6.5x68s - I never heard of it - until I bought it

[buckstix]

6.5x68s - I never heard of it - until I bought it.

I was offered to purchase a commercial Mauser 98 in 6.5x68s caliber. It was built in 1941 by Chr.Friedr. Triebel. Suhl, and retailed by Wilhelm Eblen, Stuttgart. It has a 25-1/2" barrel, double-set triggers. It came with a basket weave sling, ammo, dies, and 2 Khales claw mounted scopes; a variable 1.5x-4.5x, and a larger fixed 8x. Overall condition was near-new showing little use.

I had never heard of a 6.5x68s cartridge, and found with a little research, that in its day, it was a very popular caliber in Europe, and still has a following today. Its ballistically equivalent to today's 264 Win Mag., having a slightly larger case but without a belt. Much information is available on the internet, i.e. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.5×68mm

This is a fun rifle and a great shooter. I also acquired the rifle's "big brother" - a Sauer/Weatherby in 8x68s caliber. I will post about it also.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpi...UTTGART-MARKINGS.jpg

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/6.5x68-000.jpg

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/6.5X68-targ-000.jpg

 

[grand veneur]

A interesting cartridge, well-known in Germany among older hunters, but controversially discussed.

Due to its ballistic data, it was often used for things it was not intended for. The classic bullet used when this cartridge was introduced, was a 6g/93gr TMS flat base bullet suitable only for shooting light game at longer range. Accordingly, the throat and boring of the older rifles and the associated problems with using longer, heavier bullets of this caliber class. More modern rifles of this caliber have the appropriate bore for the use of the heavy 6,5mm bullets.

By the way, The S can be omitted from the designation because it only refers to the 8mm cartridges.

 

[buckstix]

"... By the way, The S can be omitted from the designation because it only refers to the 8mm cartridges. ..."

Thanks for your reply,

Well, not sure that is so .. because you can see in the first picture in my post - it shows the caliber marking on this rifle is "PATRONE 6.5x68S"

Also, I found that the "S" in "6.5x68S" is an informal designation that stands for Schüler, referencing August Schüler, the German gunsmith who developed the cartridge. The formal name for the cartridge is simply the 6.5x68mm.

.... see here ...

Google Search

 

[grand veneur]

I have some concerns about this designation. Every German gunmaker at the time knew about that. I don't know why there has to be a distinction between caliber 8x57l and 8x57lS for a caliber 6,5mm cartridge.

 

[Foxi]

I would say it is the German .270 Win. with some bullets.
Here's a true story:
I once knew the head gamekeeper of a German industrial magnate (formely used to own Mercedes Benz). He owned a 19,000-hectare hunting ground in Styria, a province in Austria,
and could consider this area his own.
This is a size that is difficult for us to imagine.
When he went red deer hunting with his boss, the boss carried a 6.5x57 and he carried a 6.5x68.
If the deer were more than 200 meters away, the boss used the 6.5x68.
Always with the best results.

Have fun.

 

[PerH]

It’s more of the .264 Win Mag version than .270 .

Als made a “R “ version for Doubles , combos and similar .

 

[grand veneur]

It’s more of the .264 Win Mag version than .270 .

Als made a “R “ version for Doubles , combos and similar .

Whereby with the heavy 6,5mm bullets we are in a performance range comparable to that of the cartridge 270 Winchester with the same bullet weight.

 

[buckstix]

Whereby with the heavy 6,5mm bullets we are in a performance range comparable to that of the cartridge 270 Winchester with the same bullet weight.

Yes, but the better ballistic coefficient of the 6.5 bullets retains slightly more energy and less drop at longer ranges than the 270 bullets of the same weight.

 

[grand veneur]

It is true with the classic bullets, but not with the lead-free bullets we have to use in our countries. Whatever the case, the cartridge 6,5x68 was for hunting not particularly successful for many reasons. However, it is by the topic primarily about the rifle of this caliber and this is a very nice traditional hunting rifle.

 

[93marlin]

@buckstix
What a terrific find! The esoteric discussion about the merits of the cartridge aside, the rifle and accessories that came with it make it make it a fantastic package.
At least to me, anyway...

 

[grand veneur]

@buckstix
What a terrific find! The esoteric discussion about the merits of the cartridge aside, the rifle and accessories that came with it make it make it a fantastic package.
At least to me, anyway...

There is nothing esoteric about the discussion, as many people in Germany and the surrounding countries are familiar with this cartridge. The discussion about the cartridge were triggered by the fact that the poster presented the cartridge as something completely unknown, at least to him. We are on a Forum of hunters, especially African hunters, and not exclusive rifles collectors. Accordingly the posts.

 

[F. Vaccaro]

There is nothing esoteric about the discussion, as many people in Germany and the surrounding countries are familiar with this cartridge. The discussion about the cartridge were triggered by the fact that the poster presented the cartridge as something completely unknown, at least to him. We are on a Forum of hunters, especially African hunters, and not exclusive rifles collectors. Accordingly the posts.

One of the very reasons I like this forum is we get to see what the rest of the world uses. Might be new to me, but not others elsewhere!

 

[Kevin375]

I had the opportunity to hunt a little bit with the 6.5x68 and an old Steyr-Mannlicher "S" 10 years ago. The bolt was extremely smooth and its owner was absolutely clueless about guns and ammos.
His ammunitions were reloaded by a friend and he was unable to tell me what kind of bullets it was, except "Red tip Hornady".

After several shots, I noticed the lack of effectiveness with long range shootings and also several unexplainable missings.

The farmer (where the hunt was organized) brought me 2 bullets recovered in games and in real, bullets were Hornady GMX 120 gr and not SST like my first throughts.
I decided to shoot again on target at 100 meters and I discovered a key-hole. I lost my trust into this rifle, and I took the Farmer's 243 Winchester that was more deadly on springboks.

Back at home, I decided to understand what happened with this keyholing. I discovered this caliber has a pretty slow twist rate (from 1-9.8" up to 1-11"), because like it was said before, it was designed for lightweight bullets at the beginning. Likewise, the heaviest bullet loaded by RWS is the classic KS 127 gr and it's a pretty short bullet compared to modern high BC bullets.
With the Berger Twist rate calculator, I found this combo gave a marginal stability.

Later, I heard, the Steyr's owner had a problem and one case got stuck in the chamber, because of the lack of care probably.
They changed the barrel and the local gunsmith fitted a stainless barrel on the action. It is still in 6.5x68 but this time with a 1-8" twist rate. The Leupold scope was also trade against a Nightforce. Because of these improvements, the rifle became a terrible long range machine able to handle heaviest .264" bullets on the market. Except the long action, nothing to envy to the new 6.5 PRC.

 

[John Telford]

Very well made little gun you have there! Love the greener type side safety. It’s a rare and desirable addition to any Mauser actioned rifle! Schuler also built a few in this caliber.

 

[Muskox]

For Europe, t's an alpine cartridge.

I have seen very few 6,5x68 rifles in Germany.

I own a 6,5x68 Schuler in a Mauser 66, it is at the Gunsmith as I don't have any more room in my safe. I will try to take photos of it and a 5,6x57 int he same rifle I own when I see him next month.

I know quite a few Austrian and Slovenian hunters that use it for chamois and roe deer.

It is legal for red deer, and wild boar as it is over 6.5mm and 2000 Jules.

 

[buckstix]

Very well made little gun you have there! Love the greener type side safety. It’s a rare and desirable addition to any Mauser actioned rifle! Schuler also built a few in this caliber.

At first I questioned why this rifle had both a Greener safety on the side, and a flag safety on the bolt. Then at the range I discovered the reason. You can use the flag safety with the 8x scope, it sits quite high, but the 1.5x4.5 scope sits too low to use the flag safety, and you have to use the Greener safety.

 

[MS 9x56]

6.5x68s - I never heard of it - until I bought it.

I was offered to purchase a commercial Mauser 98 in 6.5x68s caliber. It was built in 1941 by Chr.Friedr. Triebel. Suhl, and retailed by Wilhelm Eblen, Stuttgart. It has a 25-1/2" barrel, double-set triggers. It came with a basket weave sling, ammo, dies, and 2 Khales claw mounted scopes; a variable 1.5x-4.5x, and a larger fixed 8x. Overall condition was near-new showing little use.

I had never heard of a 6.5x68s cartridge, and found with a little research, that in its day, it was a very popular caliber in Europe, and still has a following today. Its ballistically equivalent to today's 264 Win Mag., having a slightly larger case but without a belt. Much information is available on the internet, i.e. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.5×68mm

This is a fun rifle and a great shooter. I also acquired the rifle's "big brother" - a Sauer/Weatherby in 8x68s caliber. I will post about it also.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpi...UTTGART-MARKINGS.jpg

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/6.5x68-000.jpg

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/6.5X68-targ-000.jpg

So from the looks of it it has 2sets of front scope mounts?

 

[buckstix]

So from the looks of it it has 2sets of front scope mounts?

Yes, that's right.