New 44 Havoc

[Wolf76]

I wanted to show my wildcat cartridge that I've named 44 Havoc. This new cartridge was designed for my straightwall restriction in Michigan. It's a belted magnum case (300 h&h) cut at 1.790" and uses 44 cal bullets. Performance has exceeded my expectations. The picture shows a 225 gr bullet which runs ~2950fps out of a 22" barrel. The great part about the round is that it shoots very flat and hits hard. Also, its spaced off the belt, which makes trimming not critical (huge benefit vs other straightwall offerings). I've played a little bit with the 162 gr bear creek bullet and saw greater than 3100 fps with no pressure signs. The pictures show a comparison to the 350L 450bm. 45 Raptor and then to the far right a 44 mag. Wish I could patent the design, but doesn't seem possible.

I'd like to thank my friends Al and Dan for helping make this a reality.

 

[crashlanding]

That's pretty darn cool, what rifle are you planning to run it in?

 

[Wolf76]

I'm already running it in a savage with an x Caliber barrel. SA with a 300 wsm mag works well. Biggest problem is keeping bullets from exploding. When maker bullets gets a special T Rex bullet done for me, I'd think this is the pinnnacle for straight wall cartridges. It actually outperforms a 308 out to most Midwest hunting ranges.

 

[crashlanding]

Well done

 

[fseaman.js]

Wish I could patent the design, but that doesn't seem possible.

Nice. It's a design that addresses the Michigan straight wall rule challenge. It may address the same for other states like Iowa.

Since I have lots of cartridge "designs" and a few that people use and coming from "high tech" where patenting is a normal thing. I will share a little. Maybe you know this stuff already maybe it helps.

Part 1.
Patenting is not difficult but it can be expensive if you don't do all the work your self. I don't have any patents in my name. I have worked on patent documentation. Software based.

Basically it's tedious and a lot of work documenting so you have to ask yourself if it is worth the work.

Suggested reading is NOLO press, "Patent It Yourself".

Part 2.
Most "wildcatters" want people to use their design. Not for the money but for the what in this modern world is the "Likes" and "Follows". Some do it just for themselves. Either way, a patent on a cartridge design prevents people from using it.

Part 3.
If you are interested in making money with you design or just promoting it for the "likes" and 'follows", look into what others have done. Shawn Carlock, Kirby Allen, Sherman Wildcat Cartridges and others do. Write posts, blogs, and articles about it's creation, use, success. Make vlogs and podcasts for YouTube, Rumble and other video media. Make and sell or rent reamers. Have brass makers do production runs of your design. Make load data public. Repeat.

Keep up the experimentation.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Send your New Cart Design to, Browning for their, BLR rifle !
Handy little, Rifle / Cartridge,.. Combo that, SHOULD, Sell Well to, Eastern "Cartridge Handicapped",. Whitetail Hunters, IMO
Nosler's AccuBond or, Ballistic Tip's, in that thing should Be,.. a serious,.. Deer "Killer" !!
Good Job !! Congrats !

 

[wvbearhunter]

That would be sweet in a Sharps style single shot

 

[wvbearhunter]

If the calculator is correct....225gr at 2950 is 4300+ft lbs of energy......thats more than impressive.

 

[Cheezie]

If the calculator is correct....225gr at 2950 is 4300+ft lbs of energy......thats more than impressive.

I wanted to show my wildcat cartridge that I've named 44 Havoc. This new cartridge was designed for my straightwall restriction in Michigan. It's a belted magnum case (300 h&h) cut at 1.790" and uses 44 cal bullets. Performance has exceeded my expectations. The picture shows a 225 gr bullet which runs ~2950fps out of a 22" barrel. The great part about the round is that it shoots very flat and hits hard. Also, its spaced off the belt, which makes trimming not critical (huge benefit vs other straightwall offerings). I've played a little bit with the 162 gr bear creek bullet and saw greater than 3100 fps with no pressure signs. The pictures show a comparison to the 350L 450bm. 45 Raptor and then to the far right a 44 mag. Wish I could patent the design, but doesn't seem possible. View attachment 630567View attachment 630568

I'd like to thank my friends Al and Dan for helping make this a reality.

That cartridge is the best argument I've ever seen for a cartridge belt: a big, rifle-sized straight-wall in an action capable of 65,000+ psi. It neatly solves the headspace problem without using the "pistol" solutions of head spacing on the mouth or the "45-70" solution of head spacing on the rim - both of which can create pressure limitations and other issues.
Although I own several belted magnum rifles, I, along with nearly everyone else, think belts on bottle-neck rifle cartridges are a waste. This belted straight-wall makes perfect sense.
Questions: any idea of what pressure your loads are running at? And, what's recoil like from 225 gr at 2950?
Thanks,
Cheez

 

[ARlife4me]

slow the twist down to keep the bullets from blowing up.

 

[Wolf76]

Thank you for compliments. The reasons you mentioned are why I started going down the rabbit hole. I've had great success wth the 45 Raptor (45-308 ish), but the bullets are like throwing a brick. I wanted a little flatter/lighter bullets with a case to headspace off the belt (not the mouth). Given it can be made with nearly any belted case, really makes this an easy wildcat.

I'm unsure about the pressure in this cartridge, but I'm reading the cases. No ejector marks and no flattened primers yet. Primer pockets are still tight after 3-4 firings. I use a muzzle break, so recoil is less than a 20 GA. I did run the 162 gr bullet at 3100 fps and recoil was near non existent. A quick thought, you could back the 225 load down to 2600 fps has still have an amazing thumper with soft recoil.

 

[ARlife4me]

any drop in fps will yield less recoil.............how much, i don't know

 

[ARlife4me]

what type/style of brake are you using

 

[ARlife4me]

cutting it down 4 to 6" would make it real compact and swift to use. the plus side it'll drop fps