With the little knowledge I have about reloading, this may already be done. I was thinking of necking out a .338 win mag case to .416 so that I could achieve a cartridge similiar to that of the .411 magnum with a better bullet selection. If this idea has been taken what about necking the .338 win mag out futher to .458? Do these sound like good ideas? What I was hoping to achieve is a cartridge with a large caliber bullet for DG, but with less recoil than the factory chamberings.

Sevens

Take the 338 WinMag and neck it down to 7mm and ....you have the 7mm RemMag.

Take the 338 WinMag and neck it up to .458 and ..... now you have the 458 WinMag.

Take the 338 WinMag and neck it up to .416 and .....you will have what has been know for a long time as the 416 Taylor or by some as the 416 Chatfield-Taylor.

Damb, I knew this would happen. Since I can't seem to create a big bore, how 'bout I neck down the .460 weatherby to something like .22 or some other small cartridge.

How about you buy some loading manuals, a book called Cartridges Of the World, and Ken Waters "Pet Loads" then you'll see that damn near everything has been tried. Some that didn't work out well were dropped like the 22-460, don't think old man Weatherby didn't try it when he was working with the Gov't. Sean

Oh and the .338 necked to .375 is the .375 Taylor or .375 Eppstein. Sean

My father has a 338/416. A 416 Remington Mag necked down to 338. Since the 8mm Rem Mag and 416 Rem Mag are essentially the same case, it could be argued that he has a 338 STA, but the 338 STA didn't exist when he had his built. He and a friend both had theirs built with Shilen barrels by a gunsmith here in Texas. Triple G Gunsmithing. Apparently he's done a bunch of them. It shoots really really well.

Wow, Mr. Weatherby tried the 22-460, now I've heard of everything. I'd like to use a small casing, like the 375's and neck it up to a 500 caliber, but I would guess the brass isn't wide enough or that's the way the standard cartridge is made.

Since my attempts seem futile, does it seem practicle to use handgun bullets, like the 480 rugers or 44 mag, and put those into an appropriate casing, such as the 416 casing? (I'm going to bet this has been tried too)

Sevens

If you are interested in big bores, then do yourself a favor and get a copy of A-squares Any Shot You Want reloading manual. Also get Wolf Publishings Big Bore Rifles and Loads.

Yes, the full length belted basic brass has been necked to .475" and is known as the 470 Captick. I'm sure someone has done a 2.5" length one as well, though I have not heard of one. If you want to use the 475 pistol bullets, then you don't need such a big case, and the 450 Marlin necked up to .475" would be a fine lever gun on compact bolt gun round. I know the 45-70 has been necked up to 475.

You are correct, the belted mag case is too small in diameter for 50 caliber use. The 460 Wetherby has been necked up to 50 caliber in 2", 2.5" and full length versions with various names. There is also the 500 Jeffrey, a factory 50, and some varients of it as well with full dia rim and longer necks.

Almost forgot, there is also a 43 caliber belted mag to use the 44 mag bullets, I forget the details but do recall reading about it in an Alaskan hunting/shooting book from the 60's.

You have to get really obscure to do something truly new, and then again, someone has probably already done it. About the only way to really do something new is to come up with a new caliber, but the gaps are pretty narrow, and it would be a very expensive venture to have the tooling made for the barrel as well as the bullets.