Has anyone on this board ever used an existing
reamer to cut a short chamber and create a wildcat
cartridge on a smaller base case,then shorten the
dies in the caliber of the reamer to load the cartridge?

WC

Wildcat Crazy--

I've done them since 1985 (6x51 BS) and have done another, called the 6mm Cheapshot, on the 6x47 parent cartridge since 1995.

It's a viable thing to do in some cases. You can't go too short, though. The 6x51 is a 6mm Remington shortened to 2.00" It's shortened .233 inch and that is very near the limit. The resizing die has to be cut a certain way to resize the web of the case.

The Cheapshot uses a 6x47 reamer to cut a chamber 45mm long so the cheaper .223 brass can be used.

Perhaps I should explain my question a bit better.

My project started life as a 30-06 takeoff barrel.I faced the rear of the chamber off till it
fit a .303 British case with .002 radial clearance
{.457 dia.}also I can use a.35 Rem if a rimless case is desireable.I believe I could also use a
.445 Super Mag case,but I have not tried it because I have no Super Mag brass.
I ground the base of a 30-06 FL die untill it
set the shoulder back to the proper location.I had to trim the brass and ream the neck.
The case dimensions are,base .455,rim .530,
shoulder .442,rim thickness .060,length to shoulder 1.100,case length 1.625,shoulder angle 17 degrees 15 minutes.Case capacity is 34.1grs of
water,which is a couple of grs.larger than the
7.62X39.
The same concept should work ok with any
cartridge built on the standard 06 case necked up or down.22-06----.375-06

WC