S_S_2015_05_

86 SHOOTING SPORTS MAGAZINE

FIREARMS | PRODUCT TEST

CONTACT:

PPU 6.5 X 55
SWEDISH

Henry Krank
& Co Ltd,
0113 256 9163
henrykrank .com

FOR

Shoots well,

excellent price

Not a lot

AGAINST

VERDICT

Accurate,

consistent and

effective

Great value

for money

PPU 6.5 x 55 Swedish

❚ Prices per 100:

❚ 139-grain SP/BT £62.85

❚ 156-grain SP/FB £62.85

❚ Contcat: Henry Krank & Co Ltd,

0113 256 9163

❚ http://www.henrykrank .com

{ }TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Old Softies

Pete Moore considers two loadings of what is probably

Britain’s favourite metric calibre

S

ome calibres survive the test

of time and others don’t!

Truth is the ones that do

mainly seem to stem from military

roots. For me four standout – 45-70

Government, 8x57mm Mauser, 30-06

Springfi eld and 6.5x55mm (6.5

Swedish). For us the Swede is

unusual as it stands in a country

that in the main uses American

calibres as by far the most popular

metric ever!

It’s not overly powerful with

pressures purposely kept low to suit

its original rifl e - the M96 Swedish

Mauser - which does not have the

action strength of the later M98.

Meaning today factory ammo does

not realise its full potential that

could offer more in modern and

stronger actions! It’s the bullet that

really makes it, as the 6.5mm

projectile is long and offers a good

cross sectional area and density and

therefore excellent penetration

properties for the hunter. On the

target line the long shape with good

ballistic coeffi cients (BCs) makes it a

tack driver too.

THE FLYING PENCIL

I’m looking at two hunting loadings

for this old timer from Prvi Partizan

(PPU) - the 139 and 156-grain soft

tips, which look near identical. They

both show a large, exposed lead tip

with the 156 being a tiny bit longer.

The major difference is the 139

offers a boat tail base, which should

make it cut the air more effi ciently,

whereas the 156 is a fl at base. On

taking either apart it’s plain to see

the slim 6.5 calibre projectile is very

long in comparison to its diameter

and I often liken the build to a pencil

that just keeps pushing through the

target. I shoot a number of 6.5

calibre rifl es – Grendel, Creedmoor

and the old Swede and have always

had excellent pass throughs on all

the deer I have shot. To further

illustrate this and despite its

apparent lack of speed the 6.5x55 is

the entry level Moose cartridge in

Sweden and it has taken some really

big animals!

I used my Mauser M03 for the

test rifl e with a 23” barrel fi tted with

a MaccTecc compact moderator.

First of all don’t expect this to be a

fast cartridge, but do expect

accuracy! PPU quotes some modest

fi gures: 139-grain SP/BT 775m/2542

fps and 156-grain 730m/2395 fps.

However, in real time these come

down a bit to 2408 fps/1798 ft/lbs

and 2240 fps/1753 ft/lbs

accordingly. What did surprise me was

the extreme velocity spread (ES) with

the 139-grainer giving a ridiculous

2.88 fps and the 156 a most

acceptable 18 fps.

OLD BUT GOOD

Accuracy? Well as always the Swede

does not disappoint! The 139 has a

BC of 0.490 (very respectable) and

was giving 0.7” while the 156 (BC

0.348) gave 1” off the bench at

100m. As can be imagined the

ballistic curve is somewhat

pronounced but that to a degree can

be adjusted on your zero point. Ammo

is well presented in the new look box

with plastic and not card dividers.

Brass is Boxer-primed and of good

quality for reloading. PPU also offers a

123-grain SP loading too, unusual but

at a quoted 2705 fps/2000 ft/lbs

fl attens the curve a bit and should do

well on most deer species.

PU now use plastic dividers in their

ammo, which is a big improvement

over cardboard!

Produced in 1891 the old

6.5x55 Swedish is still

going strong for both

hunting and target shooting

Left – 156-grain with its longer bullet-

right the 139-grain SP/BT load which

offers better speed and energy