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35 caliber wildcats

I hope this is the right section to post this in, if not, I'll delete and post in the correct section.

Sorry in advance for the long post. Just thinking out loud here, planning a rifle build that might happen in the near future. As an Ohio resident we can use 35 caliber or larger straight wall cartridges for deer hunting. I put together a 350 legend on the cheap to get me through the season. I like the cartridge, but I hunt farm fields and I can use as much range as I can get, and feel that there ought to be a better cartridge for this situation. I called up the game warden, and he said that although we can't use necked cartridges, we can use cartridges with a taper.

This brings me to the question of what wildcats are there that are 35 cal or larger with a tapered case for potentially higher velocity than a straight wall case. Was thinking of staying with 35 because of possibly better bc, less wind drift, and higher velocity, but if there's a better caliber (larger than 35), I'm all ears.

I have a completely butchered krag rifle (mismatched serial numbers, aftermarket stock, drilled and tapped...) that I was thinking might work. 30-40 krag blown out to 35 cal but straight walled, but the action strength and single locking lug makes me think this is a really bad idea.

So the question is what wildcats are out there that are straight walled (and or tapered) that are 35 caliber or larger that will ethically down a deer at extended range? To add one additional thing, I'm postponing a shoulder surgery for as long as possible, so lower recoil would also be a consideration. Thanks in advance!
 
Methinks... by definition, a tapered case (more than minimal) would need to have a neck, in order to hold the bullet.

The .350 legend is about the best compromise I can think of. Larger ones like the .450 marlin will provide much more energy at a couple hundred yards, but will thump a helluva lot harder.
 
If your loading the Legend, this case lends itself to the lighter
variety of coppers in my opinion. Hammer makes two to consider
specifically for the Legend. They have the load data on site.
 
Forgot to mention that. No there's no maximum brass length
What's the maximum distance that you would want to take a shot at a deer?

405 Winchester with a 250gr Stone Hammer is gonna get you to 500 yards with enough velocity to have good terminal performance. However, it's not gonna be 'easy' on your shoulder. A good brake will be in order.

1759239043621.png

1759239074792.png

A Ruger #1 or 1885 single shot with 26" or longer barrel will help maximize this cartridge's potential. When looking for max performance, the limiting factor will be the strength of the brass I suspect. This is probably true with all of the straight walled cases. If you aren't walking all day carrying your rifle, a long heavy barrel will help with both felt recoil and bullet velocity.

A 375 Winchester with a 180gr Stone Hammer going 2600 drops your max distance 50 yards, but it should be significantly easier on your shoulder:

1759240641345.png
 
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I appreciate all the responses so quickly! I'm currently testing lighter copper bullets in the 350 legend from hammer as well as bear creek ballistics. While definitely not bad, i was thinking there had to be a better cartridge for this particular application.

I was originally thinking of using the 30-40 krag case as it has a rim to headspace off of and I should be able to not have too extreme of a taper to get a 35 caliber bullet to seat with at least adequate neck tension.

Was also considering using a single shot so neck tension/bullet setback wouldn't be as big of a concern.

Thank you for choprzrul for taking the time to provide ballistic tables, that was very enlightening! I was already looking at the 375 win, but not the 405, will definitely do some head scratching on that cartridge.

If there's any other ideas (wildcat or factory) that would provide better ballistics than 350 legend, I'd love to hear about em!
 
Before the 350 legend was born I built a 358 based on 223 basic brass available through starline. Do not quote this as gospel but I believe the brass is about .200 longer. Additionally I ran a 180gr fury bullet seated very shallow, like .150 seating depth. That combo yeilded about 250fps over what can be had with the legend.

As mentioned above it may be smarter to just change bullets. Realisitically 250fps is not going to be enough gain IMO to be a game changer, certainly not enough for a rebuild.

You would have to pull prints and compare notes but you may be able to feed the 350 legend reamer in deeper and make this combo work. I never looked as my round was about 2 years advanced of the legend. Also you may not be able to get this round fo fit in your mag length. I used a remingtonn short action ADL.
 
I will definitely look into that cartridge, thank you!

Was just doing a little looking online and came across a website wildem.de. Be warned, I am definitely not computer literate and cannot vouch for the security of the sight. In it though, they talk about several wildcats including the 411 Ryan (parent case is 240 weatherby mag) as well as the 416 Alaskan (parent case 348 Winchester). No mention was provided as to velocity, bullet weight, c.o.a.l.,... I will look further into these cartridges tonight
 
You may be looking closer to something like the 348 Winchester's
brass. Decent boiler room, and Starline has some in stock to play
with.
 
What's the maximum distance that you would want to take a shot at a deer?

405 Winchester with a 250gr Stone Hammer is gonna get you to 500 yards with enough velocity to have good terminal performance. However, it's not gonna be 'easy' on your shoulder. A good brake will be in order.

View attachment 1699114

View attachment 1699115

A Ruger #1 or 1885 single shot with 26" or longer barrel will help maximize this cartridge's potential. When looking for max performance, the limiting factor will be the strength of the brass I suspect. This is probably true with all of the straight walled cases. If you aren't walking all day carrying your rifle, a long heavy barrel will help with both felt recoil and bullet velocity.

A 375 Winchester with a 180gr Stone Hammer going 2600 drops your max distance 50 yards, but it should be significantly easier on your shoulder:

View attachment 1699122
405 Winchester is an excellent suggestion, Why hasn't this fine cartridge made a comeback with all of these new hunting rules?
 
I hope this is the right section to post this in, if not, I'll delete and post in the correct section.

Sorry in advance for the long post. Just thinking out loud here, planning a rifle build that might happen in the near future. As an Ohio resident we can use 35 caliber or larger straight wall cartridges for deer hunting. I put together a 350 legend on the cheap to get me through the season. I like the cartridge, but I hunt farm fields and I can use as much range as I can get, and feel that there ought to be a better cartridge for this situation. I called up the game warden, and he said that although we can't use necked cartridges, we can use cartridges with a taper.

This brings me to the question of what wildcats are there that are 35 cal or larger with a tapered case for potentially higher velocity than a straight wall case. Was thinking of staying with 35 because of possibly better bc, less wind drift, and higher velocity, but if there's a better caliber (larger than 35), I'm all ears.

I have a completely butchered krag rifle (mismatched serial numbers, aftermarket stock, drilled and tapped...) that I was thinking might work. 30-40 krag blown out to 35 cal but straight walled, but the action strength and single locking lug makes me think this is a really bad idea.

So the question is what wildcats are out there that are straight walled (and or tapered) that are 35 caliber or larger that will ethically down a deer at extended range? To add one additional thing, I'm postponing a shoulder surgery for as long as possible, so lower recoil would also be a consideration. Thanks in advance!

Check out this website. The top 7 straight walled cartridges.

 

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