375 Mercenary

[bigngreen]

Are you planning a rifle build on Mercenary for real numbers or will we need to wait for someone else to build, when would we see real numbers for the first time?

 

[Swamplord]

We all understand that you are upset about the deal with Hubel going south but is this portion of your post really necessary?

There are a lot of shooters who love belted designs and this could be viewed as an insult to all of them.

First of all, Ed Hubel's deal with me is absolutely NONE of you business and you need to quit inserting yourself in to make yourself seem relevant, you're not !
Second, quit stirring up drama where none exists, if you feel "insulted" over a particular concern I have over a pc of brass then it's your own personal feelings, I suggest you go to your safe space, order a pizza and pet a puppy, seems to work for all them other snowflakes

I have no hard feelings against Ed Hubel, the 375 Warlord was released at his insistence so he could sell off his 585 Hubel brass, he made that clear multiple times that he needed to sell the brass ASAP ,
my interest in the 375 Warlord waned last year, with the flaw in the brass I wasn't going to expend my energy and waste my time over something that I wasn't satisfied with so I never persued it and let it lapse with no intention of building it, I reverted back to my original plan and was going to take the "Warlord" name back to the original design that was not off the 585 HE brass ....

With Ed demanding to hurry and move forward I complied and released the 375 Warlord so he can sell his brass but I wasn't building one myself, I had a much better design on my hands and I had to find a name in order to proceed, and the 375 Mercenary was born, reamer and dies were ordered and I concentrated on establishing brass availability, this was all ongoing and I kept it under wraps so the 585 HE brass could be sold as that was of sheer importance to Ed Hubel
I basically released it for Ed Hubel but he panicked when I said I'm going hunting and canceled the brass deal, which was too bad as I had sat through a couple of late nights and got 160 pcs formed up, and was going to do the other half of the batch he sent me, his canceling the deal didn't hurt my feelings but actually released me from the agreement and I had time for better things to do,

No muss, no fuss, no drama, I'm off and on to better things, not going to worry or lose sleep over this .......... It's obvious you have no interest in the 375 Mercenary so please just go away and stop stirring up bs

 

[adam32]

Who posted the big write up on here about the 375 Warlord? Whoever did, it didn't seem like they had "waned" interest over it...even to the point of saying they would make it proprietary if anyone tried to copy it.

Doesn't really matter either way, the half a dozen people here that would be interested in something of that size could always design their own if need be anyway.

 

[THEIS]

I have an agreement with Bruce Bertram and will follow through, there has been a tremendous response and have some important "gun" people on board, brass orders have exceeded double of what was originally anticipated , all good things for the 375 Mercenary project

Have never dealt or considered Petersen Brass for the 375 Merc, no clue on the quality of their stuff as I've never used or seen any of it ...

I've used a lot of Bertram Brass over the years and it has always been top quality brass

Hello,

Great!! Will definitely be in touch towards end of Q1 2017, right after IDEX.

THEIS

 

[Swamplord]

Who posted the big write up on here about the 375 Warlord? Whoever did, it didn't seem like they had "waned" interest over it...even to the point of saying they would make it proprietary if anyone tried to copy it.

Doesn't really matter either way, the half a dozen people here that would be interested in something of that size could always design their own if need be anyway.

Yep, tried to do something nice for a fella and it blew up in my face over impatience,

"Our sins are more easily remembered than our good deeds."

none of you guys know what transpired and what I had to deal with, so I suggest we move on as I have put it behind me, Ed Hubel has his own copy now to peddle his brass with and the belted 375 Warlord is dead and no longer relevant, nothing left to discuss

This thread is about the 375 Mercenary cartridge and it's development with status updates as they occur, let's stay on topic

 

[fmajor]

Hey Swamplord -

I've a couple questions if you'll indulge me....

1) what size receiver/bolt face is needed? (I'm guessing CT sized.....)
2) what reloading press are you using - Corbin/Walnut Hill sized, RCBS Ammomaster or would something like a Redding Ultramag work? Would a Redding Big Boss II size work?
3) what primers are you planning on using for the 375 Mercenary?

THanks!

 

[Swamplord]

The 375 Mercenary has the same rim diameter as the CheyTac cartridges and will work on the same actions, my test rifle has been completed today on a Stiller/Ashbury Precision action with a 33" Rock Creek barrel in 8R 7.5 tw at start to 7 tw at muzzle, once the bedding sets up I will be doing load development next week with the 100 pcs of die formed brass I have on hand.
the go to action would be the Stiller Tac 408 1.6", Lawton 8500, Barnard P Chey and similar actions that are used for the CheyTac cartridges , case length is 3.1" and perfectly suited for all CT based actions

The dies we are making are on 1 1/4" die body blanks as a standard set and 1 1/2" for the RCBS Ammomaster 2 press, which is what I use and prefer with these big cartridges, the 1 1/4" dies can be used in the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme press since it has a 4" clearance, all you do is remove the conversion bushing and screw the dies directly into press , if the Redding has at least 4" clearance and 1 1/4" die access then it should work,

I will be using the Fed 215 Mag primers, I just acquired 5000 pcs a few weeks ago, the powder I will start load development with is 50 BMG since I have 2 jugs of it and it appears to be the most promising powder for the 375 gr and 400 gr CEB MTH bullets, I will also work with the 375 gr and 435 gr Chinchaga bullets, I think they will hold up to the fast tw as they are swaged from .408 cal jackets at .034" thick,

As for the brass situation ? .... all on schedule, now that my test rifle is completed, my smith will be making a gauge with that reamer and I will ship it to Bruce Bertram who is expecting it in order to form the 375 Mercenary brass for a 100% match to eliminate any headspace issues ,

The brass order has tripled in two days and far exceeded my original estimate of what we would need, all a good thing as we will make it in one run and ship at the same time, by request we have extended the deadline for brass orders to February 2nd, (Groundhog Day) so guys can recover finances after the Holiday gift buying marathon, lots of guys want in but need a bit of time , as of this writing there will be at 4 maybe 5 rifles chambered in the 375 Mercenary on the line at KO2M in 2017

 

[fmajor]

The 375 Mercenary has the same rim diameter as the CheyTac cartridges and will work on the same actions, my test rifle has been completed today on a Stiller/Ashbury Precision action with a 33" Rock Creek barrel in 8R 7.5 tw at start to 7 tw at muzzle, once the bedding sets up I will be doing load development next week with the 100 pcs of die formed brass I have on hand.
the go to action would be the Stiller Tac 408 1.6", Lawton 8500, Barnard P Chey and similar actions that are used for the CheyTac cartridges , case length is 3.1" and perfectly suited for all CT based actions

Thanks so much! I've wondered at what receiver diameter would be necessary. I saw BAT also has a CT sized action (two versions actually....). The Mercenary is such a massive brass hull i wonder if an Ithaca pump shotgun receiver would be better?!?!

The dies we are making are on 1 1/4" die body blanks as a standard set and 1 1/2" for the RCBS Ammomaster 2 press, which is what I use and prefer with these big cartridges, the 1 1/4" dies can be used in the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme press since it has a 4" clearance, all you do is remove the conversion bushing and screw the dies directly into press , if the Redding has at least 4" clearance and 1 1/4" die access then it should work

THank you!!! I looked at the Ammomaster, noting it allowed for using 1.5" dies, but i really like the stout O frame presses. That said, a Redding Ultramag seems to strike a nice balance....

I will be using the Fed 215 Mag primers, I just acquired 5000 pcs a few weeks ago, the powder I will start load development with is 50 BMG since I have 2 jugs of it and it appears to be the most promising powder for the 375 gr and 400 gr CEB MTH bullets, I will also work with the 375 gr and 435 gr Chinchaga bullets, I think they will hold up to the fast tw as they are swaged from .408 cal jackets at .034" thick

THose Fed 215s are rare as hens teeth here in Colorado... I had great results with them for a 300 Win Mag i had.

As for the brass situation ? .... all on schedule, now that my test rifle is completed, my smith will be making a gauge with that reamer and I will ship it to Bruce Bertram who is expecting it in order to form the 375 Mercenary brass for a 100% match to eliminate any headspace issues

For the folks who travel internationally, matching ammo head stamp and barrel stamp are a must...

The brass order has tripled in two days and far exceeded my original estimate of what we would need, all a good thing as we will make it in one run and ship at the same time, by request we have extended the deadline for brass orders to February 2nd, (Groundhog Day) so guys can recover finances after the Holiday gift buying marathon, lots of guys want in but need a bit of time , as of this writing there will be at 4 maybe 5 rifles chambered in the 375 Mercenary on the line at KO2M in 2017

Y'all are gonna sweep the top!!! Those big, long .375 cal missiles are sure to be great at slipping the wind at Mercenary velocities.

I'm thinking a 338 Mercenary variant would be a barrel-eating monster! However, a 416 variant certainly shows promise.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your info!

 

[Swamplord]

Found out the other day that JGS could not ship 375 Mercenary reamers and gauges to individuals in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe,

To remedy this I have submitted my JGS print to Manson and PT&G to get all bases covered and standardize the 375 Mercenary design with those reamer manufacturers

Mr. Dave Manson responded today, he transcribed the JGS reamer print, I triple checked it and it was spot on identical to the JGS print, my Canadian friends are happy to hear that Manson is making 375 Mercenary reamers and the first two reamer orders going to Canada have just been approved ,

Haven't heard from PT&G yet, maybe after the Holidays ....

For info on acquiring 375 Mercenary reamer/gauges, brass and dies send email to [email protected]

 

[TheFishBox]

Is this brass gonna be a one time deal or are you hoping to have multiple runs of it made over time. Also do you care to say what the price is per 100? I want to see how this thing plays out for real world capability before I jump in learned my lesson the hard way on jumping in with both feet.

I might be wrong here but won't 50 bmg be the wrong burn rate I thought I read somewhere that the lethal magnum was using it and had hang fire issues, with your increased case capacity wouldn't that just make it worse?

 

[Swamplord]

This will be the initial order and we are having guys get 200-500 pcs and some have ordered 1k pcs..... once the serious ELR guys get their brass , none of it will be for sale.......... these are all personal orders for personal use, none will be available for later purchase,

would have to generate another group buy and may or may not have as huge of a demand, we are working on the possibility of regular production but that would depend on demand, the ELR community is growing fast and the interest is certainly there

I know how you feel about jumping in, I have been burned on $1625.00 worth of bullets I will never get or my money back, the guy was a total scam artist with no regard for other people........there is always a risk when dealing with strangers on the internet, I am not doing this brass order for profit and my take on this is absolutely zero cents......... I just want some of that dang brass STAT !!!!

you may want to contact Ed Hubel and do the 375 HE, he has brass ready to ship here in the states and has been forming it ready to shoot, play it safe..........

 

[THEIS]

Found out the other day that JGS could not ship 375 Mercenary reamers and gauges to individuals in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe,

Hello

Swamplord, did JGS advise as to why they cannot ship Internationally? Are they saying the reamers and gauges are ITAR controlled, EAR 99 controlled or just that they have not directly submitted a commodity jurisdiction request to have their company products labeled ITAR, EAR99 or no control items?

THEIS

 

[bigngreen]

Hello

Swamplord, did JGS advise as to why they cannot ship Internationally? Are they saying the reamers and gauges are ITAR controlled, EAR 99 controlled or just that they have not directly submitted a commodity jurisdiction request to have their company products labeled ITAR, EAR99 or no control items?

THEIS

Yes it's ITAR, they are working on it the last time I talked with them, technically just posting a reamer print and having it viewed outside of the US this forum would be falling under the current ITAR issues that started a couple months ago, hopefully in the next few months this will be fixed with the new administration in the Whitehouse.

 

[THEIS]

Hello

What USML category are they saying it falls under?

THEIS