Loading For Swede Carbine

[Patrick Chadwick]

In my estimation, anyone who wants to have a "hot" load for a milsurp has disqualified himself by showing an irresponsible attitude.

[harry mac]

In my estimation, anyone who wants to have a "hot" load for a milsurp has disqualified himself by showing an irresponsible attitude.

I'm not after a "hot" load Pat. I was just thinking along the lines of using maybe N150 instead of N160 to try and avoid blowing half the powder out of the muzzle. I don't even hot-rod my P14 hunting rounds, I'm not about to risk ruining the Swede.

[browningautorifle]

loading hot for his 6.5 swede

Perhaps I've over emphasised the load, he loaded to the maximum but I doubt hotter than the spec called for. I still would load what factory calls for.

[Ovidio]

That is, in fact, the only cartridge I did not test much with.
N140 is the fastest powder accepted, with light bullets at that.
With N150, my 140grs fmjbt bullets behave very well.

[harry mac]

Well, I got the Swede, but unfortunately, I missed out on the carbine. I was outbid on a sealed bid auction by a paltry £3 (It was a nice one too. That prompted some bad language, I can tell you!!).
Instead, I picked up a Carl Gustav M38, done on a 1908 M96 receiver.
I managed to get it to the range last week to try out with some N160 and H414 reloads and I put up some groups that showed promise.
Now, I have to admit that indoor lighting, my eyes and open sights are not a good mix and the best I managed was a bit over a 3", 5 shot group. I'm hoping I can improve on that on an outdoor range.
To be continued.

[André]

I'm handloading for my Carl Gustav M96 (anno 1901). I obtain good accuracy with N 160 / 44.0 behind 140 g bullets (SMK, Hornady) and 139 Lapua (my rifle prefers 140 to 120 g).

[harry mac]

Good news. I managed to get to the range again last week, and this time I took along some loads utilising 140grn Sierra Match Kings and 144grn Lapua Scenar bullets. I opted for the load which had given best accuracy with the cheap PPU bullets I used on my first outing, which was 44grn N160, and seated the bullets as far out as I was happy with (seated about half a calibre deep).
Because of the longer COAL, pressure was a little low in these and they produced smoke streaked cases, but I was very pleased with the accuracy this time out.
My next batch will be either a slightly heavier charge, or I'll seat the bullets a tad deeper to see if I can boost the pressure a little bit, but safe to say, "it's all looking very promising".

[OldManMontgomery]

In the not too distant future I shall be starting to load for a 6.5x55 M94 Swedish Cavalry carbine.

Congratulations! Great cartridge! Very advanced for a first (or maybe second) generation smokeless powder design.
And quite responsive and friendly.

I already have some N160, and this seems to be a recommended powder for this cartridge

Don't forget H380 and H4831.

However, would I be better off using something a little faster, bearing in mind the short barrel of the carbine?

Negative. Burn rate is based on sectional density of bullet (heavier bullet takes slower powder) and expansion ratio of interior of cartridge and bore (bigger diameter bores require a fast powder to keep up with the expanding volume). I tend to shoot heavy bullets like the 156/160 grain round nose types. Which is why I favor slower powders.

At least initially, I'll be using 139/140grn bullets, should I also switch to a lighter bullet?

Not a bad place to start for getting used to the round. The initial loading used a 160 grain bullet (just above 10 grams in metric) with a muzzle velocity of 2150 (give or take) in the short barreled carbine.

The 139 grain (9 gram) bullet was introduced in about 1941 and that loading was mainly used in the M38 (in between length) rifle.

I find a slightly less than maximum load of H4831 with the 160 grain Hornady bullet produces just over the advertised muzzle velocity of the M94 cartridge. In my rifle, of course. The rifle is sporterized but the barrel is stock. I find loading data in the Lyman #50 book. I'm also doing some preliminary research with H380, but have no conclusions as yet.

Still, burning rate is determined by bullet weight (sectional density) and expansion ratio, not barrel length.