30/30 Based Wildcats in a Cotender

**I have been told that the Set back dies were made by Paul Bike not Butch Lambert. I have PM in to Butch to verify. Will let everyone know as soon as I find out. Could be either on as my memory is NOT what it used to be
Sorry for any confusion**

Dies were made by Paul Becigneul pbike257. I can PM contact email to anyone who needs it. My apologies to Butch, don't know how I got confused
Sorry for any confusion
Doug



Read a thread on another forum and figured the folks here would like it as well. 30/30 based wildcats are perfect for the Contender format. Here are some. In the first photo case on left is based on 225 Win and the rest are 30/30 based. Second photo shows 25 Bullberry, 7/30 Waters IMP and 30/30 Ackley IMP that are 30/30 based. Third picture shows 219 Zipper and 219 Donaldson Wasp. Fourth picture 6mm BB IMP & 6.5mm BB IMP . Feel free to add your favorite
Safe shooting
Doug
https://i.postimg.cc/28nkKPhY/compare-65.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/MZVJ61Tb/BB.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/44vMbbLb/101-4696.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/RhCsLPFW/168860...2505436366.jpg

Dies were made by Paul Becigneul pbike257. I can PM contact email to anyone who needs it. But I will share this with you. If you are going to form ANY 30/30 based Wildcats, you NEED one of these. 30/30 based set back die set (SEE PICTURE) . Butch makes them and they are a Lifesaver. I can form any 30/30 based wildcat down to 17 caliber, any length, with virtually NO wasted cases. I LOVE IT The quality is Superb. Buy one and you will wonder how you ever lived without it. All you need is the final full size die for your cartridge to finish the last step of forming.
Safe Shooting
Doug
https://i.postimg.cc/MHPH5LLR/169187...5003620887.jpg

Thanks for posting. Didn’t know those were out there. Does he make them for any other cartridges? 308?

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Originally Posted by Mjshell

Thanks for posting. Didn’t know those were out there. Does he make them for any other cartridges? 308?

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He makes them for .223 rem based cartridges. I think he can make any body die you need. May take a little longer. I THINK the insets work in any die body he makes but not sure. I was going to buy a 223 rem set and he said I could use the inserts I had. Was going to use for 20 TAC and 20 VarTarg but don't need the for that. I think the 17 and 20 bushing I added extra, but the rest came with the set
Safe shooting
Doug

Butch is a member of Accurate Shooter forum for sure.

Hey Doug,
Can you please PM me Mr. Becigneuls contact info?

Thanks!
Bob

Please pm me contact info also

I have owned a 6.5x30JDJ for 30 or so years. My choice way back when was between the 6.5 JDJ and the 6.5x30 JDJ. I figured 225 Win brass would only get harder to buy, and went with the 30-30 based cartridge. Doing it over, I would make the same choice. The 6.5x30 JDJ is a great Contender Cartridge, easy on brass, easy to form, pretty much the same case capacity as the 6.5 JDJ. What's not to love. I had a quality Brake installed in the last Five years. This really made it a fun round to shoot. I now have brakes on every Centerfire Single Shot I own except my 223 Contender Barrel.
I did own a 6Bullberry Improved for several years. The way I was forming cases, it was way to much trouble. If I had owned a case forming die set my experience with it might have been more positive.

Not quite 30-30 based, but one of my favorites is the 35 Bullberry. I normally form this cartridge from 375 Winchester brass. Again an easy to form cartridge, that is easy on brass.

Bob R

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Originally Posted by Bob Roach

I have owned a 6.5x30JDJ for 30 or so years. My choice way back when was between the 6.5 JDJ and the 6.5x30 JDJ. I figured 225 Win brass would only get harder to buy, and went with the 30-30 based cartridge. Doing it over, I would make the same choice. The 6.5x30 JDJ is a great Contender Cartridge, easy on brass, easy to form, pretty much the same case capacity as the 6.5 JDJ. What's not to love. I had a quality Brake installed in the last Five years. This really made it a fun round to shoot. I now have brakes on every Centerfire Single Shot I own except my 223 Contender Barrel.
I did own a 6Bullberry Improved for several years. The way I was forming cases, it was way to much trouble. If I had owned a case forming die set my experience with it might have been more positive.

Not quite 30-30 based, but one of my favorites is the 35 Bullberry. I normally form this cartridge from 375 Winchester brass. Again an easy to form cartridge, that is easy on brass.

Bob R

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How hard is it to find that 375 brass? I bought a Winchester lever action 375 years ago on a whim but only shot it a couple of times.

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Originally Posted by prdatr

How hard is it to find that 375 brass? I bought a Winchester lever action 375 years ago on a whim but only shot it a couple of times.

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https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog...roductId/83387

Just that easy... :) Get ready for some sticker shock, though. :)

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Originally Posted by prdatr

How hard is it to find that 375 brass? I bought a Winchester lever action 375 years ago on a whim but only shot it a couple of times.

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can backorder here. Usually (NOT always) filled with in a few weeks:

375 Win Brass - Large Rifle - Brass Cases (starlinebrass.com)

Before selling off my Super 14, I ran a 30 Herrett with a smile

to along with my (dad's RIP) Contender are 10" barrels in 30 and 357 Herrett.

I'm so glad I avoided the JDJ rounds years ago....even then, .225 Win cases were difficult to find. Now, they are extremely hard to source and prohibitively expensive. All of my wildcat Contender rounds are either based on .223 (.25 TCU & 7mm TCU) or .30-30 (.30 Herrett, .25 Bullberry, .357 Herrett). Funny thing about the .25 BB, I'd never actually seen a case before I picked up my barrel. I fully expected brass to look like "normal" improved cases with sharp shoulders. Nope. I was actually a little surprised after I started reforming brass.

Bullberry makes improved versions of the 6, 6.5 and 25 Bullberry chambers. The advantage of the non-improved versions is that fire-forming isn't needed. I couldn't find dies when I got my 25 BB carbine barrel so I used regular 30-30 dies for the body and shoulder and a 250 Savage sizer die to neck it down and for subsequent neck-sizing. I've since re-acquired my old set of 6.5 BB dies and that makes it super easy. The shoulder taper of the 6.5 BB is a better match because the neck-down to .257 is less drastic. Hard to tell which brass is fire-formed and which isn't. :)

The set back dies work very well and are worth the purchase price, NOT cheap. They have been around for a long time and I'm not sure who actually brainstormed the idea. I got my set from Skip Otto and he has been gone a long time now. Back in the 50s and 60s most of the pioneer bench resters were all skilled machinists. I know Ed Kabor from Port Byron was making them also.

I don't even remember who made my set.

I bought them from a guy on Accurate Reloading.

I confess that I hardly ever use them, but like a parachute, when you need them, nothing else will really do.

Those, along with neck expanding dies, have come in really handy from time to time.

What are you using for powder in your 6 and 6.5, 30-30 wildcats?

My favorite so far is H4895. Have also been satisfied with IMR 4064. Haven't really tried others but I am sure others will chime in
Safe shooting
Doug

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Originally Posted by bsekf

What are you using for powder in your 6 and 6.5, 30-30 wildcats?

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stick powders are giving me the best accuracy, velocity AA powders seem to be favored, CFE 223 and Tac also, I prefer the ball powders for there ease of metering, but the stick powders with a automatic measure can not be beat, just hate waiting for the next charge to complete :whistle:

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Originally Posted by bsekf

What are you using for powder in your 6 and 6.5, 30-30 wildcats?

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Varget is tops along with H4895.
LVR may work well for some, also. I got a couple of pounds of that when I couldn't get Varget and got some really good accuracy from 30-30 AI but hit a pretty good pressure spike on the high end. I think that powder prefers the non-improved cases.