Thread: 6.5x55 accuracy

Not all rifles shoots consistantly good with factory ammo. Get in contact with a local reloader, have them pull some of the ammo to get the information needed and Im pretty sure they'll be able to assist to reload all your empty cases.

Several years ago I bought a Sako Bavarian in 6.5x55. While waiting for some reloading components to arrive, I purchased a box of Winchester 140gn ammo- wouldn't group at all. Absolutely hopeless. Having heard only good things about it, I bought Federal blue box 140gn ammo to see what the difference might be. I was amazed at the cloverleaf group it produced, just to check it wasn't a complete fluke I managed to produce a second group of 3 shots with the same result at 100m. Now, I've never considered myself to be a particularly good shot, minute of deer has always been good enough for me and I've never shot anything further than 300m away, so this was pretty exciting stuff. I'm sure the reloaders out there know what happens next- for the life of me I couldn't replicate the results with my handloads, despite firstly copying the COAL of the Federal ammo, then varying the powder loads; after a lot of testing and out of frustration I seated the bullet (143 gn ELDX) about as far out as possible which finally produced the results I first achieved witht the factory ammo. I can still feel the satisfaction this bought. So, to the OP, have a go with different ammo to see what suits best, and once you start handloading (under careful guidance), experiment with different powder loads and projectiles to find the most suitable load for your rifle - I look forward to hearing how you get on. And if you find that Winchester 140gn works best for you, let me know, I've got 12 rounds you can have!

Originally Posted by BFA

Several years ago I bought a Sako Bavarian in 6.5x55. While waiting for some reloading components to arrive, I purchased a box of Winchester 140gn ammo- wouldn't group at all. Absolutely hopeless. Having heard only good things about it, I bought Federal blue box 140gn ammo to see what the difference might be. I was amazed at the cloverleaf group it produced, just to check it wasn't a complete fluke I managed to produce a second group of 3 shots with the same result at 100m. Now, I've never considered myself to be a particularly good shot, minute of deer has always been good enough for me and I've never shot anything further than 300m away, so this was pretty exciting stuff. I'm sure the reloaders out there know what happens next- for the life of me I couldn't replicate the results with my handloads, despite firstly copying the COAL of the Federal ammo, then varying the powder loads; after a lot of testing and out of frustration I seated the bullet (143 gn ELDX) about as far out as possible which finally produced the results I first achieved witht the factory ammo. I can still feel the satisfaction this bought. So, to the OP, have a go with different ammo to see what suits best, and once you start handloading (under careful guidance), experiment with different powder loads and projectiles to find the most suitable load for your rifle - I look forward to hearing how you get on. And if you find that Winchester 140gn works best for you, let me know, I've got 12 rounds you can have!

That's interesting. I've got about 50 of these homeloads that it likes and the recipe for them. I'll just use them sparingly and see if I can get them replicated. Thanks, Pete