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Thread: 266469 in 6.5x55 Mauser

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    266469 in 6.5x55 Mauser

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    I've been getting some pretty good results using the Lyman # 266673 150 grain bore rider in my "Twede" (M38 Turkish Mauser with a 6.5x55 barrel). Lots of shooters on this forum have reported excellent accuracy using the 140 grain Loverin design #266469, so I loaded some up; sized .266", with a charge of 17.0 grains of IMR-4227. I was using a lube that's equal parts beeswax, Xlox, and carnuba wax. My particular rifle didn't like this combination at all. I sighted in at 50 yards, but didn't bother to move out to 100 yards because I wasn't getting very good groups.

    No worries. I'll try powder coating the 266469's and sizing them to .265". Part of the fun with reloading with cast bullets is experimenting and trying new things to see what will work best. Obviously my sporter barrel doesn't have the same throat as a military 6.5x55, so I'll try new things to see what will work with it. I'll do some more testing with the 266469, but the 266673's shoot really good in this rifle with 2400, so I have a good cast load already.

  2. #2
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    My Savage 12FV likes the 266469, and seated very deeply I might add, check my replies to this topic.

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    PhilC: thanks for the link, there's some good information there. That thread is about the 6.5 Creedmore, and some of the posters said that they're using 260 Remintgon. I'm shooting a 6.5x55, and even though the throat isn't as long as a Swedish Mauser, it's long enough that I can seat the gas check at the base of the case neck. I think the poor accuracy may be because of a tighter throat. I've been having good results with the 266673 sized to .265". These 266469's were sized .266" I'll try again with them sized to .265" and see if that helps.

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    Wish you luck. Thought some of my journey, even though with 6.5CM, might have been helpful.

    I tried many things that didn't work but refused to give up. The one thing that changed everything was reducing velocity and subsequenly boolit spin rate. When I did that the result was immediate and postive.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by PhilC View Post
    Wish you luck. Thought some of my journey, even though with 6.5CM, might have been helpful.

    I tried many things that didn't work but refused to give up. The one thing that changed everything was reducing velocity and subsequenly boolit spin rate. When I did that the result was immediate and postive.
    Shades of the RPM Threshold......
    Larry Gibson

    “Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
    ― Nikola Tesla

  6. #6
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    Best accuracy with the 6.5x55 in Swede milsurp barrels will be in the 1200 to 1700 fps range. Acceptable accuracy can be had up through 1600 - 1900 fps. Easier to get best accuracy with the shorter 129 gr 266455 or the Kurtz 130 gr cast bullet.

    My BRP 268469 does quite well up to 1600 fps/136,00+ RPM.

    The NOE 269-145-FN doesn't do well above 1500 fps or about 128,000 RPM but can be pushed a little faster if sized and loaded right.

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    Last edited by Larry Gibson; 01-28-2023 at 12:56 PM.
    Larry Gibson

    “Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
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  7. #7
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    I keep velocities around 1600 fps. I've been able to consistently keep groups under an inch at 50 yards with the 150 grain bore riding Lyman # 266673. With this bullet I only powder coat the driving bands, leaving the nose portion uncoated. I gas check the bullets, then swirl lube them in a very light coat of 45-45-10. I've been experimenting to with 2400, IMR-4227, 5744 to see which gives the best accuracy (with 2400 preforming best so far) I'd like to start moving things out to 100 yards.

    In the never ending quest to try and get better groups, I decided to try out the 140 grain #266469. From multiple posts on this site I've heard (and seen pictures) that this bullet is highly regarded. The guys that are shooting it are mostly using Military Swedish rifles, and I'm using a sporter barrel on a 98 Mauser. On my first try with this bullet I decided to go as "standard" as I could, and conventionally lubed the bullets, and sized to .266" I figured that would give me a baseline from which to work with. I wasn't expecting first time success, so it was no surprise when the first time out of the gate my loads finished third in a two horse race. This was typical of any load development. Now I want to try new things to see where I can go with this bullet.

    From this first try with the 266469, it has rekindled my dislike for bullet lube. I'd almost forgotten what a mess it was. Decades of fighting barrel leading and goo everywhere vanished with the advent of powder coating. My next step with this rifle is to try powder coating the bullets and sizing to .265" I'll have to make a couple of dummy rounds to determine if I can do a shake-n-bake, or if I need to keep the powder coat off the nose of the bullets for them to chamber. I'm hoping I can get away with the shake-n-bake because it's a lot less work. I'll post up the results once I get a chance to get back to the range.

    PhilC: Your inputs are helpful. Especially about trying new things and not giving up. Larry: Your insights are always welcome. I could be wrong, but I don't think there's any other cast bullet rifle cartridge that's as sensitive to RPM threshold as the 6.5x55 Mauser. If you keep the velocity down the accuracy potential with this can be very good.

  8. #8
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    "I could be wrong, but I don't think there's any other cast bullet rifle cartridge that's as sensitive to RPM threshold as the 6.5x55 Mauser."

    405grain

    Only one that comes to mind is the 5.56 ARs with 7 and 8" twist barrels. I don't mind the lube as I've been doing it so long it isn't all that messy to me. Milsurp 6.5x55 chambers have a pretty long tapered throat fron the chamber to the leade. I've found most on an excellent condition bore run .268/9 at the chamber and .266 at the leade. I size the Lovern style bullets at .268 and then partial size the front drive bands, if necessary, at .266 so the bullet chambers when seated in the case with the GC at the base of the neck. You should be getting sub 2" groups, if not better, at 100 yards with that nice rifle. My Mex 6.5 Swede is a SR Mexican M98 with a new (was when i put it on) milsrp Swede replacement barrel.

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    Larry Gibson

    “Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
    ― Nikola Tesla

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Gibson View Post
    Shades of the RPM Threshold......
    Your post on that is precisely why I changed my load. Cheers for you!

  10. #10
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    Larry: that's a very nice rifle. A little off topic, but I acquired a very nice 1936 Mexican action from a friend last year, and I've begun hoarding components for the time when I can start to work on that build. Just last week I purchased a Wisner M70 style safety kit for this project. (If your interested, you can PM me and I'll let you know where you can find some Mauser 98 bolt shrouds that have been machined for this type of safety) I've decided to build the rifle as a 7x57 because I intend to take it to the field as a deer rifle, and the 7x57 is an excellent game cartridge. Because it's a 98 action on a small ring receiver I'm still confused as to what trigger to use. I'd like to swap out the Mauser trigger group for a Timney trigger (or other quality aftermarket trigger), but I don't know which model trigger to order. What trigger did you use in your rifle?

    PhilC is right. If you hadn't put in the time figuring out the relationship between rpm and accuracy there'd be a whole bunch of us trying to shoot 6.5 Swede at 1800+ fps, and scratching our heads why we couldn't keep the groups on a pie plate.

  11. #11
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    It's still the original military 2 stage trigger. I just fine tuned it with a trigger stop and a crisp 3 pound pull [includes both stages]. Been a while since I've had it apart but as I recall it was basically a M98 trigger.
    Larry Gibson

    “Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
    ― Nikola Tesla

  12. #12
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    Question answewed: A 1936 Mexican Mauser takes a Timney trigger model # M98FN. This is their product number 201 trigger.

  13. #13
    Boolit Mold
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    My Swedish model 1896 (as issued) loves the gas checked Lyman 150 grain bullet. Its pushed by 19.0 grains of IMR 4227. It gives me an average of 1763.2 fps and a 2" group at 100 yds. In 2015 & 2016 it gave me a third place belt buckle in the SASS National Championships in the Long Range Wild bunch side matches in Phoenix.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check