My 338 Sherman Shortmag

[KMG]

I know what I set the dummy round up for with his. It was .435" free bore, if I remember correctly!!!

Holy long jump Elkman!! Yah, George over at Badlands Precision was a big help in figuring out the freebore depth for mine. At .330" it's still not as far out as we could have gone, but I think it's a good compromise. Hoping to get out this Saturday. Barrel break-in, fireforming, & get some real numbers!!

 

[elkaholic]

Holy long jump Elkman!! Yah, George over at Badlands Precision was a big help in figuring out the freebore depth for mine. At .330" it's still not as far out as we could have gone, but I think it's a good compromise. Hoping to get out this Saturday. Barrel break-in, fireforming, & get some real numbers!!

Ya, that's more free bore than I ever put into anything! That 260 Hammer is about a foot long. It would likely shoot through 4 moose

 

[elkaholic]

We could always use more load data for these new combos. I encourage everybody to go to my website and click on your cartridge to add to the data bank. This is a very handy tool that Jacob (wiscgunner) added to the site recently. He's a lot smarter than me!

 

[KMG]

Quick pic 338SS before it goes off to get ceracoated.
Savage 110 donor, (tac bolt knob yet to come)
.250 ss recoil lug
Rock Creek SS full 1.250" shank, no barrel nut

(bought from LRH member) 25.75" 6 flute with Schuler 4 port 27.75"
M40 stock with internal magazine
20MOA pic rail
Weaver med tac rings
6.5-20x44 Vortex (looking for another option)
11.3 lbs

 

[RockyMtnMT]

When we loaded the Hammer Hunter 235g we seated them out as far as was comfortable in the case. We did not measure how far off the lands it was. Just as long as they are not touching is what is important. They are not ever going to be seated longer.

 

[ramrod79]

Load up some fire forming loads today with 225 AB jammed at 2.34 and I did up a 250Berger at 2.20. Gun shot like a ***** cat with the 4 port break but it was a mild load of 53gr of Varget,and brass turned out real nice. Tomorrow I'll finish breaking barrel in and fire forming and I'll shoot a target to see what it does. Game on now.

 

[elkaholic]

Sweet! Starting to get exciting.

 

[ramrod79]

So I got out today for some Barrel break in and fire forming very brutal mirage SW-W wind @10mph 225 AB 53 gr Varget jammed @200 yards speed was 2598. I think it's gonna be a shooter can't wait to try Berger.
Barrel maker said there barrels are extreamly fast and said to shot one clean shoot 3 clean the carry on. I did that last night so today was a range day.
First group top left 4 shots
Next was bottom right 4 shots
Last was 8 with a badly pulled shot in there.
The pic of bullet is a 225 AB through a 10-12 inch old dead fir then into the dirt behind where I found it.

 

[elkaholic]

So I got out today for some Barrel break in and fire forming very brutal mirage SW-W wind @10mph 225 AB 53 gr Varget jammed @200 yards speed was 2598. I think it's gonna be a shooter can't wait to try Berger.
Barrel maker said there barrels are extreamly fast and said to shot one clean shoot 3 clean the carry on. I did that last night so today was a range day.
First group top left 4 shots
Next was bottom right 4 shots
Last was 8 with a badly pulled shot in there.
The pic of bullet is a 225 AB through a 10-12 inch old dead fir then into the dirt behind where I found it.

View attachment 131096 View attachment 131097

Lookin good so far!! I found that the 225 AB shot well in mine too. Velocity wise, they won't shoot much faster than a 250 Berger because of the bearing surface.

 

[drgalan]

Nothing like enjoying coffee and catching up with my 338SS brethren......I'm excited to continue seeing everyone's results and experiences with their builds. Work has had me consumed lately but soon " I shall return"
Many blessings to all and be cautious in exploring what your particular rifle will shoot safely!

 

[ramrod79]

I'm not sure if I missed it somewhere but did anyone try the 230 ELDX or the 285 ELDM. I'm wondering this as Berger is non existent
, and you would think they shut there doors for lack of bullets up here.
I would love to try Hammer but no distributors in Canada. There is Cutting Edge that I can get in Canada not sure about those. One thing fore sure is I can get Hornady up and for a decent price so if anyone tried them let me know how they worked for you.

 

[drgalan]

I did not do very extensive load development with the 285ELDM but I did load a few over RL17 and got 26XXish FPS.

 

[ramrod79]

Ok guys so all brass is fire formed come home this morning figure I'll size and shoot once more before annealing. So I put my shoulder comparator on brass and get a 1.603 so I figure I'll set my die up to do a 1.601 and nope won't chamber in gun well it will but very tight. So alright I screw die until die touches press at full stroke back off half turn and there we go brass goes in slick as ****. Now my shoulder is 1.596.
Any body got any suggestions as that's a 7 tho bump. I have never had this issue before usually I set on ram go back 1/2- 1/4 there's my 1-2 tho push and good to go.

 

[ramrod79]

Sorry 1.954 that's at half turn snug fit. 1.589 1/4 fits very nicely.