FIELD TESTING SHERMAN SHORT ADG BRASS

I measured the neck thickness of the fireformed 338 SS cases (ADG). They seem to be fairly consistent, each varying between 0.0144" and 0.0145" thick when measured in multiple locations, with no neck turning. I will bring them to their final dimensions, then get them out to the range next saturday for full power testing.
 
More good news today. I spoke with Greg at ADG and they have expedited the punch order and plan to get a production run as soon as they can, which will likely be mid August. The contract was signed today on numbers and everything is moving forward. The pre ordering will continue for a short period but time is short if you want to get in on the first run. The new 25 sst may well be one of the best reasons this year to order. I think this one could really make some noise in PRS with a low recoil 131 grain .330 b.c. bullet running easily at the 3200' speed limit.
 
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More good news today. I spoke with Greg at ADG and they have expedited the punch order and plan to get a production run as soon as they can, which will likely be mid August. The contract was signed today on numbers and everything is moving forward. The pre ordering will continue for a short period but time is short if you want to get in on the first run. The new 25 sst may well be one of the best reasons this year to order. I think this one could really make some noise in PRS with a low recoil 131 grain .330 b.c. bullet running easily at the 3200' speed limit.

I apologize for the need to correct you Rich but is not good new it's grrrrrreat! news :D
 
I've been able to sneak a few minutes here and there to do a little shooting over the last couple weeks but no time to really post anything. So far the brass has been incredibly strong!!! In the 270 SS with the 165 Matrix and rl 23 I've ran it up to 62 grains to see how it holds up which was really maxed and had extractor mark and hard bolt lift but went to 3089 fps! Also ran pressure test with rl 26 and maxed out at 3139 fps! With rl 23, after finding max, I loaded up 59.5, 60, and 60.5 and shot paper at 510 yards and was really pleased with the results especially with a 15x scope and not having larger target dot to shoot with the thicker reticle. All things considered with a 1 grain charge difference it looks like a single charge group and is right about .6 moa.

I was able to run the 300 ss through some paces with the 208 and 225 ELD-M and RL 26 for a pressure test at 510 yards also. I didnt load enough to max out the 208 and it steadily climbed the paper which is probably because I loaded in .7 grain increments and should have done more loads at smaller increments. Only had 3 loaded up based on my results I had from using Norma brass. Also loaded rl 26 under 225 grain from 62-64.8 grains in the .7 increments which climbed steadily until the 64.1 which really jumped and had a click at top of bolt throw but primer was just slightly cratered but still rounded and no extractor mark! The 64.8 grain load I did not shoot at paper but I did re loaded a round at 64.1 and the 64.8 to run over the magneto and it showed 2879 and 2908 fps!!! The last test shot was a 3 shot group at 510 yards with the 225 ELD-M and 63.1 grains of RL-26.... or it was supposed to be.... but after weighing charges and seating the bullets I noticed the leaf on the 1 grain increment was not seated in the notch but floating between the 3 and 4 grain :mad:!!! Even with that the group went to 3.5" at the 510 yard with very little vertical and mostly all horizontal which may be my fault since the recoil on at least 1 if not 2 shots left me off target so I must not have been set up perfect. I will re test this with the scale set correctly and have myself set up better. If I still get the horizontal I will have to tweak the load some.

270 ss 165 matrix Rl 26 pressure test in blue and 300 ss 225 eld m 63.1ish group in yellow.

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case head of 300 SS with 64.8 grains of Rl 26 and 225 eld m
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Pressure test with 300 SS and 208 eld m in red (ish) and 225 grain in yellow (ish)
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270 ss 165 matrix 59.5, 60, 60.5 Rl 23
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Hopefully the work load on the homefront will slow down at some point and I can do some better testing. I am probably going to take these 2 rifles on my amazing bull elk hunt I drew this year and slam a monster.
 
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They are both pretty efficient. I don't think there would be more than 5'/inch efficiency between the two. Recoil would obviously be more with the heavier bullets. With the Tikka length, you could throat it out if you wanted to and make up some velocity with the short barrel.
 
Highdrum
I'm sure Rich will chime in shortly but from most barrel manufacturers I talked to the smallest bore barrel they would flute for me is a #3 in 30 cal. Rich and I both have #3 fluted brux barrels on our 270 SS.
The 300ss is a sweet round and probably safe to say my most accurate rifle!

Also with the wsm you will need to have your bolt stop shortened and would be better off with the winmag magazine or even better the new billet magazine from tikka performance.
 
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Very nice performance out of that cartridge! I was running 3,000 fps with the 225 ELD-M with Rich's 30-375 Ruger based wildcat with my 26" barrel. That was with Hornady cases, which aren't tough or consistent quality. Your 300 SS cartridge is impressive, considering the case capacity.

I could likely run a comfortable 3,050+ with the RWS and Norma 8x68 parent brass I'm currently using, but I haven't gone back to play with the 225gr ELD-M since converting over to the higher quality brass.
 
Very nice performance out of that cartridge! I was running 3,000 fps with the 225 ELD-M with Rich's 30-375 Ruger based wildcat with my 26" barrel. That was with Hornady cases, which aren't tough or consistent quality. Your 300 SS cartridge is impressive, considering the case capacity.


I could likely run a comfortable 3,050+ with the RWS and Norma 8x68 parent brass I'm currently using, but I haven't gone back to play with the 225gr ELD-M since converting over to the higher quality brass.

It really is impressive for the capacity!

I have a 300 Dakota which I just started testing with the 225 but have shot the 208 for years in it. My Dakota is within a grain of two more capacity than rich's cartridge and I hear you on being limited on quality cases. Not to detail the thread but I've been following and waiting for more results from you on the 8x68 testing you were doing.

..... back on track again.... It is hard to believe those speeds as they rival those of long action cartridges with 10-20 grains more capacity!
 
I finally fired some full-power loads today. I loaded 60-64 grains of Hybrid 100v behind a .338 250 gr Berger Hunter Elite bullet for my 338 SS. BR2 primers. I loaded in 1gr increments, using Norma and ADG brass for a side-by-side comparison.

Visually, the Norma has slightly less case capacity. Upon firing, the Norma impacted roughly 1.25" higher. I have noticed heavy bolt lift with the Norma brass way before I would normally expect it. It is a bit unnerving. With 64 grains, the bolt lift on the Norma felt pretty bad, light primer cratering, no ejector swipes.

The ADG brass gave no sign of bolt stickiness, no ejector swipes, no cratering (perhaps flattening, but that has always been a suspect metric to me), even at 64 gr.

Unfortunately, I forgot the tripod for the Labradar, so I don't have velocity data ☹

The rifle seemed to do fairly well. Left-right spread looked good to me, and there was a 4.5" vertical spread as velocity increased.
 

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The Norma is definitely softer! I've noticed the same thing in both the 6.5sst and 7 SS testing. You were likely over 2800' with the 64 grain load.
 
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