akbound

Only slightly more than a .243 Winchester.

Dave

aunsaber

In my opinion it is one of the best hunting rounds going. For the way most people hunt, you can't beat it.

eldeguello

I once owned four of them. The first mule deer I ever shot field-dressed at 254 pounds, and I shot him at about 200 yards with a Norwegian Krag in 6.5X55 with a Sierra 140-grain bullet. I thought I'd missed at first, because the bullet kicked up dust beyond the deer. He was running when I shot, and took about three more bounds before piling up.

One of my hunting buddies killed two mulies with one shot once from his Swedish Mauser carbine. He shot a buck and did not see the doe that was standing about 10 yards behind the buck. When we went over to start dressing the buck, we discovered the doe that the same bullet had killed! It was a 160-grain Hortnady round-nose.

Needless to say, the 6.5X55 is plenty rifle for anything in North America if the right bullets are used, up to the brown bears, but I'd prefer a larger caliber for the big bears!!

8mm/06

I got turned on to this Swedish rifle thing and the 6.5 X 55 round it shoots over 35 years ago when my grandfather, a gunsmith, helped my little brother with sporterizing a Model 96 to a sweet deer rifle. They first used files and rasps to remove the major bumps and steps on the military barrel configuration before taking it to the lathe and turning it down to a nice sporter taper...cut off and recrowned it at 22 inches...mounted a front ramp and blade and a rear Lyman peep set-up..shoots like a dream with those iron sights for my brother.
Since that time I have acquired 5 of my own Swedes and also still have an action and a brand new military barrel for a Moedel 38 shorter rifle.

Quite a few years ago, after the market was being a bit flooded with imports of the Swedish surplus rifles, the ammo companies, one by one, began to jump into the game loading a few lines of the 6.5 X 55 ammo. IT SOLD. And they began to try more loadings including some premium stuff (although most of the velocities were still kinda slow). Then I read an article that some of the major makers were going to start chambering their rifles in the round. Around that same time I was at a gun show and commented to a guy that his prices for some European 6.5 X 55 ammo was way too high considering the American market would soon be embracing the swedish round and rifles.
I still remember him saying "That'll never happen"
He was wrong about it not happening. But he was a little bit right in that the 6.5 X 55 round has still not yet been discovered by the volume of shooters that deserve to be introduced to this GREAT round.

KonaBoy

Personally my favourite cartridge of all time!! Low recoil, accurate and is deadly on game. I'm currently shooting Winchester 140grains out of mine. It has a custom stock, William FP peep sight, mauser action and 18and1/2 inch barrel. Great little gun!!

merllin

I wanted to comment on this 6.5mm thing for one reason. I have never owned one in a modern rifle - have had one in a pristine Swedish Mauser and liked it alot but did not get to deer hunt with it. I was thinking about one of the Ruger M77IIs in this caliber but Ruger does not list it in their new 2004 catalog - however, they do list the Model77II in the .260 chambering. As fun as a .243 - or better - or what?!

Nomercy

I've got one in a Mauser, I've been loaning it to a buddy for the last two years, hunted it one season before that, I took three deer, he's taken 9 or 10, plus countless coyotes and other small game. Really heavy, but an AWESOME shooter.

They don't call it the "European .30-06" for nothing!!!!