Wildcats that need to be SAMMI certified

Reloading
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I’ve personally been looking at some Sherman cartridges that seem like so much fun to shoot and reload for! The biggest one for be would have to be the 7 Sherman Short. This thing is incredible. It’s basically a 7 Saum with a sharper shoulder. (Same performance) however you can seat bullets even farther out without eating into the powder supply! It’s a step back from the 7PRC which for me is fine really. Not to mention. It’s short action!! Loading up some 175 eldx or Berger 175 hunters! What a fun cartridge! What do yall think! What do you thing should be SAAMI standard in 2026?

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I wouldn’t hold my breath, but yes, it would be nice. I’ve spent well over 100 hours in the last month or two digging into 7mm cartridge choices ( there were a lot of branching rabbit holes I went down).

There are 3 that really fascinate me. The 7-300PRC, the 7 Norma Mag Improved, and the 7SS

For me, there are several advantages of the 7SS

  1. head-stamped brass (also 7-300PRC)
  2. barrel life (7-300PRC, less so, and the 7 Norma Mag Improved even less)
  3. brass life (same)
  4. powder usage (if I can get what I want for 62gr rather than 72, I’ll take it)
  5. fast enough. (3000 would be nice, but anything north of 2800 and small groups is my goal)

I really like the 7SS on paper (never shot it). I suspect if PO Ackley were still around, it’s what he’d have done. The thing that concerns me is max loads. The ADG brass is exceptional, and the case design is well-suited for handling pressure (perhaps too much so?) Given the case design, I expect it to exceed 7 SAUM by a slight margin while giving you much better support for 180-195 grain bullets.

I think Rich Sherman has done a great job - and I suspect his testing methodology is pretty safe - at least my understanding of it. He’s very cognizant of pressure signs (bolt lift, primer flattening/extrusion, ejector and extraction marks), and he adds in case of life. The theory being, if you don’t see any of the normal signs and you’re getting 20+ reloads per firing, you’re going to be under the max pressure - even if we don’t know what that is. The reason I find that useful is that the case design itself goes a long way toward minimizing the normal overpressure signs, except for primer flattening/extrusion, which can also be both primer-dependent and pressure curve-related.

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