At one time just about all i thought about were "wildcats". I designed several and sold them through my shop, so i have to mention them. I made them from RCBS basic cases, shortened and necked to .338, .375 and .416. I sold mostly the .375's asa 375 craze was on where i lived.

Why did i do that? Because i was selling a lot of Valmet 412's and several of my customers wanted a combi and double rifle in a big rimmed case of about .375 H&H performance.

In the 70's i figured the ultimate cartridge was the .338-06, so i had (3) of them made up. (actually two and an extra bbl.) I was liveing in Alaskaand igot the idea that.33 cal.. would be all the power i'd ever need. Anyway, for quite a while following building one on a 700 Rem. LH action with a european walnut stock, i harvested one heck of a lot of meat for my freezer with it. Of course since thenthe .338-06 hasbeen chambered in a factory rifle and lost it's "wildcat" status.

The why for me on that one is, i could use a std. action that would hold 5 rounds total, and get plenty of performance in a 22" bbl, all without magnum recoil. Also i didn't have to carry around something as heavy as a 375 H&H to get that power!! I still have the custom gun i had made up in this cal., and also the extra bbl..

Another wildcat i always liked is, a 9.3x74R imp.. Of course all i did was the "imp" part of it. I can fire factory 9.3x74R's in it, or load the thenonce fired brass to a muchhigher V for a flatter shooting round with more energy.

Wildcats never bothered me. Just make up50 or so rounds of brass, work up a load and dial in the rifle. Once that's done, make up another 100 rounds of brass, and load that "good" hunting load with NP's and have many years of excelent shooting!!

I've owned and made up plenty more wildcats, but the ones above are the ones that stick in my mind right now.

Drilling Man