I have read many threads praising the 6.5x55 Swede on several forums and was wondering if anyone on THF had personally used it on Red Stag or Elk and if so how well did it perform, at what range, and what bullet did they use.

Read plenty of kills made with a 6.5 mm. Put a stout bullet in it, and know how far you need to limit yourself, and you'll be fine. Be it 6.5 x 55, 260 Rem, or 6.5 Creedmoor, they're all pushing the same bullet with a different case geometry.

Using the Hornady HITS calculator and the Norma ballistics calculator I looked at the Hornady 140gr SST and a Norma 140gr. and the 156gr. Orxy and based on velocity, density, and ballistic coefficients it looked like on deer the size of a Red Stag or an Elk the effectiveness of the 6.5x55 dropped of steeply after about 150 yards. So I asked about what hunters were using and at what range to see if what my research was indicating was accurate based on the actual experience of the hunters on the THF forums.

Understand one thing, the 156 gr Norma Onyx is specificly designed to meet the 10 gram bullet weight requirement, for hunting European Elk (Moose) in Sweden. I would think that because of the ballistic similarities, any one of, 6.5 Creedmore, 260 Remington, or the Swede could be used to compare effectiveness.

Yep, the 6.5x55 has cleanly taken game animals for many, many years before the Magnums came to be "only" way for Elk.

At relatively close range they will work. This is the situation in Scandanavia where they are often used for moose. Beyond 200 yards you are doing both yourself and the game a huge disservice.

Can they be used within their limitations for large game? Yes.

Are they an elk or red stag rifle in any normal sense of the word? No.

I'm not saying you need a magnum either. .270, .280, .30-06 and their ilk are fine. Much better than the 6.5x55. One look at any ballistics/energy chart will tell the tale.

I have had the opportunity to shoot two mule deer and one cow elk with the 6.5x55. Using 140gr the round performed just fine. But it was expected as all 3 shots were taken under 200 yds and if I recall all 3 were high shoulder shots, all 3 animals dropped basically in their tracks. Based on that all I can say is that it was just as effective as any other round I hunt with from 6mm's up through the 300mags "they all kill animals just as dead as another round". I haven't hunted with the gun in years but I certainly never felt "under gunned" as I was carrying it. I was comfortable with it's limitations and I didn't expect to shoot over 250-300 yds with it either. I like the round it's a joy to shoot and like others here on the forum I'm a big fan of 6.5's in many of it's configurations.

You might want to distinguish between Elk and Red Stag because of the size difference. Red Stag can weigh anywhere from 200 lbs to 425 lbs. Bull Elk start at about 700 lbs and go up 1300 lbs (Agfognak Island). I consider the three common 6.5 calibers good on game up to about 350 lbs live weight.

re: under 200 yards...

The moose I hunt I was on in '84 north of the Rihimaaaki plant & above the Circle, as a guest of the SAKO management team, took place in the densest forest I have ever seen. Albeit it was said as a joke, it was said not to get more than 4 trees deep off the trail without tieing a string to wherever you wanted to get back to...

We hunted with "drivers and standers"...drivers used BIIIG ++100lb dogs to protect the drivers from artic wolves & root the moose out of cover and standers were all in a shooting line supposedly within sight of each other about 40-50 yards apart and facing the the drivers. The guy next to me, Howard French - the then Editor of G&A magazine - was dressed in head to toe day glo orange and I could not see him most of the time, but could see the orange glow of him reflected in the misty air.

Finland at that time had a 30 cal & bullet weight/energy requirement that SAKO amo in 200 gr's met barely, although a Finnish border guard officer who was the armed escort for one of the other VIP guests, was allowed to use his Valmet 308 issue weapon, with the correct bullet weight, having qualified with it for his Permit like all the rest of us using a normal "loaner" SAKO Bolt Action & correct SAKO ammo. THAT guy was a fantastic shooter who put on a show on the Moving Moose target during the Permit qualifier.
Ron

Thanks for the responses. That confirms my impression that for Elk I need to keep the range to about 150 yards. It sounds like with the smaller Red Stag out to about 200-250 yards would be reasonable.

That would be my thinking if I were going to use it. If I was hunting even semi-open country I would use something a little larger.