6.5x55 or 7x57 or 7mm-08 (Tikka, Ruger, CZ, Winchester)

[flatwater bill]

Reedy...................you budget wrecker.............My purpose in reading this thread was to help you spend your money.......I read the entire thread over several days. and while I was no help to you in your decision process, I did decide to buy a 6.5 Swede myself. I think the Tikka is a little better value but the Ruger is a little more gun.......................so ....I see I now must buy both of them. That will teach me to read your threads.............FW Bill

 

[cpr0312]

so ....I see I now must buy both of them. That will teach me to read your threads.............FW Bill

 

[cpr0312]

My purpose in reading this thread was to help you spend your money..

It is fun sometimes to help and encourage others to spend money Matter of fact, there is a nice Kimber for sale in the classifieds...

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Chuck Hawks just published another article on 6.5 mm and again points out that when looking at the data, the 6.5x55 is hard to beat. I might have to add one to my arsenal for democracy, freedom and the pursuit of happiness.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/6-5mm_overnight_success.html

 

[John Struewing]

Chuck Hawks just published another article on 6.5 mm and again points out that when looking at the data, the 6.5x55 is hard to beat. I might have to add one to my arsenal for democracy, freedom and the pursuit of happiness.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/6-5mm_overnight_success.html

You'll never regret it!

 

[flatwater bill]

Now that this thread is essentially dead, and Reedy has successfully tricked several of us into buying new guns, here are a few random thoughts for well over a half century of 6.5 hunting. The Swedish Mauser, as noted above. the rifle, not the cartridge, was a well made marvel in the late 19th century. But it is a challenge to sporterize. I did so once. The original trigger requires two fingers and a big toe to pull. The creep was measured in inches, not mm. Oh, and the odd ball 12.2 mm case head is shared by few if any cartridges, so you will not fire form anything to 6.5 Swede. The Tikka has one magazine box length (at least when I bought mine) for cartridges with cases from 2.00 inches to 2.6 inches. It fits the 270 perfectly, but less so for everything else. Most guns feed best when the case head is pushed all the way to the rear of the magazine. Don't forget in this gun. Lastly, a push feed gun is not always a disadvantage..........eek the usually much larger loading port is nice. If you will not be charged by a mule deer, hence running with an upside down gun, you will not notice that it is not CRF. Old man waxing(disregard if you have a weak stomach)........Over the years I have shot several deer with a 6.5 TCU on a 223 case, the 52, 54 and 55 military cartridges, on up to the Winchester and Rem magnums, and now up to a super 6.5 that I designed myself (EFH). It took a long time for the hunting world to see the merit of this bullet diameter........and the newer better bullet designs were key to this...................FWB

 

[cpr0312]

haha

Now that this thread is essentially dead, and Reedy has successfully tricked several of us into buying new guns

If it makes you feel any better, I tricked my own self in to buying 1 and maybe up to 3 new rifles with this and one other thread!

 

[ZG47]

The original trigger requires two fingers and a big toe to pull. The creep was measured in inches, not mm ... the odd ball 12.2 mm case head is shared by few if any cartridges, so you will not fire form anything to 6.5 Swede.

@flatwater bill
I enjoy reading your posts. Two points, based on experience and reading.

1. My first (privately owned) centrefire rifle was a Husqvarna M38 with minimal usage. I had the trigger replaced with a Timney, which was an error. The Timney had a narrower blade with sharp-cut ridges on that grooved blade and was effectively harder on my trigger finger than the Husqvarna trigger blade. I should have stayed with the original trigger (which I still have stored away) as it was vastly superior to the aforementioned aftermarket product. Just goes to show that each rifle is different.
2. Hornady uses 6.5x55 cartridge cases to make test cases for their 7.5x54 MAS ballistic testing.

Have a good weekend (already started in my part of the world).

 

[Milan]

@375 Ruger Fan ...like those in the pre-64 Model 70 that Brno copied for the ZG47 and ZKK rifles...

Where did you get this from, that Brno copied Winchester mag box?

 

[Gemsbok Gangsta]

Gotta ask::; I have a Tikka T3 hunter that shoots beautifully. I’m interested in the 6.5x55 Swede anyone chime in on there experience with this combo,Tikka-6.5x55 Swede?? Thanks

 

[Divernhunter]

I have a Tikka T-3 Lite in 6.5X55 and love it. Super accurate with Nosle rPAR, Swift A-Frame and Scirocco and Barnes TTSX bullets. I have a Leupold scope on it. It is presently a 3X9X40 duplex reticle. I have a new VX3i Duplex reticle 3.5X10X40 to put on it this week and sight it in.

I would recommend one to anyone.

 

[bassasdaindia]

CZ 550 in 6.5x55 , great little rifle and an extremely accurate caliber .

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

The same can be said about ZKK600 in 275Rigby ( 7x57Mauser ).

 

[HWL]

...7x57 in a Mauser M98, ....the african classic.

Forget the rest.... the only thing that can competete with the Mauser is a Mannlicher-Schoenauer M1903 in 6,5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer!



HWL

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

I agree with you HWL.

 

[cpr0312]

Gotta ask::; I have a Tikka T3 hunter that shoots beautifully. I’m interested in the 6.5x55 Swede anyone chime in on there experience with this combo,Tikka-6.5x55 Swede?? Thanks

I ended up getting a 6.5 Swede in Tikka. Great shooter as all Tikka's seem to be! Happy with the purhcase!

 

[sgt_zim]

My brain is scrambled, need help from you knowledgeable riflemen out there. First of all, does anyone have these caliber(s) from any of these manufacturers?

I've been looking at the 6.5x55 Swede recently, as well as kicking around the idea of the other 2 calibers. The main purpose of the purchase would be for deer, antelope, small/medium plains game.

I have a tikka rifle and really like it, so I am curious about the Tikka Swede offering. The Ruger African is also out there now in 6.5 Swede. The only winchesters I'm seeing are in the featherlite variety.

Anyways any thoughts, experiences, etc with these calibers and manufacturers? Thanks

I already own a T3X Hunter in 6.5x55. I can stack ELD-X all day long. I was amazed how well it continues to shoot with a warm barrel.

I do have a similar quandary, though. My wife is starting to enjoy hunting, and so is my daughter. I just picked up a cheapy CVA single shot yesterday in 7mm-08. If my daughter really enjoys hunting this Fall, I'll get her something nice.

But...

my wife and I both shoot LH, my daughter is a righty. If I get my daughter something nice, I'd like to make it a pair of bookends and get the same cartridge for myself. That way, my wife will have something light to shoot (6.5x55) when we go together. Since I'm a lefty, my options are limited, unless I build a custom gun.

I want a pair of 7x57. In that, I have 2 options: Montana Rifle Company, and Zastava. I have a lh Zastava in 9.3 (it shoots great), but I was planning on a nice rifle as a gift for my daughter when she graduates law school in 2020. But all of the negative press in this thread regarding MRC has me thinking a different caliber entirely. So now the choice is between 7mm-08 and 280 Rem/280 AI. I'm planning on making the ammo myself, and there are plenty of 280R/AI options to push the bullets at 7mm-08/7x57 velocities until my daughter gets comfortable with the recoil.

That pretty much points me to two makes: Savage and Tikka (in 7mm-08). I've owned a bunch of Savages through the years, and they've all been great shooters. I own the one Tikka, also a great shooter. But neither are, IMO, suitable gifts for a brand new lawyer.

There is the option of Sako in 7x64 - they do offer Hunter and Bavarian in LH. But the budget is 3k, not 4k.

So you and I, we have the same "problem." (I do not consider 1st problems to be real problems).

 

[sgt_zim]

I ended up getting a 6.5 Swede in Tikka. Great shooter as all Tikka's seem to be! Happy with the purhcase!

If you're planning on reloading, as @Shootist43 advised, 6.5 swedes like to have a little jump. In my Tikka, I put an overlong empty (brass and bullet only) into the chamber and closed the bolt. Then I measured from the base of the brass to where I could see lands marks, and backed the COAL off by 0.010 from that length. It has been rainbows and unicorns since I did that.

 

[Gemsbok Gangsta]

I have a Tikka T-3 Lite in 6.5X55 and love it. Super accurate with Nosle rPAR, Swift A-Frame and Scirocco and Barnes TTSX bullets. I have a Leupold scope on it. It is presently a 3X9X40 duplex reticle. I have a new VX3i Duplex reticle 3.5X10X40 to put on it this week and sight it in.

I would recommend one to anyone.

Thanks for the feedback my T3 in 06 shoots the 165 NAB wonderfully so I was hoping to hear something positive on the 6.5.....

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

...7x57 in a Mauser M98, ....the african classic.

Forget the rest.... the only thing that can competete with the Mauser is a Mannlicher-Schoenauer M1903 in 6,5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer!



HWL

I think the same as HWL.