Norwegian Krag 6.5x55 safe loads!

[Sunshineboys]

I am about to reload for my Krag in 6.5x55 Swedish. I have IMR 4895 and would like to use it with 140 grain bullets. I have been reading for hours about safe loads in this rifle. Can someone enlighten me please. I also have 4831 and 4350 but have much more 4895. Dave

[KingsPointer]

What I have done for my 6.5x55 Krag loads is to use 1 grain more than the starting load and not get too worked up about it. So far this has worked just fine for me with IMR 4064 and H380, so I would think you'd be perfectly fine with IMR 4895. While you could probably safely load well beyond this point, I haven't felt the need.

[Sunshineboys]

Thanks KingsPointer. I was thinking of doing just that. Your comments will give me some “shove” to try it. There is such confusion regarding the factory rounds for 6.5x55. I will try 32.0 of 4831. Dave

[Culpeper]

Greetings, Sunshineboys. Ummmmm. I am wondering if you have any load books. Something did not ring well with me and I am not a Swede guy. Yet. I was wondering what speed you were thinking of running. The lowest speed tested for H4831 is 2300 fps and the charge is 38.6 grains.

I know the bullet will not get lodged in the barrel but I don't want to see you get hemmed up trying to come up with a good load. I hope I am not butting in too much.

Culpeper

[butlersrangers]

I 'bumped' a couple of old KCA Forum threads that discussed the issues of reloading 6.5 X 55 mm ammunition, for the Norwegian Krag.

These can be found in Older Threads - 'Norwegian Sporter Krag' and European Krags - 'Finally got a Norwegian Krag'.

I would be comfortable loading for a 6.5 X 55 mm Norwegian Krag, using IMR-4895, IMR-4064, or IMR-3031.

I would use 'starting loads' and maybe 'work-up' by a couple grains.

With 140 grain bullets, I would start with 32.5 grains of IMR-4895 and work up to 35.5 grains, settling for what gave the best accuracy,
and stopping, if I began to see any excessive pressure signs with my brass.

With slow powders, like 4831, and too light a charge, you run the risk of 'detonation'.

Get a good up-to-date manual like Hornady's or Speer's.

BTW - Hornady 'starts' with 39.6 grains of H4831 with the 140 grain bullet (at 2100 fps).

Lots of the internet data for the "6.5 Swede" uses Norma powders, that I don't have.

[madsenshooter]

There is a lot of 6.5x55 data with start pressures and some relatively mild max pressures of around 46,000CUP on the Hodgdon reloading website. Pretty good selection of powders used too.

[Bernt]

Sunshineboys: Here's Krag reloading data from the Norwegian reloaders manual.
Btw, your rifle isn't chambered in 6,5x55 Swedish (which is the Swedish version of the cartridge), but in 6,5x55 Krag or Norwegian. The Krag case is about .039 inches (0,1 mm) longer from the head to the neck.

[Parashooter]

. . . The Krag case is about .039 inches (0,1 mm) longer from the head to the neck.

Oops! Misplaced decimal. 0,1mm is actually .0039 inches.

What do you think of this assertion from Wikipedia?

Swedish and Norwegian chamber differences rumor
Some historians have assumed that there was a difference in cartridge blueprint measurements between Swedish and Norwegian 6.5×55mm ammunition, but this may be unintentional. Due to different interpretations of the blueprint standard, i.e. the standards of manufacturing using maximum chamber in the Krag vs. minimum chamber in the Swedish Mauser, a small percentage of the ammunition produced in Norway proved to be slightly oversize when chambered in the Swedish Mauser action, i.e. requiring a push on the bolt handle to chamber in the Swedish arm. A rumor arose not long after the 6.5×55mm cartridge was adopted that one could use Swedish ammunition in Norwegian rifles, but not Norwegian ammunition in Swedish rifles.[6] Some even alleged that this incompatibility was deliberate, to give Norway the tactical advantage of using captured ammunition in a war, while denying the same advantage to Sweden. However, after the rumor first surfaced in 1900, the issue was examined by the Swedish military. They declared the difference to be insignificant, and that both the Swedish and Norwegian ammunition were within the specified parameters laid down. Despite this finding, the Swedish weapon-historian Josef Alm repeated the rumor in a book in the 1930s, leading many to believe that there was a significant difference between the ammunition manufactured in Norway and Sweden.[6]

[Bernt]

OOps!
Yes, that's the old story. In 1990 when the scandinavian shooting organizations adopted the Sauer 200 STR as a standard target rifle, they remedied the difference by introducing the Skan chamber. It's dimentiones are between the Krag and the Mauser.