I live in Kali4nya. I thought you might help me find out more about this round. I like my .338 Lapua ,but would like info. on the .408 Chytach.Hope I came to the right place. Thanks
Oh wha, how make the Windrunner?
338vt

I have been drinking heavily tonight (like you) but I was able to find some info for ya...

408 CHEYTAC

PDF of the 408
Best o' luck with your research

yop here in cali if you got the doe ray me the chey-tac is the sheezeeee

Here is some information I found:

http://www.cheyennetactical.com/ammo.htm

http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/408CheyTac.asp

I don't know if this is correct or not, but I read that http://www.lostriverballistic.com/ manufactures the cartridge, so you may want to try and contact them.

It IS an interesting round, BUT some of the claims are hard to back up by anybody other than the people who are SELLING the .408 guns/ammo...
Some benchrest guys that have tried it say that there are inherent design flaws in the cartridge that tend to throw some "inaccuracy" into it... There is a .408 Improved cartridge out there that has supposedly taken care of some of those issues...
I was involved with a test of this round compared to .50BMG at Yuma earlier this year.. It was found that .408 could not easily replace .50 BMG for the super-long range/hard target role as was claimed by its' proponents...

I always wondered how a .375 or a .416 with the same case would perform. At least you could buy bullets and barrels more commonly. I think the 408 bullet was a poor choice.

Actually Demo,
Barrett is just about ot go public with their .416/.50BMG derivative (.416 Barret?)... I think they are going to release it at this years SHOT show... They also had that round respresented at Yuma earlier this year but I don't personally know how it did...
Steyr also has a .460/.50BMG derivative (.460 Steyr) available too but I didn't get to test fire that round... I am hoping to get a .460 Steyr barrel for my HS .50 rifle and try it out... I just need to get the BMG caliber HS first, which they tell me is "on the way"...
The nice thing about these 2 rounds over the .408 Cheytac is that they use the same exact bolt as the .50 BMG rifle so unlike the Windrunner where you need to change out the barrel AND the bolt, the Barrett and Steyr versions will only require a different barrel...

I just found my issue of FSCA where they wildcatted the 50BMG. With .375 and .416 bullets I don't have the issue in hand but I think the case was shortened around an inch and velocities over 3200 fps with heavier bullets. I'm curious as to the case capacity of the Cheytac? I'm told the pressures in their factory loads to get their published velocities is over 70,000 psi. I'll get back with the 50 BMG wildcat info. Is Barret and Steyr doing this to get around our favorite state of California and their 50BMG law? Same energy as the 50 but flatter tradjectory would be a great goal.

YES Demo..
Those "wildcats" DO qualify as "civilian ownable" in Kommiefornia... Have you seen the .50 DTC round? It is a hens breath away from BMG caliber's case dimensions and IS also Kali. friendly...
The idiots who banned .50BMG in Kali. were SO specific about THAT particular caliber that all you have to do is "slightly" change the case dimensions off the the BMG specs, and VOILA, you have a Kali-Friendly .50 round...
Personally, if I were to go "wildcat" and remain with a 1/2" diameter projo, I would go with .50McMurdo... A friend of mine, Scott Nye, uses that derivative in his heavy gun and I am sure you have seen how well that caliber shoots for him! It is basically an "improved" case which works more efficiently than the "regular" BMG one.. In fact, Scott and I shoot the same 800g solids in our guns, mine BMG chamber, his McMurdo, and he gets the same velocities that I do with about 20 grains less powder!
As far as the Cheytacs, one of the issues that the military had with that round in Yuma was the pressures that it operated at to get the "advertised" performance... I understand that the pressures were actually in the 90,000PSI range on the rounds that were tested! The rounds that had pressures in the more "reasonable" ranges would not perform "as advertised"...

I did some gun trading with one of the original engineers on the Cheytac project. He told me that they approached Warren Jensen, Lost River Ballistics, about making a rifle that was capable of MOA groups out to 2500yds. The whole system was designed around the projectile itself. He talked about the precessional rotation; twist rates and all the techno babble that I couldn't remember. I think their website talks about the yawing characteristics caused by twist rates. Anyways the cases they ended up using is based off of a 505 Gibbs case, that has been reinforced, to get the velocity to match the projectile and the twist rate, I think if I understand it right.

I had a chance to shot one of these rifles three years ago when I was in Idaho. The rifle is much more comfortable to shot than the 50 BMG. The Cheytac lacks the head crushing concussion of the BMG and is much flatter shooting and is considerably less susceptible to wind drift from my take.

They are expensive, since there is only one bullet, brass, and ammunition maker.

I know the Israeli Government was one of the companies’ first contracts. He also talked that a few SEALs have used the rifle system in the field with great success, but the Navy hasn't adopted it as a standard in the SpecOps arena. They seem to be partial to the 50 BMG mainly due to costs. The 50 BMG rifle was designed to be used mainly as an anti-material rifle, were as the Cheytac was for anti-personnel.

I am planning on building one over this winter in my free time off of my own custom action. Pac-Nor sells the barrels and I am in the process of ordering one.

Hey Guys,
I have an EDM Arms SS-99 in .408 CheyTac. It's a left handed single shot.
I've only got about twenty rounds through it at the moment, as the Nightforce NXS 8X32X50 Mildot I had mounted took a dump. It's in the process of being replaced with an IOR 6X24X50 35 mm tubed Illum MP-8 Dot.
From my limited experience with it, it's much softer shooting then you would imagine, and significantly less then the .50 BMG; read no concussion to rattle your brain.
I, along with a few other guys, were shooting at a 14" plate at 1750 meters with it. Even with the scope issues, we were still easily shooting to MOA, and I'm confindent that with the new glass, performance will be much better.
That's with TTI's factory 419 grn. load. I have yet to shoot the LRB loads, as I purchased a case of the TTI fodder, and as I said,the system is down at the moment.
I hope this helps.
Respectfully,
Harry
Here's a few pictures...

No muzzle brake???
(See avatar)

Also, It's very cool to have it in left hand and the serial number is pretty low too.

Where are you shooting in NJ? I'm in NY and PA has the closest 1000 YD range, I'd love to shoot my Steyr at clost to 2K

Hey Brother,
Yeah, I got lucky when I bought it, and got the deal of a life time from the previous owner, and a great guy by the way. It's one of th very first left handed rifles EDM made, and likely the first in .408CT.
No, there is a pretty good sized shark gill muzzle break up there. I'm a little masocistic, I'm married after all , but not that bad.
I took a four hour drive out to State College, Pa, to shoot with a guy named Jason on a farm he has access to. His handle is JB1000R over on Sniper's Hide.
Locally, the best we can do is a six hundred yard range in Milville, New Jersey.
Once the system is up, I'm gonna drag it down to see Vern Harrison at Central Virginia Tactical to fire out to sixteen hundred yards on his farm, and study under the master.
Respectfully,
Harry

quote:

Originally posted by SpecOpsScout:
Hey Guys,
I have an EDM Arms SS-99 in .408 CheyTac. It's a left handed single shot.
I've only got about twenty rounds through it at the moment, as the Nightforce NXS 8X32X50 Mildot I had mounted took a dump. It's in the process of being replaced with an IOR 6X24X50 35 mm tubed Illum MP-8 Dot.

Respectfully,
Harry
Here's a few pictures...

WOAH, the Nightforce took a DUMP!?!?!?!?! Those Nightforces are supposed to be among the best of the best and fully capable of withstanding the recoil of a 50 BMG!!!

Hey Brother,
I guess you can't prove that by me. I've had two take a dump on me. A NXS 3.5X15X56 Mildot took a dump on my AR10T and the aforementioned 8X32X56 Mildot; tracking issues, and the bigger one required max windage just to achieve one MOA right on the target for zeroing. Neither would hold zero, though.
On the plus side, both were repaired quickly and with zero costs. So I can at least vouch for thier customer service. I'd rather be able to vouch for the quality of the scope.
I sold both following the repairs, so I can't comment further on how they worked following the repairs.
Respectfully,
Harry

Well, honestly, I have always owned Leupolds. I had been looking at the NXS line, but after your comments, it seems like I might be better served if I stick with my normal line. Thanks for your honestly!!!

Hey Brother,
I've known others who swear by em, but as I said, my luck with Nightforce only extends as far as great customer service.
Leupys are nice, and I've owned more then a few over the years, including a few from PR. Unfortunately, I've had a lemon or two there, too. I know others who have, as well. Canted reticles have been a big issue with Leupys for some reason apparently. I guess ultimately you can have problems with any brand.
Right now, I'm having a lot of success with IOR, and at least for the moment, in the bang for the buck catagory, they can't be touched. My new 3X18X42 with 35mm tube and Illumiated MP-8 Dot reticle is the cat's butt!
The 6X24X50 35mm tube with Illuminated MP-8 Dot reticle I'm getting for the big gun has a great reputation, too. A few friends have them, and can't say enough good about em.
I've gotten a lot of glass from Scott Berrish at Liberty Optics, and the guy is tops for customer service. It just doesn't get any better.
Unfortunately, IOR has finally realized it and thier prices are going up across the board next year. They still are a great product, even when priced more in line with the rest.
I hope this helps.
Respectfully,
Harry

quote:

Originally posted by SpecOpsScout:
Hey Brother,
I guess you can't prove that by me. I've had two take a dump on me. A NXS 3.5X15X56 Mildot took a dump on my AR10T and the aforementioned 8X32X56 Mildot; tracking issues, and the bigger one required max windage just to achieve one MOA right on the target for zeroing. Neither would hold zero, though.
On the plus side, both were repaired quickly and with zero costs. So I can at least vouch for thier customer service. I'd rather be able to vouch for the quality of the scope.
I sold both following the repairs, so I can't comment further on how they worked following the repairs.
Respectfully,
Harry

So how is the EDM .408 rifle working out?
Get the scope issues cleared up? Holding zero now?
Have you ever thought that the inability to hold zero comes from that rifle design itself, and not the numberous "high quality" scopes that you have gone through???
I own 2 .50's (bolt guns) and I used to own a Windrunner in that caliber too, but I sold that POS because at 1000 yards it was ALL OVER the place (sounds like "not holding a zero" deosn't it?)... It would shoot 1.2MOA, then 2.2MOA, then 1.5MOA, then 2.5MOA... Under NO circumstances would that rifle shoot sub-MOA (all tests using hand-loaded/match-grade ammo)... That barrel mounting setup that Bill Richie went with is the culprit... It works fine for an Uzi, but not on a rifle that is capable of shooting a mile...
On the Nightforce scopes, there are a great quality piece that many of my feiends have had on their .50 for years, many even for a decade or more, and they don't seem to have issues...

Your comment on the MAX adjustment to zero the rifle indicates to me that there is a mounting issue... My .50 Windrunner came with a 45MOA slanted scope base, which would allow you to "zero" in the lower portion of the scopes internal reticule erector. Does yours have this same "slanted" base (hard to tell with the funny glare in your picture, but I'd bet it does)...