Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats new wildcat?

Maybe someone can tell me this already exists.
I'm looking for a .358 or .375 bore, that will give 2800fps to a 250gr or 2700 fps 270gr bullet, from a 24" bbl. (Basically, the Norma and H&H, respectively.)
AND that has a COL of 3.35.
AND a standard .473" boltface.
AND unbelted.
Otherwise, I'd be looking at the 375 C-T, right?
I'm sure it would have quite a rebated rim, ala the 452 Westley-Richards and 11.2x72 Schuler, just to give the body the case capacity needed for these energy levels.
BTW, are either of these cases available in any functional sense?
Another option is turning down and trimming the RUM, Rigby, Jefferey or...?

Also, is it adviseable to turn down the rim so on any of these shells; is there enough left?

How else could a fellow get an '06 rear and length, but LOTS of powder room?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
I'm thinking bigger than a 9.3x64 cat, since I don't think that will give me the energy I'm looking for.
In short, a standard-action, beltless fatty, with an '06 rim.

Check out the .376 Steyr, I think its close to what you are looking for although it has some strange dimensions. The head diamater is larger then the standard .473 but not as large as magnum. I want to say it is .493 but I don't have any info in front of me. From what I understand the overall length is also sort of unusual but it should work fine through a long action.

All hear say of course...but check it out, might be what you are looking for.

Maybe the 358 or 375 Howell?

sideironjohn,

You may want to look into the Hawk line of wildcats at www.z-hat.com.

Interesting concepts and they fit your criteria.

Good Luck

True Eyes

Forget about using the .473" bolt face, and go with a large enough case to do the job, which would be the 404 in an unbelted case. The only way to achieve that with an -06 case is running too high a pressure, and re-bated rims are a bad idea in a repeating rifle. You can spend oodles on custom reamers and dies if you want, but there is nothing wrong with belted cases, or slightly longer actions.

Problem is, the .473" boltface won't go away!
Every time I measure it, it's the same!
Same with the size action!
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Purpose of the excercise is to come up with H&H-class energy from a rebarreled 98 Mauser.

The 375 Dakota does what I want, all day long, but it won't fit on my bolt!

looks to me like the 375 hawk (isn't there a howell in that caliber, too?) and the 9.3x62 will meet your parameters, or come awfully close. something that would fit your mag just right would be the 9.3x57. the others would require a bit of mag milling. and how about a .284-based wildcat? surely somebody has worked up a .375-.284 combo.

sounds like a neat project. keep us posted.

whoops, there, sideiron. i see you already have asked about the 380 howell. so you are serious about a full 2,700 fps for a 270-grain .375 bullet. could be you'd have a little easier time of making 2,800 fps for a 250-grainer in .358. hmm. you be looking for a lot o' bang for a little powder and brass. an admirable goal, methinks. more pop than i'd ever use in alabama.

What about trimming 375 Rum brass and sizing them in 375 Dakota dies, or just have the 375 dies ground off to size to 2.5"? Are the RUM and Dakota close enough that you could make brass with the Dakota dies from RUM brass and a different shell holder?

How about a regular .375 H&H?

http://www.bigbores.com/SABI/packages3.htm

Mike

you can't fit a full-length .375 h&h in a regular k98 can ya? loses too much metal, i think.

hey sideiron: you talkin' 'bout a regular mauser action, right? not a long double square bridge?

I'm not sure what they are doing but they list it..maybe they cut and weld extensions or something...

Mike

Currently I own and shoot a 9.3X64 Brenneke on a FN Commercial Mauser Action with a 22" Heym Barrel. The rifle shoots as good as I can hold it. There are no belts, it is basically 06' in length but larger in diameter and gives great performance. It currently shoot 250 Nosler Ballistic Tips at 2801 fps, I have just started reloading the 286g Nosler Partitions. Currently they are giving 2600 fps with Varget powder. From the information I have read on the internet it appears as though RL15 is a great performing powder for this bullet combination and should come close to 2700fps. I have not tried the 270g bullets so cannot comment on their performance. Sounds to me like this would meet the parameters that you have set for performance. The cartridge chambers easily, has 5 round capactiy, fits and was designed for Mauser length actions. Brass is made by RWS and is extremely durable.

I have read numerous articles on the cartridge and it is extrremely popular in Africa and amongst European hunters. It just did not catch on here across the Atlantic. The cartridge has a reasonable trajectory and in most cases higher sectional density than comparable .375 dia. bullets, hence all else being equal greater penetration on game.

I was looking at the 35 Whelen and various wildcats but everytime I did a comparison the 9.3 was on top for my needs. Reloading dies are available from Redding, along with the shell holder.

Good luck in your choice, I think half of the fun is in the planning.

Brno284

I can understand if you don't want to but you could have the bolt face opened on a Mauser to accept a Belted Magnum or one of the unbelted Mags. Sean

Thanks for the responses.
brno284, I thought about the big Brenneke, but hadn't seen the velocities you're getting. Might just do the trick, although I don't quite understand how.
The case "looks" to be about the same size as the '06, in which case it ought to be about 375Whelen-power.
Do you have the case specs? I'd love to see them.
What's the brass cost?
Can .375" bullets be swaged down to 9.3 easily?

I think I'm getting over the standard-boltface fixation.
It's one of the easier mods when you're already talking about a new barrel.
I had thought of the RUM case more than once.
Wonder why Dakota unrebated the rim?
Will these RUM cases feed well in CRF actions?

Or/also, while you're boring out the boltface, is there enough there to go ahead and bore out to Dakota diameter, and just go for the 375D?
It's really what I'm looking for ballistics-wize.

Either of these Jefferey offshoots would give me a two-round mag, right?
W/o extensive mods to the mag and such.

And then as far as case-forming, seems to me I could use either RUM, Dakota or 375-404 specs, no?

why mess with trying to size .375 bullets? speer, hornady, sierra, barnes and nosler all make .366 bullets if my memory of the midway and midsouth catalogues serves correctly, as do woodleigh, norma and rws. i've seen other 9.3x64 data that backs up the ballistics offered here.

It's all about selection.

not to sound like a smart aleck, but if your key parameter is all about selection, then why not go with the standard norma .358 (which will fit in a normal length mauser) or the standard .375 h&h on a magnum mauser action? you can always load those puppies up and down to yield more ballistic "selection," and you have factory-loaded ammo in a broad selection range, at least for the h&h. but if you stick with your initial 250/2,800 and 270/2,800 parameters, it is not all about bullet selection. you pick the best bullet for your rifle/chambering combination that meets your parameters and stick with it, leaving the 9.3mm series viable.

but if ya really wanna go wildcat, man, katie bar the door. then it's all about selecting your selections. talk about a wide spectrum. yeehaw. if cost is a concern, you'll have to pay extra dearly for a magnum mauser action. if you've got a good one already from which to start, i'd say open the bolt face a bit to accept .532 rims and go from there, belted or unbelted, as long as the OAL is, what?, shorter than 3.35 inches?

The "it's all about selection" comment was in response to the question "why bother with swaging?"
The 358 Norma does do what I want, but it's got a magnuma boltface and a belt.
Just trying to see what it would take to do the same thing without it.
From what I'm hearing the big Brenneke will do it.
Seems like a fellow could neck it to 358 or 375 and it would still perform about the same.

aye, aye, seems 't'would.