6.5 Sherman at 1000 yards

[reeldawg]

I was finally able to strech out my 6.5 Sherman. In Florida there are not a lot places to shoot 1000 yards. I started at 300 yards and worked my way back checking out my AB app. I was shooting 140 Bergers VLDS with 60.2 H1000 @3035 fps. It's a mild load but seems to be accurate. I fired 5 at the first target and knew one missed. I dialed back down and then 1000 again and sent the last 2 rounds. If I do my part the rifle seems to shot pretty well.


Jay

 

[Korhil78]

Very nice. Are you using 280 brass? What are your steps for forming your brass? Thanks

 

[reeldawg]

I am using 270 brass. I neck them down then fireform. You can use .280, but a good friend of mine has a 280 AI. I load for him and don't want the confusion.

 

[MudRunner2005]

**** fine shooting! One day I would still like to built a 6.5 Sherman.

Can you post some comparison pics of the loaded cartridges vs something like a .280 AI, .30-06, or something like that?

 

[Jud96]

Great shooting! I would like to have a 6.5 Sherman one day, hell of a cartridge and a very efficient one at that. Really brings the '06 class rounds to life!

 

[waspocrew]

This is very encouraging! I've got a 6.5 Sherman being built at the moment and can't wait to have it soon. Very excited to see how the 140 Amax and 129 ABLR perform. The 140 VLD are definitely on my list as well.

 

[reeldawg]

Will do Mud, I am getting ready to load some 280AIs and will post some comparison pics.

 

[BEEMAN]

If you can find some N570, give that a try. Produces crazy speeds with the 140 Berger. I ran 100 rounds through mine at 3329 fps. This was a bit hot and now I have dropped 1 grain on that load to save my brass. It still is at 3260 fps. Only thing with the N570 is that there seems to be no creeping up to pressure. All of a sudden you are over pressure. My Sherman has a 28" Hart barrel with a Borden Timberline action. What is your barrel length?

 

[reeldawg]

It's a 26'' Pacnor #4 on a 700 action. What was your starting point with N570?


Jay

 

[BEEMAN]

I think I started at 58 and worked up to 64 gr of N570. Like I said, this was a hot load. Primers were quite flat. My rifle shows no pressure signs at 63 gr of N570. Primers look good. This is with freshly formed Nosler brass. My brass is very heavy. Weighs 23 gr more than my friends nosler brass. Not to happy about that with what they cost. But that is why we work up slow when trying a different load. This load was shooting one ragged hole at 100 yds. Now if I could only find some more 140 Bergers.

 

[Korhil78]

Where are those comparison pics?!

 

[elkaholic]

Nice shooting Jay! Good to see some of you guys communicating. I am thinking about running a thread to have everybody post their pet loads. I was prompted by a guy from Tucson who just built a Sherman last week. He doesn't post, but wanted me to pass along some info when he sends it. He is pretty stoked with his initial testing. He shot a bunch of 1's and 2's, and he thinks high 0's!(had not measured yet when he called) He told me he shot a 5 shot group at 550 yards that measured 1 1/4". I could live with that.......Rich

 

[elkaholic]

Brad just sent this pic right after I posted! Quote: " I attribute the vertical to bipod loading, I am getting old" He Says!

 

[reeldawg]

Here are the pics 280Ai with a 168 Berger on the left and a 6.5 Sherman with a 140 Berger on the right