A very forgiving cartridge with respect to accuracy. The old Swede is probably not the most optimal cartridge to work with in these low velocity loads, but it sure is accurate through out a wide variety of bullet velocities.
![subsonic rounds dead by light subsonic rounds dead by light](https://tacticalgunreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/DSCF0087-3.jpg)
Has anyone got some starting loads Edit - some online research indicates 12gn is the magic number, so I will load a few up to try and report back. I have some of the new Hornady 190gn 'Sub-X' proj and some ADI Trailboss powder or some AP70n. From what I have read about Trailboss, it would most probably allow me to load a little lighter then what Unique could safely allow.įor now, I need to get hold of a working cronograph and see exactly how fast this round is. Im wanting to experiment with some subsonic. It would be too little powder relative to case volume and I would fear The thing with the 6.5x55 is that I would not want to load less then 8gr of Unique. If anyone has any suggestions on a good chronograph please let me know. The one I had lasted about five shots and then started reading erratic. I have not seen reduced rifle loads made anywhere with 296 or 231. The Winchester powders are not too fluffy. The pistol powders I have on hand are Unique, Winchester 231 and 296. The big thing was how quiet the load was compared to a standard load with around 39 grains of 3031 behind a 120 gr bullet.
![subsonic rounds dead by light subsonic rounds dead by light](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6527271.1658402098!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg)
I used Unique since I have around 10 lbs of it. Supposed to fill up a lot of case volume relative to charge weight. I have heard that the Trailboss is excellent. Does anyone else have experience with reduced and or subsonic loads for the 6.5X55 Swede or the. I'd imagine with a suppressor this round in this Mauser would be very quiet indeed. Although I believe the 107's were traveling beyond the speed of sound, the sound level of this round is very low. I also plan to try 140 gr HPBT Sierra Match bullets to see if I may actually be able to slow the round down even more, possibly achieving a true subsonic velocity. I plan to reload another batch of 5 - 10 with 8.7 gr of Unique and bench rest shoot them to see how accurate this round is. I did notice the round was reasonably accurate with no tumbling bullets (no keyholes in the target.) But I was just shooting off hand to see if the rounds would even work safely in the gun. 8.7gr should bring me to 30% of case volume with Unique. With the old 6.5x55, the case can hold a maximum of 29 gr of Unique, making my load a tad under 30%. I have read in a couple places about the 30% rule for filling a case no less then 30% of capacity. As soon as the trigger was pulled, the round went off. With this round I had no problems with ignition.
![subsonic rounds dead by light subsonic rounds dead by light](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0459/2327/0818/products/Death-Note-L-Poster_701x995.jpg)
I used a standard Remington brass case, with a CCI 250 large rifle primer, a 107 gr Sierra HPBT Match bullet and 8 gr of Alliant Unique powder. I shot these rounds out of a modified Husqvarna Swedish Mauser with a 22" barrel. I do not have a working chronometer anymore, but I can tell you that this round is about as loud as a Remington target. I should probably start by saying that these may not be below 1150 fps. I just tested out some reduced loads (possibly subsonic) I loaded a day ago and they worked great.