6.5 mm X 54 Manlicher vs. 30/30

[Lanyard Stretcher]

As i'm prone to do, I was skimming through an old Hornady load manual and was noticing the ballistics of the two rounds. The 6.5mm Manlicher was known to have killed many large and nasty critters in Africa yet it lobs a 160 gr. round nose around 2000 to 2300 fps. Sounds really close to a warm loaded 30/30 with a 170 gr. pill. I know there is a sectional density difference between the 6.5mm and the 7.62mm diameter round but I don't know how many critters shot with either could tell the difference. The more I shoot the 30 WCF the more I think it is the perfect hunting round, enough oomph for big game and none of the ear splitting muzzle blast and rough recoil to interfere with percise shot placement. What say you levergunners?

Mike

[O.S.O.K.]

Yep, they are both old school. As you say, the manlicher will penetrate more deeply given the much higher SD of the bullets but they are both "penetration killers" to be sure.

I am also very fond of the 6.5x55.

[Rusty]

I was reading an article about the 6.5X55 once and the writer said that he couldn't find a tree anywhere in his area that was big enough to stop the bullets he fired as they had so much penetration. I sold one to a guy one time when I had my FFL (6.5X55) and we shot it before he left and was amazed at the recoil, or lack of it.
AS much as I like my .30-30 I still have my eye on a 6.5X55 CZ with a Manlicher stock.

[Molasses]

I think both the 6.5X54 M/S and the .30-30 earned much of their reputations because they're cartridges of sufficiently good performance without too much blast and recoil for the average person to shoot well that were paired with light, fast-handling carbines which shared in said reputations. As a recipe for making meat, that's a great combination.

I had this nagging feeling of having read something that was sort of relevant while typing the above and did some digging. It was in "To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth" where Jeff Cooper wrote, "The idea behind the scout rifle is not new. The famous old Mannlicher 6.5 carbine was a step in this direction, as was the equally famous Winchester Model 94 30-30 carbine"

Incidentally, I bought a set of C&H 6.5X54 M/S dies at the gun show yesterday, even though I've nothing that shoots the cartridge...yet. It's just a matter of time.

[edsguns]

I was reading an article about the 6.5X55 once and the writer said that he couldn't find a tree anywhere in his area that was big enough to stop the bullets he fired as they had so much penetration. I sold one to a guy one time when I had my FFL (6.5X55) and we shot it before he left and was amazed at the recoil, or lack of it.
AS much as I like my .30-30 I still have my eye on a 6.5X55 CZ with a Manlicher stock.

I really like my CZ550 FS in 6.5x55 and I'm sure you'd really enjoy one too. One trip to the range and experimenting with that single set trigger will likely get you scratching your head as I did mine, wondering why no U.S. maker puts that type trigger on one of their models. Two distinctly different settings for range work and hunting and both are user adjustable. Oh, did I mention how nice that full length stock looks....

[Rusty]

Molasses, I'd say you're doomed.