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218 Bee Improved

I picked up a J.K. Cloward built Martini in 218 Bee Improved yesterday. Printed on the barrel "J.K. Cloward 218 Bee Improved" Any ideas what Improved might be? The gentleman I got it from was only able to locate one piece of fired brass and it is significantly different than a Mashburn in the shoulder area. I hope to load some standard 218 in the morning and depending on the weather fireform a couple pieces of brass just to confirm that it is correct. Google mostly tells me that 218 Improved is a Mashburn and there is very little info on any of the other 218 wildcats either on the net or in the books I have. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks.
 
In wildcat cartridges there is no such thing as "standard" there can be the "most popular version" and so forth. If I remember correctly, there were two most popular versions of what was called the Mashburn bee and one had a shoulder .100 longer than the other. If you are able to get a full fireform case to measure, that will help. if not a chamber casting is in order. I love my martinis. three of these are .20 Killer Bees, slightly shorter neck dimensions than cbrown, based on his picture.
 

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I've been looking to build a #2 rolling block in 218Bee for a long time but couldn't pass this up even though I really can't afford it. But I will get over that shortly and hope to enjoy this one for a long time. Also has a USMC scope mounted on it which is about 1/2 value of what I paid.
 

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In wildcat cartridges there is no such thing as "standard" there can be the "most popular version" and so forth. If I remember correctly, there were two most popular versions of what was called the Mashburn bee and one had a shoulder .100 longer than the other. If you are able to get a full fireform case to measure, that will help. if not a chamber casting is in order. I love my martinis. three of these are .20 Killer Bees, slightly shorter neck dimensions than cbrown, based on his picture.
3rd and 4th down fdom the top are puurrdy. Thanks for sharing
 
hard to go wrong with the KIller Bee > Im hoping you have a supply of .218 Bee Brass
Yes, fortunately around 300 pieces. :) I tend to buy stuff at old gun stores and shows that I think I might "need" in the future. I end up with a lot of stuff I'll probably never use but in this case it will certainly pay off.
 
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I've got a .218 Bee "improved" (not Mashburn) on a Winchester low wall. I can send you a picture of the cartidge. The rifle didn't come with dies, so i had Whidden make me some based on my fired cases.
 
I absolutely love my Killer Bee 26gr Varmint Grenades running 3850 are really explosive on Praire Dogs.
 
In wildcat cartridges there is no such thing as "standard" there can be the "most popular version" and so forth. If I remember correctly, there were two most popular versions of what was called the Mashburn bee and one had a shoulder .100 longer than the other. If you are able to get a full fireform case to measure, that will help. if not a chamber casting is in order. I love my martinis. three of these are .20 Killer Bees, slightly shorter neck dimensions than cbrown, based on his picture.
That is a very impressive collection.
 
I've been looking to build a #2 rolling block in 218Bee for a long time but couldn't pass this up even though I really can't afford it. But I will get over that shortly and hope to enjoy this one for a long time. Also has a USMC scope mounted on it which is about 1/2 value of what I paid.
Very nice!
 

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