Wildcatters

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Nvreloader

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Any Wildcatters around,
if so what's your favorite??

Lets hear about them.

17 Weasel series,
There is 5 cases in this series,
all from the same reamer,
from .600" to 1.400" long.

One of mine is the 17 XST Weasel,
22 Hornet case shorten to a case length of .600,
30* shoulder angle, neck length of .200",
usable H2o case capacity of 3.75 grs,
launches a 15 gr bullet @ 2700+ fps,
from a 18" tube.
BE is 45.2%
My go to rifle for a truck rifle and pests around the ranch.

Then there is the Rabbit series,
4 cases along the same lines,
from .600" to 1.200" long.
built from the 223 case/reamer.

Tia,
Don
 
I only have one at this time, but others look interesting to me.
It is a 6 mm mongoose.
I am just getting started with it.

Basicially a 6tcu that has a case length of 1.700

I can use 6x45 data and start from there.

Cases have to be fireformed due to 40 degree shoulder and less taper than 223.
Lc brass is no neck turn.
Lapua needs to be turned.

I wanted something easy for the first one.
I am using
55-105 gr bullet range.
 
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I am definitely no REAL wildcatter, but I do own one wildcat that I feed and shoot, it's the .357-44 Bain & Davis. It is just as simple as .44 Mag brass necked down to hold a .358" slug and I shoot it from a S&W Model 28-2. Basically just puts some extra velocity on to a .357 Mag and burns a lot of powder accomplishing this.

It's just for goofing around. :D
 
Nosler got loading data for 17 Rem Fireball and case length is 1.410" just little different that 17MachIV.

I've done 17 MACH IV also 17 neck down 222mag x45 case,222AI case. I never had any interest on going smaller than 221 case and back in them days you could buy bulk Rem 25gr bullet. Those were great shooting pd.

I did a shorten talldog off the 6 BR case then 22 Walldog ppc case also shorten 7-08 case.

I kind of lost interest about only thing I like now is AI and that is where I started. I have to admit was lot of fun at one time.
 
Only one, a 270AR. Its a AR15 wildcat that uses 6.8 bullets (up to 140 grs) sitting on a necked up 6.5x47 Lupua case. It shoots sub MOA but having problems with stuck cases and cycling. Work in progress. It will become my hunting AR once I get the bugs worked out of it.
 
I might not label myself as a wildcatter as most of my stuff can all be bought somewhere. But I do like some that most call wildcats.

.414 SuperMag, 6.5PCC, 6x45, .338-06 and a .450Corvette.
 
I have a few wildcats, but none were of my own design.
One was cut with a standard 'match' reamer, not run to full depth; and the others (one has since been sold) were either common wildcats or 'micro'-runs by niche manufacturers.

Currently, I'm messing with:
6x45mm (finish chambered myself).
6mm based on .243 Win 'match'.
.475 Tremor
And I'm forgetting one...

I also mess around with .444 Marlin loaded stupid-hot with 425+ gr projectiles in a single-shot. Not much of a wildcat, but it has more in common with something fictitious like ".44-90 Smokeless" than it does with standard .444 Marlin.

Right now, I'm trying to decide whether or not to move forward with a 7.35mm (0.298") wildcat, based on the x57mm case.
It won't do anything better than any other similar cartridge, from 7mm to .32 caliber, except be different.
 
I've been necking 308 brass down to 7mm. I think I'll call it a 7mm Tornado or a 7mm/08 maybe.

I'm thinking about necking down 250 Savage brass down to .224". I think it could be fast and very accurate.
 
I'm very interested in the 6.5 saum. Ballistics look good and definitely cheaper to load than the 26 Nosler. It's gaining popularity after gap started their own version. It appears you can buy reamers from ptg.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've got a .222 Magnum, not a wildcat buy might as well be...the brass is unobtainable. I make mine from 204 Ruger new brass, setting the shoulder back 0.020", and neck expanding to .224~ then fire forming in my Sako L461 (the mini-Mannlicher!). I've yet to have a case neck split (I anneal every 5-6 loading), and the groups shot while fire-forming are spot on with those shot after!!

It's a lovely little rifle that I treasure, and a great 'walk the pasture fence lines' piece. Woodchucks shot with either the Hornady or Sierra 52-53 gr Match bullets don't run off, believe me. Here's one target shot off the porch rail at 220 paces with my pet load using BL-C2...just about a half MOA. Quite proud of it!!

The scope for those of you interested is a treasured Leupold Alaskan 4x (the 7/8" tube model)...wish I could find a 6x but I'd have to mortgage the farm to buy it.

Best Regards, Rod

 
I have been tinkering with a 357 magnum necked down to 338 caliber. I have a encore with a custom barrel for it. They make pretty good subsonic rounds. Its mostly just for fun.
 
I shoot a 22BR Remington, which technically has never been a factory cartridge. I make cases by necking down 6 or 7 BR cases, which technically have barely been factory cartridges. :rolleyes:

I'm waiting right now for a barrel that will be chambered in 22-222 "Plain Jane". It is simply a 222 Rem necked down to .204. jd
 
That reminds me of a guy I ran into about a year ago, that had sunk about $1,800 into dies, a chamber reamer, the barrel, and gunsmithing work for his .22-204 Ruger.

When I asked him why he didn't just go with .222 Rem Mag, he went on for about 25 minutes about how the slight difference in shoulder location and the shorter neck made all the difference in the world....

To each his own, but I would have just gone with the .222 Mag. :rolleyes:
 
That reminds me of a guy I ran into about a year ago, that had sunk about $1,800 into dies, a chamber reamer, the barrel, and gunsmithing work for his .22-204 Ruger.

When I asked him why he didn't just go with .222 Rem Mag, he went on for about 25 minutes about how the slight difference in shoulder location and the shorter neck made all the difference in the world....

To each his own, but I would have just gone with the .222 Mag.
Click to expand...

some times its just for fun. I did mine just so I can say that I invented it!
 
I understand that, to a point.
And I do understand it with .222 Rem getting necked to 20 caliber.

But .22-204 makes no sense to me. It's a waste of time, money, and resources.
I look at the it as: If you want your name on something, make it different in some way. Don't de-evolve back to the parent with a slight genetic mutation.

To me, a .22-204 is like necking 7x57mm up to accept 8mm bullets, and slapping a new name on the "wildcat".
 
I had my Ruger 77/22 Hornet reamed out to the old 22 K Hornet. The cases last longer because they don't grow much. After lots of testing I found Lil,Gun to be the best powder. I also found through testing several primers that Rem. 6 1/2 is the only primer to use. My choice for pills is the Hornady 35 A-Max. I had the trigger tuned, floated the barrel and I still need to bed the action.

I have come along way to get the Ruger to shoot and I'm almost there.

I have a lot of fun working on the little K Hornet.
 
Thanks Guys,

Question for you,
Did you build your wildcat to fill a special niche for target shooting, hunting or playing around etc?

I built the my 2 favorite wildcats to fill a special niche, to replace the non existent 22 LR,
as for the last 5+ yrs it has not been found around the Reno area, without paying BLACK market prices.

The 17 XST Weasel case (shortened Hornet) .600" long will launch a 17 gr bullet @ over 2800 fps from a 18" barrel,
using 2.5 grs of powder, with has better ballistic and cheaper to shoot than the 22 LR, now a days.

The 17 Pigmy Rabbit case (shortened 223) .600" long, will launch a 17gr bullet @ over 3100 fps from a 18" bbl, using 3.4grs of powder.

Tia,
Don
 
Mostly, I just like having something different than the norm.

My 6x45mm was to bridge the gap between .22 WMR and .243 Win.
I'm not a fan of .223 Rem (even though I own many :rolleyes:); but do appreciate the free brass, and have thousands of 6mm bullets. So, it just made sense.
From squirrels to deer, it's capable. But, most importantly, the RED MIST factor on varmints is so much more spectacular with 70 gr 6mm bullets than 40-50 gr .224" bullets.

The .475 Tremor was picked up because it's essentially the same as .458 SOCOM, but uses bullets MUCH better suited to the velocities achieved by the cartridge. That, and Tony Rumore said he wouldn't be making any more barrels for it, so I knew it would be unusual and different for quite some time.
I sold the SOCOM and haven't looked back. The Tremor does everything the SOCOM could, but does it with (marginally) higher velocities and better bullets.


The 7.35x57mm I'm thinking about (almost ordered the barrel today ;)) would be nothing more than just 'different'.

And if I manage to make a lathe materialize (hoping to have one by end of summer), the next thing in line will be a small .17 based on turned Hornet cases. I have about two thousand .172" bullets sitting in my stash, still sealed in plastic, with no current use for them. I tried selling them, many times, but no one seems to be willing to pay even 50% of market value. So, I figure it's time for a small centerfire that somewhat mimics something like .17 HMR or .17 WSM, without getting into .17 Hornet territory.
 
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