Finished my 6.5 Sherman Short Mag a couple weeks ago (with much help from Rich Sherman) and Rich asked me to post a little info here on the outcome.
First, for those that do not know Rich Sherman (elkaholic) he obviously developed the round, and without his help I do not think I would have embarked on this project. I had previously wanted to build a 6.5 SAUM (went so far as to buying dies) and abandoned the idea because the case prep intimidated me.
A good friend of mine bought a 6.5 Sherman and told me about Rich, and after a few phone calls with Rich I decided to do the 6.5 SS. I have moderate experience with reloading, but had none with fire forming or neck turning.
The rifle was built by Mark Chanlynn of Rocky Mountain Rifle Works. The build was done on a Bighorn Action, Proof Research barrel (24" 8 twist), and Manners EH1 stock. Finished rifle weight without a scope was right at 7.25 lb - perfect for the long range hunter I had in mind. I mounted a Kahles k624i with MSR reticle - a bit heavy at 34 oz but it has all the features I wanted.
After reading Rich's sheet he supplied me on case forming and watching the O'Neill video on forming the case I was ready to begin. After many calls to Rich (he is extremely helpful and patient!) I formed my cases from Norma 300 SAUM. For those that have not done this type of work let me just say with the guidance from Rich and the video from O'Neill it is really not bad, and actually quite enjoyable. Reamer was rented directly from Rich, and Whidden dies were purchased from him as well.
My first rounds fired after fire forming with the cream of wheat method all grouped 1/2 MOA or better out to 600 yards. I did absolutely no load development as I was in a bit of a hurry to get this ready for an Arizona Coues deer hunt. The only load I have put through the rifle has been 58g RL 26 with 140 berger VLD seated to about 2.810 (turns out it is about 0.030" jump). As stated this has been consistently sub 1/2 moa out to 600 yards, and at 3200 fps out of a 24" bbl I was not sure I needed to do anything else.
I took the rifle to Arizona last week and shot a Coues whitetail at 1097 yards. I am extremely happy with both the rifle and the round. I don't think I could ask for anything more from a hunting rifle I intend to hunt everything up to elk size game. Shooting this rifle suppressed (I have only shot it suppressed) the recoil is extremely mild.
Here are some pics:
Top pic is 100, bottom is 600. This was typical of groups the rifle shot on different trips to the range.
I purchased some ready to fire form brass from Rich just to try out, and fire forming with 140 amax and 53g H4831 gave the below 5 shot group. Velocity was right at 2870. Needless to say Rich's brass is excellent!
Below is the rifle with the deer I shot at 1097 yards. First pic was taken by my daughter right before the shot. No wind at all, and I had a perfect place to shoot from! My buddy Rusty shot his deer the same morning with his 6.5 Sherman at 837 yards (sorry I don't have a pic of his).
I would again like to thank Rusty for informing me about this caliber, and Rich Sherman for all his help! I certainly would not have done this without having someone to bug on the phone with all my questions about case forming and neck turning. And if you have not seen James O'Neill's video it is excellent, and was a huge help.
For those of you that have been thinking about building a 6.5 SS I encourage you to take the plunge. Again the case prep is not that difficult (and I am not an expert reloader), and Rich now has brass he will sell you that will be more than adequate!
First, for those that do not know Rich Sherman (elkaholic) he obviously developed the round, and without his help I do not think I would have embarked on this project. I had previously wanted to build a 6.5 SAUM (went so far as to buying dies) and abandoned the idea because the case prep intimidated me.
A good friend of mine bought a 6.5 Sherman and told me about Rich, and after a few phone calls with Rich I decided to do the 6.5 SS. I have moderate experience with reloading, but had none with fire forming or neck turning.
The rifle was built by Mark Chanlynn of Rocky Mountain Rifle Works. The build was done on a Bighorn Action, Proof Research barrel (24" 8 twist), and Manners EH1 stock. Finished rifle weight without a scope was right at 7.25 lb - perfect for the long range hunter I had in mind. I mounted a Kahles k624i with MSR reticle - a bit heavy at 34 oz but it has all the features I wanted.
After reading Rich's sheet he supplied me on case forming and watching the O'Neill video on forming the case I was ready to begin. After many calls to Rich (he is extremely helpful and patient!) I formed my cases from Norma 300 SAUM. For those that have not done this type of work let me just say with the guidance from Rich and the video from O'Neill it is really not bad, and actually quite enjoyable. Reamer was rented directly from Rich, and Whidden dies were purchased from him as well.
My first rounds fired after fire forming with the cream of wheat method all grouped 1/2 MOA or better out to 600 yards. I did absolutely no load development as I was in a bit of a hurry to get this ready for an Arizona Coues deer hunt. The only load I have put through the rifle has been 58g RL 26 with 140 berger VLD seated to about 2.810 (turns out it is about 0.030" jump). As stated this has been consistently sub 1/2 moa out to 600 yards, and at 3200 fps out of a 24" bbl I was not sure I needed to do anything else.
I took the rifle to Arizona last week and shot a Coues whitetail at 1097 yards. I am extremely happy with both the rifle and the round. I don't think I could ask for anything more from a hunting rifle I intend to hunt everything up to elk size game. Shooting this rifle suppressed (I have only shot it suppressed) the recoil is extremely mild.
Here are some pics:
Top pic is 100, bottom is 600. This was typical of groups the rifle shot on different trips to the range.
I purchased some ready to fire form brass from Rich just to try out, and fire forming with 140 amax and 53g H4831 gave the below 5 shot group. Velocity was right at 2870. Needless to say Rich's brass is excellent!
Below is the rifle with the deer I shot at 1097 yards. First pic was taken by my daughter right before the shot. No wind at all, and I had a perfect place to shoot from! My buddy Rusty shot his deer the same morning with his 6.5 Sherman at 837 yards (sorry I don't have a pic of his).
I would again like to thank Rusty for informing me about this caliber, and Rich Sherman for all his help! I certainly would not have done this without having someone to bug on the phone with all my questions about case forming and neck turning. And if you have not seen James O'Neill's video it is excellent, and was a huge help.
For those of you that have been thinking about building a 6.5 SS I encourage you to take the plunge. Again the case prep is not that difficult (and I am not an expert reloader), and Rich now has brass he will sell you that will be more than adequate!
