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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
When is Widcatting Worth It?
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<blockquote data-quote="BoatTail" data-source="post: 2400139" data-attributes="member: 74670"><p>I've been messing with wildcat cartridges since 2014. I know many of you have been doing it much longer. I also have at least 12 different wildcat chamber reamers in my reloading room. I know that many of you probably have hundreds.</p><p></p><p> Lately though I've started to wonder, when is it worth it to wildcat a cartridge? Especially when you consider what we get from the standard SAAMI cartridges, and the extras in costs (You need custom dies), time, case prep efforts, (I like tighter neck tolerances) load testing and development, risks to body from mistakes, and limited availability availability of this cartridge (since we are often the only source of this special cartridge).</p><p></p><p> Is it when you get 3 or more extra grs of powder from a case. Is the gain of 50 to 60 fps in velocity per grain of powder? What level of improved stability and accuracy is needed to make it worth? Or, when does it just become just an exercise in burning more powder and creating more recoil.</p><p></p><p> I have 4 different custom chamber reamers for my current project. I've settled on one that increases both the case length and lead/freebore. The new wildcat will give at least 3.5 grs of extra powder space and resulting velocity simply due to a longer case. There is lot more velocity potential from the increase powder space from lengthening the freebore so the bullets can be seated well out of the powder space. </p><p></p><p> So rather than discuss a particular wildcat cartridge, my question is for all of them. When is wildcatting worth it? </p><p></p><p>By the way, the last 7 or 8 years have been a ton of fun!!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BoatTail, post: 2400139, member: 74670"] I've been messing with wildcat cartridges since 2014. I know many of you have been doing it much longer. I also have at least 12 different wildcat chamber reamers in my reloading room. I know that many of you probably have hundreds. Lately though I've started to wonder, when is it worth it to wildcat a cartridge? Especially when you consider what we get from the standard SAAMI cartridges, and the extras in costs (You need custom dies), time, case prep efforts, (I like tighter neck tolerances) load testing and development, risks to body from mistakes, and limited availability availability of this cartridge (since we are often the only source of this special cartridge). Is it when you get 3 or more extra grs of powder from a case. Is the gain of 50 to 60 fps in velocity per grain of powder? What level of improved stability and accuracy is needed to make it worth? Or, when does it just become just an exercise in burning more powder and creating more recoil. I have 4 different custom chamber reamers for my current project. I've settled on one that increases both the case length and lead/freebore. The new wildcat will give at least 3.5 grs of extra powder space and resulting velocity simply due to a longer case. There is lot more velocity potential from the increase powder space from lengthening the freebore so the bullets can be seated well out of the powder space. So rather than discuss a particular wildcat cartridge, my question is for all of them. When is wildcatting worth it? By the way, the last 7 or 8 years have been a ton of fun!! [/QUOTE]
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When is Widcatting Worth It?
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