Here is an article I wrote for our local gunclub newsletter a while back. Hope you enjoy.
Reloading a wildcat
I'm sure this has happened to all of us at one time or another. Scenario:
sitting in the coffee shop with someone who is "cleaning out the closet".
So, wadda ya got that's interesting? "Oh, that's nice but not really what I
had in mind." " That will make someone very happy but it's not for me
either" " What's that you say? .219 Donaldson Wasp? SOLD!"
The .219 wasp is the brainchild of Harvey Donaldson. Several versions of the
Wasp were created, but Donaldson's version turned out to be the most
popular. This is no new kid on the block: the Wasp was created in the late
1930's and held the most benchrest titles until the early 1950's. This was
apparrently due somewhat to it's more or less ideal case capacity for 22
calliber. For a more complete history lesson, see Cartridges of the World.
For those of you bored by history, the wasp was originally a necked-down and
shortened 219 Zipper case. Performance is midway between a .223rem and a
22-250.
I was looking for something to play with and to learn from and this seemed
to fit the bill. The rifle is built on a Springfield action, has a yet to be
identified target barrel, and is a single shot. I have not shot the gun yet,
as when I bought it, the scope that was on it did not want to come home with
me. New scope was purchased and mounts are in the process. That's OK,
though, I have to learn how to reload this thing first!
I'll bet when you buy brass you noticed there is not a lot of 219 Zipper
brass to be had. Easy enough to overcome: Wasp brass can be formed from any
brass with the same rim diameter and thickness including .22 savage HP,
25/35, 30-30 etc with the proper form dies. I only had a few pieces of 30-30
kicking around, I don't have one so all my findings go to a buddy of mine.
The rifle came with form dies but no instruction so I thought How hard can
it be? I set out with my 3 peices of 30-30 brass to crank out my very first
Wasp cases. The result? 3 perfectly mangled wasp cases. OK. Time to suck
back and reload(So to speak!) The problem seemed to be with lube dents,
actually lube folds! You are moving a lot of brass around here. I was
heading out for deer hunting soon, I would snag more brass while down south.
Before I left, an informed source told me I could use 375Win brass to make
Wasp cases. The brass is stronger and a fellow could maybe stoke things up a
bit. Mental note to self, look for 375Win brass. I was able to find one bag
of 50 crossing 3 provinces so I guess it is not as hard to find as 219
Zipper!
Back at the bench with my shiney new 375 brass in hand I remembered how easy
itr was to ruin good brass so I thought I would take things slow. First I
picked up the Box with the form dies. The lable said ".219wasp from 30-30.
OH-oh. Suddenly that 375 brass looked really expensive. Oh well, here goes.
See photo for reference.
Starting on the left is a peice of 375 brass.
Remembering the lube caverns I created one my first attempt, I dabbed my
finger tip in Imperial sizing wax and more or less put a few fingerprints on
the top 3/4 of the case. Into the press and form die #1, Viola!, the case
was now necked to something just shy of .308. So far so good.
Put form die #2 in the press and a few more finger prints. The 3rd case in
the photo shows the result. The case is now necked to about 6mm.
The final form die reduces the neck to it's final size and is a trim die,
simply cut off what ever sticks out the top and file flat. The 4th case in
the photo shows what the case looks like sans trimming.
The 5th case is after a pass through the full length die and neck reaming.
ready for fire-forming.
The last case is a fire-formed case that came with the gun. Imp wax is the
greatest thing since sliced bread for this type of adventure. Formed 50
cases with out a loss. No small task when you consider it started off as
.375 caliber shrunk to .22.
I am looking forward to seeing what I can make this gun do, no doubt it will
shoot better than I can. I have compiled a list and components for accuracy
loads as suggested by knowledgable sources but as most of the load data is
many years old, I also look forward to experimenting with new powders that
have come about since anyone wanted to go through the the trouble to make
219wasp cases. Now the really fun part begins. I will post an update for
those interested after I've played for a while.