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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
When is Widcatting Worth It?
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<blockquote data-quote="357Mag" data-source="post: 2400286" data-attributes="member: 106883"><p>BoaTail -</p><p></p><p>Howdy !</p><p></p><p>You gave yourself one partial answer to your own question, when you said: ".....the last 7 or 8 years have been a lot of fun !! " But, that is only one reason for wildcatting.BR, 6BRBRX</p><p></p><p>Designing your own wildcat is a whole 'nuther deal than forming brass for a wildcat that someone else designed</p><p>( example .250Ackley Improved ). You mentioned this other aspect of wildcatting..... doing so to arrrive @ a case with the capacity you believe you need to meet your shooting need(s). This quite often means doing your own design, and case forming I know people also go for things like a certain shoulder angle, but I am of the opinion that in the majority of the instances; a certain case capacity is being sough by the wildcatter ( IMHO ).</p><p></p><p>One can look @ the many 6mm chamberings ( factory and wildcat ) for example, and note the relatively close case capacities in the range from 6X45, old school 6X47, 6PPC on up through 6BR, 6BRX, 6 Dasher, 6 Long Dasher; et al. You name it, cause I can't..... 6PPC Short, 6mm Grinch, 6mm Toad. This is not a criticism of wildcattting, in any way.</p><p></p><p>Some wildcatters aren't even looking for 1gr increase or decrease in capacity, when looking for a certain capacity that they feel is not available within established chamberings ( factory and wildcat ). I know of one wildcatter than wanted .2gr powder increase above what the .30Major offered; when shooting his chosen favorite powder for that size case, He wanted to get the extra .2gr, without having to compress/over-compress his selected charge.</p><p></p><p>You likely won't be able to reliably predict a fixed amount of velocity increae, for a given grain / .1gr increas in powder charge. Things like the " Powley Computer " and current digitized internal/external ballistics programs and </p><p>" cartridge design utilities " are useful for tools for the aspiring wilcat case designer. I realy liked Powley's ability to describe many internal ballistics principles and laws in layman's terms. Powley's tech writings gave me an enduring appreciation for the concept of rifle " expansion ratio ", which I fell is a must-know for wildcatters.</p><p> </p><p>Things like custom dies / custom reamers, time, load development ( which you mentioned ) are usually embraced by wildcatters. And even more so, case forming & case prep; which are part N' parcel of operating in the custom design wildcatting domain. Things like load develpment and testing apply to reloading for factory chamberings too, as does the chance of one making loading mistakes. These latter items themselves, do not argue at all against wildcat use.</p><p></p><p>The custom dies/custom reamers aspect may not be set in stone, at all. It is possible sometimes, to come up with a new wildcat design that makes use of existing chamber reamers and existing re-loading dies. For instance, when an exisring chamber reamer is run-in " short ". My current wildcat I call " DEEP 6 ". It is my own design for a cartridge that I can use for either target or varmings out to 1,000yd; if need be. The chamber is cut by running a 6mm Remington reamer in " short ", to arrive @ a nominal .466" base diam in the chamber. I use 7 X 64 Brenneke, which has the .466" base diam I need; and is a .308 bolt face " rimless " case. I form DEEP 6 cases</p><p>using a stock ( LEE ) 6.5 X 55 FL die w/ its internals removed; as the case forming die. I do case prep and case load / re-loading using off-the-shelf 6mm Remington dies ( Hornady ). So, for this example wildcat cartridge; no custom chamber or re-size reamers.... no custom case forming dies.... and no custom re-loading dies are required ! That type of successful wildcatting certainly helps contain project costs !</p><p></p><p>The wildcatter should above all, establish goals for his project. Not only performance goals for the final case/cartridge that was designed, but also cost ceilings to establish pradtical limits on the amount of cost that might be incurred. My DEEP 6 wildcart fully met my performance goals ( accuracy and terminal performance on groundhogs ), and as mentioned above.... was an emminently affordable project.</p><p></p><p>*** When the new wildcat meets your performance goals within tolerable project cost; one should consider that </p><p>the " When is wildcatting worth it ? " question has been sufficiently answered.</p><p></p><p></p><p>With regards,</p><p> 357Mag</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="357Mag, post: 2400286, member: 106883"] BoaTail - Howdy ! You gave yourself one partial answer to your own question, when you said: ".....the last 7 or 8 years have been a lot of fun !! " But, that is only one reason for wildcatting.BR, 6BRBRX Designing your own wildcat is a whole 'nuther deal than forming brass for a wildcat that someone else designed ( example .250Ackley Improved ). You mentioned this other aspect of wildcatting..... doing so to arrrive @ a case with the capacity you believe you need to meet your shooting need(s). This quite often means doing your own design, and case forming I know people also go for things like a certain shoulder angle, but I am of the opinion that in the majority of the instances; a certain case capacity is being sough by the wildcatter ( IMHO ). One can look @ the many 6mm chamberings ( factory and wildcat ) for example, and note the relatively close case capacities in the range from 6X45, old school 6X47, 6PPC on up through 6BR, 6BRX, 6 Dasher, 6 Long Dasher; et al. You name it, cause I can't..... 6PPC Short, 6mm Grinch, 6mm Toad. This is not a criticism of wildcattting, in any way. Some wildcatters aren't even looking for 1gr increase or decrease in capacity, when looking for a certain capacity that they feel is not available within established chamberings ( factory and wildcat ). I know of one wildcatter than wanted .2gr powder increase above what the .30Major offered; when shooting his chosen favorite powder for that size case, He wanted to get the extra .2gr, without having to compress/over-compress his selected charge. You likely won't be able to reliably predict a fixed amount of velocity increae, for a given grain / .1gr increas in powder charge. Things like the " Powley Computer " and current digitized internal/external ballistics programs and " cartridge design utilities " are useful for tools for the aspiring wilcat case designer. I realy liked Powley's ability to describe many internal ballistics principles and laws in layman's terms. Powley's tech writings gave me an enduring appreciation for the concept of rifle " expansion ratio ", which I fell is a must-know for wildcatters. Things like custom dies / custom reamers, time, load development ( which you mentioned ) are usually embraced by wildcatters. And even more so, case forming & case prep; which are part N' parcel of operating in the custom design wildcatting domain. Things like load develpment and testing apply to reloading for factory chamberings too, as does the chance of one making loading mistakes. These latter items themselves, do not argue at all against wildcat use. The custom dies/custom reamers aspect may not be set in stone, at all. It is possible sometimes, to come up with a new wildcat design that makes use of existing chamber reamers and existing re-loading dies. For instance, when an exisring chamber reamer is run-in " short ". My current wildcat I call " DEEP 6 ". It is my own design for a cartridge that I can use for either target or varmings out to 1,000yd; if need be. The chamber is cut by running a 6mm Remington reamer in " short ", to arrive @ a nominal .466" base diam in the chamber. I use 7 X 64 Brenneke, which has the .466" base diam I need; and is a .308 bolt face " rimless " case. I form DEEP 6 cases using a stock ( LEE ) 6.5 X 55 FL die w/ its internals removed; as the case forming die. I do case prep and case load / re-loading using off-the-shelf 6mm Remington dies ( Hornady ). So, for this example wildcat cartridge; no custom chamber or re-size reamers.... no custom case forming dies.... and no custom re-loading dies are required ! That type of successful wildcatting certainly helps contain project costs ! The wildcatter should above all, establish goals for his project. Not only performance goals for the final case/cartridge that was designed, but also cost ceilings to establish pradtical limits on the amount of cost that might be incurred. My DEEP 6 wildcart fully met my performance goals ( accuracy and terminal performance on groundhogs ), and as mentioned above.... was an emminently affordable project. *** When the new wildcat meets your performance goals within tolerable project cost; one should consider that the " When is wildcatting worth it ? " question has been sufficiently answered. With regards, 357Mag [/QUOTE]
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