Thread: Attempting a new .224 wildcat

Originally Posted by Wingman

Nah not a fan of copper bullets. Too hard for NZ game IMO. I like a good light jacketed splody bullet that dumps all its energy even at long ranges.

That means Targex and Barnes are rubbish?

Originally Posted by TeRei

That means Targex and Barnes are rubbish?

I didn't say they were rubbish I said I'm not a fan and they are too hard for nz game IMO.
Targex are great bullets, they are copper J4 Berger jackets with a lead core not monolithic.
Barnes are too hard.. as are any bullet that passes through and through. Nz follows way too much of the American marketing, we don't hunt bear, moose and buffalo etc our deer are small in comparison.

Originally Posted by Wingman

I didn't say they were rubbish I said I'm not a fan and they are too hard for nz game IMO.
Targex are great bullets, they are copper J4 Berger jackets with a lead core not monolithic.
Barnes are too hard.. as are any bullet that passes through and through. Nz follows way too much of the American marketing, we don't hunt bear, moose and buffalo etc our deer are small in comparison.

Ask TeTawa. He might disagree with his beloved 85gr TSX. Your engineering skills are just too rarified for the humble reloader. Nice read however. Skill.

Originally Posted by TeRei

That means Targex and Barnes are rubbish?

Targex are not solid copper

Sent from my CPH2145 using Tapatalk

Im fan of the 50 grn ttsx from barnes....they go really well in .223 fast enough to be expandy enough to make decent hole through stuff.

@Wingman, sorry about the Thread Hijack, but wanted your opinion on another potential Wildcat.
You have had quite a lot of experience with both the 6.5 Grendel and the 6.5x47 Lapua, and I was wondering how easy it would be to Wildcat a Hybrid between these 2 Cartridges ?

Idea being, something that would chamber in the Howa Mini and offer a little more Powder Capacity, granting a boost in FPS.
Is it as simple as opening up the Bolt Face from .445" to 0.470", using a 6.5x47 Reamer but cutting a Chamber 0.275" Shorter, shortening a 6.5x47 die by 0.275" etc, and seating the Projectile to the the same length as a Grendel ?

The wildcat you speak of already exists.. aka 6.5mmBR. It can be made by simply necking up 6mmBR brass. I have the reamer. Could also make it a 6.5 Dasher with the 40deg Ackley shoulder.
Not as simple as opening the Grendel bolt face, the howa bolts are super hard . You would also need a new extractor and magazine.
The .450 bushmaster is the best to build it on as it already has the .470" bolt faceand extractor. The .450 mag also feeds the BR case fine.

Originally Posted by Wingman

The wildcat you speak of already exists.. aka 6.5mmBR. It can be made by simply necking up 6mmBR brass. I have the reamer. Could also make it a 6.5 Dasher with the 40deg Ackley shoulder.
Not as simple as opening the Grendel bolt face, the howa bolts are super hard . You would also need a new extractor and magazine.
The .450 bushmaster is the best to build it on as it already has the .470" bolt faceand extractor. The .450 mag also feeds the BR case fine.

@Wingman, I had wondered, but hadn't been able to find much information about either 6.5mmBR or the 6.5mm Dasher.

My Grendel is using a 22in Barrel, and following the whole minimum 1,000ft-lb energy at impact, using the 123gr at 2500fps is usable out to about 340m.
I tend to use my Grendel often out to about 250m.

If I shorten the Grendel, I loose velocity, and energy, and therefore usable range.
If we assume a loss of 30fps per inch, I should be able to shorten to;
18in and still have 1,000ft-lb out to about 270m.
16in and still have 1,000ft-lb out to about 240m.

Is there much to be gained in either the 6.5mmBR or 6.5mm Dasher in a Short Barrel Hunting Application ?
Does the slight increase in case capacity result in much better velocities ?

Originally Posted by kiwi-adam

@Wingman, I had wondered, but hadn't been able to find much information about either 6.5mmBR or the 6.5mm Dasher.

My Grendel is using a 22in Barrel, and following the whole minimum 1,000ft-lb energy at impact, using the 123gr at 2500fps is usable out to about 340m.
I tend to use my Grendel often out to about 250m.

If I shorten the Grendel, I loose velocity, and energy, and therefore usable range.
If we assume a loss of 30fps per inch, I should be able to shorten to;
18in and still have 1,000ft-lb out to about 270m.
16in and still have 1,000ft-lb out to about 240m.

Is there much to be gained in either the 6.5mmBR or 6.5mm Dasher in a Short Barrel Hunting Application ?
Does the slight increase in case capacity result in much better velocities ?

Look up the 6.5 Timberwolf as it's also known. Ihave not done any testing with it so can't help re velocities in short barrels sorry
The bigger case won't always yeald more speed as you will have to go to a slower powder than the grendel like 2208 which will require a longer barrel to get full burn

light jacketed splody bullet. Yip I can agree with that

Have you tried projectiles in the 77gn - 80 gn in your 222 Wingman ?
How long is the throat / magazine ?

Originally Posted by Ground Control

Have you tried projectiles in the 77gn - 80 gn in your 222 Wingman ?
How long is the throat / magazine ?

Yes I have run 77gr TMks and 80gr ELDM with good results. The mag is plenty long, could take a 30-06. I cut the throat with a std .22-250 AI reamer from memory, I can't recall the free bore on that reamer

yeah and nah LOL...as we know there are some good barnes pills and used in right place at right time they quite good.

I do believe our man TeRei missed out a comma
here try this
That means Targex,and Barnes are rubbish???
in reply to wingmans
Nah not a fan of copper bullets.TOO hard for NZ game IMO.I like a good light jacketed splody bullet that dumps all its energy even at long ranges (which sounds like a targex too me)

Someone in here recently made something called a grendel max that was good for about 2700fps. See if you can track that down. Think the shoulder was just pushed forward