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Hey Warwick, great to hear from you.

COAL will need to be 79.5mm (remember to jot down the proj length based on averages as per the book).

Test loads from 44 to 46.5gr 2209 in your rifle. It has a nice strong action and standard throat etc.

This one should be smooth sailing with a bit of luck.

Hi Sully, this is stretching the memory a bit but let's see.

Warwick's rifle was (is) as Saako 75 stainless. The max OAL with the 140gr A-MAX (ELD-M) was 82mm as he quoted it. This is actually the same OAL as a military M94 rifle.

If Warwick was to seat to the lands, the projectile would be too far out of the case neck. The neck would have a poor grip on the bullet. the ammo could also be easily bumped and bent out of concentricity during handling. So I suggested he seat his ammo so that the bullet boattail / bearing surface junction is flush with the case shoulder / neck junction. In the past I have called this 'seating for concentricity' (rather than seating to the lands), though it is not an altogether suitable term. This subject was covered in the reloading book, utilizing the .308 Winchester as an example.

Another factor to take into consideration is that the M94 rifle mag length is only 82mm. If you seat you ammo to this length, it will jam in the magazine. Ammo must must be seated shorter than the mag length to feed smoothly.

A final consideration is that sometimes, the max OAL of a 6.5x55 rifle may be as short as 79.5mm. It is therefore important to check the OAL for yourself rather than going off quoted numbers online etc.

Seating for concentricity versus seating to the lands is discussed in detail within the reloading book. Other factors pertaining to the Swede can be found in your cartridges book.

Hope that helps a bit Sully.