Lusting after calibres / Curse ye Cartridges of the World!

I have a set of 256 Win Mag odd little beast, you take a 357 Magnum and neck it down to 25 Cal. I don't think I'll ever find a gun in that caliber

I reload 577/450 Martini and I'm working on some 310Cadet loads, brass is a problem.

I did just buy a 325WSM :) and I found brass and dies. I wonder how fast I can make a 125grn bullet go :)
 
Levon12345 said:
So just posing the question: Anyone else have this impulse, buying a gun just because you want to try out a new calibre? If so, what calibre is in the back of your mind for you to try?
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Rarely as I'm not often impulsive but I have bought guns to try. Usually there is a long lasting purpose. Calibers I want? 250 Savage: A brilliantly practical round tossed at the wayside. Further wants: 416 Rigby in a CZ bolt rifle (not that I will ever take a safari but also a sensible caliber for that purpose). Wildcat experiments I'd like to try whether they've been done or not: Various bottleneck rifle rounds based on 9mm, 357 and 44mag parent cases. While the 9mm Luger would be impossible to neck down to 224, if 9x23 or original cases could be obtained, such would be great fun but expensive. This sort of thing has been beaten to death with 30carbine already... To digress a bit: I like to see Marlin 9mm camp carbines or something similar on the market: Ruger as the basis to achieve this ... and in bolt actions on top of levers and semis.
 
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I have bought several die sets over the years that I did not have rifles for, but when wildcatting it is always handy to have spare die sets around to butcher or to use as staging dies for working brass down. I only buy them when they are super cheap clearance specials, like 20 bucks or less. I mean how can a guy turn down a new set of RCBS 243 WSSM for 20 bucks...............
 
I know a guy local here,that has a TC single shot in a custom 256 win mag. Cut and shortened a 25-06 barrel.........set back and re-chambered. I think the Contender was/is still chambered in that one as was a ss pistol.Harold
 
Welcome to the SICKNESS....

Find PO Ackleys book on wildcatting. Then there is Wildcat Cartridges Vol 1 and 2... Old reloading manuals.

A very interesting sport in the 70's was big bore handgun silhouette... Elgin Gates, TCU, IMSHA. Many "new" cartridges have been done a long long time ago.

Donaldson, Gibbs, Seyfried, Jamison, White and many others that modified brass in every conceivable manner during the wildcatting heyday of the post WWII to the 90's. Some have become commercial chambers...

Love wildcatting and have done so for many years. If reloading is your thing, wildcatting is the PhD and bucket loads of fun.... and eventually, you end up with a pile of dies... cause you 'just never know'

BWAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAA

Jerry

PS... there are Savage actions that headspace using a barrel nut. Then there this little evil thing called a prefit barrel which you can install in a couple of minutes. Then companies willing to supply prefit barrels in HUNDREDS of chambers..... Even reamer and die manufacturers happy to help you design your better mousetrap. Yep, it's a sickness and there is an industry ready to help you feed that condition :)
 
Sometimes I wake up in the middle fo the night knowing, just knowing, that I won't be truly happy until I own something chambered in .10 Eichelberger.

IMG_1294c_zpsb8caac12.jpg


That's it on the far left. .22LR necked WAY down via a series of painstaking steps. It's the very first cartridge listed in COTW. There's just something weirdly, perversely interesting about a cartridge that demands huge effort to produce and is not reloadable in the least. It's like loving a midget supermodel who will never, ever love you back.
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
Sometimes I wake up in the middle fo the night knowing, just knowing, that I won't be truly happy until I own something chambered in .10 Eichelberger.

IMG_1294c_zpsb8caac12.jpg


That's it on the far left. .22LR necked WAY down via a series of painstaking steps. It's the very first cartridge listed in COTW. There's just something weirdly, perversely
interesting about a cartridge that demands huge effort to produce and is not reloadable in the least. It's like loving a midget supermodel who will never, ever love you back.
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Man that is so wierd! I can imagine asking a smith to drill you a barrell and rifle it in .10 caliber. There will be some interesting conversation over that one I imagine.
 
PatchRat said:
.... I got a hankering for something...... a Ruger #1 in 9.3x74 ....
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So did I, something about that long cartridge. Would like to rebarrel # 1 for a mate to it, the 6 x 70 as loaded by Norma.
Neither are exactly stellar performers compared to other cartridges available, just something about single shots and long brass !
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
Sometimes I wake up in the middle fo the night knowing, just knowing, that I won't be truly happy until I own something chambered in .10 Eichelberger.

IMG_1294c_zpsb8caac12.jpg


That's it on the far left. .22LR necked WAY down via a series of painstaking steps. It's the very first cartridge listed in COTW. There's just something weirdly, perversely interesting about a cartridge that demands huge effort to produce and is not reloadable in the least. It's like loving a midget supermodel who will never, ever love you back.
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Is this for mosquite defense in the Canadian Shield?
 
c-fbmi said:
Oh believe me you have no idea..............then there is the wildcats...........then there is completely new calibers like .234..........

Here's my die shelf..........

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maybe this is a dumb question, but why do you have 2 rcbs charge masters? i can barely bring myself to afford 1
 
My current idea is to collect up a bunch of 5.56 brass and start making .22 TCM brass. Then I'm only a conversion kit for my 1911 away from having a gun for it.

I'm sure my mind is going to change a million more times before this comes to fruition. I also have to actually make some 45-08 brass too. I'm afraid I'm slipping into the wildcatting level of reloading.
 
floriosean1 said:
maybe this is a dumb question, but why do you have 2 rcbs charge masters? i can barely bring myself to afford 1
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Because I found 1 too slow........2 keeps a good pace. And in case you didn't notice.......I am very self indulgent when it comes to my firearms and reloading equipment. I actually briefly considered a third, but decided it unnecessary.
 
Levon12345 said:
My current idea is to collect up a bunch of 5.56 brass and start making .22 TCM brass.
Then I'm only a conversion kit for my 1911 away from having a gun for it.

I'm sure my mind is going to change a million more times before this comes to fruition. I also have to actually make some 45-08 brass too. I'm afraid I'm slipping into the wildcatting level of reloading.
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I just got a set of 22 tcm dies.
Don't own a gun of anysort in that caliber but I'd like to assemble one and convert my 9mm 1911 to chamber it.

I've got a norc 1911 set up for 4508. I really enjoy it. Save yourself a tonne of headache and just buy some 45sup brass.
 
It is hard to decide with the choices what is the best brand for reloading presses.

Looking at doing some unusual stuff, .351 and .401 WSL for example along with the usual calibers for rifle and handgun and a progressive
so I don't spend too much time doing what I have to do.

But want maximum availability of dies and ability to use other makes for calibers in case dies for those are not available.
 
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