Improved Cartridge
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A wildcat cartridge, often shortened to wildcat, is a custom-made cartridge for which
ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...
and/or
firearms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...
are not mass-produced. These cartridges are often created as experimental variants to optimize a certain ballistic performance characteristic (such as the power, size, or efficiency) of an existing commercial cartridge, or may merely be intended as
novelty item A novelty item is an object which is specifically designed to serve no practical purpose, and is sold for its uniqueness, humor, or simply as something new (hence "novelty", or newness). The term also applies to practical items with fanciful or ...
s. Developing and using wildcat cartridges does not generally serve a purpose in
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
or
law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
; it is more a
hobby A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other ...
for serious
sport shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive sport, competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airg ...
,
hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
,
gunsmithing A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very h ...
and
handloading Handloading, or reloading, is the practice of making firearm cartridges by manually assembling the individual components ( metallic/ polymer case, primer, propellant and projectile), rather than purchasing mass-assembled, factory-loaded com ...
enthusiasts, particularly in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. There are potentially endless varieties of wildcat cartridge: one source of gunsmithing equipment has a library of over 6,000 different wildcat cartridges for which they produce equipment such as chamber reamers.


Development of a wildcat

Often, wildcats are commercially sold rounds that have been modified in some way to alter the cartridge's performance. Barrels for the caliber are originally manufactured by
gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...
s specializing in barrel making. Generally, the same makers also offer reloading dies, tools to custom-load bullets into cases. Because changing the
barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...
of a gun to accommodate custom cartridges requires precision equipment, most wildcats are developed by or in association with custom barrel makers. Ammunition is
handloaded Handloading, or reloading, is the practice of making firearm cartridges by manually assembling the individual components (metallic cartridge, metallic/polymer-cased ammunition, polymer case, primer (firearms), primer, propellant and projectile) ...
, using modified parent cases and the gunsmith-provided wildcat dies. Generally, the supplier of the barrel or dies will also provide the buyer with basic reloading data, giving a variety of powders, charge weights, and bullet weights that can be used for developing loads. Handloaders use the data to develop a load by starting with minimum loads and carefully working up. Wildcat cases and cartridges can be found for sale, but only from small makers. Larger manufacturers usually do not produce wildcats because there is such a limited market for them and because there are no established CIP (Commission Internationale Permanente Pour L'Epreuve Des Armes A Feu Portatives - Permanent International Commission for the Proof of Small Arms) or
SAAMI The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several A ...
standards, which causes liability concerns.


Wildcat goals and methods

Wildcat cartridges are developed for many reasons. Generally, the goal is to optimize some characteristics of a commercial cartridge in a given context. Higher velocities, greater energy, better efficiency, greater consistency (which yields greater precision), and complying with a minimal permitted caliber or bullet weight for the legal hunting of certain species of game in a particular jurisdiction are the top reasons. The sport of
metallic silhouette Metallic silhouette shooting is a group of target shooting disciplines that involves shooting at steel targets representing game animals at varying distances, seeking to knock the metal target over. Metallic silhouette is shot with large bore rif ...
shooting, has given rise to a great number of wildcats, as several rifle rounds are adapted to fire from a
handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...
. In using autopistols for hunting or competitive shooting, improved feeding of softnose or hollowpoint bullets is also an issue; the bottlenecked .45/38, for instance, was created because the straight-cased
.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol), also known as .45 Auto, .45 Automatic, or 11.43×23mm is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After su ...
had trouble feeding hollow points. Wildcat cartridges are generally developed because: * Higher velocities can be obtained by increasing the case capacity or reducing the caliber. * Greater energy can be attained by increasing the caliber or the case capacity. * Better efficiency can be achieved by increasing the shoulder angle, shortening the case, and reducing the case taper (see
internal ballistics Internal ballistics (also interior ballistics), a subfield of ballistics, is the study of the propulsion of a projectile. In guns, internal ballistics covers the time from the propellant's ignition until the projectile exits the gun barrel. The s ...
). * Greater consistency can be achieved by tuning the case capacity to a certain bullet diameter, weight, and velocity that give consistent results. * Feeding problems can be fixed. Some methods used to develop a wildcat are: * Cold forming. The parent case is well lubricated and forced carefully into the reloading die for the wildcat caliber. This will
swage Swaging () is a forging process in which the dimensions of an item are altered using dies into which the item is forced. Swaging is usually a cold working process, but also may be hot worked. The term swage may apply to the process (verb) o ...
the case into a new shape. This type of operation is used for reducing case dimensions, such as changing the neck diameter or pushing the shoulder back. *
Fire forming The term fire forming in firearms refers to the process of thermomechanically reshaping a metallic cartridge case to optimally fit a new chamber by firing it within that chamber.Glenn Newick, "The Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy", Stroger Publishing ...
. This consists of taking the parent case, or a partially cold formed case, loading it with a light bullet and light load of powder, and firing it in the firearm it will be used in. Another technique uses a charge of fast-burning powder topped with a case full of
Cream of Wheat Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina (food), farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat berry, wheat kernels instead of gr ...
and a wad, to form a special
blank cartridge A blank is a firearm cartridge that, when fired, does not shoot a projectile like a bullet or pellet, but generates a muzzle flash and an explosive sound ( muzzle report) like a normal gunshot would. Firearms may need to be modified to allow a ...
that will expand the case. This technique is used for increasing case dimensions, such as pushing the neck forward, increasing the neck angle, or straightening the case walls. * Trimming to length. Generally, after either a cold forming or a fire forming operation, the mouth of the case will be longer than ideal, and the case will be trimmed back to the "trim to" length. Trimming is a normal reloading operation, as high-pressure cartridges will flow each time they are fired, and periodically need trimming to remove the brass that flows to the mouth. * Changing the diameter of the case (to suit a new caliber). Called "necking up" or "necking down", this is the most common way of making a wildcat. The new caliber allows a different range of bullet weights, and can greatly increase the velocity or the power or the resistance to wind drift as compared to the parent cartridge. * Necking back. This is a
cold forming In metallurgy, cold forming or cold working is any metalworking process in which metal is shaped below its recrystallization temperature, usually at the ambient temperature at or near room temperature. Such processes are contrasted with hot w ...
operation in which the neck is pushed back to reduce case capacity. This is often done when developing rounds for shorter barrels, such as turning a
rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...
cartridge into a
handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...
cartridge. * Blowing out. This is a fire-forming operation that moves the shoulder forward to increase case capacity. * Changing the shoulder angle. By making the shoulder closer to square, the resulting space is closer to the ideal spherical shape, resulting in a more efficient burn. If the shoulder is also to be moved back, this is a cold forming operation; if the shoulder is to stay or be moved forward, it is a hot forming operation. * Reducing the case taper. This hot forming operation makes the cartridge more cylindrical, giving similar results to a shoulder angle change. * Changing the rim. While this is a wildcatting operation, it is generally only done by commercial operations, due to the precision
turning Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool, typically a non-rotary tool bit, describes a helix toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates. Usually the term "turning" is reserved for the generation of ...
needed. Generally, this is a conversion from rimmed to a rimless cartridge, or from rimless to rebated, and is done to allow a larger parent case than the
firearm action In firearms terminology, an action is the functional mechanism of a breechloading firearm that handles (loads, locks, fires, extracts, and ejects) the ammunition cartridges, or the method by which that mechanism works. Actions are technically ...
was designed for. The opposite operation, adding a rim to a case, is also generally only done by major manufacturers; examples are the .45 Auto Rim, a rimmed .45 ACP allowing ejection in .45 revolvers without the use of moon clips, and the .307 Winchester, a rimmed .308 Winchester, developed for use in lever-action rifles. A handloader can add a rim, by swaging a ring of metal onto a rimless case, then turning it down, but this is a very labor-intensive process and requires a special swaging die and precision metalworking
lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the w ...
. It is far easier for most handloaders to simply start with a rimmed case, either of the desired diameter or reamed out as desired. *Increasing the case length. This process (which allows the cartridge to contain more propellant and thus increases the potential energy of the bullet) was used to make the powerful
.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR (as it is known in unofficial metric designation) is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...
cartridge from the much weaker .38 Special: A .357 magnum bullet has more than 3 times more
energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...
than a .38 special bullet of the same weight. Increasing the length of a bullet's case usually involves getting rid of the old case and making a completely new one from scratch, which all but limits the feasibility of this kind of modification for commercial manufacturers. It is possible to draw an existing case into a slightly longer form, thinning and stretching the existing case, but this is an operation requiring special equipment and expertise. It is far easier and more common to reduce, not extend the length of a case.


Example wildcat cartridges

In terms of sheer numbers of varieties, there are more wildcat cartridges than there are production cartridges. Most wildcats are custom made, therefore are not generally well-known. Some wildcat cartridges, however, are produced commercially in small quantities by small manufacturers. This is a list of some representative wildcats. * .30 Herrett. Based on the .30-30 Winchester, necked back and with a sharper shoulder angle. Developed for use in pistols with barrels as short as 10 inches (25 cm), it develops the same power as a .30-30 with greater efficiency and less muzzle blast. * .357 Herrett. Like the earlier .30 Herrett, this cartridge is based on the .30-30 Winchester, shortened and necked up to .357 (9 mm). Designed for use in short barrels, the resulting cartridge is more efficient and more powerful than the .30-30. Often considered one of the best medium game hunting calibers available in the 10" (25 cm) barrelled
Thompson Center Arms Thompson/Center Arms is an American firearms company based in Rochester, New Hampshire. The company was best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols and rifles. Thompson/Center also manufactures muzzle-loading rifles a ...
Contender pistol. * .10 Eichelberger Long Rifle. This is one of a smaller number of wildcats based on rimfire cartridges. It is made by disassembling a .22 Long Rifle cartridge, and re-using the case. The .10 caliber (2.5 mm) is the smallest
rifled Rifling is the term for helical grooves machined into the internal surface of a firearms's barrel for imparting a spin to a projectile to improve its aerodynamic stability and accuracy. It is also the term (as a verb) for creating such groove ...
barrel made. The tiny .10 caliber bullets produce almost no recoil and travel at very high velocities. While it can be used on small game at short ranges, this cartridge is more of a curiosity than practical hunting or target round.AmmoGuide.com
free registration may be required.
* 5.7 MMJ, or 5.7mm Spitfire. A .30 Carbine case necked down to .223 caliber (5.56 mm), this cartridge was developed to convert military surplus
M1 Carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States carbine, caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine chambered in the .30 carbine (7.62×33mm) cartridge that was issued to the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War, and t ...
s into short range
varmint gun A varmint rifle or varminter is a type of small-caliber, precision-oriented long gun (firearm or high-powered airgun) primarily used for varmint hunting and pest control. Such rifles are typically characterized by sniper rifle-like designs such ...
s. *
6mm PPC The 6mm PPC (Palmisano & Pindel Cartridge), or 6x38 PPC as it is more often called, is a centerfire rifle cartridge used almost exclusively for benchrest shooting. It is one of the most accurate cartridges available at distances of up to 300&nbs ...
. Based on the .220 Russian, which is in turn based on the 7.62×39mm intermediate-power cartridge. The 6mm PPC was developed in 1975 specifically for
benchrest shooting Benchrest shooting is a shooting sport discipline in which high-precision rifles are rested on a table or benchrather than being carried in the shooter's handswhile shooting at paper or steel targets, hence the name "benchrest". Both the fo ...
. While it is anything but common anywhere else, the 6mm PPC unseated the .222 Remington from its 20-year spot as the best benchrest cartridge available. Chambered only in
single-shot In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs have ...
rifles due to its short, fat case and sharp shoulder angle, the 6mm PPC is still going strong in benchrest after 30 years. * .22 Eargesplitten Loudenboomer. This humorously named cartridge was developed by P. O. Ackley specifically to exceed muzzle velocity. Based on a .378 Weatherby Magnum case, the case is impractically overpowered for the bore diameter, and so the cartridge remains a curiosity. * 7 mm TCU (also known as 7TCU). Based on the .223 Remington case, the 7 mm TCU is popular in single-shot handguns such as the Thompson Center Arms' Contender and G2 Contender. It is but one of a family of wildcat TCU cartridges.


Wildcat cartridges in Australia

In Australia, wildcat cartridges were relatively common. Most are made primarily for hunting species such as
deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
,
kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
, and are generally based on the .303 British because of the post-war popularity of that round and of the cheap surplus Australian Lee–Enfield MkIII military rifles available. Many of these surplus rifles were re-barreled to .257 caliber, known as the 303-25. One of the unique features is that these cartridges relied less on handloading - and instead, factory ammunition was produced by the Super Cartridge Company, Riverbrand, IMI, and Sportco. Since having an existing barrel rebored and rechambered was (at that time) less expensive than fitting a new barrel, a 303-25 rifle with a worn-out barrel could be economically converted to .277 caliber, known as the 303-270. The .222 Remington - a .222 Rimmed in a Martini was also commonly found. As too were the "Tini-Mite" and "Mini-Mite" cartridges, .17 caliber rimfire cartridges based on the .22 Long Rifle case.


Commercially accepted wildcats

Some cartridges started out as custom-made (non-commercially developed) wildcats and gained wide enough acceptance or popularity to become commercial cartridges. Generally, cartridges become popular commercially after a commercial firearms maker begins offering a weapon chambered in the cartridge. Once popular enough, funding is generated for
SAAMI The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several A ...
standards development. After SAAMI standards are in place, any firearms or ammunition maker can be sure that any products manufactured to the SAAMI standards can be safely used. Some examples of custom cartridges that became commercially accepted are: * .22-250. Based on a .250 Savage case, the .22-250 is still one of the fastest shooting .22 caliber (5.56 mm) cartridges available. First offered in a factory firearm by Browning in 1963 (the first factory gun chambered for a wildcat), the .22-250 was later adopted by Remington as the .22-250 Remington. * .22 CHeetah. A .308 BR (Bench Rest) case necked down to .22 caliber, the .22 CHeetah provides a flat trajectory with a .22 caliber bullet that has a relatively high speed of 4,000 ft/s. Hard on barrels, it provides a very effective 300-yard varmint round. * .303/25. A .303 British cartridge necked down to fire a .25 caliber projectile, developed in Australia during the 1940s as a
Kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
culling Culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific trait. This is done to exagge ...
and pest control round. Popularised in the late 1940s and 1950s in
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, owing to restrictions in that state on ownership of .303 British caliber firearm and the difficulties of obtaining commercial hunting arms and ammunition from overseas. Now largely obsolete, but there are still large numbers of converted
Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the standard service rifle of th ...
rifles chambered for this round in Australia. * 6.8 mm SPC. This cartridge was developed by American military special operations soldiers in search of a more lethal round than the
5.56×45mm NATO The 5.56×45mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 5.56 NATO, commonly pronounced "five-five-six") is a rimless bottlenecked centerfire intermediate cartridge family developed in the late 1970s in Belgium by FN Herstal. It consists of the SS109, ...
. It is based on the .30 Remington cartridge necked down to .270 caliber, and sized to fit in the
M16 rifle The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic ...
. * 7 mm-08. A .308 Winchester necked down to 7 mm (.284 caliber), the 7 mm-08 provides a flatter trajectory with lighter, more aerodynamic 7 mm bullets. *
7-30 Waters The 7-30 Waters cartridge was originally a wildcat cartridge developed by author Ken Waters in 1976 to give better performance to lever-action rifle shooters than the parent .30-30 Winchester cartridge, by providing a higher velocity and flatter ...
. Designed to improve the performance of lever-action rifle designs dating back to the 1890s, the 7-30 Waters is a .30-30 Winchester necked down to 7 mm (.284 caliber). Even with the lower chamber pressures allowed by the lever-action rifle and the flat-tipped bullets necessitated by the tubular magazines, the 7-30 Waters offers a significant gain in velocity and sectional density with little loss in bullet weight. This cartridge has also developed a following among handgun hunters using single-shots such as the T/C Contender or G2, which can take advantage of spitzer (pointed) bullets that are unsafe in tubular magazines. It is very efficient on small to medium-sized game including whitetails and
mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...
. * .454 Casull. This magnum revolver cartridge, a lengthened .45 Colt, was developed by Dick Casull and Jack Fulmer in 1957 as a high-powered big game hunting round. For many years, the small Wyoming manufacturer Freedom Arms was the only substantial maker of guns for the cartridge. In the mid-1990s, two major manufacturers,
Ruger Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., better known by the shortened name Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company based in Southport, Connecticut, with production facilities also in Newport, New Hampshire; Mayodan, North Carolina; and ...
and
Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign ** Vṛṣabha, in vedic astrology * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological ch ...
, started selling guns chambered in .454 Casull because it was popular due to its extreme power. It was finally commercialized in 1997 when SAAMI published its first standards for the cartridge.


Commercially developed wildcats

Though a cartridge technically has to not be developed commercially to be considered a wildcat, some commercial cartridges were developed by ammunition and firearm manufacturers by modifying existing cartridges – using essentially the same process used to make wildcats. Cartridges that are modified by being made longer (usually to make them more powerful) are for the most part only created commercially because of the difficulty of the process. One example of such a cartridge is the
.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR (as it is known in unofficial metric designation) is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...
, which was developed from the .38 Special in 1934 by firearms manufacturer
Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...
. * .38-40. One of the oldest wildcats, the .38-40, introduced by
Winchester Repeating Arms Company The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership ...
in 1874, was made by necking down a .44-40. Actually a .401 in (10.2 mm) cartridge, the .38-40 had faded into obsolescence before being revived with the growing popularity of
Cowboy action shooting Cowboy action shooting (CAS, also known as Western action shooting, single action shooting, cowboy 3-gun, and Western 3-gun) is a competitive shooting sport that originated in 1981 at the Coto de Caza Shooting Range in Orange County, Califor ...
. The ballistics of the .38-40 are close to those of the .40 S&W. * .221 Fireball. This cartridge was developed by
Remington Arms Remington Arms Company, LLC, was an American firearms manufacturer, manufacturer of firearms and ammunition. It was formerly owned by the Remington Outdoor Company, which went bankrupt in 2020 with its lines of business sold to several purchase ...
for the XP-100 pistol, which was a single shot
bolt action Bolt action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the turn-bolt via a bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (as most users are right-handed). The majority of b ...
pistol. The .221 Fireball was a necked back .222 Remington, designed for greater efficiency in the 10 in (25 cm) barrel of the XP-100. Even loaded with a smaller load of faster powder for the short barrel, the .221 Fireball lived up to its name, with a massive muzzle flash; the performance, however, was unheard of for its day: over 2700 feet per second (885 m/s) out of the short XP-100 barrel. It remains the fastest SAAMI-approved handgun cartridge, and the cartridge is so efficient and accurate that it has been chambered in rifles as well. * .22 Remington Jet. This cartridge was developed by Remington for a Smith & Wesson Model 53 revolver and a Marlin Model 62 lever-action rifle, but the rifle was never produced in this caliber. The .22 Remington Jet was a necked-down .357 Magnum case. The .22 Jet is no longer manufactured by Remington or other commercial manufacturers. * .357 SIG. This now-popular pistol cartridge was developed by Swiss weapons company
SIG Sauer SIG Sauer is since the 1970s a combined brand name of several Firearms manufacturing companies, with SIG referring to ''Swiss Industry Group'' originally founded 1853, while the latter part comes from Sauer & Sohn, founded in 1751 in Germany a ...
in an attempt to produce ballistics matching the powerful
.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR (as it is known in unofficial metric designation) is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...
revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
load, but in a
semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...
cartridge. The cartridge was made by necking down and slightly stretching the .40 S&W case, which itself derived from the
10mm Auto The 10mm Auto (also known as the 10×25mm, official C.I.P. nomenclature: 10 mm Auto, official SAAMI nomenclature: 10mm Automatic) is a powerful and versatile semi-automatic pistol cartridge introduced in 1983. Its design was adopted and l ...
. * .400 Corbon. This cartridge was designed to produce
10mm Auto The 10mm Auto (also known as the 10×25mm, official C.I.P. nomenclature: 10 mm Auto, official SAAMI nomenclature: 10mm Automatic) is a powerful and versatile semi-automatic pistol cartridge introduced in 1983. Its design was adopted and l ...
ballistics in a cartridge that could be chambered in a
.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol), also known as .45 Auto, .45 Automatic, or 11.43×23mm is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After su ...
pistol with a simple barrel swap. It was made by necking a
.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol), also known as .45 Auto, .45 Automatic, or 11.43×23mm is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After su ...
down to .40 (10 mm). Initially, no firearms were available in .400 Cor-Bon, but barrels in the new caliber were produced for the
M1911 The Colt M1911 (also known as 1911, Colt 1911, Colt .45, or Colt Government in the case of Colt-produced models) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered primarily for the .45 ACP cartridge. History Early hist ...
pistol. * .41 Action Express. Developed in 1986 by Action Arms for the
Jericho 941 The Jericho 941 is a double-action/single-action semi-automatic pistol developed by Israel Weapon Industries (prior to 2005, Israel Military Industries) that was introduced in 1990. Design The original Jericho 941 was modeled on the CZ-75 pis ...
pistol. It, like the .357 SIG, attempted to make a magnum-power cartridge for a
semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...
. It started with a .41 Magnum case and cut it down to fit in a
semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...
chambered for 9×19mm. The rim was then turned down to the same dimensions as the 9×19mm, making it a rebated rim cartridge. This allowed a unique switch up to a larger caliber. The .41 AE never saw huge commercial success because of the creation of the similarly powerful .40 S&W in 1990. * .204 Ruger. Introduced in 2004 by
Ruger Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., better known by the shortened name Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company based in Southport, Connecticut, with production facilities also in Newport, New Hampshire; Mayodan, North Carolina; and ...
, in its time it held the title of fastest production cartridge with a velocity of 4225 ft/s (1290 m/s) with a , .204 bullet from a barrel. Intended as a
varmint rifle A varmint rifle or varminter is a type of small-caliber, precision-oriented long gun (firearm or high-powered airgun) primarily used for varmint hunting and pest control. Such rifles are typically characterized by sniper rifle-like designs su ...
cartridge, the .204 was based on the .222 Remington Magnum, which is slightly longer than the .223 Remington and offers about 5% more case capacity. Designed to have a very long
point blank range Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm or gun can hit a target without the need to elevate the barrel to compensate for bullet drop, i.e. the gun can be pointed horizontally at the target. For targets beyond-blank range ...
, the factory loading offers impressive ballistics, placing a 32gr Hornady V-Max bullet 1.96 inches high at , and low at .


Second (and later) generation wildcats

Some wildcats are based not on commercial rounds, but on other successful wildcats. The .308 × 1.5" Barnes, a wildcat from noted cartridge author Frank Barnes made by simply necking a .308 Winchester back to in length (38.1 mm) is probably the best example of a wildcat that has spawned many other successful wildcats. The .308 x 1.5" case is available from a number of case manufacturers and differs from a homemade .308 x 1.5" in that it has a small primer pocket, whereas the original .308 Winchester case has a larger primer pocket (the smaller primer is more suited to the smaller case capacity of the short round). There are at least 8 wildcats that are made from the small primer .308 x 1.5" brass, including some very successful
benchrest Benchrest shooting is a shooting sport discipline in which accuracy and precision, high-precision rifles are rested on a table or countertop, benchrather than being carried in the shooter's handswhile shooting at shooting target, paper or steel ...
rounds, including the Benchrest Remington family of cartridges, .22 BR,
6mm BR The 6mm BR / 6.2x39mm is a centerfire cartridge created for benchrest shooting. The cartridge is also known as the 6mm Bench Rest or simply 6 BR, and has also developed a following among varmint hunters because of its efficiency. There are tw ...
, 6.5mm BR, 7mm BR, .30 BR. Another example is the .220 Russian, based on the 7.62×39mm. Since nearly all 7.62×39mm ammunition made in the 1970s used the complex-to-reload Berdan priming, and often
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
cases, it made a poor choice for wildcatting. The .220 Russian, however, was and still is readily available in
Boxer-primed file:357 Magnum 01.jpg, Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer (firearms), primer is located at t ...
, brass cases of high quality. The .220 Russian is still the parent cartridge of choice for the PPC line of cartridges, such as the .22 PPC and 6mm PPC, even though there are far more PPC-chambered firearms available than .220 Russian chamberings. Likewise, the PPC line of cartridges were the parent case of the
6.5 Grendel The 6.5mm Grendel (6.5×38mm) is an intermediate cartridge jointly designed by British-American armorer Bill Alexander, competitive shooter Arne Brennan (of Houston, Texas) and Lapua ballistician Janne Pohjoispää, as a low-recoil, high- precisi ...
, a long-range, high-energy cartridge for the AR-15.


See also

*
Small arms ammunition pressure testing Small arms ammunition pressure testing is used to establish standards for maximum average peak pressures of chamberings, as well as determining the safety of particular loads for the purposes of new load development. In metallic cartridges, peak ...
*
Overpressure ammunition Overpressure ammunition, commonly designated as +P or +P+ (pronounced Plus-P or Plus-P-Plus), is small arms ammunition that has been loaded to produce a higher internal pressure when fired than is standard for ammunition of its caliber (see inter ...
*
List of rebated rim cartridges Below is a list of rebated rim cartridges. Rebated-rim cartridges have a rim that is significantly smaller in diameter than the base of the case, serving only for extraction. Functionally the same as a rimless case, the rebated rim allows a gun t ...
* C.I.P., a European standardization organization for firearm cartridges *
SAAMI The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several A ...
, an American standardization organization for firearm cartridges *
NATO EPVAT testing NATO EPVAT testing is one of the three recognized classes of procedures used in the world to control the safety and quality of firearms ammunition. Beside this, there are also the ''Commission internationale permanente pour l'épreuve des armes ...
*
DEVA Deva may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster * Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...
, a German firearms test institute


Notable wildcat cartridges

*
Whisper (cartridge family) The Whisper family of firearm cartridges is a group of wildcat cartridges developed in the early 1990s by J.D. Jones at SSK Industries. The Whisper family was developed as a line of accurate, multi-purpose cartridges using relatively heavy rifle ...
, proprietary cartridges by J. D. Jones * .30-06 Springfield wildcat cartridges * List of
wildcat cartridges The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...


References


External links


The Wild Cat: An Endangered Species?
''Guns'' magazine, Dec 2000 by Charles E. Petty
Loading Wildcat Cartridges: a Few Simple Considerations Make Life Much Easier
''Guns'' magazine, August 2005 by Charles E. Petty

wildcat cartridge descriptions at The Reload Bench

, ''Performance Shooter'', April 1996

A gunsmith's description of Wildcat Cartridges. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wildcat Cartridge Cartridge families