Building a Wildcat Question

[squirrel_slayer]

I've been wanting to build a wildcat barrel for awhile now but have always been detracted by the cost of dies.

The other day I got to thinking about a way to possibly side step that cost. I have started using lee collet dies exclusively for my bolt guns. looking at the design of them I could very easily modify one for the cartridge so that would solve the neck sizing, a bullet seater is a bullet seater.

could I use a chamber reamer to make a shoulder bump die off of a piece of the blank? I know the chamber is larger than a sizer reamer but would it not work to bump the shoulder when needed? I even considered machining it to accept redding neck bushings.

now is a body die that critical for a bolt gun? for example if I resized the brass in it's parent case's die prior to fireforming or used virgin brass shouldn't the brass stay the same as the chamber only needing the shoulder bumped after a few firings?

Thanks for any help. Yes a off the shelf option would be easier (6br) but I'd really like to have something different, without the huge cost of dies. I can stomach the reamer but dies push it over the edge for me.

I'm wanting to make a improved 6x45 with a 30' shoulder and some of the case taper taken out, but not all of it. then have the throat setup for the new 105gr nosler RDF. would use a 1:8 twist

Quickload shows good potential with velocity in the high 2700-low 2800's from a 26" tube. I like the fact it uses .223 brass as many of us have mountains of and since I'd own the reamer I could build a smaller/lighter rifle later on down the road when my kids are old enough to hunt as a first deer rifle. I'm sure I could get a good hunting bullet to work in it as well.

[drybean]

223ai necked up to 6mm

[squirrel_slayer]

considered that but wanted to try the 30' shoulder.

Not going to lie that would be easy as I could open a .223ai redding type S die and buy the correct bushings for 6mm.

[FW Conch]

This reminds Me of the development of the 264 RLB. I followed it all the way, and I never saw why those guys didn't just go with the 6.8 SPC? Availability of 223 brass wouldn't be enough to push Me in that direction. But I have had thoughts like this in the past, and was able to fight them off. I reciently passed up a deal on a 30/06AI barrel, mainly because of the cost of dies, and the fact that I really don't need it.

There's a guy on the GBO site that has what He calls the 223 Short Project. Has His own little corner there. Even thought about putting it in a Savage platform. His project has been going on for years, and it and the 264 RLB thing demonstrates that there is much more involved than appears in the beginning.

But, it could be fun, and it sure beats basket weaving! ;-))

[squirrel_slayer]

FW Conch your thought process does have merit and logic and I agree to some extent.

I'm sure a 6br (or its variants) would work better than what I'm after. a 6brx is actually what I had planned for my next build and I may still veer that way.

However some of us are just wired differently. lol My problem is I come up with a theory and want to persue the experimenting to test the theory. The way I look at it is. if it wasn't for wildcatter's we wouldn't have as many awesome cartridges as we do today.

I have a .223 "short" idea floating around upstairs as well. lol but that's for a entirely different purpose.

[Evlshnngns]

I want to do a wildcat 6.5. looking at yours, I now know what everyone else feels when I tell them about mine. I'm going to base mine off a factory die with altered length than the original cartridge, (cheaper easier brass main benefit). Good luck, keep this updated with what you find.