6.5 swede bolt head diameter

In the near future, i plan on building a rifle in 6.5X55 on a savage 116 action. My question is, since the rim diameter for the swede is .480 instead of the standard .473, does any issue exist using a standard bolt face? Also, the rim thickness on the swede is .059, whereas it is .049 on a 30-06 for example. Any issues there? I have heard that American ammo manufacturers just use standard dimensions in the 6.5 swede brass, but I have a bunch of once fired European 6.5 swede brass, so I want to make sure this will work without too much trouble.

I built one on a 110 action, and have no problem using Win brass. The smiths at Brownells will tell you the same.

The standard bolt faces are quite oversized so I don't doubt it a bit.

Got several wildcats based on that brass, never had any trouble in mine.

Lapua brass fits perfectly in a standard boltface on my project gun based on a 111 action. I'd say it's better than .473 ammo due to the fact that their is less slop so the primer will be centered better. The extractor has ample clearance as well.

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I have heard that American ammo manufacturers just use standard dimensions in the 6.5 swede brass

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American brass will be .473 vs the true dimension of .480 which can result in a bulge at the base of the case. How much of a difference this makes on shooting I don't know, but it seems better to run properly sized components when possible.

Jeremey

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Originally Posted by pa_wdchuckhuntr

Lapua brass fits perfectly in a standard boltface on my project gun based on a 111 action. I'd say it's better than .473 ammo due to the fact that their is less slop so the primer will be centered better. The extractor has ample clearance as well.

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I have heard that American ammo manufacturers just use standard dimensions in the 6.5 swede brass

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American brass will be .473 vs the true dimension of .480 which can result in a bulge at the base of the case. How much of a difference this makes on shooting I don't know, but it seems better to run properly sized components when possible.

Jeremey

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Correct. American brass uses .473".

My 6.5x55 AI on the Savage action does rather well in the accuracy department.

I have used Winchester, Remington, PMC, Norma and Lapua in my Swede that started life as a Savage 110 Package rifle in 30/06. They all have worked in my A&B 6.5x55 barrel. :)

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Originally Posted by Apache

Got several wildcats based on that brass, never had any trouble in mine.

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on 6.5x55? what are they do tell? 8) dd

Thanks guys. I thought it would probably work out fine, but wanted to talk to someone who had actually done it.

If you measure actual brass you will be in for quite a shocker. I have Norma (40 cases), Lapua (100 cases), Rem (500 cases), Win (500 cases). I have done a lot of measuring of them all. Now most folks will tell you that Lapua is The Gold Standard *tm*, I tend to agree actually. The shocker is this: Win and Lapua are *EXTREMELY SIMILAR IN MOST RESPECTS!!* The only real differences are in how tight they keep the overall QA, the Lapua is better. Now, Remington is also good but it is lighter and it really does measure "American" rather than Euro-Real-Deal.

So, I have and use them all. Of course I prefer Lapua but it is kind of expensive. My Solid 2nd choice is the Winchester brass. I actually have 2 swedes and the remington I mostly use in my hunter, it works very well for it. The Lapua, and prepped Win I use in my long range savage/swede. I believe you will enjoy your swede based on the 116 savage ;D

What barrel configuration were you planning on if I may ask?

Good shooting,
Gary

This project is still in the planning stage, but I am leaning towards Shilen. I plan on making this my primary hunting rifle and I enjoy hunting the high country, so keeping that in mind, I am open to suggestions as far as barrel contour and stock selection.

diriel- not meaning to hijack the thread, but do you think Lapua brass is worth the difference in price? I wanted Savage to make me a 6.5 Swede to match my 257 Roberts, but they can't. I guess that I will make it a project rifle, starting with a left-hand 116, but I was looking at the cost of brass from Lapua, Norma, WW, and Remington. This will be for a hunting rifle, but hopefully I can get under 1" groups and can play with it out to 600 yds.
Any recommendations for barrels?

with Win brass that is un-prepped I can pretty easily maintain 1" or less. To be honest, the Win brass is well worth buying. Lapua is great stuff, but it is pricey.

As for barrel contour, for mountain / carry use I would probably go with a #4 or magnum type contour. Length wise a 24" barrel will get you good velocity, but honestly even a 20" seems to hold pretty good. The only reason I say 20 is because you said it will be a high country rifle. Do you plan on making really long shots? If so, then go with the longest barrel you think you can carry. If you keep ranges some what reasonable then 20 or 22" should work quite well. I once had an 18" barreled swede, velocity did suffer, it was accurate and hammered game well though.

Good hunting,
Gary

FWIW,

I built my 6.5 x 55 Swede in 2008. I used a Model 12 action. (Yeah, it's a short action....but short actions will work with the Swede. Even with using Berger 140gr. VLD bullets, they will just....and I mean just, clear the action. But it does work.)

Two of the gun's favorite loads are Berger 140gr. VLD's and RL-22 and the other is the Barnes 120gr. Triple X over RL-22. For the Berger, I go a bit over the max recommended load and get about 2800fps velocity as measured about 10 feet from the muzzle on my chronograph.

The pic below was from a 5 shot group at 100 yards, with the 140 gr. bergers. This was when the barrel was still pretty new. It's gotten better since....and the Barnes triple-X's just make one ragged hole at 100 yards.

Love the Swede. All the downrange energy of the .308 and none of the recoil!!! I hope this helps.

[img width=600 height=450]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/davemuzz/DSC00660.jpg[/img]

Dave

@usafa71,

You asked about barrels, I didn't mention any names. Opps. Shilen, Lothar Walther, and Pac-nor all come to mind as having savage pre-fit barrels. I have a pac-nor on my most current build, and it is pretty nice. I also have a LW on another savage in swede and it absolutely hammers. I do not have any Shilen's but just to say I do have one, my next build will probably have one. Any one of the above mentioned should do quite nicely. I admit of the 2 i do have, that LW seems to just Hammer though. Could have been luck of the draw or what ever, but it is one sweet rifle.

Good hunting,
Gary