6.5 X 55 Swedish mouser users

From Outdoor Life, July 2004....

The Benchrest Effect
By Jim Carmichel

How benchrest shooters have improved your rifle.

July 2004

There are only a few thousand of them at most. When they get together, a crowd of 60 to 80 is considered a major happening, and their biggest event of the year will be attended by only a few hundred. They call themselves “benchrest shooters,” and the object of their game is simple: firing 5 (sometimes 10) shots into a single round hole no larger than the diameter of the bullet. This may seem like a pointless enterprise, especially since after decades of trying no one has quite yet managed to do it, but along the way this small but intensely dedicated band of marksmen has changed the face of riflery.

Note the statement... "after decades of trying no one has quite yet managed..." It's pretty clear that they've never heard of your marvelous shooting ability, since you can do it almost every time.

Check the full article at

http://www.outdoorlife.com/outdoor/shoo ... 69,00.html

Sonny, if you want to try and B.S. somebody, you're gonna have to try and do it to folks who don't already know more than you do.

That's a heck of a group, but it's a lot bigger than 1/4 inch... and, like I said earlier, once in a while you just get lucky. You need to keep in mind that a slight breeze will push you well over an inch in 200 yards. That's why the benchrest shooters have wind flags all the way down the range and watch the wind before they squeeze it off. Also note what looks like the first group fired in the lower right corner - that's about 2", which is still a heck of a group at 200, and probably what this shooter (and he IS a shooter) does most of the time.

Also note that it was shot with 100 gr bullets. Unless you have a custom-built barrel with a faster twist, the 140's won't be stable, and therefore not accurate, because they're so long. I shot a .264 Win Mag for quite a few years, and put enough rounds through it to where it needed to be rebarrelled, so I'm familiar with the 6.5 performance.

In 140 grain loads, it has a very high sectional density and is a decent load for big animals, as long as you have a tough bullet. With 120's it's a good deer-sized round, and with 100's it's a good varmint round.

The point is that if you AVERAGED 1/4 inch groups at 200 yards, you'd be next month's centerfold in the American Rifleman.

Wait a minute here..... I just realized Marland was poking fun at my poor memory with that "...remembered to log in...." business.

It's not nice to make fun of old guys.... you'll be one yourself some day. You'll know it when you start telling people "The trouble with kids today...." or if you catch yourself saying "By golly, when I was your age...." On the plus side, you can be cranky when you're old, 'cause everybody expects it.

I put my P.E. to use and did some independent Engineering consulting for a couple years... feast or famine is how it turned out. The problem with part-time work is that you have the time for fun stuff, but not the money. Full-time (or more) employment gives you the money to do fun stuff, but then there's no time. Solution: win the lottery and retire.

If you ever think about a vacation to Wisconsin (that's where all the folks from Chicago go, you know) drop me an e-mail - - we've got trap, skeet, sporting clays, 5-stand, IPSC, Cowboy Action, and a couple ranges where you can install some holes in a piece of paper all within an hour of Manitowoc. Then you can take your boss (wife) up to Door County where they have all the tourist stuff, and she'll think you're a gem.

Hello All.......I just can over from Dixie Slugs and Shotgun World to look around this page........but left my flak jacket over at Beartooth Bullets.
Anyway......There is a special place in my heart for the Swedish Mauser with the 6.5X55mm cartridge. I have owned many over the years, the best being one of the first 96's that was made at the original Mauser factory before the Swedes got cranked up. All shot very good with the longer bullets.
The Swedish action was made from better steel than that group of rifles. If the rag writers had not harped about cocking on closing, etc. there would have been even more custom guns made on the action.
The fact that Amerian shooters have been pounded on the head about velocity, velocity, and more velocity......They would understand the concept of the long high Sectional Density bullet (140 gr up) that the 6.5's work on. All in all.....It's a great game cartridge!......James