Any Forum Members Into Wildcatting

[Coyote33]

If I had the $, I'd like to try the .19 Calhoon or .19 Badger, or the .20 Practical or .20 VarTarg. Also, some of the .17's interest me, like 223/17, .17 Hornet (I guess now no longer a wildcat), etc.

17 Caliber Wildcats

Twenty Caliber Cartridge Guide
20 BR, 20 PPC, .204 Ruger, Tactical 20, 20 VarTarg

 

[warwickben]

I know most guys then rent reamers have cut there own chambers before . Renting not that bad of cost .
I've made a few straight and tapered reamers before for odd ball stuff at work .
Doing a reamer for rife round, I'd probably just shoot my self before I try lol.

I new a custom one is pricey just figure if your rechambering the same round after awhile the time vs cost works out for you .

I want to learn to use a chamber reamer . Would of saved me a year of my life waiting on a barrel lol .

 

[dcmdon]

How many uses will a reamer last for with a standard stainless barrel?

Do you need to use a lathe to do the reaming for purposes of concentricity and control? Or can you do it by hand? Does the reamer have a pilot that fits in the bore?

Don

 

[Boris]

How many uses will a reamer last for with a standard stainless barrel?

Do you need to use a lathe to do the reaming for purposes of concentricity and control? Or can you do it by hand? Does the reamer have a pilot that fits in the bore?

Don

it all depends on the reamer ... reamer maker will have a recommendation on speeds, lubrication etc. for different materials like SS or chromoly. The longevity ... depends on abuse, material ... at this point I haven't worn out any reamers, plus there are milspec reamers and reamers for tighter precision chambers.

most reamers have pilots, some solid some not.

I don't see how you can ream by hand, it would be an awful much labor. Lathe-wise, you need very slow RPMs.

The "fun" part of the chamber reaming comes when you run into problems, like chatter and start to figure out how to solve that. There are a ton of advice ranging from do X, it's the right way of doing it to don't ever do X, very conflicting views on how to do things. Some say clean reamer often, make sure you got ton of lubricant going, and then some say that you never want to clean the reamer (which seem to solve some of my problems)

I'd suggest buy a cheap reamer and practice, see what works, figure out how to solve things when things go bad.

I tried cutting a chamber with a commercial reamer, got a tonne of chatter marks which look funny and once that goes, getting the marks out is not easy. At least the way I got them out from someone suggesting to wrap the reamer in a baking sheet, jam, ream, don't clean anything. It worked, chatter gone. Weird.

 

[xtry51]

I'm highly interested in the 25 RUM. Invite to my range is open.

 

[warwickben]

I never under stood how you don't get chatter from the lands and groves . If any one wants to show me in person how they chamber I'll buy you your fav beer or booze.

 

[warwickben]

I have done some chambering and was taught, slow speed, slow feed, and plenty of love juice.
I have been trying for years to save up for a grizzly gunsmith lathe, but work is just to scarce, some week I am grateful I can eat.

Dean

Look At used lathes. I have friends that gotten bridgeports for free .

 

[Coyote33]

Some photos from my earlier links (not mine, I wish!):

 

[dcmdon]

I never got into anything smaller than 22 center fire, only because my hands are to big and end up pinching them in the press, I have 22s that shoot anywhere from 4000 fps 223 AI to 5000 fps 220 swift AI so I am set for varmint rifles I do like my new 17 WSM rimfire that comes in handy.

Dean

5000 fps just blows my mind. Again, I keep thinking how fast something like that will burn out a throat. But I guess if you chamber it your self, you can probably re-chamber it 5 times before its too short. So even if its only good for 400 rounds per chamber, thats plenty for a bolt gun.

 

[dcmdon]

The navy is bragging that their new rail gun can fire a projectile 7 times the speed of sound.

Its been done. Ha.

 

[Steve Marshall]

There is supposed to be some limit to a bullet fired with gunpowder. As I recall it's something like 5300 fps. All I do KNOW is that a 300 Weatherby firing 50 grain bullets in a sabot will on occasion break the 5,000 fps mark. I find it hard to believe that I could come so close to the theoretical max. velocity so easily. My strings were measured with an Oehler 33 and function was tested before and after with a known lot of .22 lr. I suspect the real maximum is undetermined, so when someone other than an internet commando tells me he gets 5,000+ fps, I believe.

 

[dcmdon]

Dean,

You bring up another interesting topic: Sabots. I've never used a sabot other than in a muzzle loader.

What do people get when they launch a saboted 75 gr .223 out of a .308? Or is it even done? That might make a heck of a prarie dog cartridge without much trouble for someone who already loads .308

 

[Boris]

Dean, what's the action that you are using and how is it holding the barrel? That barrel looks straight, so probably just screws in and since there is no taper on the barrel, you just cut more threads to push it further as you cut chamber deeper, right?

 

[EddieCoyle]

Very cool shit Dean. How did I miss this thread?

Another approach you can do is, lets say you have a 308 and it is shot out, you can rechamber it to a 30-06 and you don't even take anything off they end of the barrel, then when that is gone step up to 300 Win Mag, and finally 300 Weatherby and 300RUM, you will have chambered it 5 times without shortening it an inch, since every caliber is longer and larger you are setting the throat deeper down the barrel, and consequently reaming out the worn out throat, Win Win

Dean

PS: in full disclosure, I do take off a few thousands of an inch off they end, no matter if I am rethroating or rechambering just to start with a fresh surface, 30 thousands off a 30" inch barrel, is probably not worth mentioning but that's who I am.

Single shot?

 

[EddieCoyle]

Thanks that means a lot coming from someone in the know,

They actions are repeaters, but I end up putting a insert plate in that turns it into a single shot, , if need be, you would be amazed how much you improve your marksmanship when you know you do not have a follow up shot, although I have gotten really good at cycling the bolt with one hand a loading a round with they other, almost as fast as you can cycle a repeater.LOL

Are you moving the barrel to different actions? If you start with .308, then move up to .30-06, and finally to magnum, how do you deal with the different action length requirements?

 

[jdb723]

Any one here reload or into Wildcat cartridges, I started by Ackley Improving everything I could then, I went to the dark side and started "Wildcating" the performance is bar none, I can't go back to a Sammi spec cartridge too much bullet drop.LOL here are a few of mine.
left to right 50 cal Dislocater, 338 Edge, 6.5 Remington Ultra Mag, 25 Remington Ultra Mag, 6mm Mach IV, 6mm-06AI, 6mmX55, 22X55 no custom dies are needed for these Wildcats, they are formed with off the shelf dies, which saves a lot of expense,

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As you can tell I like my RUMs 338 Edge, 300, 7mm, 6.5mm, and 25 Cal

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Dean

50 Dislocator is giving me a little twinge in the nutzzz! That has to be shitloads of fun at the range! Really cool stuff, nice work!

 

[Boris]

That is right that is how it is done, or like I said in a couple of post down, just rechamber in a bigger cartridge, that one in the pic is a Remington 700 action, only it has a barrel nut like a Savage instead of a shoulder, it makes barrel swaps a breeze and has infinite adjustment for headspacing, if I rethroat after let say 500 rounds, I can usually get away with trimming only a 1/2 inch of the barrel, but if I wait until I hit 1000 rounds you end up taking of an inch off.

Dean

I am not familiar with famed 700 nor do I have any Savage rifles. How would one go about acquiring this type of a setup. Get a Rem 700 rifle but then what is this barrel nut? I like this idea to be able to swap barrels and be able to re-chamber them. May you offer any advice on how best get a similar setup?

 

[jdb723]

No I am not retired far from it, it is one of the few things I enjoy doing, and can get away from it all, I am sure it is great when you are retired but I don't see the connection, it is no different than shooting any other bolt gun just a little more preparation as far as brass goes, these are also excellent for hunting it allows you to take shots you never would have otherwise, I have made Coyotes literally explode due to the Hydrostatic shock, and the "red mist" effect on groundhogs is a sight to see and they acrobatics are world class.

[video]http://splashurl.com/koybkc4[/video]

That video is hilarious. Shooting groundhogs with a 300wsm is like using c4 to open a christmas present.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I am not familiar with famed 700 nor do I have any Savage rifles. How would one go about acquiring this type of a setup. Get a Rem 700 rifle but then what is this barrel nut? I like this idea to be able to swap barrels and be able to re-chamber them. May you offer any advice on how best get a similar setup?

I don't know about the 700, but rebarreling a Savage is easier than setting up a backyard forge.

Check it out:

The barrel nut is on the left, the barrel's in the middle, and the receiver's on the right. You thread the nut all the way up the barrel to get it out of the way, screw the barrel a little way into the receiver, chamber a "GO" headspace gage with the bolt, screw the barrel into the receiver until it hits the gage, back it off a hair, then tighten the barrel nut like a lock nut.

 

[60 buckscash]

I'm new to the Savage rifles but the 110 action is set up to accept a threaded barrel. The headspacing is set by a barrel nut that locks everything together. Other than threading the barrel blank no additional machining is necessary. The 700 requires a shoulder to be cut on the barrel blank requiring a lathe to fit it.

It's kinda like needing a press for an AK but an AR doesn't.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[xtry51]

I already have one Savage, so I'm going to go that route.

 

[Boris]

also, I presume that the barrel blank is some standard blank dimension? GM typically sells raw blanks, some are turned for concentricity and they are cheap.

 

[dcmdon]

it has the ballistic coefficient of a brick, but in it's defense it is also like being hit with a cinder block,LOL

Dean

Are you talking about the shooter, or the shootee?

 

[dcmdon]

Dean,

It seems to me that one of the things that makes this type of play practical is either knowing how to do the basic machining required to economically set a barrel back or knowing a machinist who can do it for you for a reasonable price.

If someone wanted to start out. Would you be willing to share your machinists name via a private message?


Can you give a recipe for getting started?

 

[JCV]

The 22 cal sends a Sierra 77gr HPBT over 4000fps, 26" 12 twist
The Mach IV sends a 105gr Amax over 4000fps and a 58gr Vmax over 5000fps, 30" 12 twist
The 25 RUM sends 85gr Noslers over 4700fps and 100gr noslers over 4300fps and 70gr blitz kings over 5000fps 30" 14 twist
The 338 Edge sends a 160gr Barnes TTSX Over 4200fps 32" 10 twist
There is no bullet drop until almost 500yards.

Dean

PS: you should see the vapor trail these things leave it looks like a tracer round.

Wouldn't gravity disagree?
Isn't there some number that says bullets fired will drop at "x meters per second" or something like that?

Also this thread is awesome

 

[soam]

Wouldn't gravity disagree?
Isn't there some number that says bullets fired will drop at "x meters per second" or something like that?

Also this thread is awesome

Gravity accelerates objects downward at a rate of 9.8 m/s^2, which means for every second the bullet is in flight, its vertical velocity will change downwards by 9.8 m/s.

When you fire your rifle, you are aiming up at a slight angle, which gives the bullet an upward (positive) vertical velocity. Once it leaves the barrel, gravity starts pulling on it, so its vertical velocity will decrease. If it flies for long enough (i.e. the target is far enough away), its vertical velocity will reach 0, which is the peak of the flight path. From that point on its vertical velocity will become downward (negative), and it will start going down towards the ground.

For simplicity, let's say we have a magic bullet that doesn't change its horizontal velocity at all in flight, and that it is fired at 5000 ft/s at a target 500 yards away. Let's also assume that the rifle is perfectly parallel to the ground. It will take that magic bullet 0.3 seconds to reach the target. In that time, it will fall about 17.3 inches.

So, if you aim up about 17.3 inches (which works out to an angle of approx. 0.055 degrees at 500 yards), you will hit squarely in the middle of the target. This gives our magic projectile an initial vertical velocity of 4.82 ft/s when it leaves the barrel, which if you multiply it by 0.3 seconds (our time in flight), you get about 17.3 inches. Note that changing the angle of the rifle also affects the horizontal velocity, but at these small angles the effect is negligible (4999.998 ft/s in this case).

Now obviously, real bullets slow down over time due to air resistance, and there are other factors I didn't account for, so the calculations for real bullets are a bit more complex than the ones I presented here. This is a "introductory physics" level explanation of projectile flight.

 

[Boris]

Dean, thank you for your time last night, it was all great information, thank you!

This is a great thread and I hope that more people realize that you can get into wildcatting without much cash invested in custom reamers or custom action or custom brass. Use all off the shelf components to come up with something very unique and cool.

 

[soam]

So when you are sighting in at lets say 100 yards, and your target is lower than you are which is not uncommon, you are still aiming up at a slight angle? I am not arguing physics, I just don't get it

Here Is a good ballistic trajectory chart for you guys to bookmark.

http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi


Dean

Ah, I forgot to mention I was assuming perfectly level ground, so you and the target are at the same height. Having the shooter and the target at different heights would change that, and you are correct that if the target is low enough you could be aiming level or downwards. If the height difference is significant enough, that can also make the angle of your aim affect horizontal velocity enough that it plays a significant role. For instance, if you're aiming at a 45 degree angle and your bullet is traveling at 5000 fps, the horizontal component of the velocity is only 3536 fps.

 

[soam]

Here's a Youtube video which goes into more detail. I haven't watched the whole thing, but the bits I watched seemed good.

 

[Coyote33]

Dean, have you ever done the .20 Practical, .17/223, or anything similar?

How about downloading a .223/5.56 to make it more quiet, like to .22 Hornet levels?