Gunsmithing How to start a wildcat round?

[dinmax82]

After my last custom round that required fire forming and neck turning which the smith told me all I needed to do neck down I'm ready to tackle another one. And $700 of useless dies.

Here's what I was thinking and not sure if this is the right way to do it or possible.

Let's say I want a 7/300NM.

Should I get the brass, size it down, seat a bullet then send it to a reamer maker? With that can they make a reamer for me to fit what I want without having to fire form and neck turn?

 

[W54/XM-388]

Basically you want to neck down a 300NM which is basically a necked down 338NM, to run 7mm?
So basically a 7/338NM then basically?
That should get out of there fast and eat some barrels.

 

[Edds]

A good version of that cartridge is available. Google 284 Jazz.

 

[rlwilson]

How about a 7mmx300 Weatherby, i have a brand new set of custom made RCBs dies for it? Someone else had a wild hair and had me order the dies and then he left the planet.

 

[Edds]

How about a 7mmx300 Weatherby, i have a brand new set of custom made RCBs dies for it? Someone else had a wild hair and had me order the dies and then he left the planet.

What dies do you have and how much do you want for them?

 

[rlwilson]

They are RCBS, I am in OHIO and will be back in Oklahoma friday night I will check and see what invoice was and let you know.

 

[Edds]

They are RCBS, I am in OHIO and will be back in Oklahoma friday night I will check and see what invoice was and let you know.

What kind and style of RCBS dies. FL Resize, Neck Size, Bullet Seater, Micrometer Seater, Case Form, etc?

The last time I talked to RCBS, they quoted $2100 for dies for a couple of Wildcats I was working on. I bought them from Hornady for $600.

 

[rlwilson]

I am pretty sure they are FL and bullet seater, special order from RCBS, less than 200 bucks. I have never had them out of the box. I ordered them for someone so that I could load ammo for him and he vanished after I waited for a month for dies.

 

[dinmax82]

Thanks for the responses guys but I wanted to know if the process I outlined above is doable....

 

[ratbuster]

dinmax82,

I would ask Dave Kiff at PT&G to design a reamer for you. I don't think he will charge you for the design. The reamer with Go Gage and shipping will run you about $220.00. As soon as you have the reamer print send it to Whidden Gunworks who will make you a FL bushing sizer die for about $120.00. Turn around time for both the reamer and custom die are about the same timeframe. You can likely choose from a variety of off the shelf bullet seater dies.

Phil Schmidt

 

[dinmax82]

ratbuster,

That's how it went last time, got a drawing from PT and whidden made dies from that. Reamer and die didn't match up. One die is useless because once I had to neckturn to fit chamber I had to use bushing dies.

 

[ratbuster]

I'm sorry to hear that. Did PT&G machine the reamer off spec or did Whidden err?

 

[dinmax82]

Gunsmith said reamer was off spec

 

[knockemdown]

I just went through this process with my .220 REDLINE...

First step was to build some 'dummy rounds' from the parent brass you'll use.

Neck up/down/whatever your brass with the dies you'll use.

Then, determine a seating depth for your bullet(s) of choice.

Call Grant @ JGS Tooling to discuss your project and case design parameters. "Turn/no turn neck", OAL mag constraints, etc...

Send your 'dummy rounds' to Grant, and he'll determine ideal freebore length, as well as neck diameter, based on your parameters.

Grant will email you a preliminary reamer print for you to sign off on. Once you give the "all clear", pay the man and wait for your reamer!

In the meantime, if you're wanting/ needing custom dies, just give Whidden a call. Then, simply forward that reamer print over to them, and you'll have a beautiful set of custom dies made for your one off wildcat...

Easy peasy!