM if you're interested in info about the cheap brass.

 

[1border4manu]

What about the 6.5 Rem Mag. I reload and it does the job on deer.

 

[Txhillbilly]

I shoot a 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5-06 bolt actions that I built,and a DPMS LR series in 260 Remington. I like them all!

If you plan on hunting as well as target shooting,I'd choose the 6.5 Creedmoor over the 260 Remington.You can seat the bullets longer and still remain within magazine length with the longer bullets.
And you can never leave out the 6.5x55 Swede.

 

[NickEllis]

MrBorland, what kind of dies are you using for your .260 Rem? I have mountains of once-fired brass for .308, and have considered rebarrelling one of my .308s for a .260 to build on my current components. However, my current dies aren't exactly what I'd call bench-rest worthy.

 

[MrBorland]

I have Forster dies - FL resizer, bushing bump neck sizer and their BR seater. They work great.

 

[rayatphonix]

I have 6.5 rifles in 5 chambers. If I had to live with only one it would be the Creedmoor. Txhillbilly mentioned the reason; the longer neck gives lots of options.

Sirgilligan, if you like your cz 527, you can rebarrel the 7.62x39 to a Grendel. I'm waiting for my barrel now. That's a great cartridge for that lightweight rifle.

 

[Pilot]

My next bolt gun will be in .260 Remington. I reload, so factory loads are not an issue.

 

[mnhntr]

In order of my personal preference in a bolt action rifle, .260rem, 6.5CM, 6.5x55, 6.5x.284, 6.5x47, 26 Nosler, .264 win mag
But in a gas gun I would change it up to (AR10)-6.5CM, 6.5x47, .260rem, (AR15)- .264LBC, 6.5DTI

 

[Corn-Picker]

I think you should pick the rifle before picking the caliber. Picking the 260 Remington and then finding out that the Weatherby Vanguard is your favorite rifle is a waste of time, because it's only chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor AFAIK. The 6.55x55/260/6.5 CM are all close enough that there isn't any reason to choose one over the other. Find what rifle you like best then choose the 6.5 caliber that it's chambered in.

 

[6.5swedeforelk]

Hi guys i'm new to the "Highroad" so this is my first post. I was instantly interested in this post as I have hunted with the 6.5x55 in Australia for many years with great success. I'll admit that i'm a sentimentalist when it comes to calibres and just love shooting calibres with history. (my two favourite "go to" guns are a 6.5x55swede and a 30-06) that said, when it comes to hunting, especially deer, I have two rules, its needs to be bang flop dead, and there needs to be something left to eat. I think the 6.5x55 shooting 140G NBT's is just the ticket.

The 6.5 Swede has worked great for me,
from wolves to elk & moose.

Guess it handles your dingos and roos just fine.

Welcome to the forum, mate!