Big bore .308 Win Wildcats

[kennyc]

.44 auto mag but full length case instead of cut down . I had an automag pistol - fearsome to say the least !

now thats a cartridge that works for me :goodjob:

[meles meles]

We like the idea of summat big & heavy coming out of a .308 case at subsonic velocity


* Hint *

[ovenpaa]

As it is going to be rimless (.308 bolt face) I would prefer to head space off a shoulder. The shoulder to case wall transition of the .308 Win is around 11,5mm diameter and I would prefer around 1,0mm of shoulder to work with.

I will see if I can find time to build some dummy rounds today as an experiment to see how easily they can be necked up or if fire forming from a standard case is going to be the easier option.

[ovenpaa]

A few minutes with a temporary mandrel has produced these, 9mm-308 now I need to decide on the weight and type of bullet in order to choose the barrel, the local club does not allow jacketed bullets however it is not the only club in the area and I have a choice of 1:10" or 1:16" barrels.

I have a feeling this could be just the ticket for the donor rifle I have for this project.

[DW58]

Sounds like an interesting project David.

[ovenpaa]

Wait until you see the donor rifle Rob

[Christel]

But you said you wanted a wildcat Dave and .358win is a factory round.

So another thought how about a 8x 51mm ??? Once again something similar was done with the .30-06 case but not with the .308win case as far as I know.

I still like the idea of the 9.3x51mm though.

So do I, just wondering what the los federales will say.

[ovenpaa]

I was thinking of a .355" as opposed to a .358" so technically a wildcat, just... The idea is to be able to take once /twice/whatever fired .308 brass, fire form it to .355" and stuff a 9mm pistol bullet in the end then download, in theory it should be cheap and very easy to feed it and given that it will mostly be shot at 25-50 yards in this form. Add to this the ability to use a heavier jacketed bullet at full power and end up with an interesting 100-200 yard rifle, it will almost certainly end up on iron sights and I will not be looking for sub whatsit accuracy.

Having said all that I still like the the idea of the 9,3x51 and could easily load it with cast for the local range and then semi jacketed for longer stuff.

[Chapuis]

Ovenpaa have you done any sort of ballistics calculations for 9.3x51?

I must admit that the dummies that you have knocked up in 9x51certainly look the business. Not sure how they would shoot but they look the part.

Incidentally I have a mold that casts 9.3mm 260 and 280 grain bullets, or should that be boolits.

[saddler]

9mm's not really BIG bore

Pity you cannot go up to .45 dia & still have a shoulder.
A .455 version would have been interesting...