30 Bobcat

[Trophy Tom]

Anyone heard of a 30 bobcat. I picked up a set of dies at a gun show this weekend.
Thanks


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[mac60]

Never heard of it. I didn't see it in Cartridges of the world or Handloader's manual of cartridge conversions.

[ulav8r]

Found info on a 6.5 Bobcat, based on 250 Sav.

[ascast]

.30 bobcat --->>> airgun--->> google

[hornady308]

I remember the 357/44 Bobcat. Approximately the same as the 357 Bain & Davis. Never heard of the 30 Bobcat, but could be by the same designer.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Tom,

What brand dies?

AntiqueSledMan

[bruce drake]

I could have sworn someone on this site had been working on a 30 caliber wildcat built of a 357 Magnum case that they were calling a Bobcat. If you run a 300BLK sizer die over a 357 Magnum case you probably would come up with a nice looking bottleneck case that would be a great single shot rifle cartridge for rabbit/squirrel woods walking.

[Hickory]

I've heard of;
Bigfoot
Loch Ness Monster
Ghosts
Space aliens
Boogie Man
Unicorns
Santa Claus
Elves
Honest Politicians
These things I have heard of, but have never seen.
I will add .30 Bobcat to the list.

[Trophy Tom]

Mystery Solved
After some experimentation.
My conclusion is it’s a
357 Mag necked down to 30 cal.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180416/1843c5c610cc1fc82035257cdb48d46b.jpg

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[Cheshire Dave]

**** now I want one. Or a 30 Badger....

[adcoch1]

I really like that idea! Great in a handi rifle.

[corbinace]

All of those 30 caliber 38/357 cats intrigue me.

[geezer56]

If you own a Handi rifle or CVA single shot in 300 BO, you can lathe cut for rim clearance and run 357 mag or 360 Dan Wesson brass through the blackout dies and have a rimmed blackout. Neat little round. And it is much easier than cutting and trimming 223 brass. Doesn't work in repeaters though.

[enfield]

I guess that means I have an 8mm Bobcat, I necked down 357 to hold an 8mm (Lee) bullit and chambered ( using drill bits ) an old 8mm Steyr barrel then adapted that to a Lee Enfield, great pistol round for a rifle.

[bruce drake]

I guess that means I have an 8mm Bobcat, I necked down 357 to hold an 8mm (Lee) bullit and chambered ( using drill bits ) an old 8mm Steyr barrel then adapted that to a Lee Enfield, great pistol round for a rifle.

Yikes! And quite a conversation piece!

[ThomR]

I need a lever gun chambered in 30 bobcat. Same bullets, powder, and primers as 300 blackout. Similar performance I would assume.

[DocSavage]

Wonder how 357 maximum necked to 30 cal would work.

[Hamish]

Mystery Solved
After some experimentation.
My conclusion is it’s a
357 Mag necked down to 30 cal.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180416/1843c5c610cc1fc82035257cdb48d46b.jpg

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Tom,

By any chance, do you have a set of 300 Blackout dies to do a comparison? Would be quite interested to see the dimensional differences between a .30 Bobcat and a .300 BLK rimmed.

[Trophy Tom]

No blackout dies.
Now you went and put a thought in my mind about doing a 357 max 30 cal conversion



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[Hamish]

Anything between .30 Makarov/Mauser length and full length Max. I know fellow's shooting all kinds of different length, rimmed and rimless, single shot, bolt, AR. Little thirties are more for funner.

[Dimner]

isn't this just a few % increase in case capacity over the 32-20?

I never thought I would be 'that guy' when it comes to experimenting with wildcats. But in a singleshot, why not go with a 32-20? Especially if you need to find a reamer and what not for the barrel.

In a levergun however, this would be fun because there are 357 level guns. So I would guess 30 bobcat would feed pretty well in the modern levers. Cant really find many 32-20 modern lever rifles.

[roadie]

All it really offers over the 32-20 is lots of easily obtainable and stronger brass. I did both a .38 Special and .357 Mag version 20 years ago, never got around to building a reamer for them. I think it would be great in a strong lever action, same as the .30 Paxton, .30 Badger, all good cartridges.

[rockrat]

30/357max works pretty well. Made mine about 31 years ago. Has a 30-30 length neck

[ThomR]

Tom,

By any chance, do you have a set of 300 Blackout dies to do a comparison? Would be quite interested to see the dimensional differences between a .30 Bobcat and a .300 BLK rimmed.

I have blackout dies. If you want to send me some brass I can run them into a sizing die.

[Hamish]

I have blackout dies. If you want to send me some brass I can run them into a sizing die.

Misunderstanding. Was asking Trophy Tom if he had both sets of dies to be able to compare. Thank you though.

[samari46]

Think this would be a perfect conversion for the thick walled BSA 22rf martinis plus the cadet martini as well. 1x12 twist?. I already have a complete set of centerfire innards for a rf martini action. So all I would need is a suitable barrel. Does RCBS do special custom dies anymore. Seem to remember that after Jay Postman either retired or passed away they said that they wouldn't be doing specials or customs anymore. Frank

[GARD72977]

30/357max works pretty well. Made mine about 31 years ago. Has a 30-30 length neck

Will you post a Pic of this cartridge. I had a contender bbl made in 300/221 rimmed wit extractors for rimless and rimmed. I have been thinking about doing a long neck version.

Did you have a reamer made?

[popper]

Allows bigger selection of bullets over the 32-20. With BO neck length you can load about anything but the lighter weight leaves the base in the neck so not much neck tension. BO brass is good for higher pressure so hotter loads. Longer neck get into 30/30 no throat situation - bad or good? More powder space- higher fps and psi.
Been trying to find a cheap action to try - I have no use for flip open H&R or Henry. Side lever FB would be the way to go.

[Trophy Tom]

Just for fun. I ran a couple of 357 Max casings in the sizer.
One all the way down to the rim.
The other just enough to for the neck.
This is what they looked like.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200222/e4826501b8b33e54258737db58e167da.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200222/3fedeeea6a3679f6f11646dc2e1e2d83.jpg


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[jaysouth]

As a seven year old trapped in an old body, no one appreciates the allure of an exotic toy more than me. I went the route of getting a barrel stubbed onto a Handi 20 ga. barrel and chambered for .30 Badger. .38 brass run through a 7.65 Tok die will get you cheap brass. And it is fun to shoot 90 gr. bullets over 2 grs. of Bullseye.

However, with appropriate powders, bullets, and reloading instructions, my 308/30-06 with a few adjustments to a powder scale will quickly become a .30 badger, 30 Tom cat or 30 max cat with no attendant cost of new and custom dies or brass.

Just my two cents worth.

[rockrat]

GARD72977---- will look for a pic for you. Yes, I did have a reamer made

[popper]

Playing the other day I cut the neck off 30/30, measure ID & OD, ran through a 9mm sizer to BO shoulder length. Neat - virtual 'straight wall' rimmed 358. More case capacity than 350 Legion. I'd push one down to 30 for a 'pigmy' but don't have a die. Just because I can and case fill & efficiency go up.
257389

[MI2600]

It might do service as an interim stage on the way to .256 WM.

[Hamish]

It might do service as an interim stage on the way to .256 WM.

It does.

[donhuff]

It's been done a dozen different ways before, but it's still interesting to me. I have "converted" an old blackhawk cylinder to 30/357, to use in my .30 blackhawk. I have gotten an eighty five grain HP up to almost 2000 fps in it. And the loaded bullets cycle through a 357 rossi like greased butter! I'm very much planning to reline a rossi to .30 and rechamber for the new round. I bought a new rifle to do it to 3 years ago, but got off on other projects and haven't done it yet.

Since rifles usually gain about 500+ fps over a pistol, with the slower powders, I'm pretty sure 2500 would be easy, but I bet it would get closer to 2700. I can't remember off hand what my noe 311008 (actually .308" ) were going. But all the loads I tried shot as well as the carbine loads do, being just as accurate but a good bit faster.

Ya'll might be interested in this article about the round. http://www.zecamat.com.br/pag0118.htm

[popper]

Well, stuffed a 9mm 130gr into 30/30 for a 358 short. Interesting. Should be able to get 26gr POWDER into it no problem. Just rechamber a 357 levergun? Or neck down to 30 cal and an insert into a 30/30 marlin - maybe would even feed heavy bore-ridder?
257477

[Pressman]

I was looking at that idea 20 years ago, but life got in the way. A necked down 357 in a .30 Carbine Ruger Blackhawk would be a hoot, heck the .30 Carbine is a hoot to shoot. And I have two other Blackhawk's with necked down cartridges, I need a third.

[Texas by God]

So, you want your .30 cal Blackhawk to be LOUDER?[emoji16]

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[Brassduck]

So, you want your .30 cal Blackhawk to be LOUDER?[emoji16]

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is that possible ?

[donhuff]

"is that possible ?"

OOOOOH yes it is! I'll have to look at my notes to get the powder charge, but with the 85 grain and a full load of 300MP, it was noticeably louder, and flashy. The cylinder I used was from a 45 colt blackhawk, and the barrel cylinder gap was pretty wide. So yes, LOUD.