Well, I had to do something with all of these .308 bullets, and the big ones don't like my FAL, so here's my next project for 2004: the 30 Something.
I mentioned it in a thread on the Gunsmithing forum, but at the risk of redundancy I'll repeat it.
It's a 338 Lpaua case necked to .308 and trimmed to 2 1/3".
COL will be 3.1" or as close as a bastardized 300 WSM action/magazine will allow. Plan is to use factory 24" bbl as proving ground, then make into long-barreled sharpshooter with an A4 stock, 27-28" fluted barrel, brake, tripod, that sort of thing. For 1000 yd spitting contests and hunting as far as I dare.
There are other short 30-cal Lapua's out there, but none are quite "right." (The beauty of a wildcat. )
This one will have a nice long neck (about 1/3") and a 35* shoulder. Body will be a bit improved, with about .oo7"/inch taper.
The Patriot has less capacity and shorter COL, but is loaded hotter than mine will be, so it might be a good reference for expected data.
Something on the order of 3100 for a 180g, and maybe 3k with a 190g VLD.
There you have it. The seed is sewn....
Wish me luck!