Walter Dalrymple Maitland "Karamojo" Bell, who shot more than 1,500 elephants in the period 1895-1930, had a very high regard for the 6.5mm Mannlicher–Schoenauer, using it for approximately 300 of these kills.
 Daniel Fraser of Edinburgh, Scotland built him a special, lightweight rifle in that calibre.
 He only set it aside when he was unable to acquire dependable ammunition for it, and turned to a .275 Rigby Mauser magazine rifle instead.
The .275 Rigby cartridge is interchangeable with the 7×57mm Mauser.
 Bell's legendary name has remained closely linked with the 7mm Mauser, but the 6.5 Mann.–Sch.
was his first preference.

The 6.5×54mm was referred to by the writer Ernest Hemingway as the .256 Mannlicher.
Though it never replaced his favorite .30-06 Springfield, he did speak highly of it as a lion cartridge, and it was the favorite of his African guide and professional hunter Phillip Percival.
The Kenya game warden and naturalist A. Blaney Percival also favored the 6.5×54mm.

In part, the 6.5×54mm's reputation stems from its use of a 160-grain (10 g) bullet, giving the projectile very high sectional density and therefore penetrating ability.
It requires a fast rate-of-twist rifling (about 1 in 9") to stabilize such a long bullet.
Walter Dalrymple Maitland "Karamojo" Bell, who shot more than 1,500 elephants in the period 1895-1930, had a very high regard for the 6.5mm Mannlicher–Schoenauer, using it for approximately 300 of these kills.  Daniel Fraser of Edinburgh, Scotland built him a special, lightweight rifle in that calibre.  He only set it aside when he was unable to acquire dependable ammunition for it, and turned to a .275 Rigby Mauser magazine rifle instead. The .275 Rigby cartridge is interchangeable with the 7×57mm Mauser.  Bell's legendary name has remained closely linked with the 7mm Mauser, but the 6.5 Mann.–Sch. was his first preference. 
The 6.5×54mm was referred to by the writer Ernest Hemingway as the .256 Mannlicher. Though it never replaced his favorite .30-06 Springfield, he did speak highly of it as a lion cartridge, and it was the favorite of his African guide and professional hunter Phillip Percival. The Kenya game warden and naturalist A. Blaney Percival also favored the 6.5×54mm.
In part, the 6.5×54mm's reputation stems from its use of a 160-grain (10 g) bullet, giving the projectile very high sectional density and therefore penetrating ability. It requires a fast rate-of-twist rifling (about 1 in 9") to stabilize such a long bullet.
6.5×54mm Mannlicher–Schönauer