...and dreams of "truck guns" danced in their heads.....
- Thread starter Glen
- Start date
F
freebullet
Guest
Looks like you did a fine job. Makes me miss being able to use peep sights.
F
freebullet
Guest
Lookin forward to your results.
Brad it will be used to shoot both cast and jacketed, and Ian has pretty well nailed it -- the 266469 at 1500-1600 fps (with 10 grains of Red Dot, 15 grains of 4227, or 16 grains of 4198), or a 140 grain jacketed soft point (probably the Remington, seeing as I have a boatload of those) at about 2400 fps with 42 grains of 4350. I may do some load development with this carbine, but I will probably just shoot the bejeebers out of it....
When one shoots the "bejeebers" out of said gun, does that come before after all the "misses" are out of it?
Just asking, because if one were to do this in the wrong order it could lead to a great deal of frustration, lol.
Honestly though, I found my swede a pleasure to work with. There seems to be a lot of partial truths out there on this cartridge. I have never fired a jacketed bullet out of mine.
I am also a follower of the 266469. I have an NEI mold that is a bore rider that I use in my 6.5tcu as it is short throated.
Here is a trick that I ran across by accident for the 6.5x55 swede that may help someone.
I neck size about 1/2-3/4 of the neck. I am also an Mdie guy. I set my die up so that it is flared/belled enough so that a GCis about flush with the mouth.
I seat and crimp in separate stages. So seat the bullet. Then check to see if it will chamber in the rifle. If no, then just take a bit of the flare at time off until it chambers.
To my understanding a fair amount of the Swedes neck is fairly large. Thus the flare tends to hold it more in the center of the neck and throat of the rifle.
As I mentioned this was found by accident. I had not set my die ump to knock a lot of the crimp off and the still chambered. I was at the range and thought what the heck, it's worth a try. I did happen to have same bullet and load with the flare taken completely off, so I could do a side by side comparison. Results were shocking to say the least.
YMMV
Jeff
Just asking, because if one were to do this in the wrong order it could lead to a great deal of frustration, lol.
Honestly though, I found my swede a pleasure to work with. There seems to be a lot of partial truths out there on this cartridge. I have never fired a jacketed bullet out of mine.
I am also a follower of the 266469. I have an NEI mold that is a bore rider that I use in my 6.5tcu as it is short throated.
Here is a trick that I ran across by accident for the 6.5x55 swede that may help someone.
I neck size about 1/2-3/4 of the neck. I am also an Mdie guy. I set my die up so that it is flared/belled enough so that a GCis about flush with the mouth.
I seat and crimp in separate stages. So seat the bullet. Then check to see if it will chamber in the rifle. If no, then just take a bit of the flare at time off until it chambers.
To my understanding a fair amount of the Swedes neck is fairly large. Thus the flare tends to hold it more in the center of the neck and throat of the rifle.
As I mentioned this was found by accident. I had not set my die ump to knock a lot of the crimp off and the still chambered. I was at the range and thought what the heck, it's worth a try. I did happen to have same bullet and load with the flare taken completely off, so I could do a side by side comparison. Results were shocking to say the least.
YMMV
Jeff
Ian
Notorious member
I'll second that, Jeff, for "medium velocity" cast loads, anyway. I picked that little trick up from Dutchman.
For running cast bullets fast, I have yet to find a substitute for actually reducing the neck clearance, among a host of other things. Carefully re-formed .30-'06 or .35 Whelen brass is good for getting the thick necks.
For running cast bullets fast, I have yet to find a substitute for actually reducing the neck clearance, among a host of other things. Carefully re-formed .30-'06 or .35 Whelen brass is good for getting the thick necks.
OK guys, I have to tattle on myself (besides, I think y'all will get a chuckle out of this). I was out in the garage this morning, setting up to load some cast bullet ammo for this 6.5x55 carbine. I put the .266" sizer die in the lube-sizer, installed the nose punch for the 266469, then located the Ziploc bag of 266469s and the can of Hornady GCs (yeah, I have some OLD GCs in my supply...). I went to run the first bullet down, so I could adjust the stop on the lube-sizer, and I just could not get the bullet to center in the nose punch. I fiddled with it for a while with no luck, and then the lightbulb lit up over my head. The studs on the back of nose punches are typically about .260" (but can vary widely, I have some as small as .250" and some as large as .265"), and the 469 nose punch runs about .250". Yup, you guessed it, I put the nose punch in upside-down. I removed the nose punch, installed it properly, and the rest of the loading process took place uneventfully.....
Took the Swedish Truck Gun out to get sighted in this morning. First 3 shot cut one ragged hole at 25 yards, low/right. Adjusted the sights to bring things up and to the left. Next shot was at 6 o'clock, edge of the black. I felt pretty good at this point. That was to end very quickly. Shots started keyholing, and going all over the paper at that point. Long story short -- this is either a throat, bore, or crown problem. The crown looks fine, but I may re-cut it just to be sure. I hammered a cast bullet into the throat and found that it's .267" (very typical for a Swedish Mauser). I did not slug the entire bore, but I drove a cast bullet about 1/2" into the muzzle, and then tapped it back out. .267" groove diameter, .260" bore diameter (4 groove barrel). All my cast loads had been sized .266", so they were all undersized. I have a .268" sizer die on order and it should be here sometime next week.
Ian
Notorious member
I've haven't seen a military Swedish Mauser yet that would shoot with .266" cast bullets, nor a 266469 that would cast larger than .267", but I'm sure they're out there and I was hoping you had one. I had to lap my mould out in strategic places and make it .269" on the main bands and also enlarge the wider, tapered band on the nose a bit. It shoots quite well now in several rifles.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Glen, What is the throat size? and how long?
Ian -- I have two full-length Swedish Mausers that shoot the 266469 sized .266" pretty well at ~1600 fps (I have not checked the throats or groove diameter on either one). Yes, my 266469 is like yours and averages about .267" (they are not quite round, and vary a little bit). I am going to try "Beagling" the mould with some .001" thick aluminum foil for this .268" experiment.
Ric -- the throat is .267" in diameter. Don't know how long (but it's long).
Ric -- the throat is .267" in diameter. Don't know how long (but it's long).