Wildcat appreciation thread

[BRADS]

Had a fee and still got s few

Brads should be along to list his from the fun days

Funny with the rise in quality factory ammo these days, just not the same need for the old wildcats but I still have a couple
338 edge
300 norma mag
22x47lap

7-375r was my favorite of the bunch but the 300 norma does everything the 7mm did & hits harder

22/204
6.5 saum
7/375
300 lapua improved
338 edge
338 lapua improved
338 Raptor
375 lapua improved
375 lunatic
375 Dcm
450 bushmaster


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[Mathias]

Been there and enjoyed the reloading & fun of development.
1x 257AI lovely work by Parker Ackley, he stated it was one of his best improvements based on increase in velocity per volume.
2x 260Imp 30 Deg Improved. Bought the reamer from JGS & custom dies from the developer Robert Whitley in the US. With RL26 it would run close to the 6.5PRC with about 10gr less powder. About the perfect bore to case capacity ratio for a 6.5mm.

[Micky Duck]

The only reason I would do something like that would be to get the rimmed cartridge for a single shot. As the extractor would be much easier to make than the one I'm making for my 243, as I'm sure you'll understand!

so you COULD go 6mm/307

[akaroa1]

so you COULD go 6mm/307

That would be nice if 307 brass grew on trees
I have about 120x 307 cases and those from 3 different sources. I would gladly snap up any 307 brass and wildcat it

6mm-307 would just use 243 chamber reamer and reloading dies

[Micky Duck]

the 6mm-30/30 idea--concept is interesting one...we already have the 7mm walters a 30/30 necked down to 7mm and these days the smaller cased 6mm get a lot of praise sung thier way...maybe just maybe the smaller 30/30 case isnt as big of handicap as first thought???

[Marty Henry]

Blokes in sheds will always tinker around with things to make improvements even if sometimes the improvement is only in their eyes.
I consider the 22/250 still exemplifies one of the best ever wildcats. It was offered to Winchester as a candidate for a high velocity .22 in 1934. Ultimately they went sideways and the 220 swift came from the 6mm lee.
Undeterred Wotkyns persevered and in 1937 the 22 varminter was offered as a wildcat. It proved very popular with the gopher shooting fraternity amongst others, so much so that it became a commercial number in 1964

[Von Gruff Knives]

Another in the safe is a 20 Vartarg which is essentially the Rem 221 Fireball necked to 20 cal and it will run the 35gn Berger to 3735fps in the Rem XR100 BR single shot action and bull barrel. Shooting 1/4 inch was easy with the best ever being a .084. Best cold barrel shot was 350 meters on a rabbit.

[Friwi]

The vartag turbo, I think based of the 222, has a bit more of my interest ;-) because 221 fireball brass is hard to come by now days.

[Von Gruff Knives]

The vartag turbo, I think based of the 222, has a bit more of my interest ;-) because 221 fireball brass is hard to come by now days.

I made a lot from 222 brass starting with a 222 neck die then the 20 cal neck, shortened and turned to suit. Enjoyable few hours in the loading room.

[Von Gruff Knives]

Another I played with was what I called the 400 Lee Speed.
1900 BSA MLA sporting rifle action and bought in a barrel with short chambered 405 winchester chamber that I lengthened with chambering reamer till the 405 Win case shortened by .2 was a neat fit. Had a 320gn cast bullet mould made and cast up a pile of bullets then made a stock for the rifle in the Lee Speed style, changed the 10 shot mag into a single stack 6 shot and started the fun. 320 gn at 1900 fps was a great toy but it got your attention when taken up to 2100fps.

[blip]

@chainsaw do you hand load for your 6.5 06s

[akaroa1]

Here's a nice 375 wildcat

375 Renner
Cut a short chamber with standard 375 H&H chamber reamer
Make brass from 45-90 which is actually reasonably available
Shorten standard 375 H&H sizer die by about 11mm

So you would get a useful 375 Nitro wildcat without having to make anything special to chamber or feed it

Still looking for a proper 375 barrel !

[chainsaw]

@chainsaw do you hand load for your 6.5 06s

Yes it’s the only option once you go the “wildcat” path.

[grandpamac]

Greetings All,
I had a .30-06 AI for a bit which was a Parker Hale target rifle rechambered from .308W. That was my only wildcat. I have also worked with a 6.5-05 which was originally a wild cat, briefly a factory round and now a wildcat again. The most interesting was a 6.5x60 Wire made by a local rifle enthusiast. I must have the data and some fired cases here somewhere which I should look out.
Regards GPM.

[-BW-]

Another I played with was what I called the 400 Lee Speed.
1900 BSA MLA sporting rifle action and bought in a barrel with short chambered 405 winchester chamber that I lengthened with chambering reamer till the 405 Win case shortened by .2 was a neat fit. Had a 320gn cast bullet mould made and cast up a pile of bullets then made a stock for the rifle in the Lee Speed style, changed the 10 shot mag into a single stack 6 shot and started the fun. 320 gn at 1900 fps was a great toy but it got your attention when taken up to 2100fps.

That, is flippin awesome