Wildcat cartridges

[Loobed]

Have you ever though about making your own wildcat cartridge?

The other day I was thinking about making a 9/45. It would use a 45 magnum case shortened a little and necked down to 9mm. I looked around and found that someone had already done something similar. It is the .38 Casull. There is also one called the .38/.45 Clerke.

Sometimes I come up with other cartridges; mostly to save lead.

22/9 - a 9mm necked down to .22
22/38 super - a 38 super necked down to .22
22/40 - a 40 S&W necked down to .22
30/40 - a 40 S&W necked down to .310, and would use .32 cal bullets or light .30 cal bullets.
40-30 - a 30-30 sized up to fit a .40 cal bullet. Might need to be sized to .390 though.
22 Carbine - 30 Carbine necked down to .22
41-08 - a 308 Winchester cartridge sized up to fit a .41 bullet

I though about shortening the .223 Remington, but Remington already did that with their .221 Fireball.

 

[Stelth]

What would be the purpose of these cartridges?

The .22's I really don't understand, unless you're planning to use them in an autoloader. If you're thinking of using them in a revolver or single-shot, there are already some excellent factory and wildcat cartridges such as the .221 Fireball, the Hornet and K-Hornet, and the .22 Super Jet.

The 40-30 would seem to duplicate some of the old black powder cartridges like the .40-40 Maynard, .40-50 Sharps, or the various .38-50's. Personally, I'd go for a .375 Winchester or .38-55, but those have been around for a while.

The .22 carbine has been done - the MMJ 5.7 or .22 Spitfire (and possibly other names).

As far as the .41-08, the 400 Whelen didn't work out too well due to headspace issues with the almost non-existent shoulder. If you can work that out, I think you'd end up with a cartridge that would have performance between the .401 Winchester SL and the .405 Winchester.

In any case, I'm not trying to say your ideas aren't good, or you shouldn't do it, I'm just trying to understand the purpose of doing these things.

 

[Gabe]

How were you planning on dealing with the shoulder angles??

I remember reading that the shoulders have a very narrow optimal range of angles - 28 to 32 degree if memory serves. Some of those wildcats would require almost a 90 degree angle. You would almost have to made it cone shaped just to get all the powder to burn.

 

[Loobed]

Originally Posted By: Stelth


In any case, I'm not trying to say your ideas aren't good, or you shouldn't do it, I'm just trying to understand the purpose of doing these things.



I am just bored, and was goofing around. I would still like to make those just because I like making things. No real practical purpose. Realistically anything I/you could want ballistics wise is already available in some form or another.

I like the 22 Hornet, but the 223 Remington is cheaper.

 

[Shannow]

There's a "tradition" in Oz shooting circles...if you call something that pops up a couple of time per decade a tradition...of mucking around with Hornet chambered rifles, making your own reamer, and making a "wildcat" for want of a better term.

Good clean fun

 

[hatt]

You want something cool. Take a .50 BMG and shorten the case down to an inch or so. Necked down to .22. Then you can name it the .22 SuperSuperSuperSuper Short Mag.

 

[Loobed]

Originally Posted By: hatt
You want something cool. Take a .50 BMG and shorten the case down to an inch or so. Necked down to .22. Then you can name it the .22 SuperSuperSuperSuper Short Mag.


Or a full size 50BMG shell necked down to .17

I'll call it the SuperSonicGNAT.