How does one go about making a Wildcat cartridge?

[Monkeyman]

I want a 6.5x39. It should be a regular 7.62x39 necked down with no other chages such as COL, case taper, primer pocket etc. (unlike 6.5PPC and 6.5 Grendel). This will be an assault rifle cartridge and needs to function with AK mags.

Is it simply a matter of ordering a chamber reamer and set of dies? Any thought appreciated.

[Rocky Raab]

Long time no post, my friend!

The first step would be to contact the die and reamer makers to see if they have your "wildcat" in stock. Simple neckup/neckdown projects like yours have almost always been done already. So that will save you the time and expense of having engineering drawings made, and then having reamers and dies cut from those.

In the unlikely event that nobody has already done your project, you'd need to work with the reamer maker first. With a reamer, you'd have a barrel chambered.

Then, by using one or more existing dies, you could work a few samples of brass into a fireable shape. Send the fireformed cases to the custom die makers, and you're finally done.

[Monkeyman]

Thanks Rocky.

I've bought reamers from Pacific Tool and Gauge before, are there any other reamer makers that are big enough to have what I'm after?

[Ol` Joe]

I`m not Rocky but try these guys. They have a huge list of wildcat cartridges they already manufacture.

http://clymertool.com/welcome.html

[Catfish]

MM,
I don`t know what the purpous of the rifle is, but if it is going to be an assult rifle I doubt that the extra range you get for the 6.5 bullets will be worth the extra cost. First of all if your building it on an AK or SKS action you will need to have the action worked on to get reasonable accuracy from the gun. Don`t get me wrong, I have 7 different wildcats at present. Acouple I would never built myself but bought after someone else had built and got tired of them. These guns were bought for the price of the actions for the most part and the guy that built them lost a pile of money on them. If you really think you need this rifle go for it, but befor you start the project figure out what it`s going to cost.

[Monkeyman]

Thanks all. Both Clymer and Pacific have done this before so I just need to find some dies.

Catfish, I hear you brutha. I'll explain what got me to this point. I have a personal interest in military smallarms from a historical point of view and have quite a large collection of WW1 and WW2 smallarms. I'm also a military/LE dealer and sell M16s, HKs, SIGs and Yugo AKs. In my opinion the best assault rifle ever built is the SIG 550/1/2 followed closely by the Valmet/Sako M92 and Galil. The SIG comes from the factory with a match trigger and 1.5MOA accuracy in 5.56 (some will shoot 1MOA), it is not available in any other caliber unlike the Valmet and Galil. All thee guns are AK variants (the SIG to a lesser degree).

Much of the AK poor-accuracy reputation is due to the loose clearances (often erroneously called loose tolerances) required in a to-hell-and-back battle rifle, the system's only inherent accuracy-robbing feature is the op-rod which can be overcome just like on the M14 and SIG. The other non-starter is the ammunition specification. Loaded 7.62x39 bullets range in size from .307" to .311" and cases are vastly different. Some of the crimps would make a reloader weep.

My mission was to start with a US milled AK receiver and build an accurate AK similar to the Valmet in a cartridge capable of good accuracy. If I retain the case dimensions the Valmet magazines will fit and function. I then have the possibility of chambering CZ bolt-guns or Contender barrels for the same cartridge, possibly with very heavy bullets at subsonic speeds.

Yup, sometimes I just go off on a tangent.

[Catfish]

Sounds like you know what you`re doing so have at it, and if you deside it`s not worth the trouble after you have it built then you can sell if to me real cheap and I`ll play with it. You know what your problems with the action are and they can be over come. I just put a new upper on a Rock River with a 1 in 8 twist and only group I fired with 55 gn. bullets after zeroing was .700 with bullets I had $ 125 US in 2,000 bullets. I shot a .750 group with 50 gn Serria Blitz King bullets which I was tickeled with from an 8 twist. All groups at 100 yrds.
I`m really not a semi-auto fan, more of a built up bolt gun fan. I`ve got acouple of guns shootimg around 1/2 moa at 500 yrds. and think that they will do it at 1,000 if the wind is manageable. The AR is for coyote hunting with dogs, I`ve yet to get a standing shot and the AR lets me keep shooting.

[Monkeyman]

Just to add something I forgot in the previous post; when I started this project it was to build a 7.62x39 upper for the SIG 551 but with a .308" barrel (not .311") so I could shoot US factory ammo (.309 - .310 bullets) as well as heavy subsonic loads (the AK will cycle with subsonic loads). The endless argument over the lethality of 5.56 caused me to rethink 6.5mm. Loose logic was that if 7.62x51 is too powerful and 5.56x45 is too ineffective, halving the performance differences (bullet diameter, bullet weight, velocity) should be the answer. Hence 6.5x39.

I know what you mean about the ARs, I have a DPMS heavy (not bull) 16" barrel that will do 3/4MOA with 50gr Federal AE HPs and 5/8" with handloads. very nice rifle to shoot but the chamber is tight and will blow primers with Winchester White Box ammo. I also have a loose-chambered Colt M4 that will fire anything but nothing under 2.5MOA.

I use bolt guns for hunting, the military guns are for funnin' Both guns are .223 and set up for the same bipod and QD suppressor. Same loads work in both as well.