I'm in a 6.5 dilemma

[Cast10]

6.5 prc

[Maineboy]

One of the rifles I'm selling is a Henry Golden Boy in 22LR that I won in a raffle 10 years ago and has less than 50 rounds fired through it. The other is a Marlin 336 RC of pre-microgroove vintage that turned out to be not very accurate with cast boolits. I have other .22s and 30-30s that get much more use. These two hold no interest for me. My M38 swede came drilled and tapped for scope mounts and I have scoped it. Further sporterizing it has always been a consideration but the cost of having it done would be more than buying a new Ruger American. I have approximately 500 reloadable 6.5x55 cases on hand.

[ebb]

I will start by saying I have a 6.5-55 and 2 260 Remington's, and no 6.5 Creedmoor's. If I had not owned these rifles before the Creedmoor came out I would probably have a Creedmoor. Not because they are any better, but because they are supported more. Reloading is more than dies, its bullets, powders, ammo cases and some other stuff. If you go with a Creedmoor, you will need new dies but powder and bullets may be interchangeable. 6.5 and 6 Creedmoor cases can be found on the ground at most ranges because kids that want save the world from greenhouse gases could never be bothered to reload. I cringe at the thought of joining the man bun ranks of Creedmoor owners, but you don't have to believe or repeat all the hype. Once you get by all the negatives, and they have nothing to do with how accurate a Creedmoor is what's not to like? Maybe you could call it a modern 6.5-55, or a Dennis De Mille 6.5 and never have to say Creedmoor out loud.

[Dom]

I have a Tikka stainless 6.5x55. I also have two stainless Savage rifle in 260 Rem. The 260 will do a little better in velocity than the 6.5x55. Same bullet used in both. Barnes 6.5 127gr LRX. For the last several years I have used the 260 Rem exclusively to take my elk. Never a problem. Also 260 Rem brass can easily be formed from 7-08, or 308. Run them thru a 260 FL sizer & load. Easy, easy, easy.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got 6.5s from the grendel to the 6.5x300wby.. i dont own all of them today but at one time did. my favorite is the grendel. its capable of 300 yard shots on deer with very little recoil and EXCELLENT accuracy. where it really shines is doing crop damage shooting. you can shoot at a group of deer at 250 yards, drop the first one without even losing sight of the group in the scope. swing and shoot another. it doesnt tend to scare off deer at that range with muzzle blast like an o6 or a mag will. one day i laid 4 deer down in a 30 yard circle. that little ar15 has become my favorite crop damage guns for spots that shots wont get past 300 yards. what it basically is is a 250 savage in an ar15

[FergusonTO35]

I renamed the 6.5 Creedmoor to 264-250 Savage Improved. Now it feels old school to me!

[txbirdman]

On my way back from NM with my grandson after his successful antelope hunt with my Ruger 77 Predator in 6.5 CM. This rifle had a 28” barrel which I had cut to 24”. It’s still too heavy to pack around a lot but performed well with a 1 shot kill at 290 yds using a Berger 130 gr hybrid. I had only used this rifle for target shooting but now it’s “his” hunting rifle and going home with him.

[Larry Gibson]

One of the rifles I'm selling is a Henry Golden Boy in 22LR that I won in a raffle 10 years ago and has less than 50 rounds fired through it. The other is a Marlin 336 RC of pre-microgroove vintage that turned out to be not very accurate with cast boolits. I have other .22s and 30-30s that get much more use. These two hold no interest for me. My M38 swede came drilled and tapped for scope mounts and I have scoped it. Further sporterizing it has always been a consideration but the cost of having it done would be more than buying a new Ruger American. I have approximately 500 reloadable 6.5x55 cases on hand.

If your Swede is already scoped then just add a sorter stock. Won't be that expensive, less than another rifle/cartridge combination plus loading gear.

Here's my 6.5 Swede "scout". I also is D&T'd for a regular scope.

[kaiser]

I've owned the 6.5X55 in a Rem.700(ltd), Ruger 77, CZ550 carb., M96, and Tikka T3x - I kept the Tikka. It is the most accurate; has the best trigger; and is the lightest of the "bunch". The Tikka does have a long action, but there is no restriction on cartridge length or bullet weights you can use when hand loading. The Tikka cost a little more, but the "package" is more satisfying to handle and own IMO.

[jwhite]

I also recommend the Tikka 3x, worth the price and the effort to hunt one down. I ordered mine through Grice's down in Pennsylvania. I have a Model 38 Husqvarna with a receiver sight fitted and wanted an easily scoped sporter in 6.5x55, I ended up with a Ruger African Model in 6.5x55, great rifle but very long and almost too nice to use. That's where the Tikka entered the picture. Side note to the Ruger, I had a Ruger #1 in 35 Whelen that after the third trip back to New Hampshire for repairs they offered to take it back and was given the choice of picking any firearm in their catalog, talk about a difficult decision!

[Maineboy]

If your Swede is already scoped then just add a sorter stock. Won't be that expensive, less than another rifle/cartridge combination plus loading gear.

Here's my 6.5 Swede "scout". I also is D&T'd for a regular scope.

What brand of sporter stock do you have? I have a Ramline plastic stock, but the rifle shoots a lot of flyers when I use it. For sure the rifle shoots much better with the original stock. When I just plink or shoot it from the bench, "as is" is just fine, but I want a rifle to hunt with. For that, the winged safety is not ideal so I will need that addressed and my gunsmithing skills are pretty weak. I don't want to put a lot of money into modifying this old gun.
My Swede with both stocks and scope in place

[Larry Gibson]

Sorry, no idea of the brand. Got it out of Shotgun news back in the mid '90s when all the Swedes were there for a reasonable price. There is no name on it. It has a blind magazine well so the stock is stiff around the action. The I also bedded the action completely to the first barrel step with Brownell's Steel Bed.

The problem with Ramline and similar stocks with the magazine well cut out for the military trigger/magazine housing is they flex a lot under recoil with full loads. A good full action length up through the first barrel step bedding job can stiffen the stock up. Especially if Devcon or Brownell's Steel Bed is used to also fill in the space betweenaround the magazine box and the insides of the stock. A wing scope safety isn't that expensive and isn't that hard to install.

[Texas by God]

I believe that’s a Choate stock, Larry.
My brother came up with one for a 98 around that same time frame. It looked like yours and also had a blind magazine.


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[Larry Gibson]

I believe that’s a Choate stock, Larry.
My brother came up with one for a 98 around that same time frame. It looked like yours and also had a blind magazine.


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Good to know.

[Frank V]

I wanted a 6.5X55, they are scarce. I went with the 6.5 Creedmoor, they were everywhere! I like the 6.5s

[BD]

I got very lucky three years ago and found a new in the box Tikka T3 stainless in Uncle Henry's for $350. I have two swedes, and hunted with them for years, but I wanted a modern action so I could load it up to 55,000psi with no worries.

[nicholst55]

I stumbled across a stripped high-number 1903 Springfield action, and I had a new bolt and the remainder of the parts in a junk... parts box, so I ordered a barrel from ER Shaw in 6.5-06 and had it spun on. It shoots lights out, but I've never hunted with it. I went to work for the government and spent the next 16 years moving around the world. Maybe now that I'm retired...

[Maineboy]

I got very lucky three years ago and found a new in the box Tikka T3 stainless in Uncle Henry's for $350. I have two swedes, and hunted with them for years, but I wanted a modern action so I could load it up to 55,000psi with no worries.

Wow!!

[azsixshooter]

I bought a CZ 550 American in 6.5x55SE from a Sportsman's Warehouse in Phoenix around 2007/08. New it cost me $450. I put a Trijicon Accupoint 3-9x40 scope on her with low mounts and added a leather Montana sling. I've been handloading for her ever since and have carried her on both elk and deer hunts. I love that rifle and scope and cartridge combination so much and it seems the older I get the more I appreciate it. I love the classics, so the 6.5x55SE really sings a siren's song for me. I waffled between 6.5x55SE and 25-06 for awhile, when I bought this rifle my intent was for it to be primarily an Arizona Pronghorn rifle. I settled on the 6.5x55SE in the end because I was able to order 200 rd battlepacks of 139 grain ammo for it and I liked that option for plinking/prepping.

Now, I'm so glad I chose 6.5x55SE. I certainly respect the 25-06 as well, but I'm real glad this CZ 550 followed me home that day. Her name is "Ingrid".

Like someone said above, decide what you want and then do whatever you have to do to get it...save, work a side hustle, offload some other items, whatever you have to do. Then buy once, cry once! Every day after that you'll have a sweet companion to admire, spend time with and trust to always get your back. And if you hand it down to someone special some day it will be all the more special.

[Larry Gibson]

I got very lucky three years ago and found a new in the box Tikka T3 stainless in Uncle Henry's for $350. I have two swedes, and hunted with them for years, but I wanted a modern action so I could load it up to 55,000psi with no worries.

The SAAMI MAP for the 6.5 Swede is 51,000 psi and the CIP MAP is 55,000 psi. Both as measured using transducers not the old C.U.P. method. The hunting loads I use in my M96 "scout", pictured in a previous post, push either a Hornady 129 gr SP or the Hornady 140 SP at 51,000 psi as measured in that rifle via an Oehler M43. Both loads are with RL19 and give 2900 fps and 2750 fps. I have "no worries" with those loads and both are very deadly on game.