6.5 Swede mold in stock

[corvette8n]

I just got an email from Midsouth that this mold is in stock.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000066.5SWED

I wonder if it will work in a 6.5 Carcano?

[lathesmith]

Don't those Carcanos use a gain twist? I am not sure if this will work with cast bullets. Maybe one of the other guys with some experience with gain twist barrels will chime in here.
lathesmith

[Char-Gar]

That is the "Cruse Missle"... IIRC that was the first design and group buy we did.

[Dale53]

Cast bullets CAN work well with a gain twist barrel. during the "heyDay" of Schuetzen shooting, gain twist barrels were made by many barrel makers (probably the most famous was Harry Pope).

Today, Schuetzen shooters still use gain twist barrels to score well (the National record for schuetzen groups for a plain base lead bullet at 200 yards is held by Jim Borton shooting a .32 Miller Short in a deHaas-Miller rifle with a Ron Smith gain twist barrel.

I have NO experience with a Carcano rifle.

Dale53

[Mk42gunner]

I would slug my bore before ordering the mold. Weren't the Carcano's one of the 6.5's that were supposed to have .268" groove diameter?

Robert

[junkbug]

For the price of the mold, it can't hurt to try. I would load it unsized, with a gas check pushed on by hand, and lubed with Lee liqud alox. Maybe 9 gr of Red Dot, or 13 gr of 2400.

It did not work well for me, but I am sure that the rifle was largely at fault. It is a M91/24TS. That means it was built as a long rifle before, or during WWI, and arsenal shortened to a carbine in the 1920's. The barrel is gain twist, so the fastest part of the twist was removed. So far, this rifle has keyholed EVERY load shot out of it, except 90 gr .277" jacketed hollow points sized down to .268". Even these show suspicious smudges that might be the start of keyholing.

So far I have only shot the rifle at 25yards.

Most Carcani, even the carbines, have twist rates appropriate for long heavy bullets. The M91/24TS is truly a problem stepchild. Maybe that is why I still have it.

I want to buy a .277" mold that casts a bullet lighter than 115 gr. That, resized to .270" just might work, for my TS.

Take care.

Sean

[mooman76]

What the hey, give it a try. If it don't work the mould is odd enought to sell on ebay for $50.

[Leftoverdj]

I've got one. Mine does not cast anywhere close to fat enough for a Carcano. It shoots great in a 6.5 Swede and a 6.5x57 but only at very moderate velocities. We had some wild adventures trying to shoot that one at anything over 1600 fps. A search on 6.5 Oldfeller may bring up some of those stories if the archives go that far back.

[Buckshot]

..............My Oldfeller 172gr 6.5 casts at .269". The only common Carcano to have gaintwist was the 1891 long rifle. Some of these were cut down to carbine length in 1924 I think it was so the most valuable part of the twist was deleted.

.................Buckshot