6.5 Sherman?

S

Shadow9mm

New member
Was watching a video from Ultimate Reloader on a Southafrican hunt. I noticed that whatever round he was using hit HARD. Did a little digging and apparently it was a borrowed rifle in 6.5 Sherman. Never heard of it before. Did a bit of googling and checking my reloading manuals, not much of anything, apparently its a wildcat that launches 160g bullets in the neighborhood of 3100fps. Has anyone dealt with or reloaded for this cartridge before, it has me really interested. Gonna do more googling.

heres the hunt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8b2B6MsyUQ

and heres the article
https://ultimatereloader.com/2023/08/13/7-shots-7-kills-hunting-south-africa-part-1-of-3/
 
4

44 AMP

Staff
A couple of quick searches indicate there is more than one "Sherman" and I believe the one you are looking at is a short (3" COAL) very fat case, with a sharp shoulder optimized for the very slowest powders.
 
N

Nathan

New member
Sherman Wildcat Cartridges He also has a Facebook group.

This is what you are looking for. Rich is a good dude. Like all wildcats or more accurately proprietary cartridges. They are worth the development done to them. Rich has done quite a bit.

I come to this from having a 300 Sherman and a 28 Sherman Magnum.

With all due respect, 6.5 Sherman is a great round. I’m sure 140’s will do 3100-3200fps. Rich and others often develop these rounds with 28” barrels or even sometimes 26” barrels. You will likely want it in a 22” or 24” barrel. No round has special power to drt game. It is about the velocity, bullet weight and bullet construction

On top of that, I would at least consider the 6.5 by 280AI or 6.5-06 AI or the 270 Win fast twist…..or maybe the 6.5 Weatherby RPM. All are close in performance. If those come up short to you, have a Sherman built!

If you go Sherman, PM me. Maybe I can help.

BTW, he was running the 6.5 Sherman Short. Lots of folks think that is a great round, but I have heard several gunsmiths complain about the shortest rounds. This is based on the SAUM, so it should feed.
 
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S

stagpanther

New member
If you must have a hyper-velocity 6.5 that will incinerate it's game target (as well as the bore eventually)--I'd take a look at 6.5-300 weatherby.
 
M

MarkCO

New member
There have been several guys messing with the 6.5 Sherman over the years. With the Norma and PRC family of cartridges now, such cartridges will become more and more rare.

One of the NICEST things about the Norma and PRC based cartridges is that they are less finicky as to load development. One can literally foul the bore with 25 to 30 rounds, do a Satterlee 1.0 and 2.0 with another 20 and be ready to roll. Having that in 50 rounds is SO much more better advantageous excellent and stuff that I really don't see why anyone would go with a belted or shallow shoulder old tech cartridge that barely fits in the magazine. Old school, it can take 200 rounds, or 20% of the barrel life just to get a good load.
 
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