Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 9mm Cartridge for 1891 action

Got a bubba 1891, 7.65x53 reamer, and a 1:10 twist .358" 20" barrel blank laying around, and the brain is contemplating throwing the two together. The 9x57 rounds I have on hand have too long an OAL for me to lean towards doing such a cartridge, and the other big candidate I considered, 35 Remington, iirc requires significant magazine work to feed correctly. Debating necking up the 7.65 to make a 9mmx52 or so cartridge, and just using a different pilot bushing on my reamer along with finding a throat reamer for the .358 bore. The main concern is have there is possibly insufficient neck length by expanding to a .358" projectile. Are there any better cartridges Im forgetting about or am I overthinking things? Would the proposed wildcat have any drawbacks I haven't thought about?

a "low pressure only" 358 WCF? it seems like I remember a Belgian/Danish cartridge listed that was pretty much a 35- well probably more 9.5 caliber based on the 7.65x53 case for the Belgian 1890 actions, so it's been done before

Have considered the 9x57 Mauser?

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/cartridge-board-12

Grafs has brass.

I have, however the 9x57 I have on hand does not fit the magazine. Worried the heavier bullets that the 1:10 twist will need won't be able to be loaded to a short enough OAL for that to fit the magazine without decent protrusion into the case body from the projo

If the 9x57 cartridges fit into the magazine and feed, then you should be good to go.

1:10 is fast for a 0.358" bore. Most factories use 1:16, but most customs are 1:12 or 1:14. Light and heavy bullets both work fine with a fast twist.

The rule of thumb is that a slow twist is the opposite: light bullets shoot well but heavy bullets don't. But even that is subject to the rules that specific rifles impose on us. My Ruger 77 with a 1:16 twist shot 250s well at speeds above 2,550 fps.


Okie John

358 Win. That'll be short enough to fit the magazine.

This is the answer.

And with the single stack magazine, feed issues will be minimized.

In an 1891 action I wouldnt go any larger than a 35 REM

You don't have to load a .358 to full pressure loads. For that matter, if the OP makes his 9x53 wildcat, what data does he have to ensure working within 7,65x53 pressure?

I just tried a few 308 rounds thru mine, looks like feeding would be almost a non issue.

That's a great question, and I think I could use 358 starting loads as a good beginning. However, Ive also got the Gordon's Reloading Tool available to me to determine if I can get better approximate load data as well