My 338 Sherman Shortmag

Well you almost got me. I have a Savage mdl 16 in 270 WSM that I've been trying to sell. Then I saw this, and thought "all I have to do is rebarrel and I'm in". So I started reserching bullets, barrels, etc until I found the link for determining recoil. Well it seems the recoil on the 338 starts at a couple of ft lbs more than my 35 Whelen AI, and goes up considerably from there. So there's no real advantage for me-you lose.

However, I do have a couple words of advice. First, drop the "mag" from the name of the cartridge. Your case capacity is about the same as a 338-06 AI, and nobody calls that magnum. This will change your attitude towards appropriate loading components.

Which leads us to number two. I'm playing with a couple of wildcats (7mm Valkyrie and 7mm-6.5x47) that have about the same case/bore relationship. I have found the AA2520 and Leverevolution give me great accuracy and velocity that is usually at least 100fps greater than any other powder. I was at the range a couple days ago shooting for groups with a few powders. These were all near max loads. Varget gave me 2893 fps with a SD of 273.2, RL-15 gave 2994fps with a SD of 5.4. However, AA2520 gave 3051 fps with a SD of 1.1, and LVR gave 3080 fps with a SD of10.7.
 
Well you almost got me. I have a Savage mdl 16 in 270 WSM that I've been trying to sell. Then I saw this, and thought "all I have to do is rebarrel and I'm in". So I started reserching bullets, barrels, etc until I found the link for determining recoil. Well it seems the recoil on the 338 starts at a couple of ft lbs more than my 35 Whelen AI, and goes up considerably from there. So there's no real advantage for me-you lose.

However, I do have a couple words of advice. First, drop the "mag" from the name of the cartridge. Your case capacity is about the same as a 338-06 AI, and nobody calls that magnum. This will change your attitude towards appropriate loading components
1. He is not trying to "win" anything....

2. The performance is that of the relative magnum (.264 win mag, 7mm rem mag, 300 win mag, 338 win mag, etc.) either on a short action or with a standard bolt face, hence the name.

3. The name of a cartridge does not determine the components one uses, rather case capacity and bore size, or published reloading data.

4. The 330-06 ai doesn't really compare to the 338 Sherman or Sherman short performance wise.
 
1. He is not trying to "win" anything....

2. The performance is that of the relative magnum (.264 win mag, 7mm rem mag, 300 win mag, 338 win mag, etc.) either on a short action or with a standard bolt face, hence the name.

3. The name of a cartridge does not determine the components one uses, rather case capacity and bore size, or published reloading data.

4. The 330-06 ai doesn't really compare to the 338 Sherman or Sherman short performance wise.

300 Saum (short action ultra magnum)
 
1. He is not trying to "win" anything....

2. The performance is that of the relative magnum (.264 win mag, 7mm rem mag, 300 win mag, 338 win mag, etc.) either on a short action or with a standard bolt face, hence the name.

3. The name of a cartridge does not determine the components one uses, rather case capacity and bore size, or published reloading data.

4. The 330-06 ai doesn't really compare to the 338 Sherman or Sherman short performance wise.
My post was not addressed to anyone in particular, but to the 338 Sherman Shortmag community as a whole. It was written in second person plural. If you look at the timeline of the loading data presented, you will see that the initial loads were with slow powders, with less-than-expected results, which I felt was due to the "magnum" label put on the name. More recent data goes as far as Varget with better results, showing that the case/bore relationship is better suited to medium burning powders. Thus my suggestion for using AA2520 and Lever, as I have found them to be better than other powders I have used.

The loss was to the 338 SS community because a very interested, potential member will not be joining it.
 
My post was not addressed to anyone in particular, but to the 338 Sherman Shortmag community as a whole. It was written in second person plural. If you look at the timeline of the loading data presented, you will see that the initial loads were with slow powders, with less-than-expected results, which I felt was due to the "magnum" label put on the name. More recent data goes as far as Varget with better results, showing that the case/bore relationship is better suited to medium burning powders. Thus my suggestion for using AA2520 and Lever, as I have found them to be better than other powders I have used.

The loss was to the 338 SS community because a very interested, potential member will not be joining it.

There is more to it than capacity!
My 338 Sherman has only a little more capacity than the SS and will be GROSSLY overloaded with 60 grains of Varget and is right at home with the slowest powders that will fill the case where the ss is not. The Sherman is NOT referred to as a magnum by me or anyone else.
The shape of the case has far more to do with the SS acting completely different than capacity alone, quite obviously, based on these results. Putting a MAGNUM label on something, or not, has very little to do with anything. Originally, it pretty much ment a belted case which happened to have greater capacity than most cases, although there were cartridges with greater capacity with no belt that we're not called magnums.
The SS has near the exact same capacity as a saum which everyone recognizes as a magnum! A label doesn't change performance!
 
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We just took a 338 SS out and tested at 900y very nicely with a bullet that we just designed for it. Our customer (owner of the rifle) was looking for a 2900 fps combo. We started out with a 222g Hammer Hunter and we were able to get to 3000 fps with too much pressure. 2900 fps was good for pressure but the rifle was not liking it as well as we wanted. So we went to a 235g Hammer Hunter that loaded nicely to 2840 fps. The little bit heavier bullet seems to work more efficiently in the 338SS case and this particular rifle seems to like life better under 2900 fps. We designed these new bullets with a secant ogive in hopes for a bit better bc. Our trip to 900y calculated a G1 bc of .54 and shot great! Given the 1.5mm open hollow point we are pretty happy with this bc. Makes the 338SS a solid 600-700y elk combo that is fairly flat for the quick normal range hunting situations.

The 338SS is a real contender. I never would have thought such a small case would perform so big. Good on ya Rich!
 
My post was not addressed to anyone in particular, but to the 338 Sherman Shortmag community as a whole. It was written in second person plural. If you look at the timeline of the loading data presented, you will see that the initial loads were with slow powders, with less-than-expected results, which I felt was due to the "magnum" label put on the name. More recent data goes as far as Varget with better results, showing that the case/bore relationship is better suited to medium burning powders. Thus my suggestion for using AA2520 and Lever, as I have found them to be better than other powders I have used.

The loss was to the 338 SS community because a very interested, potential member will not be joining it.

I think your missing how many powders people have tried, any new wildcat and especially the SS type case design you have to start at a known powder in a similar capacity and drawing of other cases in the line, obviously you start safe with a full capacity slower powder and work your way faster on the burn rate chart till you find the best fitting powder, has zero to do with any name just a solid, safe data gathering methods.
Many wildcat threads are a public discussion while learning the characteristics that it's brought to the table, we also apply our requirements for the design, I have no interest in running the fastest but I need the most stable powder first then, accuracy and finally speed but each guy who does a build thread and loads for a wildcat will put their personal requirements on it and in sharing that we build a more complete data profile.

Had you communicated an actual interest in furthering the discussion people would have responded in kind but to start out communicating that basically people don't know what their doing because of a name and you have the solution, coming of as a general pompous _ss despite your intention or not to sound that way garnered the response you did, it is an opportunity for you to learn to communicate accurately on a public forum, generally when called out a little as you were, someone who really just wanted to be in on an interesting conversation would have back it up and explained the misunderstanding, however you doubled down on the attitude so really it's not much of a loss to the 338 SS community as a whole!
 
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There is more to it than capacity!
My 338 Sherman has only a little more capacity than the SS and will be GROSSLY overloaded with 60 grains of Varget and is right at home with the slowest powders that will fill the case where the ss is not. The Sherman is NOT referred to as a magnum by me or anyone else.
The shape of the case has far more to do with the SS acting completely different than capacity alone, quite obviously, based on these results. Putting a MAGNUM label on something, or not, has very little to do with anything. Originally, it pretty much ment a belted case which happened to have greater capacity than most cases, although there were cartridges with greater capacity with no belt that we're not called magnums.
The SS has near the exact same capacity as a saum which everyone recognizes as a magnum! A label doesn't change performance!
You're correct that the magnum label does not change performance. But what I'm saying is that it can change an individual's perception of expected performance. Thus, initial loading attempts were with powders too slow for the cartridge.
 
So what percep
You're correct that the magnum label does not change performance. But what I'm saying is that it can change an individual's perception of expected performance. Thus, initial loading attempts were with powders too slow for the cartridge.

So what perception of expected performance was not met by callmg it a magnum based on what the parent case was called? I would think that 2800'+ with a 250 Berger, or Steve's results with his 235 Hammer are meeting or exceeding most people's expectations. It's not a 338 Lapua!
 
Been waiting to see this combo for a while, ADG SS brass fully formed with a 250 Berger at 2.945 OAL. I loaded up some test rounds with Varget at 1/2 grain increments.

338SS ADG.jpg
 

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