"Other" 6.5's

[Eggman2.0]

I have acquired a new to me M-98, it's a Venezuelan FN 24-30 in 7x57 I'd say it was sporterized in the '70's and nicely done.
I'm thinking about re-barreling it in either 6.5x55SE or 6.5 Creed.
I know that options for the Creed abound but... it's a Creed. I really want to do the 6.5x55 as it fits the M98 IMO, but with the shear mass of Creed. ammo...
Thoughts??
The plan is to start with a 6.5 blank and do it from scratch, as I've wanted to try this for decades and need to keep busy while the fire restrictions are in effect.

[VASCAR2]

I always wanted a 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser so I’d go 6.5x55. I have a 6.5x50 Type 38 Arisaka which is about 100 years old but still shoots great. My Brother has an FN manufactured 7x57 Mauser with a Mannlicher stock which is a real sweet shooting rifle. If the barrel is still good on the Venezuelan rifle it would be difficult for me to decide. If the V Mauser needs a barrel then I’d go 6.5x55.

[Eggman2.0]

I'm kind'a a fan of the 6.5x55 as well, if the 7x57 barrel shoots well it's likely gonna become a Scout Rifle.
If that happens then I'll find a gun show action for the project as I really want to give barreling an action a go, sorta a Bucket List project.

[LRRPF52]

7x57 is a great cartridge, but not sure about brass availability nowadays. Looks to be out of stock or discontinued everywhere.

[tdbru]

Eggman2.0,
the 6.5x55 is a neat round. that is the cartridge that got me into 6.5/0.264 back in the '80s. just be aware that the case head is 0.007" bigger in diameter than the normal 0.473" case head. Measure across the bolt face. I am sure a military M98 bolt face will accommodate the extra 0.007". due to the larger case head, it's always recommended to NOT to try to reform 30-06/270 etc. due to the larger case head on the 6.5x55. Having btdt wrt sporterizing a military M98, it is a fun project, BUT, not an economical one. You'll end up with almost custom $ into a sporterized M98. Is it worthwhile?? only you can answer that. I had fun doing it, but it was a LOT of work. set aside plenty of time as everything always seems to take longer to do than you imagined. there are no flies on the 7x57 either. both the 6.5x55 and 7x57 have lower chamber pressures than modern ctgs. if you keep saami pressures, you get 6.5 CM and 7mm-08 performance but with much longer barrel life due to reduced throat erosion. if you choose to load either up to modern pressures, you have 100 - 150 fps advantage over the more modern cases. the 6.5x55 is the shortest cartridge I am aware of that actually needs a long action to accommodate it. the new PRC rounds have touted "head height" to get the bullet up out of the case to enhance accuracy. putting a 6.5x55 into a long action allows for really long head height from a 130 year old cartridge. I usually seated the bullet (120s - 140s) so the base of the bullets' bearing surface was at the bottom of the neck. So most of the bullet was out of the case. i guess the 6.5x55 was ~125 years ahead of it's time. the case has a fairly modern 25 degree shoulder. a bit more taper than modern sporting ammo, but it was after all designed originally as a military cartridge and the case taper helps breaking the case loose from the chamber that may also be hot and dirty. I never have had any functional issues with the 6.5x55 wrt feeding, extraction, ejection. one would really have to overload the case to get it to stick to the chamber walls hard enough that it couldn't be extracted. Enjoy your project.
best to you,
tdbru

[Eggman2.0]

Tdbru, thanks for the info and I totally agree with you on the cost-effectiveness of the M-98 modernization and cost is not the reason for project.
I was born a Tool Make and spent 6 decades being one, I routinely spend more to make things I could just buy... the satisfaction of the process/outcome is to me worth it.
The only tooling I will need is chamber tooling/gauges as I'm a Journeyman Machinist with a shop full of 80 year old machines, all the setups and operations seem pretty straight forward so this should be a lot of fun.

[LRRPF52]

Another cartridge to consider is the 6.5x284 Norma, which has plenty of modern Lapua brass available for it. Uses a .473” case head, which is rebated a bit.

You can scream 100-129gr without really trying, or shoot heavies too. Would make a great all-around hunting rifle capable of taking any game you want.

[tdbru]

if you're into wildcats, and like 6.5mm, a 6.5mm-06 has been done many times before. Probably very similar performance to the above 6.5-284. the more powder you burn, and at higher pressures will reduce barrel life as I suspect you already know. the 6.5 Grendel, like the 6.5x55 operate at lower pressures than say the 6.5 Creedmoor or the 6.5 PRC. this will extend barrel life if that's an issue. if performance is more important than barrel life, consider fitting 1 or 2 spare barrels while you've got the tooling setup for barrel fitting. then when the throat is toast you can simply unscrew the shot out tube and screw in the next one. at one time I knew a high power silhouette competitor that considers barrels a consumable item just like components. He bought barrels by the dozen, fitted them all, and would test group each barrel. any that didn't live up to his grouping standards were put in recycling. just the price of doing business he would tell me. but he usually got 10 good ones each run. he shot a match somewhere each weekend and would practice after work each day. he went through 3 barrels a year on average. anyway, back to the discussion... a 260 Rem is another good 6.5 too, if you don't want the Creed. In a 98 action, depending upon the freebore, you could seat out quite long and still easily fit the round in the magazine. if you want to do a custom reamer, call JGS. a thought would be a 6.5 CM or 6.5 PRC freebore on a 260 Rem case. just a thought.
best to you,
tdbru

[lazyengineer]

the reason 6.5 Creedmoor is insufferably popular, is because it's kind of a great round. Sorry if the endorsements are overstated and irksome - but the 6.5x55 is 6.5 Creedmoor, with early generation gun-powder; and doesn't fit in modern sport-action rifles. Ballistically, they are the same round. If bolt-action, mostly irrelevant and go with the Swede if you despise what other people like. But in a gas-operated gun, they are all going to be based on .308 guns. if you want to play, you better get something that fits in a .308 action - which is 6.5 Creedmoor.

[Eggman2.0]

the reason 6.5 Creedmoor is insufferably popular, is because it's kind of a great round. Sorry if the endorsements are overstated and irksome - but the 6.5x55 is 6.5 Creedmoor, with early generation gun-powder; and doesn't fit in modern sport-action rifles. Ballistically, they are the same round. If bolt-action, mostly irrelevant and go with the Swede if you despise what other people like. But in a gas-operated gun, they are all going to be based on .308 guns. if you want to play, you better get something that fits in a .308 action - which is 6.5 Creedmoor.

That makes sense, to be honest the Grendel checks all boxes for a gas gun and the Mauser project I want to keep a Period Piece I guess you could say so that was driving my thinking.

[kmon]

6.5 Creedmoor, 260 Remington and 6.6x55 are basically ballistic triplets. Nothing the latter cannot do that the others can other than fit in a short action. Stepping up in preformance 6.5x284 I really like and can certianly use the longer action for seating bullets out further not intruding as far into the case. I REALLY LIKE MY Hrendels but when I want a bit more from a 6.5 the Copper 6.5X284 sees use and has worked well on elk at 250 yards and hogs out to 600+ yards.

I have 2 Grendels, the two above and a 6.5X54MS and 264 Win Mag. By far the Grendels see the most use then the 6.5X284.

There is nothing wrong with a 7X57 either had a Ruger #1 international in it that I wish I still had. Spme times you see .275 Rigby ammo which is the same thing just the Rigby would not use tje 7x57 name on their guns.

[s3silver]

I like the 6.5x55 also. Factory ammo will give you similar results as 6.5 creed and 260 rem. In my opinion, if you reload to modern pressures given your action is strong enough, it will outperform the 6.5 creed and 260 rem.

[Klem]

I like the 6.5x55 also. Factory ammo will give you similar results as 6.5 creed and 260 rem. In my opinion, if you reload to modern pressures given your action is strong enough, it will outperform the 6.5 creed and 260 rem.

The 6.5x55 does have 10% more case capacity than Creedmore, 260Rem and 6.5x47, but also needs a Long action. It did suffer from being labeled a low pressure calibre dating back a century. Probably why factory ammo is conservative. But if you reload in a modern action then for sure it is slightly bigger calibre than the Short action trio.

[MachV]

LOL years ago i bought what the pawn shop guy called an Argentine mauser. I knew it was a sporterized Sweede with a ruff bore and wanted it for a 7x57 swap. Problem was when i shot the little engineers cabine I fell in luv with it! Its been one of my favorites since.
Hard to go wrong with the 6.5x55!

[Old Bob]

The R & P club I belong to used to have a military rifle club match. The few guys shooting 6.5x55 Swedes were hard to beat. Most were shooting hand loads. Don't know their particular recipes but I'm fairly sure they were hotter than factory.