I can somewhat relate to your post Chuck. I have been shooting since I was old enough to hold a rifle and dropped my first deer at age 6. My pop had an affinity for the "06 and had sporterized an old 03A3 back in 62 which I still have and prize. It will still put 5 rounds into an inch with some careful holding of the tongue and decent handloads.

That said as I grew up the bug hit me from several angles to have something just a bit different and something that was a bit flatter shooting. That came with our acquisition of a BDL in .270 which turned out to be one hell of a shooter. It has taken many deer and feral hogs with no issues what so ever, just bang flop. Well it occurred to me in my early 30's that I had an abundant supply of of cases which would fit the '06, and could be used in a pinch for the .270 and I wanted something a little more different, so I picked up another BDL in 25-06.

That was my downfall. This rifle ran the 115gr Partition out at 3150 and needed hardly any hold over as far as I wanted to shoot. I finally figured out one day that the duplex hair in my Leupold was perfect for the drop at 400yds to hit right where I wanted to and well anything inside that was mine for the taking. As things go my daughter somewhat took that rifle from me, and it left me wondering what i might use to replace it. I decided that since I had the cases already I might as well build me something along those lines. I decided after looking around to make it a 25-06 AI. Granted this isn't a whole lot over the standard version, but on this one I went a touch further. I went with a 1-9 twist for the heavier bullet weights, and had the barrel made to 28" over the standard 24 length. This gave me up to 3250 easily with a 120gr Nosler Solid Base, and the things shoots awesome.

All this said, my oldest grandson now 14 has taken two trophy deer with it, me I shot up some hogs and coyotes, but thats it. He used it on his 13th birthday to put a high shoulder shot on a nice 10 point buck at 320yds off a Harris bi-pod in a sitting position. Then two weeks ago got one at just over 200 from his tripod stand. Granted either could have been gotten with anything else we have in the safe, but this one is zeroed at 300yds and there ain't no doubt when you have the scope settled the 2.5# Jewell breaks clean, and there is meat on the ground.

I don't know, they are a just hoot to play with, and I guess that for some, the same thing year in and year out just gets a little boring. I have to say that it really put some fun back into load development and shooting for me. Not to mention the three grandson's now fighting over who is going to get it. My thing got to be, having something that could utilize either the '06 case or the .308 case and as such just about everything I have can do so. I just built me a .260 based upon that reason alone. Granted there are several other newer hot rounds, but I already have a ton of .243 and 308 brass I can use. Didn't seem logical to buy up more stuff.

Interesting discussion none the less.

Thanks Mike, I admire all of the wildcatters out there. But in line with your post, here's my youngest son with my handed down late 60's vintage BDL in 270 with his first elk.

Hey Jeffe,
So now your going to tell folks what they can post and what they cannot?? Your a wildcatter of sorts, nothing you have come up with is any better than what we have had for years..

I wildcatted for a long time until I realized it was expensive, non productive, and you lose money when its time to sell..I still have a 6x45 and like I said most wildcats are just reinvented the wheel as you have been doing.

As usual your arrogance tells me you again suffering from delusions of adequacy! and continue to believe that your the ballistic cop..Guess I'll keep posting however especially since it irritates the hell out of you and I find that humerous!

My first wildcat was a 338-06. I had Clif Labountry reborn a much neglected and throughly corroded 1917 enfield. I have a couple of Thompson Center barrels that wouldn't shoot and rechambered them to clean up some chamber problems. These are now useful rifles. Wildcats are not always about hotroding velocity. I also have a 35/30-30 cause I wanted one.

quote:

Originally posted by chuck375:
....So while I've always yearned for and admired the many wildcats out there have never really owned one.

The .243 Winchester wasn't always called that. It started out as, and was used by shooter for years as, the 240 Page Pooper - a wildcat. The .22-250 was originally called the .22 Varminter, the .244 Remington was the .243 Rockchucker, and the .338 Federal was known for decades as the .338-08.

Other cartridges that started out as wildcats by a different name are the .25-06, 7mm-08, .280 Remington, .260 Remington, 7mm Remington Magnum, and .416 Remington Magnum. But some wildcats retained their original names after they were adopted by ammo companies. The .257 Robers, 7-30 Waters, .35 Whelen, and .458 Lott are examples of those.

All the above cartridges and many more are nothing but wildcats that became popular enough for major ammunition companies to "legitimize" them by offering them in a box with the company name on it.

So, as much as you may hate to admit it, you already own, load, and shoot wildcats!

Ray, that 375 Taylor sounds interesting! Which parent case is it based on?
Thanks Aaron

I'm not a real wildcat fan but I have built a few, some of which were for myself. My 35 Whelen was a wildcat when I built it. My 256 Newton is not, strictly speaking, a wildcat but an obsolete cartridge which may as well be one. Same thing for the 30 Newton. My 303 Epps is an improved cartridge but became a wildcat when chambered in a thirty caliber barrel.
I built some wildcats for a particular use. A 7.62x57 was made by simply running the 308 reamer in another 6mm. I wanted a little more capacity than the 308 has and a little less than the '06. A 6.5x55 reamer run in 4 mm short makes the 6.5x51 Fubar which my dad cooked up to use 308 brass because he didn't want a 260.
I think it's pretty safe to say I could have done everything I wanted with common factory cartridge but, now and then, it just adds to the fun to do something different. Regards, Bill

I always thought just necking up (not blowing out) the 375 H&H to .423 caliber was a very useful wildcat, as is the 470 Capstick (maybe not a wildcat anymore).

I've looked for practical hunting cartridges.
Most bases are already adequately covered.

But I have built one wildcat, a .510" 2.65" "Rigby"-case, called the 500 AccRel Nyati. It fills a big hole, a "500" in a regular hunting rifle, in my case a Ruger Hawkeye.

I've mused about the advantages of a 338/375Ruger. But my enthusiasm wanes with the 33Nosler now available and my reluctance to put a lot of money into something that the 338WM already handles in 99+% of normal hunting.

On 40 calibers, I like the bullet-selection of .416" and .458". The 416 is available in the Rigby for hand-loaders and the Ruger for a lot of bang for the buck. So I back away from suggestions for a 423 or 458 AccRel. We all have our priorities.

the 416 ruger totally obviated the need for the 416 accrel -- its a great round

i never did the 375 accrel, even though i designed it, as the 375 space is crowded - and the 375 ruger replaced even the 376 steyr in my heart...

the 458 accrel is likely the best functional one of the batch, but the .470 (and .475) make me pretty happy

the 500 Accrel -- it's just cool!

quote:

the 500 Accrel -- it's just cool!

Jeff-- the 500 AccRel is way cool!

6000-7000ft# muzzle energy equals and betters 505 Gibbs and 500 Jeffery factory loads.

Chuck,
One thing for sure, you have saved yourself a ton of money, wildcatting is expensive and resale is terrible..Been there done that..