Thread: 6.5x55 necked up to a .308

Oh the top one was a .270

Well the 308 will drive a 130 Barnes at 3150-3200 normal 150s 2850-2900 168s 2750 odd

Looks a bit bigger so a bit faster if brass is good?

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Ok look, before you get too carried away

I know there are a bunch of dudes on here with ~*custom rifles*~ in weird wildcat chamberings, and it's super cool and you want to be like them, but I think you should really have a very good understanding of exactly what you want to do with a wildcat cartridge, and how you will modify a case to achieve that, before you go down that path, and I also think that there are very few cases where an existing factory cartridge won't already do the job, practically speaking.

It could be a good way to learn things, but it is also highly likely to be a lot of money wasted and frustration to get a cartridge that is a waste of time


As far as this idea goes, I can't think of anything much stupider honestly. There's no reason to do it. The x55 case is a bit oddball in that it has a slightly different rim dimension, it isn't super common and it has a lot of taper. You could neck it up to .30 and blow the shoulder out, to decrease taper for case life/reduced bolt thrust and to increase capacity and end up with.... a weirdo wildcat gun with no resale value in a slightly obscure case that performs exactly the same as .308 or .30-06 in "the real world", which is pretty boring and shitty anyway, which you have to fireform brass for and get custom dies and reamer and blah blah blah


Call me a dick or whatever but fuck, c'mon

Originally Posted by gimp

Call me a dick or whatever but fuck, c'mon

Well its not a very nice thing to do and I don"t mean it but OK

You are a dick or whatever but fuck.

(hope that helps)

Most wildcats are pointless then from your veiw. I dont look at guns and think I wonder what I can sell that for.

Dont need to tell me its pointless again. Got that clear on the first page

Originally Posted by Toby

Most wildcats are pointless then from your view

Well, yeah

Steve's post has to be one of the best for a long time. Funny but accurate. I reckon I fit in there several times over but we have to be able to laugh at ourselves and check our shit is in order every now and then.

Gimp you would make a great communist! Didn't you own or still have a .223 AI? Arguably made redundant by a .22-250 or similar.
Some people just get bored with easy.
Good on ya Toby. Keep at it.

Originally Posted by R93

Steve's post has to be one of the best for a long time. Funny but accurate. I reckon I fit in there several times over but we have to be able to laugh at ourselves and check our shit is in order every now and then.

Gimp you would make a great communist! Didn't you own or still have a .223 AI? Arguably made redundant by a .22-250 or similar.
Some people just get bored with easy.
Good on ya Toby. Keep at it.

Had being the operative word.

Key points:

-I built it because I had a .223 action already
-Real world performance was nothing more than a normal .223
-Fireforming is fucking annoying
-I bought into retarded internet hype about custom rifles and wildcats
-I lost a shitload of money on it when I sold it
-Varmint rifles are pretty redundant anyway


At the end of the day it's a tube of brass that contains an explosion to propel a piece of copper and lead, any emotional properties you ascribe to them like ~*oh it's different*~ are entirely imaginary

So you cant ream out a .308 barrel then because of the taper. It'd have to be a blank barrel?

Originally Posted by Toby

So you cant ream out a .308 barrel then because of the taper. It'd have to be a blank barrel?

If you blow out the shoulder you could probably rechamber a .308

You might be able to ream a 308 barrel but you would need a long action to fit the case. The x55 case is short in a long action so you are wasting a bit of potential there.
This page may help you, page8d.
These do custom reamers but you may want to investigate cost.
You might want custom FL dies which = $$$. You could get away with neck sizing, maybe.

I'm all for something different Toby but this is going to cost you. I guess a saving grace is that a new owner could just get it re-chambered in 30-06.

Originally Posted by Wildman

I guess a saving grace is that a new owner could just get it re-chambered in 30-06.

Not if you blow the shoulder on the x55 case out and if you open the bolt face the few thou to "properly" fit the x55 case it might not work great with -06/-08 cases anymore??

Originally Posted by gimp

Not if you blow the shoulder on the x55 case out and if you open the bolt face the few thou to "properly" fit the x55 case it might not work great with -06/-08 cases anymore??

True. Sounds very fickle either way you look at it.

What if I found a 6.5x55 to start with? It wouldn't need work on the bolt then would it?

Probably. Depends on the brass you use to I think.