6.5 x 55 Swede loads?

[Perplexed]

What about Hornady brass - any good?

 

[flatwins]

What about Hornady brass - any good?

I haven't heard either way on the Hornady brass. As far as Lapua, my personal thought is that the brass is favored by the shooters who have custom-built 6.5x55 rifles and that it may be overkill in a milsurp. I do plan to pick up some Lapua brass eventually, however, and see if it is as good as reported. I have that rebarreled M38 that will hopefully be the perfect test platform.

 

[HiredHand]

Keep an eye on aimsurplus - they have good deals on PRVI ammo but out of it as we speak.

PPU brass is not bad - needs a bit of massaging, and with some culling can produce very accurate loads.

S&B - horrible brass, too brittle and too thin.

Winchester is bit better than PPU - just because less cases get culled, still need to be heavily worked over.

Lapua is the king - and for some reason they sell their 6.5x55 brass cheaper than other calibers (7.62x53R is over $100/100). Good deal on Lapua brass here.

Do you think the Lapua brass is cheaper because 6.5x55 is still a very popular round in Europe?

 

[Perplexed]

I haven't heard either way on the Hornady brass. As far as Lapua, my personal thought is that the brass is favored by the shooters who have custom-built 6.5x55 rifles and that it may be overkill in a milsurp. I do plan to pick up some Lapua brass eventually, however, and see if it is as good as reported. I have that rebarreled M38 that will hopefully be the perfect test platform.

I think part of the allure of Lapua brass is that it's also reportedly very reloadable; I've read where people get up to 10-12 reloads per case. That'd help defray the cost in a big way; I'm assuming though they're using mild loads each time.

 

[MoBoost]

Do you think the Lapua brass is cheaper because 6.5x55 is still a very popular round in Europe?

I guess so - it's right there with .308

As far as Hornady brass goes - I don't know, I've tried some with "Match" head stamp, and didn't see any improvement over RP (nor that it needed any less prep work), while Norma/Lapua was consistently better (.243 benchrest gun)

 

[flatwins]

Loads: http://www.okcgunclub.org/military/mb/6.5x55.html

P.S. I just scored a M94 (no bayo, no barrel "extension") myself at a estate auction - advertised as m96 cut-down

I see you have some loads listed on the OKCGC site. I'll have to check 'em out!

I think part of the allure of Lapua brass is that it's also reportedly very reloadable; I've read where people get up to 10-12 reloads per case. That'd help defray the cost in a big way; I'm assuming though they're using mild loads each time.

That's a great point and I've heard similar reports. 10-12 reloads per case is a lot of bang for the buck. I'm also curious about running cast bullets just for plinking. A guy could reload pretty cheaply that way.

 

[HiredHand]

I have to think that guys getting that kind of life out of the brass are annealing, too.

 

[MoBoost]

With proper die setting and annealing - I'm expecting 40-60 reloads out of Lapua brass. I guess eventually the primer pocket will just wear out.

 

[flatwins]

Just thought of something: Anyone tried or heard of reloading the Prickskytte cases? I'll have to look and see what the primer pocket looks like.

 

[Perplexed]

Just thought of something: Anyone tried or heard of reloading the Prickskytte cases? I'll have to look and see what the primer pocket looks like.

That stuff is berdan primed. Unless you've got berdan primers, it's not worth the trouble, from what I hear.