WOW! I Love this place! ;D I told PaHog that the combined years of knowledge on here is absolutely priceless. Thank you all for your input, it does help with the indecisiveness. dcloco: all the reasons you listed are the ones that I have thought about, ie; cheap GOOD brass availability, of course the BC on the 6.5 projectiles, etc....

And yes, ArmedinUtah, the 6.5X55 is awesome in and of itself, but I just wanted a little more speed and thought that Improving it would be ideal. I was set on a .260 or .260AI for the longest, the .260AI after reading Terry Cross's article, and the fact that I love to convert brass, that is the hobby that I enjoy most.

I thought the .260 would be great for me simply for the conversion reason, converting from .30-06, .270, 7mm-08 etc, would be a labor of love for me. BUT, I realized that I will STILL be able to do plenty of conversion for the 6.5X55 or the Improved 55 as well.......Right?

The 55's case is easily made from the above mentioned parents is it not? I DO Realize the silliness of forming and converting when so much quality, match brass is out there for the 55 but HEY ::) I love to convert, what can I say? It's a hobby. I'm not a competition shooter, just a hobbyist that loves the thought of taking a piece of lead and firing it at such speeds and being able to hit a dime at 100 yards consistently. The physics involved and the pressures, the science and the magic of it all! :D

I believe that I am much closer to a decision, dcloco keeps talking and there will be no decision to make! :D
Besides the fact that I am going with a LA donor regardless of whether its a .260 or a 55 due to seating depth issues and what not on the 142's and VLD's in the .260, I lose nothing and gain speed without excessive pressure with the 55AI over the 260AI I would think. It seems to be a win, win.

Thanks again! Will post on progress of the build.