wildcatting is usually defined as developing a new cartridge from an old cartridge by modifing it in such a way as to enable the new cartridge to fill a particular need. i was just wondering what need you would be trying to fill.
dave.

in old terms this is an outside lubricated bullet. if you ever have load such cartridges, like the 32 short colt, you will looking for another solution. it make allways problems because the bullet stick in the die from time to time.

Some guys over on the levergun board have been working on a similar idea, except for a handgun.

They started with an Italian SAA clone in .45 Colt. They bored the cylinder straight through so that no throat was left. This made the whole chamber about .480. Then they installed a .475 barrel.

They have had a mold made that casts a 300gr Ovigal Wad Cutter (almost a cylinder) with a heel to facilitate loading in a cut down .45 Colt case. The new cartidge has been dubbed the .480 Achilies (sp?) after the Greek guy with the week heel.

The idea was to get a 300gr bullet out the barrel at about 800fps and have the largest possible meplat. All of this is done in a trim and light-weight revolver - much smaller than any other .480 on the market.

Is it worth it? Probably not, but the idea appears to be sound.

Certainly it is wildcatting ...



Will it work? Don't see why not, it works every day countless times ... even when the chips are down. Looking at such a projo as we speak ... it's called the 20mm ...



While crimping COULD be a bear, tight fitting cases and some judicious projectile design could remedy that.



Have someone modify some Bridger or GS Custom bullets, by removing some material off the base, leaving some of the "driving bands" in place. Size the case for 458, lathe turn the tail of the bullets to 459-460 and you should be off to the races. Either head space off the rim, belt (like the 20mm, 25mm, 25mm OICW, 30mm and 40mm) or even the driving band (Bofors, WWI vintage)



No reason for it not to work ...



Another way to look at it - Naval Gun, 16". If you make a case and install that solid base you mention, you have made a self contained charge. Now you can first load the projectile (need something to ram it home) and then load the charge. Seems rather reminiscent of what they did on board ole Mighty Mo ... Again, it would work just fine



You can get rebated boat tail dies for swaging, so you should be able to swage your own for this project

Rangerbob, do you have a link to the 480 Achilies? It sounds kind of interesting.

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Well, probably what will happen is that you will blow the rifle up. The powder gases will flow back around the case neck, collapse the shoulder and body of the case and take the action apart.
You have a heel base bullet like so many of the old timers but they made the large part of the bullet the same size as the outside of the case. I played with this idea when I made the .470/.45 ACP rimmed. In this case the .470 bullet diameter is the same as the case size so that the case can still seal the chamber on firing. The throats in the cylinder have to be reamed out to .470" and of course a .470" barrel has to be stuck on the pistol. This lets one use a larger bullet without having to rechamber and by sticking the .45 barrel back on you can still shoot .45 ACP R cartridges. Accuracy with the 45's would be degraded as the throats are too large but one can't have everything.
You could use a heel base bullet that has the large diameter the same as the OD of the case neck and that would work but then what would be the purpose of it? It's just as easy to chamber the barrel for a .50 cartridge as for the .416 and then you don't have the odd ball set-up.

Richard Corbin

Not sure why the gun would blow up as described, you would have to tailor the loads, and with the belted case it works just fine.

The cartridge idea as described is the same as the 40mm round for the M-203/M-79, as well as the new 25mm round for the XM-109. Case diameter is same as projectile driving band diameter, minimal insertion of projectile into case, special crimp and belt to seal gas from blowing into back of action

Here is a link
http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0%2C14632%2CSoldiertech_XM109%2C%2C00.html

This is retrograde movement! "Heel" bullets, AKA "outside lubricated" bullets, were the original type used in metallic cartridges, albeit they were lead bullets. Making bullets full groove diameter all the way to the base with lube grooves covered by the case neck was thought to be an improvement over heel bullets, and the .22 rimfires are about the only survivors of this concept. I don't believe going back to this design with a jacketed bullet would provide any sort of improvement or advantage over current practice.