Reloader 23 in 6.5x55 Swede

xsn10s said:

I'd probably call Sierra and Alliant to see if their ballistics lab tried RL23 with the 130gr Gamechanger. They may give you some guidelines on a load.

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Thank you for the advice. I bought a copy of the Sierra 6 manual in the hope that they would have this info included but although they mentioned that the 130gr Game Changer would add to the versatility of the 6.5x55 Swede they had no loading info for any of their 130gr bullets. I emailed them and was told that they haven't done load development for the 130gr bullets.

can1010 said:

start at 45.0 RL-23 max will be around 50.0 that is using 130 sierra tmk at 3.1 coal.
rws brass is known to be thick so check your case capacity. I was using the default of 57.0 capacity. you might need a drop tube with that brass

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can1010 thank you for your help, this info is great. Before I started this thread I searched the web and did find a couple of loads that basically mirror what you have posted. The thing is I trust the guys on this site where as some other sites make me cringe. I loaded up some rounds starting at 46gr through to 48.5gr in 1/2gr steps but haven't fired them yet so now I will load up a couple more at 45gr. There was still room in the case at 48.5 grains.
Like you I thought the RWS brass would be less capacity so I weighed them and a new lot of Lapua 6.5x55mm brass and the results surprised me.
RWS ave 174.4 grains
Lapua ave 179.5 grains.
Thanks again for the info.

Oldschool280 said:

I just poked around a little and saw the data on alliants website. They have a load at 41.5 for a 140 gameking yielding 2500ish that load must be must be for the krag, I have a huskym-96 and load it to 2700 fps with rl22, in the the 45-46 grain area. As far as rl 23 I would start with alliants load of 41.5 and work up. Assuming you are familiar with pressure signs

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Oldschool280. It is nice to see a reloader show concern regarding pressure signs for their fellow reloaders, thank you. I have been reloading for 40 odd years and have a library of reloading manuals but even in the latest manuals they are still loading for 96 Mauser with a 29" barrel. I was surprised that Alliant only list Rel 23 in the Military loads and not in the Modern Strong Action loads. I guess they are too busy working up loads for the 6.5CM and 6.5PRC.

To all that have contributed to my thread I wish to thank you, I will update this post with my findings once I get to the range.

kiwikid said:

Hello to all.
Has anyone worked up a load using Rel 23 in a modern 6.5x55 Swede that they can share with me please. I am trying to find a start load using RWS brass, Fed 210M primers and hopefully a Sierra
130 grain Game Changer (TGK). This will be used in a Carl Gustaf Model 3000, this is the same as a Colt Sauer or Sauer Model 90. All help will be appreciated.
kiwikid.

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I have a 6.5 Swede and use Lapua brass, ccibr2 primers, and 136 Lapua scenar bullet. It shot well with 47 grains of rl22. Wanted to work Rl23 for temp stability. Started at 45 grains and went to 47. Great node at 45.5 grains. Rifle rem 700 LA with PTG one piece stainless bolt blue printed. Douglas target barrel 27 inches long heavy varmint contour 1:8 twist. Housed in Bobby Hart lrt stock with aluminum block. Stockeys heavy duty Obendorph trigger guard. This obviously is for modern rifles only and is not for RWS brass. Should mention running 0.002 neck tension. One last comment. I seat the bullet out with an overall COAL of 3.008 inches. I am 0.002 off the lands. I have seen no pressure signs such as hard bolt opening, extractor marks on brass or flattened primers. Velocity for RL22 was 2883 fps. Have not checked RL 23 because still testing. Keep that in mind. Seating out helos in lowering pressures.

Sorry for being so slow here the powder weight of RL23 is 50.0 grains. Some Quick Loads loads may be hot so start a little under 10% less to be safe.

merbeau said:

I have a 6.5 Swede and use Lapua brass, ccibr2 primers, and 136 Lapua scenar bullet. It shot well with 47 grains of rl22. Wanted to work Rl23 for temp stability. Started at 45 grains and went to 47. Great node at 45.5 grains. Rifle rem 700 LA with PTG one piece stainless bolt blue printed. Douglas target barrel 27 inches long heavy varmint contour 1:8 twist. Housed in Bobby Hart lrt stock with aluminum block. Stockeys heavy duty Obendorph trigger guard. This obviously is for modern rifles only and is not for RWS brass. Should mention running 0.002 neck tension. One last comment. I seat the bullet out with an overall COAL of 3.008 inches. I am 0.002 off the lands. I have seen no pressure signs such as hard bolt opening, extractor marks on brass or flattened primers. Velocity for RL22 was 2883 fps. Have not checked RL 23 because still testing. Keep that in mind. Seating out helos in lowering pressures.

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Thank you for the info merbeau. Can you please tell me why you say that these loads are not for RWS brass? My experience with RWS brass suggests that it is very good quality.

WildBillG said:

Sorry for being so slow here the powder weight of RL23 is 50.0 grains. Some Quick Loads loads may be hot so start a little under 10% less to be safe.

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Thank you WildBillG, at this stage I have loaded from 45gr to 48.5gr but haven't managed to get out and try it yet.

kiwikid said:

Thank you for the info merbeau. Can you please tell me why you say that these loads are not for RWS brass? My experience with RWS brass suggests that it is very good quality.

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Did not mean to say not for RWS, just that I used Lapua in my testing. I use RWS for my 7mm mag. Good brasd.

kiwikid said:

Thank you WildBillG, at this stage I have loaded from 45gr to 48.5gr but haven't managed to get out and try it yet.

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I did not say do not use RWS, just that in my testing I used Lapua. I use RWS in a 7mm mag. Very good brass.

kiwikid said:

Thank you for the info merbeau. Can you please tell me why you say that these loads are not for RWS brass? My experience with RWS brass suggests that it is very good quality.

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Back from range. Final load of 44.5 grains RL23 reproduced group produced at 47.0 grains of RL 22 powder. Velocity was a little slower 2860 compared to 2883 but the SD was lowder 6 compared to 8 fps. One last thing. My rifle does not like the brass to exceed 2.1605 - the groups open up. I have seen articles saying that the Swede is sensitive to brass length. Good luck with your testing. Attached is photo of 5 shot group. Temp. was 36 F, humidity 65%, Pressure 30.12, Sky cloudy, wind 3 mph and elevation 810 feet. Shot 100 yds. using Bald Eagle F class rest and rear leaf sandbag.

Cheers.
Robert

I'm just starting to experiment with Re23 in my 300 Win Mag. As you've shown, it takes quite a bit less powder of Re23 to nearly duplicate Re22 velocities. In reference to Quickload, reality is not following the model. I messed with a few parameters, and it seems like Re23 is more similar to a hypothetical Re18. Not a problem with the lighter bullets I typically shoot, but something to realize going forward at least in reference to Quickload or anyone loading Re23 with Re22 experience.

merbeau said:

Back from range. Final load of 44.5 grains RL23 reproduced group produced at 47.0 grains of RL 22 powder. Velocity was a little slower 2860 compared to 2883 but the SD was lowder 6 compared to 8 fps. One last thing. My rifle does not like the brass to exceed 2.1605 - the groups open up. I have seen articles saying that the Swede is sensitive to brass length. Good luck with your testing. Attached is photo of 5 shot group. Temp. was 36 F, humidity 65%, Pressure 30.12, Sky cloudy, wind 3 mph and elevation 810 feet. Shot 100 yds. using Bald Eagle F class rest and rear leaf sandbag.

Cheers.
Robert

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Very nice. Looks like you totally failed to have a bad time.

That'll do pig. That'll do.

Finally I got to the range to try the 6.5x55 Swede Rel 23 loads with Sierra 130 gr TGK bullets in RWS once fired brass which I annealed and neck sized. Fed 210M primers. The rifle is a Carl Gustaf 3000 with 24" barrel (similar to Colt Sauer). Velocities were recorded with a LabRadar and groups were shot at 100 metres. COAL is 80mm or 3.15", 0.030 off the lands. All loads were 3 shots.

45 grains 2581 fps (the 45 and 46 were shot together so no
46 grains 2644 fps ES or SD)
46.5 grains 2681 fps ES 12 fps SD 6.8 fps
47 grains 2711 fps ES 29.4 fps SD 15.5 fps
47,5 grains 2751 fps ES 11 fps SD 5.6 fps
48 grains 2783 fps ES 22.9 fps SD 11.45 fps
48.5 grains 2812 fps ES 36.4 SD 18.4 fps

48 gr was the best group at 0.433 MOA, 48,5 gr was the next best at 0.574 MOA.
There were no pressure signs and the primers are still rounded so I will now load up more at 49, 49.5 and 50gr to see if I can find another faster node with low ES and SD.