7.62x39 brass for wildcat?

[TAJ45]

Have nearly a thou of these, new. Kinda partial to the AI idea with the shoulder pushed back, necks trimmed to abt .375-.400" for length in a .20 or .22 colony gun, mid 20s on powder cap.
Any suggestions or experience with similar?

 

[CJ6]

Sell the brass and buy some 220 Russian,Then do the wildcat. It'll be a lot less work and you'll have better brass.

 

[Shaggy357]

Do a search for ___x39....ie 6mmx39, 7mmx39, etc. There have been quite a few wildcats made. A friend shoots an XP-100 that has been changed. I think his is 6.5mmx39.

Good luck.

Steve

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Sell the brass and buy some 220 Russian,Then do the wildcat. It'll be a lot less work and you'll have better brass.

For that matter, a 220 Beggs is very near what the op is looking to do. Admittedly, I'm not sure what was meant by trimming necks to .375-.400.
I run 26.0 gr of LT32 in my 220 Beggs, behind a 52-55gr bullet. Velocities are in the 3,600+ fps range.

 

[AckleymanII]

TAJ, do a search on a 220 Hawk, Jim Williams made it on PMC brass, 52's at 3900, unreal accuracy.

 

[TAJ45]

TAJ, do a search on a 220 Hawk, Jim Williams made it on PMC brass, 52's at 3900, unreal accuracy.

[QUOTE="gunsandgunsmithing, post: Admittedly, I'm not sure what was meant by trimming necks to .375-.400.[/QUOTE

The .370-.400" was length of neck from shoulder juncture....I like lonng necks.

AMan II........ I'm kinda stuck on this idea, eh?

 

[TAJ45]

TAJ, do a search on a 220 Hawk, Jim Williams made it on PMC brass, 52's at 3900, unreal accuracy.

Absolutely no joy on the Google search, JWms, wildcat, 220 Hawk...
Nuttin' at all. Anyone?

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

[QUOTE="gunsandgunsmithing, post: Admittedly, I'm not sure what was meant by trimming necks to .375-.400.[/QUOTE

The .370-.400" was length of neck from shoulder juncture....I like lonng necks.

AMan II........ I'm kinda stuck on this idea, eh?

I built a rifle for a fellow a few years back that was a fast twist 22 cal based on a '06 with the shoulder pushed way back. The neck was about 1/2 inch long. He furnished the reamer. I forget the velocity numbers but it was a screamer. It was a unique rifle done on a piece of purple heart for the stock.

 

[TAJ45]

I built a rifle for a fellow a few years back that was a fast twist 22 cal based on a '06 with the shoulder pushed way back. The neck was about 1/2 inch long.

That sounds like a longer, skinny, long necked Middlestead.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

The 7.62x39 is basically the 220 Russian necked up to 30 cal and given a Large Rifle primer pocket. You could form any of the PPC wildcats you find info about. The 6.5 Grendel is also based off the 220 Russian and can be formed from the 7.62x39. There are variants of the 6mm PPC with shoulders blown forward and and shorter necks that would make really good varmint rounds.

I have a 243 LBC Turbo 40. It's a 6 PPC with the shoulder blown forward and out to 40 degrees. Basically the Dasher version of the 6 PPC. I make my brass from 6.5 Grendel cases.
You could do something like that in a 20 or 22 cal. Just be kinda weird using a large rifle primer for a case holding 20-some grains of powder...

Don't be afraid to call up a reamer manufacturer and just start shooting ideas around. They know how to draw it all up and get it cut for you. Doesn't really cost anything extra.

Only thing about trying your own new wildcat is that you have to be fairly well versed in developing you own loads because there's not gonna be any load data out there for you.
For instance, every load I developed for my 338-375 Ruger, I did from scratch. There was not one single load available in any manual, magazine, or single byte of server space on the internet. I used burn rate charts for new powders and cross referenced cases with similar capacity. In that instance, I cross referenced the 340 Weatherby magnum quite a bit. But there was nothing for RL17 on the 340 WBY, so for that load I also had to reference burn rate charts.

For dies, Whidden is your best bet. All you have to do is send them a reamer print and they'll get started.

 

[thekriebles]

Absolutely no joy on the Google search, JWms, wildcat, 220 Hawk...
Nuttin' at all. Anyone?

Tom, from left to right here are some 22 caliber wildcats using either 220 Russian or 7.62x39mm parent cases:

22 Pup, 220 Beggs, 22 PPC, 22 Waldog 35º, and the 22 Hawk which has a hyperbolic shoulder like the Weatherbys.

 

[TAJ45]

Thanks for the pic. That really gave me a perspective.

 

[MrMajestic]

Whitney's .224AR, Grendel necked down, has always interested me. That said I'm building an 8tw .22 Dasher

 

[LeeA]

Tom, from left to right here are some 22 caliber wildcats using either 220 Russian or 7.62x39mm parent cases:

22 Pup, 220 Beggs, 22 PPC, 22 Waldog 35º, and the 22 Hawk which has a hyperbolic shoulder like the Weatherbys.

View attachment 990100

Interesting thread, good picture.

I am the designer of the 22 HAWK cartridge. It is based on the PPC case, and features a Wby style double radius shoulder configuration

Keith Francis - JGS, made one of my first reamers for it back in 1986, and I still have the original reamer, gauges, and the spec sheets. It's a great reamer and quite versatile, in that I can run it in .050 long for a superb varmint cartridge, or .100 short for a Waldog style cartridge for benchrest competition. I have various sporter wt. custom rifles, and barrels fitted to some of my benchrest rifles, for prairie dogs, gophers, rock chucks, and even antelope, in the long version.

And, I've used the .100 short for many years in NBRSA BR competition with good success.

Ballistics for the 22 HAWK-L in 26.5 inch barrels:

50 gr. Nosler BT: 3750 to 3800 fps

70 gr. JLK VLD 3250 to 3300 fps

You can push it harder, but these are good performing, trouble free all-weather velocities.

I don't know of many users of it outside of my local area here in Montana. I did send Jim Williams in Georgia, some sample cartridges and specs, as he was very interested in it back when he was actively building rifles for his western prairie dog expeditions.

Also Jim Borden in PA, called me one time about it, as he had a customer who was interested in it. Could possibly have been from my discussing it at the Super Shoot or Nationals.

It is easy, unfussy to load for, not much resizing, long case life, especially with the new Lapua brass. Overall, a very accurate, efficient, low recoil, and fun to shoot cartridge.

Lee

 

[kevinbritvec]

Have nearly a thou of these, new. Kinda partial to the AI idea with the shoulder pushed back, necks trimmed to abt .375-.400" for length in a .20 or .22 colony gun, mid 20s on powder cap.
Any suggestions or experience with similar?

 

[kevinbritvec]

Most 7.62x39mm brass is Berdan primed and not reloadable without headaches. Winchester, Remington, PMC and IMI can all be reloaded but are of dubious quality. The manufacturer's know they will be fired through SKS and AK style rifles and probably perform the least amount of quality control when manufacturing them. They are perfectly safe to use but hardly in the same class as the quality brass available from Lapua.

Mixing head stamps from a variety of sources to make a wildcat will definitely have a negative impact on target.

 

[Grimstod]

There is also a 6PPC Hunter. Has the shoulder pushed forward .030 from the PPC. Makes forming it easier. I think the guy that made it has also made a 22cal version.

 

[stacy]

Whitney's .224AR, Grendel necked down, has always interested me. That said I'm building an 8tw .22 Dasher

YOU GOING TO LIKE IT !!!!!!!!!

 

[ab_bentley]

Whitney's .224AR, Grendel necked down, has always interested me. That said I'm building an 8tw .22 Dasher

Splat goes the ground hog.

Adam