First of all, pardon this newbie question on this topic but I need some schoolin' here. I was reading about various wildcat cartridges and building rifles on them. In doing a wildcat project, how do you get your dies made? You need a set of dies to initially load rounds, but don't you need a fire-formed shell to have a set of custom dies made ?
Could someone please explain this process for me.

Hollywood

It takes a book, literally, to properly answer you. The die makers make special reloading die sets for wildcats, Some wildcats are fireformed in the gun; some reqire an additional set of very expensive dies to reshape a case in multiple steps and may require cutting, inside reaming, yada yada yada. Get some good books or surf the reloading sites on the net.

It may surprise you, but someone may already have "re-invented your wheel". I would contact a good reamermaker like Dave Kiff at Pacific Precision Grinding and ask him to send you a blank drawing for your intended cartridge. you fill in the numbers and he will tell you the practicality of it or if someone already has it. Next, you send the info to a die maker like Redding and they will make up the dies you need. Now all you need is a rifle to shoot it out of.

You have to get specific. Tell us where you would end up and we can suggest ways to get there.

I wanted to make a .224" hotrod with quick twist to do what the 243 does on game yet shoot the .22 varmint bullets. At the time the PPC was the rage with it's low aspect ratio so I picked a belted magnum and my dad made up some soldered together cases to check the capacity. Drawings were made and bullets were found. It all came together and now the barrel is worn out.

The process was like a hike in the woods. Sometimes the journey is more fun than the destination.

Right now the factories are way ahead of the wildcatters. What with the RUM's, WSM's, WSSM's, SAUM's, 17HMR R204 and the 6.8 Remington we have more calibers than I can buy and keep track of.

All of the above is true and there is another option, that being a chamber/throat cast done with Cerro Safe. Send it to the die maker, packed as if it is very fragile. Luck.

You've got to have a chamber to make a chamber cast.

What I was thinking of was something I read about on the Texas Trophy Hunter's website. They call it the 224 TTH. It's a 6mm necked down for a 224 bullet. Fast twist for the heaviest/longest .22 bullets. Could be someone is already making dies for it??
BTW-Has anyone built one of these? What do you think of it?

Thanks
Hollywood

Many wildcat reamers already exist. If this is the case for your project,..simply buy die blanks and have the gunsmith cut them with the same reamer. perfect fit every time.

One, find out if your 'cat in question has been birthed before. Like the man said, call Dave Kiff.



Two, for something really new, especially in the smaller cartridges and benchrest stuff: Just make a bullet seat die and a neck size die with the chamber reamer. Most benchrest guys use Wilson type dies in a hand press. Good Benchrest gun shops have the Wilson die blanks in stock. And a experienced BR smith has all the stuff needed to form up cases for the initial fire forming.



And you can buy 7/8-14" threaded die blanks, both regular type and neck size bushing type, for making dies with the chamber reamer.



Now for the chicken and egg concept: Which is first, the reamer, the case, the chamber, or the dies????



An example: I am chambering a wildcat for an AR poster. It is a Norma 404 Jeffery case,necked to 358, with the sholder moved forward and blown out for maximum case capacity, a little more than what you would get with a 375 Ultra case. To obtain the chamber dimensions for a reamer: I have "universal dies" I made that take neck bushings. I turned up a bushing to use in necking down the 404 case. Necked some cases down (they look funny, with two shoulders) and seated a 358 bullet. This lets me determine the neck diameter for the reamer. Then I made a drawing for the chamber reamer, sent it and a dummy round (for the throat length) off to Dave Kiff for the reamer. When the reamer got here, I made a bullet seat die and a bushing type neck size die with the chamber reamer. Now I can form cases and load bullets for fire forming. Next step is to fire form and send both fired cases and dummy rounds to CH4D for a set of FL resizing loading dies for the customer.



After working with Wildcats for several years, a guy builds up a large collection of reamers, dies, etc, so with a little imagination a set of form dies can be "whuped up" in the shop. Important items in the collection of tools are chucking reamers in the popular bullet diameters (plus a thou or so for clearance) and chamber reamer pilot bushings in the bullet diameters vs. the bore diameters. These are used in making the dies: Ream the die body with a chucking reamer a thou above bullet diameter, this provides a nice "bore" for aligning the bullet in the seat die. Then put a bullet diameter bushing on the chamber reamer and cut the chamber in the die.



I will take a photo today of the dies and formed cases, will be easier to "visualize the process. I made the dies from an old large diameter 416 stainless steel shot out barrel. The neck size bushings are made from 4140 that I harden.

Hollywood, if the 224 TT is what you want, dies are already available. This is a 6mm Remington Improved necked down for 224 bullets. Do a search (here and other sites, there's one dedicated to this cartridge) and you will find all the info you could want, I'll bet. - Dan

Dan Belisle
Your post caught my eye and I went and got my reamer and looked. The 224 TTH is the 6mm Rem necked down with the same shoulder angle of 26 degree's. The 244 AI has the 40 degree shoulder. My TTH reamer came from Dave Kiff so I am sure that its right. Just thought I would pass this along FWIW

Thanks for the accurate info. - Dan

No kiddin'?

With all due respect to the knowledgeable folks here, I have a much easier way.
Just find a parent case that has the base diameter you want, and at least the length your new case will have, buy a bunch of brass, bullets and a barrel, then ship them off to an excellent smith with as clear instructions as you can manage, along with a healthy dose of cabbage.
Then, find a good book to read, go sit out in the driveway (dress appropriately!) and wait for the big brown truck.
Easy!