The 32-20 is a great little cartridge for this type shooting. I'd give it a lot of thought.
The 32-20 is a great little cartridge for this type shooting. I'd give it a lot of thought.
The .256 Winchester makes more sense than the 25-20 nowadays based on availability of brass alone.
Not much .256 brass out there; but there’s a lot of .357 brass to make it from.
I’m a fan of the .218 Bee for my “between .22 LR and .223 Rem” needs.
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In my opinion, the cartridge would have a rim, be somewhere from 25 to 30 caliber, not have overly thin case walls and have a decent neck length. My choice would definitely be the 256 Winchester. The .32/20 is surely a nice choice though.
Made me give some thought to how much I use My 7TCU...
Probably the Very Most of Any...Excellent Round, Especially with Cast!!!. Can you say Versatile?
But, I still consider the 410 as Obscure...certainly based on Price/Availability!!!!!
Some Interesting responses...
You Could do your own cartridge, and have the reamer made.
This is not expensive. I have done it several times.
The expensive part is forming dies when needed, and you would need to send the reamer off to a TC barrel maker.
The "normal" reloading dies wouldn't be much different in cost for some cases, oddballs fall into specialty groups for RCBS dies for instance and they are pricey anyway.
TC Contender - Rimmed case is good.
Don't do a JDJ and use something like a 225 Winchester parent -- ground is plowed, capacity and head size is such that you better have pressure equipment, and the 225 availability (lack of) should be well known.
Head size: 30-30 max for 45-50 K Psi. 44 Rem Mag - max for 40 K psi. 357 Mag - run it as you like (you could lean on to 60 K psi).
Bore - want to cast, have a good supply of commercial jacketed, use for pest / small / medium game -- go as small as 25 Cal.
You'll probably find what you can think of has been done, or is Functionally something already done (wildcatting is that way, new ideas aren't new). BUT: you will have put in some educational work doing something over again, because you didn't realize you were.
Maybe something along the lines of:
44 rem mag parent case, neck w/ 35 degree to 6.5 mm, 0.25" neck - Yes a bullet will hang out (come back to that).
Parallel throat - 0.001" over sized cast bullet dia, 3 degree taper to rifling, throat to touch ogive for 120 gr cast of your choice w/ base of bullet at base of neck, twist it at 1:9 (slow as offered).
Shoot bullets 120 gr & under.
Want to shoot a moderate size game animal, use a 120 gr partition.
Cast: the bullet will hang out. Powder coat or use the traditional lube bullets only at the range.
Data - model your Wildcat in a reliable program, and look at a 6.5 Grendel for comparative volume (it's Likely close) to triangulate the data to known Grendel data.
Keep your target Energy at / below what the model says when you use a chronograph (as long as the model makes good estimates for teh comparative case like the Grendel).
Look for Close To 6.5 Grendel performance, but it's yours and it's rimmed.
I inherited 200 .218 Bee brass before I barreled the gun. Otherwise I would have done without a Bee based on the ridiculous price of ammo or the rarity of brass for it. All of my .223s are ARs so I can’t download them, but I have before for bolt action .223s- and 22-250s so I see your point there!
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If .218 Bee is a permitted option, how about the .22 2R Lovell? Same case capacity, but according to contemporary sources more accurate.
There's a basketful of brass and a set of dies on Gunbroker at this very moment. $400 for the lot isn't too shocking given today's brass prices.
If it comes to it, brass can be made from .223, although it's a laborious process.
Handles anything up to coyotes, and maybe Texas deer, but not our northern behemoth bucks. Download it to .22 LR velocity for small game.
Cognitive Dissident
Joining the thread late, and have only skimmed, but. . .
How about the .30-40 Krag? Not unlike the .30-30, but with more boiler room, neck length, and throw weight potential.
Edit to add: The .32-40 Win emphatically does not suck either. One of the classic single shot 200 yard Scheutzen rounds.
Last edited by Bigslug; 09-29-2023 at 11:54 PM.
WWJMBD?
In the Land of Oz, we cast with wheel weight and 2% Tin, Man.
38-40 or 7mm TCU
“Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”
― Mark Twain
W8SOB
I suggest the 22 Hornet.
I have a Winchester 1885 low wall in 22 K Hornet and it makes an ideal walk-around for me.
Gun control is not about guns.
The original "walk around rifle" was probably the 30 carbine.
Read "Shots Fired in Anger". Use your energy working out accurizing the Carbine. Then write an article on that effort.
I’ve got a pair 17 & 20 Garin Remington 580s. The Garin cartridges are based on the 30 Carbine case. There are also 22, 24 & 25 versions.
http://surestrikesystem.com/technical/loadData.php
277 wolverine
222
Last edited by pull the trigger; 10-01-2023 at 10:07 AM.
NRA Life Member
Amvets life member
You could walk about with a .300 Rook
Personally I'd be using the .22Hornet barrel you say you have.
But seeing as youre asking for something different, I'd be looking at the 256Win Mag.
Plenty of parent brass and projectile selection out there, decent amount of power and its a dandy looking little round.
There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.
– P. J. O’Rourke
I wanted a quarter bore single shot. Settled on the 25 Krag AI because A) I found a set of dies on Midway sale years ago, B) internal capacity better than the 256 Winchester or the 30-30 necked down. A fellow member here offered me a set of reamers he would not use because of his age. I got a barrel for my Encore and have been using it for several years. I have posted my process of making cartridges here in the past. It's capacity is 2 grains of water less than the 25-06 and two grains of water more than the 257 Roberts AI and I have data for both. Those reamers are in the hands of a gunsmith in Virginia Beach, VA, if anyone else wants to follow my process.
Wayne the Shrink
There is no 'right' that requires me to work for you or you to work for me!
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