6.5x55/SCAN

[Alpha1]

I have acquired a set of Hornady custom grade new dimension full length dies. With a micrometer seating die. Can you use these for 6.5x55 Swedish.

Its not a caliber I am familiar with.

[Sim G]

6.5x55 Skan is a modern take on the Swede cartridge but loaded to modern pressures. The Skan is a tad longer to prevent it being loaded into the chambers of older guns in the Swede flavour. Yes they can be used to load the shorter cartridge, I believe, but remember somewhere it being said that you have to be loading the Swede cartridges to maximum length. Could be mistaken on that.

[Sandgroper]

As far as I am aware the SKAN is just a modern high pressure loading of the 6.5x55 - http://www.vihtavuori.com/en/reloading- ... -skan.html - I would imagine you should be good to go with those dies.

Beat me to it, Simon!

[Alpha1]

I guess the micrometer seater should be OK. I might try and full length size a few cases just to see how they compare to the 6.5x55.

I got the dies given so nothing lost.

[Alpha1]

I googled it the dimensions are different I dont think the full length die is any use but the seater will probably work.

[Alpha1]

Whats even more interesting I think I might be able to fit the micrometer seating stem onto my Hornady .222 seating die.

[Alpha1]

The micrometer seating stem works with my .222 die. It will also work for 6.55x55. So a result the sizing die is no good to me I have never heard of any one shooting this caliber so Ill probably just bin it.

[Sim G]

The micrometer seating stem works with my .222 die. It will also work for 6.55x55. So a result the sizing die is no good to me I have never heard of any one shooting this caliber so Ill probably just bin it.

There was a Sauer 202 Wolverine in 6.5x55 Skan advertised in the for sale section of this forum for several months.......

And you were the second post on the thread!

http://full-bore.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... =Wolverine

[Alpha1]

I posted a link to a web site for some reason. I see you were quite interested in the rifle. As I said Its not a caliber I am familiar with I have never come across any one who shoots this caliber or reloads for it. I certainly dont.

[Laurie]

The 'SKAN' is not materially different from the old 6.5X55 Swedish Mauser except in pressure levels. Because of its age and its dual nationality (Swedish / Norwegian parentage and military use), there were allegedly some small inconsistencies between the various case / round / chamber drawings and specifications in use. More seriously, MAP levels set for a cartridge adopted in 1894 and for firearms of that era - especially the weak Norwegian Krag Jorgenson action - weren't appropriate for strong modern rifles depriving the cartridge of much of its potential performance.

So, some years back the Scandinavian countries with an interest in the cartridge agreed a common set of dimensions and a new MAP (Maximum Average Chamber Pressure) limit of 3,800 bar / 55,114 psi using the modern Piezo crystal measurement system and registered the cartridge as such in CIP, but only for modern firearms.

AFAIK, the SKAN dimensions only vary slightly from their predecessors - dimensions ranges across the various interested parties differed only by small amounts and may well have been for leade and throat dimensions rather than the case and its section of the chamber. 6.5X55 SKAN dies should therefore work perfectly well for loading ammunition for historic Mausers, and likewise older dies for ammunition intended for use in modern rifles. (I'm not sure most American reloading tool companies have changed anything anyway, especially as they work to a third set of standards and potentially dimensions, the cartridge being registered with their standards body, SAAMI and there have been no changes made there.)

The changes / upgrades should mean that any modern European sporting rifles have near identical chambers, freebore etc, and that those ammunition companies operating under CIP regulations will likely adopt the higher pressure standards for sporting ammunition. Having chronographed Lapua 139gn Scenar match ammunition, it would appear to be loaded to older specs, ie ~45,000 psi. That would make sense for match / FMJ ammunition, buyers potentially intending to use it in historic arms. It would suggest though that the use of off the shelf sporting ammunition (which will become legal again later this year for target etc use after the distinction between non expanding and expanding bullets / ammunition is abolished under British law) in historic arms might risk using over-pressure ammunition.

Although these changes make life simpler for some users, it makes it more complicated for others, as there are now in effect three pressure standards in operation - CIP Swedish Mauser and SKAN; US SAAMI 46,000 CUP using the old copper crusher system which will fall between the other two. In practice, I suspect few US companies load 6.5X55 to that value and like 8X57 Mauser massively underload the round in fear of it being used in the oldest, weakest and worst condition 19th century rifle around. Certainly chronographing some modern Hornady 140gn PSP deer ammunition gave low and very variable MVs in a 30-inch barrel F-Class rifle and a bit of QuickLOAD modelling suggested it had been loaded to around 35,000 psi pressure levels.

Likewise, Viht and Hodgdon aside it is sometimes difficult to know what pressures handloading data are intended to produce. Hodgdon shows pressure for most of its maximum loadings and choosing a couple at random came up with figures only a little below the SAAMI 46,000 CUP level and with respectable MVs for 140s around 2,600 fps for a 24-inch barrel. In Viht's case, its current online data tables have two 6.5X55 entries - Swedish and more heavily loaded SKAN. Taking its data for the recently introduced 136gn Scenar-L (therefore both versions recently worked up and calibrated), the SKAN data has a 1.9gn higher maximum load of N160 than for the Swedish Mauser - 47.1gn v 45.2gn.