6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

I have always had a soft spot for this old timer. One of the local shops has a Rem Classic in this round, but it should be gone by the time (around tax time or so) that I could go after it. Way too many on the Xmas list. Looks like Winchester and Tikka chamber rifles for it.

Anyone bought or fired a Winchester Classic Featherweight lately? I had 22 250 some years back; it was pleasant to shoot & the kids liked it, but the accuracy was pretty ho-hum compared to my Rem 700 ADL in 222. I sold it off. Winchester has its ups & downs.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

I love it to. I had the Remington classic but sold it to my brother. I have three of the military model. One is still standard military. I have the other two sporterized. There is not a harder hitting rifle for the recoil delievered out there. Deadly on game up to and including moose.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

Give in. Get a loan. Buy the swede. You'll be sorry if you don't. By the way, what do they want for that Swede? Maybe I'll buy it!

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

$675. (They aren't Walmart.)

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

Remington Classic in 6.5 x 55 for $675.00? Any ammo come with that? Scope? Sights? Sling and/or sling-studs? Case? Will he deal? I assume it's already drilled and tapped and/or has bases on it?

I'd offer him $600.00 if it is bare-naked (no scope or bases or rings or sights, but is drilled and tapped) $625.00 if it has iron sights, but if it is sp[orting a scope I think someone will give him his price.
All he can say is no.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

I'm a of this cartridge also and I bought a Howa, $370 with Boyds walnut stock. From the factory. It's a great gun. Uses Remington scope bases.

CZ also makes a fine rifle in this cal. Bases are a little more expensive.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

I shoot a Ruger M77 in 6.5 x 55 and several swedish mausers. Excellent round I think.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

I have a new CZ 550 in 6.5 Swede. Rings/mounts came with the rifle at no extra charge. The gun is really nice, pretty wood & metal, hand lapped 24" barrel, and the action has pillar blocks to clamp into the trigger guard. This caliber is inherently very accurate, adn this rifle groups factory loads right around an inch and often less (5 shots @00yds.) This is better than I am used to from most of my scoped rifles.

I also have two M38 Swedish Mausers, one left original military and one that I dropped into a sporter stock with no other mods. Both are far more accurate with open sights than my other military rifles that I own; they shoot better than I can.

The 6.5 mm bullets are great performers too. They penetrate rather deeply even at the lower velocities that the Swede yields due to the high sectional density. The first time I saw a 6.5x55 cartridge I thought, "Man, what a long, skinny bullet." This tends to make them very stable in flight.

I have only run 50 rounds through my new CZ and can't wait to see what it will do with an optimized handload.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

I have the Winchester featherweight classic in 6.5X55 that I bought new at a gun sale last year . I sighted it in and haven't touched it since . Off the bench I had four rounds touching at 100 yds within ten rounds which don't seem to bad for a ho-hum gun .

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

halcon, that's great! I'd hold on to that one!

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

the 6.5 swede is a real tack driver but ammo is to expensive for me to even consider it.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

I don't find the Swede ammo is terribly priced. If you're talking Norma, then yes, it is very high. But many of the major American companies are loading it in plain-jane offerings...and also some slightly expensive premium loads.
The PMC I've bought and fired has performed well and wasn't too highly priced.
I've bought and fired Winchester and Remington plain-jane stuff..it's ok and provides brass for re-loading.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

If you like the Swede, ammo is not that hard to afford, if you look around a bit. PMC ammo works well in all three of my rifles. The brass is ok for reloads too. If you want to save some money on Swede ammo, reload. Get onto Midway's website, order yourself up some Swede brass and a box of 500 Remington 6.5 mm 140 grain bullets and go to town. Midway also sells loaded ammunition by several makers.

The main problem with 6.5x55 ammo is that it is not as common as .30-06, .308, 7mmRemMag, etc. You probably won't find it at Walmart, but are very likely to find it at a gun store or even a decent all-around sporting goods store that sells guns.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

Got to agree with jmfa1957. Up here in Canada, Norma ammo can be had for the equivalent of $20-24 USD. You owe it to the game you hunt to use good quality ammo, not the cheap hunter specials available which may not be that accurate and, then, who do you blame if the deer is wounded and lost?

Aside from the factory offerings - Tikka's T3-Lite is a great buy; also consider the milsurp Swedish Mauser M38s - bit heavier, wooden stock, iron sights and a great history to go with it. I have 3 that I enjoy shooting just as much as the T3 and any is barely less accurate than the T3.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

The first Swedish mauser that I sporterized was the most accurate one I ever had. Although they have all shot very well. I sold that first one to a cousin of mine. He called me the other day and told me he is selling his guns as he has health problems and figures he will never be able to hunt again. He ask me if I wanted to buy that Mauser back. I told him absolutely yes. I have to run down and pick it up before they go South for the winter. It will be great to have it back. He never got around to shoot it. It has a scope on it but I can't remember what I had on it. I think it was a World Class Tasco. That one would shoot 1/2 to 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards every time with the 140 grain Hornady SP. I have one here that shoots very well but I never changed the old military stock and it has a nasty crack right behind the tang. The one I am buying back has a Synthetic stock. I should get one for the wood stocked one that I am useing now. I still have one that is 100 percent original military complete with bayonet original sling and flash suppresser. It has about 90 percent original Blue still in it. I love this caliber. If I had to I could get along with just that caliber. A little light for moose and elk but it does the job.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

Check out the links below to see a few offerings for the 6.5 X 55 Swede ammunition. These are not terribly priced, and you can do a little better if you can find it a a gun show.

http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteabro...4/653***690***

http://www.ammoman.com/webstore_655x55.htm

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/brows...&s=948&p=s&bt=

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

The only trouble with factory ammo is its hard if not impossible to find any light weight bullets loaded by the factory. Such as 120 or 125 grain. I have been loading mine for years. When I first started I could only get Norma brass which was spendy but now federal and Remington as well as winchester sell new unprimed brass for the old Swede.:D

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

For $600 I would spend $200 on a good M96, restock it, have it drilled and tapped for a scope, and possibly have the barrel shortened. Between a M96 and a Remington 700 there is no comparison in quality. The Swedish rifles used cut rifling and were handlapped, not to mention made to very tight specifications, the remingtons use a crappy hammer forged barrel and aren't likely to be put together anywhere near as straight and square as a Swedish rifle.

RE: 6.5 x 55 Swede.... I'm weakening
 

Two of mine were Model 96's and one was a Model 38. The first one I ever saw and used was the very short barreled version. I don't recall the model of that one.