For this project I used a Savage 110 long action and a 28" PacNor barrel fitted with a Sako muzzle brake pulled from a TRG-42 in .338 Lapua Magnum. I first short chambered a .338 Winchester Magnum reamer as a rougher, then I finished with a 7mm WSM reamer using an empty case as a headspace gauge.
I had to select 50 cases in .270 WSM with the highest capacity among a few hundreds of once fired cases from various brands. I finally settled on Winchester (nickel plated and not) and Norma as a close second choice. After necking up the cases with Lee's spindles in .323, .338 and .348 I necked down the cases with the Hornady .338 universal neck sizer just enough to create a false shoulder which, after fireforming, would become the real shoulder and incidentally grant me an extra 2 grain capacity, going from 90 grs to 92 grs of water capacity.
Why not use 7mm WSM or even .325 WSM brass? Because in my neck of the woods (Frogland) those cases are rarer than .225 Winchester brass which says a lot.
My gunstore had Partizan 250 grs hpbt bullets in stock. They’re decent, inexpensive bullets that match in BC and accuracy the old Sierra 250 SBT that's been my workhorse for years with the .338 Winchester Magnum.
The magazine on my Tikka Supervarmint in that caliber limits my cartridge OAL to 3.34". But the Savage magazine which has about the same clearance, allows me to fully use the generous throat provided by the .338 WM reamer and load the wildcat to an even 3.0" OAL.
Quickload was extremely helpful in developping a charge with Vihta N 560 powder which is also my favorite in a 30° version of the .260 Ackley Improved.
The testing went smoothly on a military range where fellow shooters mind their business and the Garmin radar rewarded me with an average speed of 2935 fps on 14 shots.
Recoil was very manageable but the blast was fierce despite the fact that the whole powder charge should have burnt in that barrel length.
My eyes are not what they used to be and with the focus cranked to the brink on the eyepiece, I barely had a usable image of the target, so my groups were around 1.3 MoA.
More to come later.
Thanks for your attention.
from L to R: .338 WM, PPU 250 hpbt, .338-7WSM
I had to select 50 cases in .270 WSM with the highest capacity among a few hundreds of once fired cases from various brands. I finally settled on Winchester (nickel plated and not) and Norma as a close second choice. After necking up the cases with Lee's spindles in .323, .338 and .348 I necked down the cases with the Hornady .338 universal neck sizer just enough to create a false shoulder which, after fireforming, would become the real shoulder and incidentally grant me an extra 2 grain capacity, going from 90 grs to 92 grs of water capacity.
Why not use 7mm WSM or even .325 WSM brass? Because in my neck of the woods (Frogland) those cases are rarer than .225 Winchester brass which says a lot.
My gunstore had Partizan 250 grs hpbt bullets in stock. They’re decent, inexpensive bullets that match in BC and accuracy the old Sierra 250 SBT that's been my workhorse for years with the .338 Winchester Magnum.
The magazine on my Tikka Supervarmint in that caliber limits my cartridge OAL to 3.34". But the Savage magazine which has about the same clearance, allows me to fully use the generous throat provided by the .338 WM reamer and load the wildcat to an even 3.0" OAL.
Quickload was extremely helpful in developping a charge with Vihta N 560 powder which is also my favorite in a 30° version of the .260 Ackley Improved.
The testing went smoothly on a military range where fellow shooters mind their business and the Garmin radar rewarded me with an average speed of 2935 fps on 14 shots.
Recoil was very manageable but the blast was fierce despite the fact that the whole powder charge should have burnt in that barrel length.
My eyes are not what they used to be and with the focus cranked to the brink on the eyepiece, I barely had a usable image of the target, so my groups were around 1.3 MoA.
More to come later.
Thanks for your attention.
from L to R: .338 WM, PPU 250 hpbt, .338-7WSM
So I make my own.
