Handloading

[Someday isle]

Finished my habitat work and have been staying away from the property for a few weeks to let the deer have the place all to themselves. It was a good time to get caught up on some reloading and sometimes I just like to go shoot. From left to right 223, 243, 6.5 x 55, 7mm magnum, 308, 338 Federal, 375 H&H, 45/70, and 458 Win Mag.

 

[Someday isle]

A couple targets from shooting today. Truthfully the rifles are far more accurate than I am. 338 Federal with 200 grain interlocks at 100 yards - this is a four shot group after sighting it in for my son to hunt with. It’s a unique round but it’s fun to shoot and tinker with. Some would say the 338 Federal is the answer to a question that doesn’t exist. But I like it anyway.

The other target is the 458 Win Mag with Barnes 350 grain TSX at about 2400 FPS. It’s just a blast to shoot and surprisingly very accurate for what it is.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

I enjoy reloading myself! My kid love to help. It’s great past time on my mr mom days!

 

[Telemark]

What do you think of the 6.5x55?

How does it perform on game?

 

[Someday isle]

What do you think of the 6.5x55?

How does it perform on game?

I love it. It does extremely well on deer sized game. I use 140 grain bullets exclusively in the 6.5. They’re very long bullets in that caliber so penetration is never an issue and at the moderate velocity it runs its an extremely manageable round even for new shooters or smaller framed shooters. It’s my go to rifle for someone who needs to borrow one or is new to shooting. I tend to grab my 7mm magnum more often but the 6.5 is maybe as close to a perfect deer rifle as I have. If one were to load the 120 or 125 grain bullets it’d be a higher velocity round and you could really stretch it out to longer distances too. Although I’ve never had the chance to work with one I’d guess the 260 Remington would be equally as effective in a more modern package.

 

[Telemark]

Here in Norway it is extremely popular. Probably more so than .308 or 30-06. I had never even seen one before I started hunting here. I've only ever seen two deer shot with that round, but it did the job well both times. What bullets do you use?

 

[Someday isle]

Based on everything I’ve read the Swede is to that area what the 30.06 is in the United States. My first deer rifle was a military surplus Swedish Mauser carbine so I have a soft spot for the 6.5 x 55. The one I own now is a Ruger model 77.

For bullets I use the 140 grain nosler ballistic tips, nosler partitions and hornady interlocks. They all do great on deer. I’ve got no experience with Elk hunting but I wouldn’t be afraid of using it on game that size with a quality bullet like the Nosler partition.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Buddy of mine knocks the hell out of deer with a tikka t3 6.5 sweed..
I am a fan of the 6.5 creedmore so far.. I have 120 nosler ballistic hunters rocking at over 3kfps out of a 22" barrel using R17. 1/2" 5 shot groups consistently

 

[Telemark]

Buddy of mine knocks the hell out of deer with a tikka t3 6.5 sweed.

A friend of mine hunts with exactly that rifle, and I'm thinking of buying one for my girlfriend. It's a very popular rifle here. I tried for ages to find one at a good price in the US, but the supply seemed to have suddenly dried up.

 

[Someday isle]

Unfortunately that’s the way it seems to go. Every few years it seems like someone will make a rifle cambered for it but it’s usually a limited run. I think Howa makes them now but I’m not real sure.