338 Sherman & 175gr Hammer…?

[Shane Lindsey]

I'm not sure on what powders yet. 6.5 Staball has been money with my 270 and the 117HH. I've got a handful of random powders I'll likely try starting with Accurate 4350 and Win 760.

Reviving this. Finally got mine together and dies. Going to start putting the fireforming loads together.
Interested in the 175 HH for sure.

You get anything going on this yet?

 

[jakeSCH]

Not yet, been to busy the last two weeks...but the 175's are sitting on my reloading bench. Going to start with 90 gr of H4350 with a 1/8 crimp and 4 thou of neck tension (in my 338 RUM).

Goal is to try and work my way up to 100 gr of H4350.

 

[Shane Lindsey]

Thought this was about the 338 Sherman with the 175s.

50 loaded up ready for fireforming.

 

[wilkup]

Thought this was about the 338 Sherman with the 175s.

50 loaded up ready for fireforming.

View attachment 329334

I got bogged down with a bunch of pressing projects and haven't had a chance to get this one rolling yet. I'll live vicariously through you for the time being.

 

[HARPERC]

I got bogged down with a bunch of pressing projects and haven't had a chance to get this one rolling yet. I'll live vicariously through you for the time being.

Always good to hear you're up, and in the battle!

 

[jakeSCH]

Thought this was about the 338 Sherman with the 175s.

Yeah...my bad. I got the notification and brain only read the numbers 338 and 175. Lol looking forward to your results though!

 

[nwhunter]

Thought this was about the 338 Sherman with the 175s.

50 loaded up ready for fireforming.

View attachment 329334

Shane, did you come up with a load you like? I loaded my 338/06 with 186 gr shock hammers and 67 grains of w760 and my new chrono tells me I'm getting 2780-2810 fps. Was hoping for a little more speed so I am going to try 4064 and see what I get.

 

[Shane Lindsey]

Still waiting for them to come in the mail.

Going to try Shooters World Precision with them. Got to 2594 FPS with the Hornady 250gr BTHP and 2836 FPS with the 200gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. Not as fast as I was hoping for, but will have to see how the 175 works.

H4350 with the 250 was about 2601 FPS.

 

[wilkup]

Still waiting for them to come in the mail.

Going to try Shooters World Precision with them. Got to 2594 FPS with the Hornady 250gr BTHP and 2836 FPS with the 200gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. Not as fast as I was hoping for, but will have to see how the 175 works.

H4350 with the 250 was about 2601 FPS.

That's a lot slower than I was expecting. Hopefully those Hammers get moving!

 

[wilkup]

Still waiting for them to come in the mail.

Going to try Shooters World Precision with them. Got to 2594 FPS with the Hornady 250gr BTHP and 2836 FPS with the 200gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. Not as fast as I was hoping for, but will have to see how the 175 works.

H4350 with the 250 was about 2601 FPS.

What's your process for brass prep/reloading in preparation for fireforming?

 

[Shane Lindsey]

Peterson 270 Win cases

Graphite on the necks (freakin messy). I dipped it in with some beads from Michael's and I wiped the outside of the neck. Only had it in the inside of the neck.
Ran them through a 30-06 die. Only enough to open the neck up, not anything on the shoulder.
Graphite necks (just because there was a month or so between them, you may be able to pull it off with one lubing).
Ran them through a 35 Whelan Die. Only enough to open the neck up, not anything on the shoulder.
Graphite necks
Ran them through the 338 Sherman die with the .360 bushing from Redding (Hornady doesn't go that low). Sized the neck only enough to get a crush fit. Do this in increments by sizing a little and then chamber fit it. Once it goes in like you ran a max load, blew a primer, and had to hammer the bolt open, then tried to chamber that brass (ok maybe not really, but it should feel tighter than when you are setting up for a bump. I would say 4x harder than .002" bump...ish).
Picked a mid range load of Varget with appropriate weight bullet. I used Midway overuns. 225gr looked like a cheap Aframe. Actually used 50gr Shooters World Precision. Loaded to right at the lands-not jammed.
Annealed after fireforming for first round of pressure testing.

Hope this helps

250s with Staball 6.5 got to 63.5gr and 2617 FPS and H4350 to 62.5gr at 2601 FPS (slight ejector print, probably would not use this high). Both of these were are .010" off the lands, but doubt much more would fit in the case as they were both crunching powder while seating. 22" barrel accounts for some, but was hoping to get higher than this. Powders that may be better suited are difficult/impossible to find.

Have some 175s in the chute waiting for the next range trip. Will update once shot, but I think this may be a better fit for this case.

 

[wilkup]

Peterson 270 Win cases

Graphite on the necks (freakin messy). I dipped it in with some beads from Michael's and I wiped the outside of the neck. Only had it in the inside of the neck.
Ran them through a 30-06 die. Only enough to open the neck up, not anything on the shoulder.
Graphite necks (just because there was a month or so between them, you may be able to pull it off with one lubing).
Ran them through a 35 Whelan Die. Only enough to open the neck up, not anything on the shoulder.
Graphite necks
Ran them through the 338 Sherman die with the .360 bushing from Redding (Hornady doesn't go that low). Sized the neck only enough to get a crush fit. Do this in increments by sizing a little and then chamber fit it. Once it goes in like you ran a max load, blew a primer, and had to hammer the bolt open, then tried to chamber that brass (ok maybe not really, but it should feel tighter than when you are setting up for a bump. I would say 4x harder than .002" bump...ish).
Picked a mid range load of Varget with appropriate weight bullet. I used Midway overuns. 225gr looked like a cheap Aframe. Actually used 50gr Shooters World Precision. Loaded to right at the lands-not jammed.
Annealed after fireforming for first round of pressure testing.

Hope this helps

250s with Staball 6.5 got to 63.5gr and 2617 FPS and H4350 to 62.5gr at 2601 FPS (slight ejector print, probably would not use this high). Both of these were are .010" off the lands, but doubt much more would fit in the case as they were both crunching powder while seating. 22" barrel accounts for some, but was hoping to get higher than this. Powders that may be better suited are difficult/impossible to find.

Have some 175s in the chute waiting for the next range trip. Will update once shot, but I think this may be a better fit for this case.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful write up! Now I need to figure out where to get my brass annealed once all formed up.
When I saw that new 175gr HH, I knew Rich's standard 338 was the perfect case for it!

 

[Shane Lindsey]

I just do the drill with a socket in a dark room. Enough Youtube videos out there until you feel comfortable. Test it out on a few older "trash" cases. About 8 seconds is all it has taken me over a few manufacturers. But I don't know if I am doing it right. Targets show I am ok though.

 

[wilkup]

Rich suggested Varget and N540 for the 175gr HH.
I decided to go look through the burn charts and see what lands in between those two since Varget basically no longer exists where I live and the Vihtavuori stock typically hit or miss. I'm considering trying out Ramshot Big Game (always available at the shop I use) and Alliant Power Pro 2000MR (regularly available at this shop too).
Anyone have experience using either of these powders? I've never used anything from Ramshot, but have always had good luck with Alliant Reloader line...
I don't want to build this rifle and not be able to get this hotrod off the line from lack of the right powders. I could just as easily have my .270 Win chamber bored out to .270 Sherman and have all the right components to make that lady sing the song I want.

*My .270 in current form shoots the 117HH with 6.5 Staball at 3500fps and I figure I could likely push the 124gr at least 3600fps if I were to rechamber to the Sherman. I just love the idea of a .338 Sherman though.