MGN

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Nov 17, 2017
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Let me start by saying that this is my first true wildcat cartridge. I don't count the 6x47 Lapua as you just run 6.5x47 Lapua through a sizer and shoot it. At the time of writing this I have 350 rounds of fire forming, load development, and torture testing down this barrel. This rifle is built on a Defiance Deviant short action with the mid-length port opening with a magnum boltface and a small firing pin, Bartlein barrel 1-8 twist 4 groove heavy Palma contour at 26", and a McMillan A-5 adjustable stock. All work was done by AxisWorks LLC. All fire forming was done using Hodgdon H1000 and 147 ELD M. I wanted a rough idea of what was going to work, pressure wise, as I needed to fire form the brass and do load development in order to shoot a match within a week of receiving the rifle and I would be traveling for work the entire week. Charges were from 57.0 to 59.5 in .5 grain increments jumping the bullet .015 to the lands. The length, using Hornady Compatator 26 with a zeroed Mitutoyo calipers, was 2.210. Charges were weighed on a Satorius Entris scale and all groups were shot off of a bipod and rear bag.
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Before I shoot for load development I like to do barrel break in just for my own peace of mind, but nothing too dramatic. I shoot one round and then I patch the barrel until clean, shoot two rounds then patch till clean, until I am up to ten rounds between cleanings. While doing this I use it as trigger squeeze practice. With this cartridge, it held the same hole for the first six shots at 100 yards.
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For the next 49 shots I held in another area to see what it would do.
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After this process was complete I felt everything was working well and I then loaded 5 rounds in the following charges and shot for groups using a Magnetospeed attached to the rifle. Velocities were as follows after brass was fire formed:

57.0 – 2934
57.5 – 2944
58.0 – 2960
58.5 – 2995
59.5 – 3046

Groups were 5 shots
UMUpZzN.jpg

As you can see this rifle, even with the exhaustion I was feeling from putting so many rounds down range in a very short period of time, shoots very well. The combination of the guys at AxisWorks and the cartridge design by Richard Sherman has been great. This cartridge has been really easy to work with. At this time I have settled on 53.5 gr of RL26 which is producing a velocity of 2981 at an elevation of 1230ft. At this elevation this bullet is supersonic to 1760. This means it will outpace a 300 Win Mag running 210 VLD Hunting Bullets that are going 2958.
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I plan on playing with the Berger 130 AR Hybrid next in this rifle to see how it does.
 

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I am glad to here that your doing well with the SST. Eric helped me get my scope mounted and stock adjusted on mine this week. He is going to help me with the reloading right after the first of the year. I am anxious to get this rifle smoking , but life gets in the way some times Anyway enjoyed the recent PRS shoot up there at big sandy. Take care George B.
 
Thread revival in order....6.5 SST II
Put my barrel on the action today, will post pics and build specs tomorrow.
Should start barrel break in next weekend.
Will either run the Berger 140 Hybrid Target or Hornady ELDM 140's for break in.
Will then move on to the 153's and 156's....
 
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Okay all finished up with the 6.5 SST
Manners T4A Team Carbon Fiber Elite Hunter Stock w/Manners DBM Gen 2 Mini chassis with Atlas Pic rail
Big Horn TL3 DLC Action, Proof 26" Competition Contour Chambered by Straight Jacket Armory.
NightForce 7-35x56mm FFP Mil-C Scope w/Nightforce Extreme Ultralite 6 Screw Rings
Trigger Tech Primary PVC trigger
APA Gen 3 LiL'bastard brake
Will start barrel brake in next week.
 

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Strongly considering regarding my 7RM into a 6.5SST

What have folks landed on for dies and parent brass? What dies are folks using/liking and who's been the go-to for chambering in the SST?

Apologies if I missed that, 11 pages was alot to browse
 
Dies and brass (ADG) are only supplied by Rich Sherman with Sherman Wildcats. His dies are Hornady bushing dies.

Depending on where you live, I am sure there are good gunsmiths in your area that have reamers. If you are in the SW, Axisworks is my personal go-to gunsmith.
 
Dies and brass (ADG) are only supplied by Rich Sherman with Sherman Wildcats. His dies are Hornady bushing dies.

Depending on where you live, I am sure there are good gunsmiths in your area that have reamers. If you are in the SW, Axisworks is my personal go-to gunsmith.
I'm in TX now.

Does the same apply to brass if we go 6mm SST? Proprietary in nature?
 
I'm in TX now.

Does the same apply to brass if we go 6mm SST? Proprietary in nature?
Yes sir. SST and SS lines use their own brass. The MAXs can use SAUM brass (IIRC), and the SMs can use .300PRC brass. The original Shermans can use .270WIN and .280AI brass I think. The new Mega line is proprietary also I believe.
 
While the 6.5SS is my personal favorite case, the 25SST is right there with it.

I'm trying to talk myself into a 6mm SST in a folder to pull double duty for some local comps fun and also to poke holes in game. But the 6.5 SST seems the better choice for the latter. I've got .30 cal and 7mm big game rifles, but have been gravitating towards the fast/smaller diameter bullets after seeing some pretty impressive results. Some recent threads on 6mm bullets into elk sub 500 yards have been intersting to say the least.
 
I'm trying to talk myself into a 6mm SST in a folder to pull double duty for some local comps fun and also to poke holes in game. But the 6.5 SST seems the better choice for the latter. I've got .30 cal and 7mm big game rifles, but have been gravitating towards the fast/smaller diameter bullets after seeing some pretty impressive results. Some recent threads on 6mm bullets into elk sub 500 yards have been intersting to say the least.
I loaded for the first ever built 6SST. It is a mean laser beam. You can load them down to sub-3200fps easily with H1000 for PRS shoots. But run the 115s up to 3500+ for zapping deer and pronghorn a LONG way out there. I have a couple buddies that hunt Coues and mule deer with them and have 1-shot kills over 1K with them using 105 Hyb and 108 Elites.

Personally, I would use a bigger bullet for elk.

Look long and hard at the 25SST. The 133 Elite and 135 LR Hyb have been racking up the game for a bunch of guys I know. This year alone, I know of 6 elk and 10+ mule/Coues deer plus a few pronghorn. From up close and personal to send it in the mail far. Recoil seems almost against physics light, and the speeds attainable are nothing to sneeze at. 3300+ with a 26" is not hard to do, and 3050+ in a 20" is very reasonable. The .257 heavies BCs are very impressive too.
 

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