6.5 sst (sherman short tactical) arrived

[elkaholic]

Dang show off RICH......nicely done

I have a set of dues with your name attached George

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Fine shooting. Waiting to hear how it performs on elk this year. Have you killed many with the 147?

 

[Bigstrap3]

Well Rich the check is in the mail for the dies and brass

 

[elkaholic]

I KNEW you couldn't resist!

 

[elkaholic]

Fine shooting. Waiting to hear how it performs on elk this year. Have you killed many with the 147?

Hi Alex.........I have not shot ANYTHING but targets and expansion media with them yet but I have had very good results with the A-Max, and they are nothing more or less than the A-max with a higher b.c. They really shine at long range and will expand beyond any reasonable shooting range (1300 fps). I have had them hold together much better than one would think closer up too! The secret with that type of bullet is use the most heavy per caliber that you can!....Rich

 

[elkaholic]

I have had some interest in lower velocity, low pressure, and low recoil loads so I thought I would give a couple of unlikely powders a try in this little marvel. Guess what; it shoots everything I load it with!! I picked up some 130 ELDMs and some Varget and RL16. I made a guess at where to start and loaded up the Varget starting at 43 grs. and up to 48. I then loaded the RL16 starting at 47 and up to 51 (both in 1 gr. increments) I decided to throw in some RL26 to see what it would do with this lighter offering (54-59 grs.) My plan was to chromo first and see where I was and do some more testing later if things looked promising. I randomly chose a load in the middle of each of the Varget and RL16 and loaded 3 ea. for group (45 grs Varget and 48 RL16 and a coal of 2.771" which was identical to the 147's that shot so well. I chose Varget and RL16 as they are known to be insensitive to temp swings. I was pretty sure it would take about 54 grs of RL26 to make 3000' and it would probably max near 60 grains. The actual on 54 grains was 3008" and 59 grains made 3289' with a little room left (SMOKIN")! Below are the results of everything tested. The fast powers are a very pleasant surprise and look very promising. The RL16 and Varget charges were both moderate pressure. I plan on adding some H4895 to the mix soon since the others did so well.

 

[Gord0]

The 4895 should be interesting. I know hodgdon lists that as their powder for reduced recoil loads, as you can still get reliable ignition with low case fill.

 

[Bigstrap3]

Well Rich I got the ball rolling today on my set. I will start a thread on the build on wed.

 

[elkaholic]

Well Rich I got the ball rolling today on my set. I will start a thread on the build on wed.

I lost the reamer!

 

[elkaholic]

I went back out today to continue the reduced load testing. I thought since Varget worked pretty well I would go ahead with the H4895 and see what that would do. I loaded a few rounds to chrono starting at 40 and up to 49. I was hoping for around 2800' with the 40 gr. load and actually got 2790'. I shot up to 48 grs. and got 3180 with a pretty good x mark so did not shoot the 49 gr. load. I loaded 3 different loads for group all with the 130 ELDM at a coal of 2.770" which seemed to be working. I selected these loads because I had a request for something in the 2800-2900' range with low recoil. Boy did I get it! The following pics are of the 3 loads. Mirage was really increasing off the barrel heat as I shot, so dipped into the bag of tricks with some freezer paper taped over the barrel. BIG difference from group 2 to 3. These loads were a real pussycat to shoot! VERY low recoil!
This High Country Rifle build by Rhian REALLY SHOOTS!

 

[elkaholic]

One thing that I forgot to mention about yesterdays H4895 test was that I was a little concerned that ES might be erratic with only 2/3 of the case filled. That turned out to not be a problem at all. I fired 3 shots at 41.5 grains over the mag speed and had a (3) ES. I will take that anytime. I guess Hodgdons claims that 4895 is good for reduced loads is valid....Rich

 

[tbeckstead11]

I shot my second match with the SST yesterday. This little cartridge makes PRS a lot easier lol. I have 6 matches this year in the Rocky Mountain club series. The two I shot with the SST are my highest scores by a long ways. I ended up 11 out of 50 something shooters. My rifle is running great now with Alpha WSM magazines. I had to tweak them the slightest bit to make everything feed right, but they run perfect now. The rifle is stupid accurate. I shot at the 100 yard line just to verify zero. First round hit dead center so I called it good. Magnetospeed said this group of reloads was running 3058fps. I started a new lot of RL26. Must be a bit hotter. I updated updated the shooter app and I'm good to go. I ended up with 52 impacts of a 66 total. I timed out on a few stages. Some because that's how I roll and some because the brass really needs sized. I got the whidden dies in the mail this week so the next set will be cured of that problem. It's really nice to shoot such a flat, wind bucking caliber. And the recoil is way manageable. I've found that if I strap my gamechanger bag to the forearm, I can spot impacts through the scope on almost every shooting position. The heavy bag deadens whatever recoil is there.

 

[elkaholic]

Great job Thane! I used my dies for the first time after 7 firings without bumping the shoulder. My cases have barely stretched at all and I am running them considerably hotter than you. I really like this SST!.....Rich

 

[Bigstrap3]

Thanks for the up date, I'm glad it's performing so well for you thane. My barrel came in Saturday, so components are coming together pretty fast. I look to do at least some completion with mine also. GB