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Old October 3, 2008, 08:55 PM   #1
Magnum Wheel Man
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pic of that 8 X 40 "wildcat"

so... the the chamber needs a little tweaking in the neck area to fit the cartridge neck, after the 8mm bullets were stretched into the 32-40 case... so does that make it officially a wildcat ???

here is a dummy round of the finished cartridge... ( I'll likely not seat the bullet in the case this far on final loaded cartridges )

8 X 40, sitting next to a 30-30 for comparision...

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Old October 3, 2008, 09:48 PM   #2
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That my friend, is a thing of beauty. This is what the shooting sport is all about. You are going to enjoy the new toy more than you'll ever realize. Just watch and enjoy when folks come by and ask: "What is this thing"? And if you have a sense of humor, let the mind games begin. I wished we lived closer so I could watch. Yer gonna have so much fun!
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Old October 3, 2008, 10:53 PM   #3
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well done looks like a good pig stopper. Do you have any ideas on what ballistics you can expect from the round. what grain bullets are you going to be using? How much powder charge?
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Old October 4, 2008, 10:06 AM   #4
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that bullet is a 180 grain Nosler balistic tip boat tail... the boat tail is a sharper angle ( shorter ) than some of the others I looked at, so I can better seat the bullet out further, should I need more powder capacity... I'll also be setting up a 200-220 grain spitzer cast bullet for the cartridge...

probably start out with 4227, & fairly soft loadings,( I've been researching this for a while, & have between 20 & 30 different receipes to extrapilate load data from ) since it'll be shot out of my Remington Rolling Block... working up to an accuracy loading for 300 yards... once I'm comfortable with my load for the Nosler, it'll be a good rifle cleaning & start on the cast bullet loads...I'll probably do a flat based non gas checked, cast bullet likely .325 diameter or so ??? just in case I wanted to shoot at any competitions with the single shot rifle association... but right now it's just for my enjoyment...

I'll be ordering my loading dies, this next week & my builder buddy will be be making me a taper crimp die, & we'll need to look at adding an 8mm expander plug to the dies, especially for the cast bullets... I think the jacketed boat tails will slide in just fine with standard 32-40 dies, but I don't want to roll crimp the slippery Nosler bullet, & will need to make sure the bullet seating surface can do the balistic tip with out damage...

this project has been coming along way faster than I hoped, the rifle has already been test fired with a conventional jacketed 32-40 bullet... at my buddys shop... I still don't have my loading presses set up yet, as this was supposed to be a winter project...
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Old October 4, 2008, 11:41 AM   #5
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Me, I can't take my eyes off that gorgeous stock.

Good luck with your project, looks like a winner!
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Old October 4, 2008, 12:46 PM   #6
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Depending on your requirements, you may need to look at a cannelure tool. You can put a cannelure on any bullet, any place you need it. If you are going to roll crimp, this can be a valuable tool. Here's one on fleabay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bullet-Cannelure...em370091846381

I think this one is over priced so if you need one, I'd look around especially at gunshows.
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Old October 6, 2008, 03:14 PM   #7
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since this is a single shot... I want to avoid a canalure on the bullet ( screws up some of the aerodynamics )

I got lucky, as my builder had an 8mm neck reamer from an 8mm X '06 wildcat... so now my cartridge dummy easily slips in & out...

I got the fore end inletted so he could add the screw hole to the barrel, to attach it( we're using a 1/4" fine thread for a little more beef on this heavy weight... & the Unertl scope is going on this week...

I ordered a 2 die set of Lee 32-40 dies, & we plan on some tweaking of the expander plug, ( might be able to use the stock one for the jacketed boat tails, but will make a new expander that goes to .325 for the cast bullets ) & likely the bullet seater will need to be tweaked ( to fit the pointed Nosler balistic tips )... we'll also be adjusting the dies to taper crimp only for both bullet types

seems this project is progressing much faster than planned... I'll likely have a pet load for the jacketed bullets for this rifle within the next 2 months, & will likely wait to finish the metal until 1st snow... which is about 3 months ahead of schedule... & will decide for sure on cast bullets over the winter
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Old October 6, 2008, 06:11 PM   #8
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Quote:
we plan on some tweaking of the expander plug,
Just order a 8mm neck expander ball from Lee, they sell them.
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Old October 18, 2008, 11:10 AM   #9
Magnum Wheel Man
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Chamber & Dies are properly altered...

as soon as the missing firing pin retractor & new main spring get here, the rifle will be done at my builders, then I'll have lots more work to do personally... ( those parts are coming from Kali, & should be here Monday or Tuesday )

I had some Speer 170 grain semi spitzer bullets on hand, & as a safety margin, & to break in the barrel, I loaded those ( 10 grains weight than the Nosler 180 grain bullets which are my 1st choice in jacketed bullets )... I had gleened almost 40 receipes from the internet & published sources for the 32-40, & of those, ( lots of duplication on powders, I had 8 of the powders... so I loaded & marked 8 cartridges with "soft" loads from those 8 powders... I might decide not to shoot the W296 & 680 loads, as they only fill the case about 1/4 full... 4 or 5 of the powders are IMR #'s & a couple of those look like they fill the case enough that they are options to search out an accuracy load... the only Accurate powders I have right now is #9, & I didn't load that one... from my Accurate loading manual, I want to pick up 1 or 2 of those powders to try yet as well...

I'm "guessing" with a longer barrel, that I'll want a little slower powder... but I'm not a balistics expert, so I'll start slow with lots of options & keep solid notes with a lot of observation to weed out till I find something I like...

I'll post a few more pics either this weekend or Monday of the 170 grain semi spitzer 8 X 40
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Old October 18, 2008, 02:35 PM   #10
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Sinclar

Have you considered getting rid of the expander ball and going with the Sinclair sizing mandrel?? It should work just fine for you. And you should get better results in your runout as well. Just my opininon. Fooling around with different things is fun isn't it?? Tom.
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Old October 18, 2008, 02:48 PM   #11
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thanks for the suggestion... I'll think about it & do some research...

here are a couple pics of cartridges... with the 170 grain barrel break in bullets, & my 1st incination as to safe starting loads... BTW... 3031 IMO, looks most promising ???



sized & primed cases in the back ground... 2 dummy rounds in foreground the 180 grain Nosler next to the 170 grain Speer semi spitzer... the lead bullet in back was an 8 mm lead gas check bullet I had, ( not the cast bullet I'll likely be using ) it shaved lead going in... belling the case mouth may fix this, or an 8mm expander plug

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File Type: jpg Guns 187.jpg (59.2 KB, 222 views)
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