Riding High – The 6.5mms
IN the beginning there were at least seven 6.5mm military and fifteen European sporting cartridges and the British listed four more – the 256 Gibbs Magnum, the 26 BSA.256 Fraser and.256 Swift. Most of these dated back to the late 1800s and are obsolete and long forgotten, but there’s one notable survivor – no treatise on the emergence of the 6.5mm calibre would be complete without mention of the venerable 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser. Designed as a military cartridge 127 years ago, the cartridge still sees widespread use in Scandinavian countries for hunting game up to the size of moose and is still relatively popular here and in America.
Prior to World War 1, Charles Newton a brilliant gun and cartridge designer was the first American to bring out a 6.5 which he called the.256 Newton (for the rifle’s bore diameter). It was made by slightly shortening and necking down the.30-06 case. Various ammo makers made ammunition for it, but shortly before World War II it was declared obsolete and became a wildcat cartridge. During the 1930s American wildcatters had a field day designing 6.5s – you’ll find close to two dozen listed in Ackley’s Handbook. They range
