Wildcat Cartridges

I recently picked up a set of the Handloader Magazines on DVD.  The set covers 40 years of Handloader, from the first issue on up. There is a wealth of information buried in these old magazines and the DVD’s take up far less space on the shelf than 40 year of old magazines.   Aside from that you can search the entire collection from one file which is located on all the individual disks.

Say you want to know more about Rocky Gibbs…  Just put his name in the search window and all instances of his name from the first issue to the last will be listed.

By trial and error you can adjust your searches to be more accurate and return more useful information.  I should warn you though, it’s a little like when you pulled an encyclopedia out as a kid to do a report for school and find yourself reading about casting bullets in stead of reloading tools, etc.

Before I picked up these DVDs I had a pretty strong collection of magazines going.  I have already eliminated my Rifle and Handloader collection.  Now somebody needs to do the same thing for American Rifleman. 

If you have not read many old gun magazines you would probably be surprised to find that much of the material was more technical in nature in years past.  Some data may be outdated by new technology but its valuable from the stand point of reminding us how much can be accomplished with very few tools.  Frankly, many magazines today would do well to return to more technical articles, that broaden our knowledge of ballistics an the mechanics of shooting.   Either way, this collection of classic material on disk is highly entertaining for the gun buff and educational for any wildcatter.

Remington will offer 3 loadings to introduce this new cartridge.

Remington announced at the Shot Show 2009 that it would introduce a new cartridge for it’s AR platform. 

This cartridge is a 30 caliber on a shortened version of the 284 Winchester case, so it has a slightly rebated rim.  The rim diameter will be the same as a 308 or 30-06 as it appears now.  When asked about introduction a Remington Rep stated that the goal to have guns and ammo in stores is June of 2009.

It’s hard to come up with a new idea for a cartridge and even though Remington is in new territory here it is not unprecedented.  Frank C. Barnes, author of “Cartridges of the World” came up with the 308×1.5″ in the 1960’s.  This concept became the BR series of cartridges.  Remington has simply come up with a way to rework the BR concept to work in an AR-15 platform.  The advantage of the 30 AR is the increased case capacity allowed by the 284 case design.  By the way, the 450 Bushmaster is the same basic case based on preliminary information.

Factory load data for this short case indicate a 125 grain bullet at 2800 fps at the muzzle of a 24″ barrel.  It looks like case capacity will fall about half way between the 308×1.5″ and the 308 Winchester.  I have already started drawing my wildcats on this case.  Lets see what you guys can come up with?

If your interest is in long range shooting the 338 Xtreme would probably interest you.  I spotted this cartridge at the Shot Show in the American Tactical Imports (ATI) booth.  With an eye toward the market for long range accurate rifles, the guys at Xtreme decided to build a new cartridge with the idea of maximum velocity, and therefore flat trajectory.  A 266 grain bullet design with a Secant Ogive and boattail design was selected to maximize the terminal ballistics of this cartridge.

Compared to the 338 Lapua, the 338 XT produces velocity of almost 400 more fps.   That translates into nearly an additional ton of energy over the Lapua as well as more than 100 inches LESSdrop at 1000 yards.   Combining this cartridge with Lapua’s new 300 grain Scenar bullet would make an impressive combination.

Xtreme Machine is also building rifles for this cartridge.  Barrels are available in 26 or 30″ length.  Single shot and repeaters available, the repeater uses a 7 round detachable box magazine.  Trigger is adjustable, comes set at 2-2.5 lbs.  Overall length of the rifle is 49″ and the weight is approximately 20 Lbs.  A 40 MOA Picatinny rail is included with the rifle.  International Cartridge Company is loading ammo for the 338 XT wit the 266 grain bullet described here.  An interesting package.

The next new Item I saw in the Lapua booth at the Shot Show was a 300 grain Hollow Point Boat Tail Scenar bullet.  Intended for the 338 Lapua, reloading data is supplied on the technical specifications sheet for this new bullet.  Max velocity listed for the 338 Lapua with a 27.5″ barrel is 2746 fps.  They are available either loaded in Lapua ammunition, or in boxes of 100 as components.  According to the charts supplied, this huge 300 grain bullet when launched at 2700 fps still retains 1000 Ft. Lbs. of energy at a little over 1500 yards.

While we are talking about long range Lapua has also introduced new Drag Coefficient Data for QuickTARGET Unlimited TM.  Utilizing Doppler radar Lapua has collected data for all their bullets at various velocity levels.  Such data allows you to calculate trajectory more accurately that with simplified B.C. numbers.  The data is also available at the Lapua web site, WWW.Lapua.com

300 Grain Scenar Bullet alongside Lapua's new 222 Rem. Match brass.

Well, pretty busy for a first day of the show. 

Found some time to get out on the show floor and look for things that might interest the wildcatters.  First stop the Lapua booth.  One of the reps asked me what I was interested in and I said, “Always looking for the new stuff.”

The first thing we looked at was the new Lapua 222 Rem. Match brass.  So, if you have always liked this cartridge or any of it’s offspring and just wished for better quality brass… Now you have it in the form of unprimed brass.  Lapua has a reputation for top quality components for reloaders, they are exceptionally strong and uniformity exceeds normal expectations by a fair margin.

The advantage of quality match grade brass is in the uniformity.  Lapua holds tight tolerances in neck concentricity, base straightness, and wall thickness.  These conditions along with quality brass, and proper grain structure make for a case that be reloaded over and over, while delivering excellent accuracy.

Loaded ammo is also available from Lapua in the 222 Remington Match case.  The current loading is with a Lapua 55 grain FMJ.

222 Rem Lapua Match brass