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Are the 6.5 53,54 and 55 interchangeable? I was just asked and don't know. The gun is a pre-war gun with Zeiss scope and not marked. Are they marked on the underneath of barrel? He's got a box of ammo for each size that came with the gun and is afraid to shoot any of it in the gun.

Dear RHD45

I've read a lot of your posts and appreciated every one.
I think that the 6.5x53 is also called the 6.5x54, these
are different than the 6.5x55. To complicate matters, there
are rimmed and rimless versions of these cartridges.

I bought a mauser rifle awhile back, where no one knew what it
was chambered for. I measured the barrel groove diameter
and figured that it was close to that of a 257 roberts.
So I tried chambering a 7x57 mauser cartridge with the neck cut
off* and it fit nicely into the chamber. It did not slide
too far in, nor did it wobble. The bolt closed ok. To test
if it was a 257 ackley improved, I coated the front of the chamber with inletting black and ran an empty cartridge from the
magazine into the chamber. The thinking was that if the extractor held the cartridge against the bolt face, the only way the shoulder of the cartridge would touch the inletting black is if it were the correct cartridge.

my suggestions are to do this. Remove the firing pin and try
to chamber the cartridges. If they don't chamber or if they do chamber but the bolt doesn't close (don't force things), then they aren't for the rifle. If they do chamber and do not slide
too far in, nor do they wobble in the chamber and the bolt does close, then try my trick above with the inletting black. If that works, check headspacing with shims. Check also that the bullets test against the muzzle. Everything I written up to the last point would allow one to conclude a 270 would work in a 30-06 chamber.

please ask if these instructions are not clear





* the 257 roberts is a 7x57 necked down

Make a chamber cast. Much more accurate.

2nd the recommendation for a chamber cast. There are several 6.5mm pre-war cartridges. If the rifle is a Mannlicher, it is probably the 6.5 x 54 Mannlicher Schoenauer, sometimes called the 6.5 x 53, depending on who made the ammo. Both have a relatively small case body diameter, considerably smaller than the 7 x 57. But there was also a 6.5x54 Mauser. The 6.5 x 55 case is fatter than 7 x 57 family of cases and might not chamber. There are also at least 2 different 6.5 x 58 cartridges and a 6.5 x 61 that is very close to a .256 Newton. And probably others.

First, you need to know WHICH "Mannlicher"! Not a lot of choices if it's an 1895, but if it's a Schoenauer, there are many cartridges it could be. Chamber cast, measure bore, look up. With a fine gun, close ain't close enough. Not to mention your fingers and eyes.

It's a "Schoenauer" and in wonderful condition. Came from the estate of WW1 pilot Charles d'Olive who was an ace.Thanks for the input and we'll check it out.

RDHD45,
Since it's a "Schoenauer", it's likely 6.5x54 MS. The same cartridge was sometimes called 6.5x53,depending on the maker, and was called 256 MS by the Brits.The rifle should be marked 1903. If it is 1908,10,or something else, then it shouldn't be 6.5. If it has a scopemount dovetailed into the reciever, the markings may be gone.
Mike

I envy ANY Mannlicher-Schoenauer, even a bubbaed Greek military.

Ken Waters' "Pet Loads" has a number of articles on reloading the MS cartridges, 6.5mm, 8mm, and 9mm (can't remember if he did the 9.3, but I think that's there too).

Ok, this is a bit off topic, but when you have a rifle that is
linked to an historical figure, what kind of documentation should you be keeping so as not to lose the historical value?

All of it. You can't have too much documentation.