HELP, 6.5 Arisaka

[Kentucky146]

I have a 6.5 Arisaka, it has been green lighted by gun smith, definitely NOT a training or school rifle with a pot metal receiver, AMMO hahahahahahahah to say the best about it, Now I Know 6.5 Swede is a .264 170 grain bullet, found molds for these debating reason being Japanese were 138 grain. Has anyone used the Swede in the Arisaka with any accuracy? thank you

[Remiel]

Ammo is available in lots under the bannerman line, and there are molds for lighter boolets, someone else my know the exact ones, and brass can be made from most 30-06/308 case head family

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[muskeg13]

I hope you're asking about shooting Swede bullets in 6.5 Arisaka cases, because the case dimensions aren't even close. Bullet diameter is supposed to be the "standard" .264", so any of the many .264 140-160 gr moulds should work, but you'll need to slug your bore.

The Arisaka case is semi-rimmed and only .447 at the base of the rim. Donnellys' "Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions" says .270 Win (.470 base, same as .308) cases can be swaged down in the 6.5 Japanese die with the expander removed, but I bet this could be hard to do. Nonte's "Cartridge Conversions" also says to swage .30-06 down, but leave the rim at full diameter. The 6.5 Swede has an even wider base diameter at up to .479, making it even harder to swage down and with an equally large rim diameter.

Both Buffalo Arms and Graf's list 6.5 Japanese brass, but they are out of stock.

If you decide to try and form brass, and .470" diameter bases prove too hard to swage down, you might consider trying some of the relatively inexpensive Prvi Partizan 6.5x54 Mannlicher brass that Graf's has in stock. The 6.5x54 case has a .454 rim and a .452 base. This more closely matches the 6.5 Japanese .466 rim and .447 base dimensions. Hopefully a .454 rim would still give you enough to headspace on.

[Eddie1971]

I love PPU but lately they don't seem to be annealing cases as good as in past. Try doing that after a reload or two.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I Know 6.5 Swede is a .264 170 grain bullet, found molds for these debating reason being Japanese were 138 grain. Has anyone used the Swede in the Arisaka with any accuracy? thank you

American made guns in 6.5x55 (like Ruger) have barrels that take a .264" bullet.
Foreign Mil Surp 6.5 cal guns (Swede, Italian, Jap) were made with larger groove diameters, and they vary a bit, .266 to .269
I can't answer about bullet weights, but my Jap 6.5 likes the NOE 149RN, which is a copy of the Lyman 266469. The Groove Diameter on my rifle is .2685

I think Hornady makes some jacketed bullets that are .267 160gr?

[Texas by God]

If you can’t find 6.5 Japanese brass, I’d look into forming them from 6.5 Creedmoor- a commonly available brass.


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[WRideout]

American made guns in 6.5x55 (like Ruger) have barrels that take a .264" bullet.
Foreign Mil Surp 6.5 cal guns (Swede, Italian, Jap) were made with larger groove diameters, and they vary a bit, .266 to .269
I can't answer about bullet weights, but my Jap 6.5 likes the NOE 149RN, which is a copy of the Lyman 266469. The Groove Diameter on my rifle is .2685

I think Hornady makes some jacketed bullets that are .267 160gr?

Heavy boolits in the 6.5 Arisaka just do not stabilize. I also use the Lyman 266469. I acquired a batch of 35 Rem cases a while back to form into 6.5 Jap. Just run them through the dies and load. If you are particular you could neck turn. They are a bit short in length, but that doesn't seem to matter much.

Wayne

[Harter66]

The type 38 Dad left has a .270 groove.
In a first , I used a 266469 , it's a first because it is the first time I've had any success with a Lovern type bullet . I paper patched it up to.272 and it gives me hope .

Brass ...... 06 and Mauser families are way too long .
35 Rem gave me extraction trouble , the rim falls out of my extractor.
243 wasn't bad but it left me with about .100 to turn at the head and it requires a lot of trim .
22-250 worked fine but it had the wide head turn also .
6.5 CM leaves only "proud lip" above the extractor groove.

The CM is a 2 stroke deal in the Big Max. One 3/4 stroke to change the taper . Relube the bottom half and finish the stroke . The CM has a wider extractor groove than the rest of the Savage and 308 family so most of the head bulge goes into it as back fill/nothing there to size . The other bonus is that it's both long enough and requires no trim and necks so far haven't needed ream or turn .

[HamGunner]

I would think one should mic the bore before proceeding. I have a 6.5 mm Arisaka carbine and it's bore is close to .268.5 dia. Hornady used to make their 6.5 mm 160 gr. RN in both .264 as well as .268, which they called the later, the Carcano bullet.

My carbine, like many that were brought over after the war, was rechambered to 6.5x257 Roberts as the .257 Roberts round was very popular back about then and brass readily available. No one made any brass the same diameter as the 6.5mm Japanese. Only salvaged Japanese military ammo would have been available, if any.

The Hornady 160 gr. RN Carcano shoots very accurately in my Arisaka 6.5x257 Rob. I throated this carbine a bit deeper, as the magazine will cycle an almost 3" cartridge and I seat the long 160 gr. Carcano bullet out for extra powder space and a bit of extra velocity. This worked out perfectly for the Lyman 264469 140 gr. as well as it also allows the gas check to remain in the neck rather than seated down into the powder.

I have had fairly decent accuracy with the Lyman 264469 140 gr., but I painstakingly honed the mold out to .270 dia. to fit the bore. Depending upon the bullet design, one might be able to size down a .277 dia. bullet, but with the modern mold making technology, one can have a custom mold made to fit.

[Kentucky146]

Hey Thanks all, the Brass well laid in a few 100 a while back, Powder yup got t also, the bullet or mold however, well been on that project for a while, however looks like I need to slug the bore first hand. That will give me more a definitive answer on next move.

[405grain]

If the bore slugs larger than the "standard" .264" used on more modern 6.5's, then bullet molds for the 270 caliber might be an option. I've read about guys with larger bore diameter Swedish Mauser's solving their accuracy problems this way.