Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Wildcats

I am thinking about getting into the wildcat world, so I just wanted to know what your preferred wildcat cartridge is and why you like it.

How much reloading/case forming experimenting experience do you have?

They range from retarded (300 12 Egg) to brilliant (6-284). I've owned both. FTR, 6-284 kicks butt. In the end, my advice would be to take the approach that you'll likely not find anything magic that a WC can give you over a factory offering. But they are cool. Case in point...I'm eyeing 22x47 for a build. It about duplicates 22-250, but we're talking guns dude. Logic is about 5th on my list of decision making criteria. Now go neck down 375 Ruger to .224 and report back.

Well tom264 I don't have any experience with case forming, but I have been reloading for a while now and although I am still young in the reloading world but I have some experience. As for the case forming I have a buddy who has done a little so this would be one of those things that we jump into together and see what happens and hopefully have a little fun in the process. Because in the end I would like to think that everything we do from target shooting, hunting and reloading is to have some fun and learn a thing or two. That is why I am looking for opinions and thoughts from as many people as possible.

Figure out what you want to do with the rifle first, then see if there is something available in a factory gun, or existing round that will do what you want. Building a wildcat just for the sake of building a wildcat seems kinda silly (not to say I haven't done it, but I realize now that it was a huge waste of time and money when an existing round was already available).
If you're still set on something expensive, I would recommend starting out with something like an Ackley Improved round.

I don't mean to dissuade you if you're set on the idea, but in my case, I'd much rather spend the money on a hunt, gas or a plane ticket to get to a hunt, or extra reloading components so I can shoot my existing guns that much more.

I see what you are saying there. To be honest this will be one of those things that it will be part of my growing collection of rifles and its different. I have all the calibers to deal with anything I might want to hunt or how I might want to shoot. Its like somebody who has a car collection and they all might could use some TLC but he or she will still go out and buy another car to add to the collection. I wont be dumping money fast into it, it will be a slow process that is for sure. But it is a project I want to take on. As for what I would want it to do I am not sure that is why I want to here about some of the other wildcats out there. Although in the end I would probably lean towards something with a lot of speed and a flat shooter. I would like to stay away from the .224 bullet but I would not rule it out if I found something in a wildcat that I couldn't turn away from.

Used to be into wildcatting.

The older I get, the less I'm into it.

Just retired a wildcat .375-338, which was one of the easier ones to form.

This is a want or need only in the winter.

Take a ride down south now and bring a laptop with you.

If you want fast and flat you could always do a .240 Gibbs or a 6mm/06ai or a 6mm-06(in order from the most work to the least). I had an 8mm Gibbs built for my dad some years ago and, while it is a bit of work forming the brass, it's pretty awesome.

6mm Gibbs

I have heard of a 270 ultra cat, how is that one to form, and does anybody have any experience with it?

You could go with a relatively obscure factory round ie 6.5x65 rws or 6x62 freres and have the european equivalent of a 6.5-06 ai or 6mm-06. Factory brass is available and you won't see another one on the range, at least most places

The simplest wildcats are those made from just fireforming standard cartridges in improved chambers. .223 AI and .22-250 AI are a good place to begin.

Those made by necking down standard cartridges are quite easy as well. 6x.284 is a great one.

Those made by necking up something standard and/or moving the shoulder get a little more complicated.

Those that involve shortening a case often require neck reaming because the thicker body of the old case becomes the neck of the new case.

If you want to try it out without having to be stuck with a gun you have no other way to feed, try making .22-250 cases from factory '06 or .308. You'll have to go through all the steps and see if it seems worthwhile, yet you can go buy factory ammo when/if you decide it was too much pain for too little gain.

Tom

This is some I have done. 2 on the left are based on 458 Lott brass with a 17 and 22 cal. size. The right is a 44mag case I believe with a 6mm bullet.



I used to make and sell case forming dies.
Mule Deer has a set of my dies and I hope in the future that he will have an opportunity to write an article on how you can make your own.



This is one of my older sets. I added 2 larger sizes to be able to reduce cases as large as .550

I've long liked the 6/06, 6.5/06 and the 7 Mashburn Super.

Dober

A wildcat that I've always liked is the .270 Mag.
My problem with the .270 Roy is the long throat, so rather than build one with a short throat, and have someone else have trouble, I'd chamber a 2.5(4?)-inch case with a long neck, but without the rounded corners of the Roy. It's been done before, but you're not going to be unique, anyway. Mashburn used a 30* shoulder, Ackley used either a 28* or 40*, and Juenke a 45*.
You can use 7mm RemMag cases by just pushing the shoulder back or trimming a .300 WinMag, or .300 H&H or Roy Mag.
The same thing can be done to a 7mm Mag, but it'd be an Improved case, instead of a wildcat.
Would I do it? Right now I'm working up a load for my new .270 AI, on an FN with thumbhole stock, so maybe later, lol
Have fun,
Gene

I can't answer for you, but the ones I'm interested in are the .22-204, .338-375 and .358-375 Ruger; .223 AI, .22-250 AI, .243 AI, and 7x57 AI; and 6.5-06 and .338-06. I'm not sure the last two are even wildcats anymore, I'm not sure if AIs qualify as wildcats.

7x57 Ackley. Simple, efficient, accurate. 3000 fps easily obtainable with 140gr bullets.

Have you given any thought to a .270 STW?

One I'd like to play with is the 6mm Atlas. 6x.284 is serious fun ... and I heard somewhere more is better.

I've fired, but not loaded or formed cases for, a "kwazy" .22 x .264 win mag concoction one of the other 'fire members cooked up. 4123 fps with a 55 grain ballistic tip. Gives me ideas.

How is the .270 STW what are you looking at for velocities?

I have a 338/06 AI I hunt with and a 6.5/06 AI in the build process at present.