Another 6.5 Fan I Am

[Mauserfan in TX]

I have a little 6.5x55 Swed. Mauser That has recently taken over as my "truck gun." I have had trouble with it trying to find the load it liked. A friend recommended trying out some H-414 and it was just what it needed. The rifle has a very tight chamber , But a dose of 41.5 gn of H-414 behind a Hornady 129 gn SST has proudeced some very nice 5 shot groups @ 100 yd. What's even better is that by cutting the charge back by 1 gn, My 140gn Siearra's are producing some really nice groups also.  If any of y'al out there have a 6.5 Swed that a'int acting right , try a little H-414. I don't know what the veloicity of these two loads are, The barrell on mty rifle is 18.5 in. so i don't forsee any screamers here .

[sakorick]

Hello Mauserfan. Sounds like you solved your problem.....congrats and good shooting. Regards, Rick.

[Brithunter]

Hmmm H-414 is a ball powder, do you get trouble with large muzzle flashes? i have noticed that Ball powders seem to give more muzzle flash than extruded powders. My own Swedish Mauser sporter likes IMR 4350 and 120 grain Speer bullets. Once I get another tub of it now it's available again I will try it with the Hornady 129 gra Spire Points!

[Mauserfan in TX]

Howdy Brithunter, The H-414 did'nt produce anymore muzzle flash than any of the other powders i tried. Some of the others i tried were: H4831sc,Varget, IMR-4895,3031, 4064. I contributed the muzzle flash to be from the short barrell i have , H-414 just produced the best groupings, as well as cooler barrell temps. Frankly, I was suprised at the results i achieved with this load. H-414 is not on the top performer's list for this particular round. It just goes to show that all rifles are unique unto themselves. I just recently picked up some Hornady 95gn. V-Max bullets. I am wondering if they will perform as well with H-414 as the others have. Only one way to find out...........

[sakorick]

Howdy Brithunter, The H-414 did'nt produce anymore muzzle flash than any of the other powders i tried. Some of the others i tried were: H4831sc,Varget, IMR-4895,3031, 4064. I contributed the muzzle flash to be from the short barrell i have , H-414 just produced the best groupings, as well as cooler barrell temps. Frankly, I was suprised at the results i achieved with this load. H-414 is not on the top performer's list for this particular round. It just goes to show that all rifles are unique unto themselves. I just recently picked up some Hornady 95gn. V-Max bullets. I am wondering if they will perform as well with H-414 as the others have. Only one way to find out...........

Hello Mauser F in TX. Just what are you planing on shooting with the Vmax? My guess is that they will be not good. The Swede likes the heavier bullets that's why they have never been popular with the yote hunters. My Swede likes IMR 4064 with the 140gr bullets and it has a 19 inch barrel too. There is another problem with ball powder.....heat! Is it as hot in Texas as it is in Missouri? I bet so. It was 101 here today. Be very careful with ball powder in the heat. Regards, Rick.

[Brithunter]

Well the reason I asked about the Ball powder and muzzle flash is that I found that in my .308 it gives a large flash and that does not have a very short barrel, it's 22" on that one, I also use ball powders in my BSA CF2 Stutzen which has only a 20" barrel yet is chambered for the .270 winchester cartridge. Normal loads produced huge balls of flame at the muzzle as the powder was not burning in the barrel. So I tried using medium burning rate powders like H380 which of course is a ball powder and it reduced the fire ball considerably. So despite what is often claimed that Ball powders produce this muzzle flash I came to the conclussion it's more related to burning rate than shape of powder grains .

  Now as to the 6.5x55 and lighter bullets my sporterised Swedish Mauser performs very well with groups in the 1/2-3/4" range with Speer 120 grain bullets and IMR 4350 powder. It also shoots the Norma factory 77 grain SP ammo quite well into around the 1" mark this rifle has a 20 " barrel as well. I should say that not all my rifles have short barrels though .

[Mauserfan in TX]

Howdy Rick,
                     It hit 105 here yerterday and it  was 109 in Dallas. Supposed to hit 104 today. Needless to say it's a tad warm out. I was planning to use the 95gn V-Max to plink with, And possibly to Coyote hunt. That all depends on if they will work. These light bullets may not agree with the H-414, But i have other powder to try. I may try the IMR 4064 again. My 8mm Kraut Skout loves IMR 4064. Only one way to find out......
   P.S. I have GOT  to invest in a Chrony sometime.

[Mauserfan in TX]

Howdy Brithunter,
                               Thanx for the info. I may give 4350 a try. What beginging charge weight do you recommend? Or what has been working best for you? As i stated earlier, H-414 in a weight of 41.5 produces for me .75'' groups @ 100 yds. Muzzle flash is'nt that bad, and it actually produced the coolest barrell temps. It may be that i am using the Extreme brand that Hogdon produces. They says it is less temp. sensitive. All i know is it has produced the goods.  Thanx again for the input, and I look foreward to hearing from y'all again.
                              Take Care,
                                               Danny

[sakorick]

Howdy Rick,
It hit 105 here yerterday and it was 109 in Dallas. Supposed to hit 104 today. Needless to say it's a tad warm out. I was planning to use the 95gn V-Max to plink with, And possibly to Coyote hunt. That all depends on if they will work. These light bullets may not agree with the H-414, But i have other powder to try. I may try the IMR 4064 again. My 8mm Kraut Skout loves IMR 4064. Only one way to find out......
P.S. I have GOT to invest in a Chrony sometime.

Hello Danny. I consider the chronograph to be very very important for the serious reloader. It's the only way to verify your work and find the sweet load for your rifle. They are important to the bench shooter as well as the hunter. For less than a hundred bucks it is a wise investment indeed. Without checking the speed you can't go to the ballistic tables and without the tables, you are always guessing. I hate guessing. I like dealing with emperical data not guesswork. I have owned 2 of them the first a piece of junk...the current one is a Competition Electronics Pro Digital and I am very pleased with it. You will also need a camera tripod and you're set.....no other accessories needed. I've owned this one for 4 or 5 years and it is sweet. Regards, Rick.

[Brithunter]

Hi Danny,

    With IMR 4350 and those Speer 120's the load is :-

45.5 grains IMR 4350 with WLR in a FNM case and a Speer 120 Grn flat based bullet loaded to a COL of 3.005"  Although this has prooved safe in my rifle as per normal safe handloading procedures. Start with a lower loading and work up .

  My rifles receiever was made in about 1905 the barrel is later and was new when I aquired the rifle. We think it was a commercially sporterised gun and has a fairly nice sporting stock but I did have to play with the bedding as it was twisting the action slightly and causing bolt binding . I have a Meopta 7x50A scope fitted in steel Hilver mounts.

[Mauserfan in TX]

Howdy Rick and Brithunter,
                                           I appreciate y'alls input , especially the reload info. I always make it a point to back off a recipe 5 gns when worikng one up. Where did you get your chrony Rick? I never had anybody give a recommendation on one before. I have had on occaision used a friends chrony. He owns an archery shop. The thing is usually being used by customers, or the batteries are dead. How i usually figure my loads performance is by guesstimation based on quoted velocity in the load manual, Shooting groups to see if they meet my expectations, adjusting the scope to a given range[based on the info in the ballistic tables] and then backing off to that particlar distance and firing for effect. Sometimes they are pretty much on, sometimes they need a little tweeking. So as you can see a good chrony could save me some time, but i enjoy the work. I luvz my trigger time. Brithunter , i appreciate the info. i will let you know how it turns out when i try it.
             What amazes me is, we have been talking 6.5 here and Ole' John has yet to be seen.  Take Care Guys and thanx,
                                                      Danny

[Brithunter]

Ahhh John is probably slowly melting in the heat :LOL
 
Heck it reached 98.4 degrees the other day here in England and the hot weather is not over yet!

[Mauserfan in TX]

Howdy Brithunter, Again thanx for the load info. I will let you know how it works when i get a chance to try it out. It has been on average102+ degrees around here for over a week now. It will be a while before i can go to the range. I had to have an emergency appendectomy this past week. So it will be a few weeks before i can go back to the range. Take Care Amigo, Danny

[Brithunter]

Emergency  Hmmm Me not like the sound of that. My sincere best wishes on a speedy recovery for you . Now the weather has cooled down today as we had a few little thunder storms with some rain, heavy at times and in places, in fact soem places have had localised flooding but not near here :)  we have too many ditches, dykes and drains for it to be a real problem this time of year. It's all reclaimed land around here .

[M. R. Byrd]

MFiT,
Have a speedy recovery!
 
God Bless,
Maynard