8mm-06,

A wholesaler will list any rifle in it's catalog that a manufacturer lists in it's catalog. That doesn't mean that any are available. I, or any other dealer can call winchester and try to order anything that I want but that doesn't mean that they'll build it. Again, what they say is available and what is actually available are two different things.

I have an account with Jerry's sports center, unfortunately their website isn't set up to be able to sort by calibers. However, Sports South (who I also have an account with) is set up to sort by calibers. I just ran an inquiry on the number of rifles they have in stock in .260 remington vs. 6.5x55. They have over 150 rifles in stock of various makes in .260 remington, only 9 in 6.5x55. Sorry, but the numbers don't lie, the .260 is much more readily available.

boltman,
You're right about getting the #'s of guns more readily. The #'s can't lie as you have said. But you surely have to agree that if someone walked into your store/place of business and wanted one of those 9 Swede's, you could have it in short order. The 150 .260's will probably leave the shelves before the 9 Swede's do. So I'd have to say that, once again, the Swede's aren't that hard to come by, just not very popular now, and really never were. That's good news for me, cause closeout prices may ensue on a few of 'em. The word "obscure" is a good one when used to describe the Swede round to the majority of gun enthusiasts. For those that have a knowledge of the round though it is anything but obscure. The 6.5 x 55 and the 6.5 x 54 (even more "obscure&quot are excellent rounds and have successfully taken elephants with brain shots using solids. But that was a long time ago in a land far far away. It is true that there are many more modern rounds that will out-pace some older ones. And the availablility of 308 brass should make the .260 the hands down favorite in years to come. But as long as I can still obtain loading components and numerous opportunities for factory ammo in the Swede round, I'll keep shooting my obscure round. It's not better than the .260, but who wants to be like everybody else? Happy Holidays.

In all this exciting discourse I forgot to mention that I absolutely love both the .260 Rem and the 6.5x55 Swede. They are very similar in their performance on game and they are about as close to perfect for deer-sized animals as any cartridge could be. You won't have much trouble finding ammo for both.

If you handload, the possibilities increase up to an including elk and moose. In fact, some factory rounds for both will do the trick on the larger game. You will be happy, no, ecstatic with either.

Good Dogwork and Good Hunting

8mm/06 What the distributor lists in his catalog and what he has available are not always the same . Some guns are almost impossible to get for some dealers . The dealers that have a large turnover in guns stands a much better chance of getting one than a small dealer .I recently was looking for a rifle and had to call four dealers to find one that could get what I wanted . they could all get the rifle but not setup the way I requested it to be .A couple of other guns I want nobody has in stock at this time . But they are in the catalog . Also Jerry's sporting goods didn't have the rifle either .I'm like you a has been dealer I sent my lic. back

I just checked the Jerry's website, and while I don't hold an FFL, I have kept my account with Jerry's and still order non-firearm items. As long as it is not a reciever or a firearm, I can order. I can order blackpowder weapons as they are not currently FFL required items.
Anyway, Jerry's shopping request page let me know that I could find every rifle I listed EXCEPT the Winchester. I assume they were available b/c when I requested the Winchester it clearly listed it as unavailable, but the other models came up as able to be added to the cart. Granted, I had requested the search for ALL of Jerry's locations and affiliates, which is a lot of inventory.... but they were there. It doesn't allow one to identify exactly how many of these rifles were on the shelves. Probably not many at all.....b/c they don't move.........but they are there....at least 1 of each.
This doesn't prove anything except that you can get 6.5 x 55 rifles in a modern configuration. Maybe I'm confused on how the Jerry's site works, but that is what I found while trying to locate 6.5 swede's. Maybe the Winchester isn't even offered by the manufacturer and so it was identified as "unavailable" while the others are still offered by the manufaturer and therefore still in the catalog ...... perhaps if I had taken it to "checkout" I would have come up empty. I don't know...... and if anybody knows how I could double check that at Jerry's I'd appreciate hearing about it as I would certainly be able to use that function when actually ordering the other itmes I do purchase there.
boltman, I'll have to agree and concede that folks can find a wider variety of .260's than Swede's....and in greater #'s......but the Swede shooting modern rifles are available....even if in smaller #'s.......mostly b/c nobody is buying them.
For the average Joe I'd advise the .260 also................
but I own 6 swede's in various configuarations.............so I'll keep shooting those for now.
The 6.5 x 55 certainly appears to have more case capacity than the .260 but that can be deceiving. Anybody know the actual case capacitiy's and safe hottest loads for these 2 rounds in modern rifles?

If I didn't own a gun and wanted a gun for deer hunting for a kid, a woman, or even myself.....it'd be a .260 remington......easy decision.

the only difference would be length of pull.....stock length.

As much as the 260 might be a great deer round I prefer the 7mm-08.It is a little more versatile if you ever decide to use it on game bigger than deer and there is a much better selection of factory 7mm-08 loads available if you don't handload.Also the 260 is new and who knows if this cartridge will last long while the 7mm-08 is extremely popular and factory loads will always be available if you don't reload.

Stubblejumper.....as much as I hate to admit it, you're absolutely correct....But I'm going to follow the .260 Rem for the next several years

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FVA - Nice reply. Hopefully, American shooters will discover what the Europeans have known for nearly a century: The 6.5mm caliber is one of the most lethal we have and it has almost zero recoil. It is nearly the perfect big game cartridge, whether in the form of the 6.5x55 or the .260 Rem or the 6.5mm/.284 or the 6.5mm Rem Mag or the 6.5-06 or the .264 Win Mag, it will whack anything up to and including moose with remarkable efficiency. Please preach the laurels of the .260 Rem!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Dogwork and Good Hunting