6.5 x 06 recoil question

[George Az]

I know recoil is a perception. I can say I understand the difference between a .308 and an 30-06. I can easily deal with .308 recoil using 150's and after a while the 180's in an 30-06 start causing some flinching. So, if I were to go to a 6.5 x 06 and make the barrel a med palma contour at 24-26 inches, how is the recoil? I am going back and forth between the .260 and 6.5 x 06, I think the 6.5 x 06 has an edge for hunting, especially on elk - I know the .260 is fine for mulies and white tails/antelope, but I am a little concerned vs elk. I am thinking 140s are the way to go for hunting.

I have long action and I am about 2 days off from dropping it off. Any help would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[jakelly]

I went with the 6.5-06 ackley. A beaut of a cartridge. Don't believe the myths about ackley improving not producing enough velocity gains, it does. Throat it long and use h1000. 3100 plus is doable and from what is being discussed by GAP it sounds like using h1000 might give the velocity and barrel life edge to the 06 AI.

Recoil is the same as a 270, just gets a bit jumpy as pressure rises. I can shoot max pressure loads for 50 without fatigue with a plastic butt-pad. It's a nonfactor IMO.

 

[fdkay]

My Dad used his 6.5x55 on elk, the Swedes use it on their moose all the time (about the size of our elk).
The 6.5-06 or x55 will work fine for your intended purpose.
He used the woodleigh protected point 160 gr bullet.

 

[Layton]

+1 6.5x55. You can get factory ammo and if you reload, Lapua brass is cheap and it will outrun the 260 a little.

L

 

[bohem]

It's a question of overall rifle weight, but my old 6.5-06 that was 13# (shooting trim) was not bad whatsoever. Felt recoil is a balance between total moving mass (powder/bullet) at a given speed but also the peak pressure for a given bullet weight, caliber to caliber.

The AI version is a good boost in performance, in the 6.5-06 and 280 Rem you get enough benefit to be worth it IMO but the 30-06 doesn't give enough because you're losing a lot of the wasted volume of the shoulder space. Similarly there's an even bigger benefit with a 6mm-06 AI over a regular 6mm-06.

My rifle with a 28" barrel pushed the 140 Berger VLD to 3200fps in standard trim with Retumbo. A 26" hunting rifle with 130's and 140's is really well suited to H1000, a buddy and I found H1000 to be optimal with the 140 Amax as well, the longer bearing surface on the bullet doesn't trade off well with the REtumbo.

 

[VKC]

I would go with a 6.5-06 or a 6.5x284 if you plan to mostly use if for hunting. That extra velocity is nice to have pushing the Berger 140 hunting bullets. But is at the expense of shorter barrel life, which for a hunting rifle is not a big deal. Recoil is definitely less than a 30-06 and a little less than a 308win depending on load.

 

[GePe]

I have a 6,5-06 AI and that is someting I regret. Difficult to get good velocity. I would go for a 6,5x55 AI today and a 28" barrel. I have friends and customers that shoots Berger 130s with such configuration in 3300+ fps with very good precision and without any pressure signs on the brass.
And you can shoot factory 6,5x55 ammo with good results in the same rifle for fireforming or if you run out of your AI ammo.

 

[DocB]

George,

Have had the 6.5-06, 6.5x284, and the 6.5x55, don't know about the AI versions. Converted the 6.5x284 to 6.5x55 and haven't looked back. I'd do the same with the 6.5-06, but a buddy sold me the rifle and he may want it back as-is.

HTH,
DocB

 

[creech]

6.5x55 is a huge caliber in Scandinavian countries for moose. 6.5 will do for elk.