Built a 6.5x55 Swede on a flat-back Savage receiver last year. Did not want to go expensive or fancy but just to end up with an "old school", classic, walnut stocked Savage. Originally the Shaw barrel was 26" but I decided to cut it down to 22" to make it more "field friendly". Did not really do much load development until March. Had a box of Hornady 100gr Amax on hand and decided to go with IMR-3031(use of 3031 in the Swede has been a closely held secret among vintage Swede shooters :rolleyes:) and develop a good varmint load. So on a cold windy day in late March I got in my old Ranger pick-um-up truck and headed to the vast hinterlands of New Mexico to test out said load.
Considering I was shooting off the hood of my truck and was cold, I hate wind, I think things worked out fairly well. 10 Shot group was .95" but the first two were from a cold squeaky-clean barrel and the last 8 ended up at .70"
