500 Jeffery based wildcats

[Swamplord]

Hey all !
Have been extremely busy working out of town, construction season starting back up in Alaska.....

Still had some time for scheming and dreaming, have developed a couple new cartridges based on my 500 Jeffery/500 AHR wildcats

I necked down my 338 Wolverine to 30 cal = 300 Wolf
and necked up my 375 Mjolnir to 416 cal = 416 Grizzly
kept the 35 degree shoulder angle, it will be a few months for reamers to be made

(decided to stay with Alaskan wildlife for naming my new wildcats)

I finally received my case forming dies and reamers for the 338 and 375, waiting on gunsmith to complete the work

Some relevant info...

When using my case forming dies made by Whidden, I was pleased to find that one pass through the first 375 Mjolnir form die I perfectly formed a 416 Grizzly case complete with a 35 degree shoulder and a .375" long neck.... awesome !! that Whidden fella makes fantastic form dies !!!!!

By screwing the die all the way down to just lightly contact the shellholder I was able to neck down the 500 Jeffery to 416 Griz ready to load and shoot

running it through the second die formed the 375 Mjolnir
the 3rd die necks it down to the 338 Wolverine ....

heres another cool part to note, after the 338 form die I ran the case neck through the bottom portion of a 218 Bee full length die effectively necking down to 300 Wolf ready to fireform...

with 3 form dies made by Whidden and a 218 Bee die I can form all four of my 500 Jeffery / 500 AHR based wildcats ...

will provide field data as time allows, gonna be a busy summer !

........... in the pic below
300 Wolf
338 Wolverine
375 Mjolnir
416 Grizzly

......

 

[Swamplord]

Whidden form dies.....
1 1/2" die body, they work great, screwing directly into the RCBS Ammomaster 2 press, with the included bushing the press also works with standard dies

Mr. Whidden recommended the 1 1/2" die bodies normally used for the 50 BMG, He sure knows his stuff !! The dies will last forever .....
......

 

[Swamplord]

Reamers made by Dave Kiff @ Pacific Tool & Guage, Inc

.......

 

[FEENIX]

Hey all !
Have been extremely busy working out of town, construction season starting back up in Alaska.....

Still had some time for scheming and dreaming, have developed a couple new cartridges based on my 500 Jeffery/500 AHR wildcats

I necked down my 338 Wolverine to 30 cal = 300 Wolf
and necked up my 375 Mjolnir to 416 cal = 416 Grizzly
kept the 35 degree shoulder angle, it will be a few months for reamers to be made

(decided to stay with Alaskan wildlife for naming my new wildcats)

I finally received my case forming dies and reamers for the 338 and 375, waiting on gunsmith to complete the work

Some relevant info...

When using my case forming dies made by Whidden, I was pleased to find that one pass through the first 375 Mjolnir form die I perfectly formed a 416 Grizzly case complete with a 35 degree shoulder and a .375" long neck.... awesome !! that Whidden fella makes fantastic form dies !!!!!

By screwing the die all the way down to just lightly contact the shellholder I was able to neck down the 500 Jeffery to 416 Griz ready to load and shoot

running it through the second die formed the 375 Mjolnir
the 3rd die necks it down to the 338 Wolverine ....

heres another cool part to note, after the 338 form die I ran the case neck through the bottom portion of a 218 Bee full length die effectively necking down to 300 Wolf ready to fireform...

with 3 form dies made by Whidden and a 218 Bee die I can form all four of my 500 Jeffery / 500 AHR based wildcats ...

will provide field data as time allows, gonna be a busy summer !

........... in the pic below
300 Wolf
338 Wolverine
375 Mjolnir
416 Grizzly

......

'em are awesome!!! gun)gun)gun)

 

[rosseickhoff]

Any More Progress, Really Like The 375, Anxious To Hear How It Does. Do You Have Any DimensionS On Them. Im Thinking A Savage Fcp338 lapua With A 375 Barrel If It Would Fit. Sorry The Text Is Being Stupid.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Pro, I am reLly diggin that .338 Wolvy!

How much are the Whidden forming dies for it?

I still have absolutely no need in the world for a .338 caliber anything, but that .338 Wolvy has REALLY caught my attention.

Shoot me a PM with some specs, load data, and ballistics for it, if you don't mind?

I still haven't had time to get my 3 wildcats underway, that you helped me with. But I am still hoping to get atleast one of them done soon. Especially now that I have a standard bolt-face long-action 700, and a magnum 700 sitting around...

Can the .338 Wolvy be shot out of a magnum 700 long-action receiver?

 

[Swamplord]

Hey all,
Still working out of town and have limited time for load developement , have a fire forming load that consists of a 235 gr Speer bullet and a max book load of RL22 for the 378 Wby, cases came out perfect after firing and have sent several to Whidden Gunworks to make me a set of precision reloading dies, have 50 pcs of brass fire formed but still waiting on the dies !

I got my 33" barrel from Benchmark installed, it is a 10 twist Sendero contour, fluted....
and also Benchmarks version of the fantastic Muscle Brake.


in the first pic is my "Hammer of Thor" rifle concept chambered in the 375 Mjolnir with the 33" Benchmark barrel and Muscle Brake ... pic taken with iphone5 on Monday Oct. 14th 2013 at Turnagain Pass off the Seward Hwy

the second photo is the same rifle with a 30" fluted 10 twist Rem Varmint contour Benchmark bbl with a machined in brake into the extra inch of barrel


both Benchmark barrels have shown incredible accuracy, 1 inch consistenly at 100 yards with some 3 shot groups at 3/4"- 7/8", this is with new unfired die formed brass, the neck/ shoulder junction was sized down to close the bolt stiffly to ensure proper headspace for fire forming, this cartridge and the Benchmark barrels show great potential for accuracy .....

 

[Swamplord]

Hammer of Thor with 30" Benchmark barrel
pic taken with iphone 5 on July 14th, 2013 at the south end of Kenai Lake near the mouth of the Snow River

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Sweet!

Maybe I missed it, but what chassis is that?

 

[MudRunner2005]

Looks like a Whiskey3 chassis to me....But I could be wrong. They all look pretty similar these days.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Hammer of Thor with 30" Benchmark barrel
pic taken with iphone 5 on July 14th, 2013 at the south end of Kenai Lake near the mouth of the Snow River

That's just sweet! So, what action is that? Is that a Rem 700 RUM action (wider feed rails)? Has it been modified to accept the .500 Jeffery casings at all? I know the RUM calibers are based off the .404 Jeffery, which is why I ask.

That .375 Mjolnir is nasty...Maybe someday I can talk you into letting me borrow that reamer.

 

[Swamplord]

It is the KRG Whiskey 3 chassis in the fixed butt version, they also make a folder for a bit more $
this rifle also has the 338 Wolverine in a 30" Bartlein 5R 9.3 twist fluted Rem Varmint contour and again the extra inch has a muzzle brake machined into it.... also have a new 34" Benchmark blank in 9.5 twist Sendero contour getting fluted and will be installed soon with the Benchmark Muscle Brake, this switchbarrel project also will have my 300 Wolf and 416 Grizzly added, reamers are in production and will be using Benchmark barrels, very impressed with their barrels and turnaround time was less than a month..

the action is a Sako TRGS m995 that was originally a 7.82 Warbird, a perfect candidate for the 500 Jeffery based wildcats, the Rem 700 action IS NOT suitable for these wildcats....

 

[MudRunner2005]

Ok, thanks for the heads up....I'll have to find a Sako TRGs m995 somewhere.

Who is doing the fluting? Your smith?

 

[MontanaRifleman]

It is the KRG Whiskey 3 chassis in the fixed butt version, they also make a folder for a bit more $
this rifle also has the 338 Wolverine in a 30" Bartlein 5R 9.3 twist fluted Rem Varmint contour and again the extra inch has a muzzle brake machined into it.... also have a new 34" Benchmark blank in 9.5 twist Sendero contour getting fluted and will be installed soon with the Benchmark Muscle Brake, this switchbarrel project also will have my 300 Wolf and 416 Grizzly added, reamers are in production and will be using Benchmark barrels, very impressed with their barrels and turnaround time was less than a month..

the action is a Sako TRGS m995 that was originally a 7.82 Warbird, a perfect candidate for the 500 Jeffery based wildcats, the Rem 700 action IS NOT suitable for these wildcats....

How is your switch barrel configured? Do you need an action wrench?