Stalking Rifle Project Wunderings...

[EDELWEISS]

Edelweiss, I am a little confused. You said the Mauser was a Kar 98 and might not handle the presser from a 308 or 7-08. If it is a 98 then it should well be able to handle those pressures.

Nice project by the way.

I was told No 30-06/308 by one smith and Yes by others. My guess is part of the issue is that its a Kar98, which is a small ring with a large barrel shank???

In either case Ive always sorta had a lusting for 6.5x55, although Ive never had one. The round is 19th century gun/ammo porn, shhhhhh don't tell anybody my little secret.......

 

[ChrisG]

Hi Edelweiss,

I have had two 6.5x55's in my life. The first was a M96 cav carbine that was cut to 17.5". My new one is a Ruger M77 with a 22" on it. I prefer the Ruger infinitely. If you have a Chronograph, don't shoot a 6.5x55 from an 18" barrel over it. It will really depress you. I shot 140 grains out of my M96 with max loads of IMR4350 and I was getting... wait for it.... 2,200fps. So that puts it's effective hunting range (the range at which the bullets will still expand) at about 75-100 yards. With the Ruger I can easily get a 140 to 2,500fps with RL22 and with Hornady Interlocks. I shoot 120's now just because thats what Barnes makes for it and getting 2,700fps with those is not hard. The Swede really, REALLY likes slow powders and it doesn't do that well in short barrels. When I went to 160 grain bullets in the M96 I was getting 1,950fps. I would definitely recommend a 22" barrel and a 23 or 24" would be optimum.