I have several of the 6.5x53.5mmR long guns. (I collect WW1 arms.) One rifle, one carbine - can't remember right now which carbine version - and one sporterized carbine that looks futuristic in the 1940s and 1950s style. Since the ammunition for the rifle/carbine has not been made since WW2 I have to make my own as well. I do have some original ammunition but NOT to waste; it's in my display case. What has to happen over all is the length of the case has to be reduced from the .303 Brit length to the 6.5x53.5mmR length, the shoulder set back (like the length) and the resulting cartridge to the configuration altered to fit the chamber. Using the 'official' specifications in the "5th Edition Ammo Encyclopedia" one finds some amazingly detailed (three or four decimal places). However, much of this is simple to do by using dies close enough to fit. Start with empty .303 British brass; it is about the same in rim diameter and base diameter. Here I mention that various brands of .303 brass will have slightly differing rim diameters. This may be true more of the 'lot' or batch made than the maker over all. I seem to have good results with R-P brass, but your mileage may vary. I do essentially as shown in the video, except: I prefer to anneal the case necks and shoulders prior to any forming. Step form the neck down (don't try to neck down from .311 to 6.5mm in one pass) with a neck sizing die somewhere between. .308 Winchester works, with the annealing and lubrication, 7mm Mauser would work, if one has a 7mm-08 die, that should work as well. Trim to length. The official name of the desired round is 6.5x53.5mmR. As mentioned I have a few rounds from WW2; I measured length of unfired ball ammo at 53.8 mm. There is 'tolerance' in all machined items. This is normally described as 'no more than this big and no less than that small'. Also keep in mind a conventional non-rimmed case head spaces on the shoulder. (That's what stops the round from sinking in the chamber too far.) This is a rimmed case, so the rim contacts the rear surface made to meet the rim of the case and that sets the headspace. But there is some leeway. What cannot be tolerated and can lead to damage is if the case is too long and chambering the round 'wedges' the case mouth between the bullet and the leade of the rifling. This can and will increase chamber pressure radically. Much like a bullet stuck in the bore. Bottom line: all other dimensions being adequate, a bit too short (a millimeter or so) is better than little too long. The good news. All the dimensions of the shoulder and stuff is made irrelevant by the final sizing-shaping die. The video shows using a 6.5x55mm (Swedish) Mauser die to finally reduce the neck to the proper size, this to ease the work on the case and equipment in the final full sizing step. Not a bad idea. One could also use the sizing die from a .260 Remington (should one have such a thing). One notes the 6.5 Creedmore is rather similar to the .260 Remington: They are essentially .308 Winchester necked down to 6.5 mm. I suggest lubricating heavily. Final sizing. The video suggests 6.5 Carcano sizing die. Good choice. However, if one checks the sizes of the respective cartridges, one finds an amazing resemblance between 6.5x53.5mmR, 6.5x54mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer, 6.5x52mm Carcano and 6.5x50mm Arisaka. They are - within tolerances - the same size and shape except for head styles. They all have roots in the Mannlicher design shop. (Fascinating story if one is a history or history of firearms buff .) I have dies for Mannlicher-Schoenauer and Carcano. I have used the M-S, and I will try the Carcano dies as well. I also endorse the idea of turning the case about a third of a turn and using the forming die again. Reloading dies have tolerance too, and some may be out of round just a very tiny bit but enough to be 'difficult'. I also suggest that the newly formed cases be fire formed prior to be used with full loads. Use the fastest powder the loading manual has (in order to get the lower pressure up quickly) at the lowest load level shown (to avoid any surprises like damage to the rifle or the shooter). This is a fun rifle and a fun cartridge. While not being unpleasant to shoot, it will kill most game in North America except the large dangerous bears and such. I do like this video. It is useful and correct. Despite the age, both rifle and cartridge are most useful.
This educational video was not only well-organized, but very clear and concise. I just need to borrow a friend's Carcano dies, and I am ready to start!
Alternatively, you can use .308, 7mm 08, and 6.5 Mannlicher-Schoenauer dies and eliminate one die set from the process. 6.5 M-S is dimentionally identical to 6.5 dutch, minus the rim of course.
Nice video! I ordered a 1895 Dutch carbine today from Empire and all the dies from CH4D. If you wanted to speed up that trimming step, buy a cheap Lee 7x57 trimmer stem, chuck the lee cutter in a drill and trim down to 57mm super quick, then use your hand crank trimmer to take it down to final length.
Thanks for watching and for sharing your findings. My biggest issue I have is making sure the base of the case is small enough to fit the chamber. Fresh brass shouldn't give you any trouble but once fired may.
@@a.r.m.4you182 Thanks I'll keep an eye on it. Ever have trouble with case neck thickness? I have REM, PPU, and HXP brass to choose from so hopefully one or all of those will work. I didn't realize the CH4D die set comes with a file trim die, so I'll be able to cut and trim them pretty quick with that. I saw one guy was using the Lee 303 brit case trimmer case holder, then the stem from the 7.65x53 Argentine to trim it down which is perfect since it uses a .311 or so bullet and the stem will fit nice and tight in the neck of that 303 brass. I already load both those so I have those Lee trimmers on hand and will try both ways and see which is best.
I just loaded some target loads and shot them today. 8-9 grains of Alliant Unique with Winchester large rifle primers, along with 136grn spitzer cast bullets (polymer coated .266). It’s fun to shoot those Colman propane tanks with lol
I have several of the 6.5x53.5mmR long guns. (I collect WW1 arms.) One rifle, one carbine - can't remember right now which carbine version - and one sporterized carbine that looks futuristic in the 1940s and 1950s style. Since the ammunition for the rifle/carbine has not been made since WW2 I have to make my own as well. I do have some original ammunition but NOT to waste; it's in my display case.
What has to happen over all is the length of the case has to be reduced from the .303 Brit length to the 6.5x53.5mmR length, the shoulder set back (like the length) and the resulting cartridge to the configuration altered to fit the chamber. Using the 'official' specifications in the "5th Edition Ammo Encyclopedia" one finds some amazingly detailed (three or four decimal places). However, much of this is simple to do by using dies close enough to fit.
Start with empty .303 British brass; it is about the same in rim diameter and base diameter. Here I mention that various brands of .303 brass will have slightly differing rim diameters. This may be true more of the 'lot' or batch made than the maker over all. I seem to have good results with R-P brass, but your mileage may vary.
I do essentially as shown in the video, except: I prefer to anneal the case necks and shoulders prior to any forming. Step form the neck down (don't try to neck down from .311 to 6.5mm in one pass) with a neck sizing die somewhere between. .308 Winchester works, with the annealing and lubrication, 7mm Mauser would work, if one has a 7mm-08 die, that should work as well.
Trim to length. The official name of the desired round is 6.5x53.5mmR. As mentioned I have a few rounds from WW2; I measured length of unfired ball ammo at 53.8 mm. There is 'tolerance' in all machined items. This is normally described as 'no more than this big and no less than that small'. Also keep in mind a conventional non-rimmed case head spaces on the shoulder. (That's what stops the round from sinking in the chamber too far.) This is a rimmed case, so the rim contacts the rear surface made to meet the rim of the case and that sets the headspace. But there is some leeway. What cannot be tolerated and can lead to damage is if the case is too long and chambering the round 'wedges' the case mouth between the bullet and the leade of the rifling. This can and will increase chamber pressure radically. Much like a bullet stuck in the bore. Bottom line: all other dimensions being adequate, a bit too short (a millimeter or so) is better than little too long.
The good news. All the dimensions of the shoulder and stuff is made irrelevant by the final sizing-shaping die. The video shows using a 6.5x55mm (Swedish) Mauser die to finally reduce the neck to the proper size, this to ease the work on the case and equipment in the final full sizing step. Not a bad idea. One could also use the sizing die from a .260 Remington (should one have such a thing). One notes the 6.5 Creedmore is rather similar to the .260 Remington: They are essentially .308 Winchester necked down to 6.5 mm.
I suggest lubricating heavily.
Final sizing. The video suggests 6.5 Carcano sizing die. Good choice. However, if one checks the sizes of the respective cartridges, one finds an amazing resemblance between 6.5x53.5mmR, 6.5x54mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer, 6.5x52mm Carcano and 6.5x50mm Arisaka. They are - within tolerances - the same size and shape except for head styles. They all have roots in the Mannlicher design shop. (Fascinating story if one is a history or history of firearms buff .) I have dies for Mannlicher-Schoenauer and Carcano. I have used the M-S, and I will try the Carcano dies as well.
I also endorse the idea of turning the case about a third of a turn and using the forming die again. Reloading dies have tolerance too, and some may be out of round just a very tiny bit but enough to be 'difficult'.
I also suggest that the newly formed cases be fire formed prior to be used with full loads. Use the fastest powder the loading manual has (in order to get the lower pressure up quickly) at the lowest load level shown (to avoid any surprises like damage to the rifle or the shooter).
This is a fun rifle and a fun cartridge. While not being unpleasant to shoot, it will kill most game in North America except the large dangerous bears and such.
I do like this video. It is useful and correct. Despite the age, both rifle and cartridge are most useful.
This educational video was not only well-organized, but very clear and concise. I just need to borrow a friend's Carcano dies, and I am ready to start!
Very cool! Please let me know how it turns out for you.
Alternatively, you can use .308, 7mm 08, and 6.5 Mannlicher-Schoenauer dies and eliminate one die set from the process. 6.5 M-S is dimentionally identical to 6.5 dutch, minus the rim of course.
What kind of powder did you use to reload the case?
Thanks for watching. All components I used are shown at 0:22 of the vid.
Thank you very much!
6.5 Swiss or is it 6.5 Swedish? I thought the Swiss used 7.5x55
Nice video! I ordered a 1895 Dutch carbine today from Empire and all the dies from CH4D. If you wanted to speed up that trimming step, buy a cheap Lee 7x57 trimmer stem, chuck the lee cutter in a drill and trim down to 57mm super quick, then use your hand crank trimmer to take it down to final length.
Thanks for watching and for sharing your findings. My biggest issue I have is making sure the base of the case is small enough to fit the chamber. Fresh brass shouldn't give you any trouble but once fired may.
@@a.r.m.4you182 Thanks I'll keep an eye on it. Ever have trouble with case neck thickness? I have REM, PPU, and HXP brass to choose from so hopefully one or all of those will work. I didn't realize the CH4D die set comes with a file trim die, so I'll be able to cut and trim them pretty quick with that. I saw one guy was using the Lee 303 brit case trimmer case holder, then the stem from the 7.65x53 Argentine to trim it down which is perfect since it uses a .311 or so bullet and the stem will fit nice and tight in the neck of that 303 brass. I already load both those so I have those Lee trimmers on hand and will try both ways and see which is best.
Very interesting man! Well done!
Thank you for watching.
Thank you very much, knowledge is power 👍
QQ if you are using Carcano dies anyway, can't you just skip the 6.5 swede dies?
I get a ring around the base of the case after the Carcano die. Looks like excess material scraped from the case?
Thanks for watching. Were you using new brass or fired brass?
@@a.r.m.4you182I have same problem, from fired brass.
The answer is 'tolerances'. Scraping the brass is not sufficient to destroy it.
I just loaded some target loads and shot them today. 8-9 grains of Alliant Unique with Winchester large rifle primers, along with 136grn spitzer cast bullets (polymer coated .266).
It’s fun to shoot those Colman propane tanks with lol
6.5×53R magazine Dutch clip is Available.?
They're available online from Liberty Tree Collectibles.
Well this gives me a little bit of hope that I can fire my Dutch mannlicher one day. I just got to find some realoading dies
are you sure that is 6.5x55 SWISS ? or is it 6.5x55 Swedish ?
Ahh man! I cant believe I didn't catch that. Yes, it's Swedish and not Swiss. Thanks for the heads up.