Thread: 6.5x55ai light loads

Greetings 6.5,
At least you have the calibre sorted. The 6.5 .284 should tick all your boxes, good cases, plenty of load data etc but it may not be what you are looking for. I sense that you may be looking for something a little different rather than the well trodden paths. The 6.5 06 as you likely know has been domesticated as both the 6.5 06 A square and the 6.5 x 64 Brenneke. The former has the 06 length case and latter the .270 length case so either could be stamped on the barrel if as you say it floats your boat. I suspect that most 6.5 06 chambers are cut long enough for the .270 case so these could necked down rather than necking .25 06 up subject to an actual measurement. 6.5 x 64 Brenneke does have a nice Germanic ring to it.
Keep us informed,
Grandpamac.

Hi, i use a 6.5 AI as my go to in the open country, it has a 22" barrel, with a 1-8 twist
it pushes 140gn A Max's at 3020fps using N560 powder.
I don't do any light loads in it as it is solely used for hunting,
i don't keep an accurate tally on brass life or barrel round count as it is a hunting rifle and i don't care about those numbers,
if it's buggered then replace it. if i was to guess then i would put brass life at about 5-7 reloads each so far and barrel
could have had 800-1000 rounds as a guesstimate,
as a hunting rifle it probably only shoots 40-60 rounds a year.
also use a 6.5x55 carbonlite for everything else.

Originally Posted by 6.5

Thanks that’s all good info, barrel twist rate is on my list of things to discuss with the gunsmith we may have to order one with the correct twist.
Superdiver do you know what powder is being used in the 260 to get those velocities?
I don’t mind long barrels my intention is to start at 26 and if its to much of a pain I’ll cut it down to 24 I won’t go shorter unless I really have too.

I was originally looking at PRC with the same intention of having a mild load and a full power load but for some reason it just doesn’t float my boat.

My biggest conundrum is I have is I have always liked the old 55 and I have wanted to build one for the last 10 years, but common sense tells me I should probably go with a more modern case that’s probably stronger and rated at much higher pressure

I load for a few Tikka .260 using Hodgdon superprofrmance and 143 ELDX 1 is an 18" the others are 20" all push over 2800fps loads are near max.

Sent from my CPH1903 using Tapatalk

Thanks for that 25/08.
That sounds good Hunty better than what I was expecting. Where did you get your dies from?

Originally Posted by 6.5

Thanks for that 25/08.
That sounds good Hunty better than what I was expecting. Where did you get your dies from?

got them with the rifle (second hand) Redding Dies, i think he got them in from USA

I run a tikka t3 260rem. Its an awesome calibre. im running 2209 adi. 143 eldx @ 2740 i think with a 22 inch barrel. its a great calibre. dont need to fire form brass. Excellent lapua brass avalible. low recoil.

Nothing wrong with the 6.5 Creedmoor either. Very accurate cartridge generally. For hunting deer I use the 143 ELD-X at 2800 fps with moderate pressure from a 24" barrel Tikka using AR2009 and RE16 and can easily get 2,900 fps with RE26 but don't use that as it's a compressed load and not worth the trouble.

For competitive target shooting I use the 140 ELD-M at a reduced load of around 2,600 fps. Managed to fluke a few competition wins with that as it's mild and .5 MOA.

Ive had to begrudgingly admit the 6.5cm is a cal to be reckoned with at the target mound. Fellas are commonly shooting them at 1/2 moa off the rack with bought ammo.

But dont think a 6.5x55 cant keep up. I run one and its more accurate than me and ive got it in the sweet spot using 147eldm doing 2815fts with ADI2213sc (its now 28" after being threaded 2 weeks ago).

I like the AI and cm for the efficiency. A lot of the extra space in a swede case is just 'pie in the sky'. You can use it but you brass is gonna hate you

Yes I agree the 6.5 creedmoor is a good caliber, as a general purpose target to hunting for the average joe it is pretty hard to beat especially if your using factory ammo. I even recommended it to a friend who has just started hunting with us as in my opinion its the best all rounder out there at the moment. I am obviously biased towards 6.5’s though.

But I don’t follow my own advice I would rather have a 6.5x47 or something bigger in the 6.5slr, 6.5x55, 6.5x55ai just to make life difficult for myself. I will be catching up with the gunsmith in the next week to sort out what where going to do and how much of a hassle it would be to get dies and reamers if I did go 55ai.
Thanks for your help I appreciate it.