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I have three, none of which are completed yet. None of them are very "wild", though.

The first is one I call the "6.5 Ross", in honor of the 1905 Ross rifle I'm doing it for. Basically, it's a rimmed version of the 6.5 Mannlicher, which is now out of favor, but once had a very large following. It's a low-pressure cartridge and I expect ithe velocity "sweet spot" wind up around 2200-2400fps. I'm running .303 British brass into a shortened Mannlicher die, with a homemade chambering reamer.

The second is called the "12 Gauge From Hell." It's not my design. It's a .720 caliber based on a blown-out .50 BMG case. I bought some modified cases from Ed Hubel, but now RMC in Colorado makes production cases for it. I'm building a Maadi-Griffin bullpup rifle to take it. The Maadi was designed for the BMG, so only the barrel needs to be changed. I already have a rifled barrel for it.

The third doesn't have a name yet. It's a .311 variant of the .300 Whisper, because I have a bunch of .311 barrel blanks and bullet molds. My reamer is a bit different because I'm using the full-length case to cover the grease grooves on a cast bullet. I can't see any reason to buy jacketed bullets for a subsonic cartridge. I don't expect any significant difference in performance between my .311 and the SSK .300.


Progress is erratic; I'm a hobby gunsmith and easily distracted by - hey, check this out...

Welcome to the forum TRX, sounds like you have some truly interesting wildcats there, you need to post some pictures! I have been following Ed's posts with great interest and the idea of the .50 cased .720 slug is fascinating.

Did you make the reamer for the 6,5 Ross yourself?

Hi and welcome!

Why not introduce yourself on the New Members forum?

ovenpaa wrote:Did you make the reamer for the 6,5 Ross yourself?

The reason I call the Ross a "semi-wildcat" is that, besides using a shortened Mannlicher die (to clear the .303 case's rim), I can use a Mannlicher reamer to chamber the barrel. I can rent one for $30, and at that price I'm not going to make one.

I have half a dozen reamer prints on the clipboard by the lathe, waiting for "entertainment machining" time. I have lengths of O-1 drill rod to cut them from, an indexer and collet set I bought specifically for holding them while cutting the flutes, etc.

For the .311 and 12gaFH I also have to make reamers for the loading dies.

I fully expect that the first couple I make will have problems, and then they'll probably curve like bananas while I figure out the proper way to heat treat them... this is the first time around for me, so I'll probably hit all the speed bumps.

270, 243, 30-06AI and 30AAC Blackout in the planning stage

> .30-06 AI

Are you familiar with the .30 Gibbs? It's basically a .30-06 AI(AI). I don't see any real advantage to it over the Ackley, though, plus you'd have to make your own reamers and dies. A friend almost persuaded me to build a rifle in .30 Gibbs before I was stricken by a bolt of common sense...

".30 Gibbs before I was stricken by a bolt of common sense..." So what's wrong with Gibbs? When I was young I used to walk past George Gibb's shop in Bristol, now long since departed. I believe that Crudgington's of Bath now own the Gibbs name. The Gibb's 505 was a rimless magnum designed in about 1912 and achieved fame through the writings of Hemingway. Although a hundred years old it has more muzzle energy than many more modern designs. If I won the lottery I'd get Crudgingtons to build me a side by side in Gibbs 505. Great for squirrels and such.

6mmAR, 6XC and .300 Whisper