Once you have decided what you want to hunt with it and the all important name. What is the next step/s in developing a wildcat cartridge?

Perhaps someone who has done this can suggest the differerent steps and provide names and suggestions of experts who can take it to the next step.

Thanks,

Reddy375

If you can tell us what wildcat you're thinking of then someone can tell you how to go about it....

Often we discover that it's a "standard wildcat" such as a 6.5-284....dies and reamers are available for it....

I've built three and all three were actually standard but not SAAMI recognized....

Now days I'd bet that someone has already done something darn close if not the same. As vapodog mentioned I would post your details and see if someone here has experience with something close. Or the very least share info on the 100s of wildcats that posters on this site have built.

As to my wildcats I started building mine back before the internet. Yep I'm that old.

If you have your case dimensions then send them to a reamer manufacturer and a reamer cut. Have your barrel chambered and mounted. Now days without guages you might have to look a little harder to get someone to mount your barrel. Form some brass and have custom dies made.

With programs like QL you can get help with starting reload data etc.

1. figure out what you want to accomplish.
2. figure out what parent case you want to neck up or down and whether to improve it or not.
3. find a powder that will give you the velocity you are looking for.

First, though, buy a copy of Donnelly & Towsley's big book
"The Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions" to see if somebody else had the same idea before you.

Rich

Research, Research, Research.

I'm just a noob, but constantly have things running around in my head, too.

If you haven't already, subscribe to ammoguide so you can use the search cartridge dimensions feature.

Hello Reddy375:

Call/e-mail a reamer maker with a general description of what you'd like to accomplish. It's good to include some or all of the following information:

Application(hunting/benchrest, etc.), bore size, base case and changes in taper, case length, neck length, shoulder angle, bullet preferences, cartridge overall length and/or mag length restrictions.

We don't need ALL of the above--with a few dimensions we can usually derive the other specs needed to make tooling. Also, if you'd like us to search for similar chamberings, we can usually do so with less than all of the above parameters. We'll send you prints of similar calibers, or, if it's a unique design,
a print with suggested dimensions for your review.

Once you approve/correct dimensions, we'll start the tooling requested AND, if you wish, send a copy of the print to your diemaker. This can expedite your project by allowing the diemaker to work on your dies while we're making your reamer and gages.

We're happy to do this, 'cause it allows us to do a better job for you, the customer--and isn't that what business is all about?

Dave Manson

for em --
define the problem statement -
what are you trying to solve

evaluate everything you can to find anything close to it ..

determine if its worth a year and $1500 bucks to prove yourself "right"

be prepared for failure

for example -
my first wildcat, a 257x300wsm ... worked perfectly, and did nothing better than a 257webby, and more of a PITA to make work right .. i did load dev, cobbled together dies, and it shot great .. about 100fps behind teh 257 webby ...

however, the 416/458/470 Accrels did some kinda of cool things
cheap brass
easy to make
easy to fit and feed
exceeded the balistics of longer cases
fit into a standard action, largely unmodified.
woudl clean up a 416 taylor or 458 winmag (or lott for that matter, btw) and shoot well
.475 bullet launcher in a standard length bolt action gun (which was a first in our shooting world, far as i can see)

same for the 500 Accrel, which took design clues from the 500 jeffe, and teh same design guidelines (beat the older round, be smaller, fit in smaller actions) ...

rigby brass is WAY cheaper than jeffe brass ..

the 550 express? we wanted a MONSTER in a mauser .. got there, no problem.

Instead of fireforming you can send the reamer print to Hornady and they will build a Hydraulic Form Die for your cartridge.

After you and your reamer maker have settled on the details of the print send copies to the die maker and Hornady at the same time. Chances are that by the time your barrel is mounted you can have cartridges ready to start testing.

This is my plan, does anyone see a problem with it? Please speak up.

How do you figure out how much powder and which powder to use in your new cartridge? As you can see I am pretty new to this wildcatting business.....

Reddy375,

Lots of folks use QuickLoad and QuickDesign or RCBSLoad to monkey with cartridge shapes and sizes, determine capacity,etc. QuickLoad allows you to import the QuickDesign cartridge you've put together and model pressures after you've selected bullet, powder type and amount, and seating depth.

Also, I highly recommend Fred Zeglin's book Wildcat Cartridges, which goes through design of a wildcat. He also sometimes teaches a class on this during the summers at the NRA's summer gunsmithing programs. Usually at the Tishimongo, OK school, I think, though I took his class at Trinidad.

Also recommend Ken Howell's book mentioned above.

HTH,
Steve

quote:

Originally posted by reddy375:
How do you figure out how much powder and which powder to use in your new cartridge?

Quickload seems to be a very good tool for those that have it.....

Historically, it was done by "similar cartridges".

Example:.....you come up with a 6.5 WSM.....necked down .270 WSM. After you make your first case (a simple pass through a FL die) from (probably) Hornady, you can fill the case with water and weigh it. You do the same with a .264 Win Mag case and compare the volume. If they are the same (and they rarely are) you can start with loading data for the .264 Win Mag.....starting low and working up!

If your new case has more volume, you can still use .264 Win Mag data but will likely work up to a larger charge.....If your new case is a lot less.....you compare it to a different case such as a 6.5-.284.....and loading data is available for that.

However....personally I see that you have jumped the process.....the first step is to decide just what your goal is.....such as:

1. I want to duplicate the .300 Win Mag performance in my Remington short action!

2. I want a varmint rifle good for 1,000 yards

3. I want a cartridge just for elk and moose that my M-98 Mauser can handle

If one just wants to make a wildcat....he's going to be disappointed with his results unless he's simply interested in the process. The worst wildcats are the ones that just want more velocity.....almost everything is covered by factory ammo already.....

Here's one of mine:

I wanted a legal firearm to hunt in Minnesota that uses my Sako L-461 action.....well I got it.....the 6 X 45.....notice there was no attempt to make a super cartridge....the goal was very different.....

Unless you start with a statement of purpose or intent, you'll wind up with a disappointing rifle.....because it fills no purpose!

Lets start there......OK?

Or,...

I want a rimmed cartridge that'll work in my single shot rifle, but I want a modern performance level.

I want a 9.3 that's roughly equivalent to the 9.3x64, but will fit in a standard-length action and can be made from commonly-available brass...