Sherman Wildcat Reloading Data is Here!!!

After about 28" in 30 cal your velocity increase per inch is pretty low. Ive done several norma ai's 26-28". **** ton of noslers 26-28". Got a 30-28 just finished up for a guy. Its shooting 230 a tips at 2995 87.1 n570. Most the straight 30 noslers run 2900-3000. With 84-86 gr n570. 86 always beinh high nodes and your into pressure. Norma's are around 3100 but those are on lapua bf and lapua brass 40* shoulder with no taper. Running around 91 gr n570. Every one of them pressured out around 3150-3200. It's impressive your getting a 400fps increase over a standard 300prc with only 6.5 grains more powder. My lapua ai 40* only see about 150-200 depending if your hot rodding it or not with 9-10 gr more powder stuffed in them. I might have to build me one.
 
After about 28" in 30 cal your velocity increase per inch is pretty low. Ive done several norma ai's 26-28". **** ton of noslers 26-28". Got a 30-28 just finished up for a guy. Its shooting 230 a tips at 2995 87.1 n570. Most the straight 30 noslers run 2900-3000. With 84-86 gr n570. 86 always beinh high nodes and your into pressure. Norma's are around 3100 but those are on lapua bf and lapua brass 40* shoulder with no taper. Running around 91 gr n570. Every one of them pressured out around 3150-3200. It's impressive your getting a 400fps increase over a standard 300prc with only 6.5 grains more powder. My lapua ai 40* only see about 150-200 depending if your hot rodding it or not with 9-10 gr more powder stuffed in them. I might have to build me one.
Dude..... the magic powda homie

Serious note though.. you are going to trash brass.. maybe some lug setback eventually.. but if she shoots.. she shoots
 
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After about 28" in 30 cal your velocity increase per inch is pretty low. Ive done several norma ai's 26-28". **** ton of noslers 26-28". Got a 30-28 just finished up for a guy. Its shooting 230 a tips at 2995 87.1 n570. Most the straight 30 noslers run 2900-3000. With 84-86 gr n570. 86 always beinh high nodes and your into pressure. Norma's are around 3100 but those are on lapua bf and lapua brass 40* shoulder with no taper. Running around 91 gr n570. Every one of them pressured out around 3150-3200. It's impressive your getting a 400fps increase over a standard 300prc with only 6.5 grains more powder. My lapua ai 40* only see about 150-200 depending if your hot rodding it or not with 9-10 gr more powder stuffed in them. I might have to build me one.
My observations and the people I have talked to with 6.5 up to .338 cals still see 20-25 fps per inch gain up to 32". I can't say after that, because I personally haven't tested or talked to anyone with a barrel over 32". I have a 30" .260ai, and the velocity I get ligns up with 20-25fps/inch over standard 24 and 26" tubes.

At 20-25 fps/inch, a 32" should see 120-150 fps over what would be expected from a "standard" 26". Comparing to my 20" 30 nos with a .215" freebore, at 22-23 fps/inch, using my 208 Berger load w/h1k, I would be around 3065 with a 26". This doesn't seem impractical. Using the same formula, I would be at 3200 fps with a 32". N570 would net some more as well.

The 81 grain load he said he settled on is at ~3020ish with a 250....this would equal around 2885 fps from a 26" tube. The custom ammo manufacturers list the 245/250's from 2700-2800 fps with the standard PRC, Copper creek ammo even has a 250 a-tip load, listed on their site at 2800 fps from a 24". When running the numbers and looking at it this way, he really isn't that far off the mark. His max load with pressure signs would be about 3000. Pressure signs with brass like lapua, adg etc. often don't show until 75k, and 40° shoulders and less taper hide pressure signs a little more, so this would make sense.

I was skeptical at first as well, but really barrel length can make a significant difference, especially when you screw a telephone pole on the end of your action. Lol
 
I shoot 99% of my guns are 28-34" most my customer guns are 24-28 personal experience .308 gets about 11-15 fps per inch over 28. 24-28 is about 25. And i do wildcats including norma and lapua 40* taking taper out of case. What people dont realize is 300 prc doesnt have much taper to begin with so the sherman is 40* 300 prc with some taper taken out but not enough case capacity. You can get any of them up past 3100 in a 250 just not without pressure no matter how you swing it.. 300 lapua improved with 103 gr n570 would be around 3150. 300 norma improved will do 3100 in a 26" tube but thats top node bangn rev limiter with a 230 a tip with 91 grains behind it. I cant see the sherman doing 3140 with 85 grains and not be spinning rod bearings yet. 78 grains looks to me where it should be. But just a educated guess

Edit: dont get me wrong i push my personal guns to beyond limits. But i know the limits. Anymore i just load high end of low node and guns shoot better day in day out.
 
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I shoot 99% of my guns are 28-34" most my customer guns are 24-28 personal experience .308 gets about 11-15 fps per inch over 28. 24-28 is about 25. And i do wildcats including norma and lapua 40* taking taper out of case. What people dont realize is 300 prc doesnt have much taper to begin with so the sherman is 40* 300 prc with some taper taken out but not enough case capacity. You can get any of them up past 3100 in a 250 just not without pressure no matter how you swing it.. 300 lapua improved with 103 gr n570 would be around 3150. 300 norma improved will do 3100 in a 26" tube but thats top node bangn rev limiter with a 230 a tip with 91 grains behind it. I cant see the sherman doing 3140 with 85 grains and not be spinning rod bearings yet. 78 grains looks to me where it should be. But just a educated guess

Edit: dont get me wrong i push my personal guns to beyond limits. But i know the limits. Anymore i just load high end of low node and guns shoot better day in day out.
I completely agree, 3140 at 85 grains would be besting up brass pretty hard from my *estimation*. I would think the 81 grain load wouldn't be too terrible though, I would say it's likely high node though. I only have a 30 nosler though, I haven't worked with this sherman. I am like you with my loads though, anymore I don't usually run the highest nodes, and I use H1000, H4831sc and similar powders, the loads just seem more consistent.
 
30 nosler has same capacity as sherman. Im always in the 84-86 with 230 id suspect never tried a 250 in it but I suspect 78-80 be where it would land. @Taylorbok whats your freebore at?
I'm actually not sure on that.
I just used the off the shelf reamer. I never bothered checking where the lands were since I was loading mag length, It's jumping for sure just not sure how far. I could load to touch and guess or @elkaholic could likely tell us the FB length on his reamer.

I'll hopefully do some testing with N565 in the next 3-4 weeks
 
FWIW, I have run 82g of N570 with the 250 A-tip at 2893 with a 26" tube. That was about the max for me. Coming back to 81.5g of N570 in the 30 Sherman was easier on everything. The speed was 2865. This was just an experiment in case I had a customer who wanted to run them. Since then I have run the 30 Sherman a little slower, 2900 with the 245's, and things are just easier on the equipment. All my testing is with a 26" tube.
 
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FWIW I run 83 grains in my 30 SM behind a 245 right at 3000' (28" barrel) and brass will go double digit firings. I consider 84 about tops before brass life goes downhill quite a bit faster. Mt 245s are very impressive in a ladder all the way from 81 to 83.5 grains.
 
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