The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Dusting off a old 6.5 swede sportster, advice wanted.

kawasakifreak77 · January 5, 2014, 11:58 PM

Welp. After pestering dad weekly about selling me the swede, he finally caved... & gave it to me!

So here's the plan: set her down in some nice wood. Any suggestions on a nice stock for iron sights? Nothing too fancy.

I love the look of an old blue steel bolt action, in wood with a leather sling & a peep sight. Now I get to build one!

I got Hornadys new loading manual. Looking at the powder burn rate chart, I didn't realize how fast 3031 is compared to what you guys suggested. Woops. Next powder down the list that I have is Varget so I built me up some loads with 37 grains under the 142 SMKs. That's about the only heavier bullet I'be been able to find frequently. I'm only looking to get around 2600 fps so I don't push this old rifle. I made a dummy round with a COL of 3.200" thinking surely I'll hit the rifling & adjust from there... Nope! Any longer & they won't fit the magazine!

If the Varget loads don't work I'll move on down the list to 4320 / 4350.

I had an extra brass front blade laying around. After four hours of filing & polishing I've got a nice ramped post front sight that tapers to .046" at the top. The sight picture is great with it. I think it will work great for longer range work.

A buddy's uncle has a place just a few miles south of here & I'm twisting his arm real hard to let us set up at least a 200 meter range. I'm getting tired of only shooting 100.

Until next time!

January 5, 2014, 11:58 PM	#38
kawasakifreak77 Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2007 Location: St. John, Ks. Posts: 267	Welp. After pestering dad weekly about selling me the swede, he finally caved... & gave it to me! So here's the plan: set her down in some nice wood. Any suggestions on a nice stock for iron sights? Nothing too fancy. I love the look of an old blue steel bolt action, in wood with a leather sling & a peep sight. Now I get to build one! I got Hornadys new loading manual. Looking at the powder burn rate chart, I didn't realize how fast 3031 is compared to what you guys suggested. Woops. Next powder down the list that I have is Varget so I built me up some loads with 37 grains under the 142 SMKs. That's about the only heavier bullet I'be been able to find frequently. I'm only looking to get around 2600 fps so I don't push this old rifle. I made a dummy round with a COL of 3.200" thinking surely I'll hit the rifling & adjust from there... Nope! Any longer & they won't fit the magazine! If the Varget loads don't work I'll move on down the list to 4320 / 4350. I had an extra brass front blade laying around. After four hours of filing & polishing I've got a nice ramped post front sight that tapers to .046" at the top. The sight picture is great with it. I think it will work great for longer range work. A buddy's uncle has a place just a few miles south of here & I'm twisting his arm real hard to let us set up at least a 200 meter range. I'm getting tired of only shooting 100. Until next time! __________________ Looking for oddball ammo. Tracers, AP, whatcha got?