Originally printed in Gun World Magazine, December 2006 issue.
Reprinted here by permission of Gun World Magazine.

Reloading 

By Richard Folsland

 WILDCAT CARTRIDGES 

If you were to be given a history quiz and the question was: “What is the significance of the following list of last names: Newton, Ackley, Gibbs, and Gebby,” what would your answer be? If you answered “wildcat cartridges,” give yourself an A+. If your answer was ‘don’t know,” you had better continue to read this column. 

If you are reading this column on wildcat cartridges, you may have at least a little knowledge of what separates a wildcat cartridge from a standard cartridge. You may also have a grasp of the fact that some of today’s standard calibers started out in life as wildcats. 

To many shooters/handloaders, a wildcat cartridge is nothing more than someone’s idea to design an oddball cartridge with their name on it or to modify an existing cartridge into some exotic hunk of brass that serves no purpose. Perhaps, in some instances, they might be right! However, to those “serious” handloaders who are never satisfied with the status quo, there can never be enough wildcat cal­ibers to go around, Of course, without this group of shooters, what would custom reamer/die makers do for kicks? Would custom rifle builders be satisfied to just crank out .270s and .30-06s instead of the occasional wildcat? 

At the 2006 SHOT Show it was my pleasure to meet Fred Zeglin of Z-Hat Custom, located in Casper, Wyoming. I had tested one of Fred’s straight-line bullet seaters for a pre­vious article in GUN WORLD, so I knew he produced quality work.  During our conversation, Fred showed me a book on wildcats he had just written and offered me a copy to review. 

In the first chapter of the book entitled “Wildcat Cartridges,” Zeglin asks the question “What is a wildcat?” The simple answer is any cartridge that is not a factory-produced caliber. While some wildcats are nothing more than a standard piece of brass that is fire-formed in an improved chamber, others require extensive forming and sizing operations involving several steps. 

The reason some wildcats have become standard factory calibers is that there was broad appeal for the cartridge and market surveys indicated that the caliber would sell in large numbers. Two examples of former wildcats that became standard factory calibers are the .22-250 Remington and .25-06 Remington. 

Another common question regarding wildcat cartridges is, “Why bother?” This might be the toughest question to answer because all of us in the shooting world could live normal, healthy lives without any wildcats at all. After all, the factory chamberings available have served us well for many years and will continue to do so. 

One answer to this question is perceived need. Another answer is to take advantage of new technology. Still another excuse is to put a particular gun/caliber together to serve a specific purpose.  If none of these suffice, the best excuse of all is “just plain fun.” 

When it comes to wildcat cartridges, P.O. Ackley was probably the most famous wildcat cartridge designer. One of the requirements of the Ackley improved calibers is that they could fire factory ammunition. This requirement allows a factory barrel to be rechambered, rather than requiring a brand-new replacement barrel; this helps to keep the conversion cost down. 

The Ackley improved series of cartridges offered an increase in cartridge capacity, by creating a minimum body taper in the cases. He also changed the shoulder angle to 40 degrees. Not only did the improved cases allow an increase in velocity, but also the cases would last longer and not need to be trimmed as often. 

There are also many wildcat cartridges that are more difficult to make. For the average gunner, it might not make much sense to bother with them. These more elaborate cartridges are made for a specific situation or purpose and therefore are not suitable for anyone that is not an expert in this field. 

After reading Fred’s book on wildcats, it seemed like a good idea to have Z-Hat build the author a wildcat to use for the upcoming varmint season. Fred has more than 30 wildcats to his credit, and has been a full-time gunsmith and custom rifle builder since 1984. After a phone conversation, Fred stated that he had just received reamers for a new cartridge called the .20 VarTarg, and suggested it be the subject for a project. The .20 VarTarg is based on the .221 Remington FireBall necked down to .20 caliber. Most GUN WORLD readers who follow this column know that the author has a sincere fondness for the FireBall, so Fred’s suggestion was agreed to eagerly. He even had a few handloads listed for the .2OVT on page 212 of his book. 

Since the .20 VarTarg would be a very efficient cartridge in a rifle, it seemed prudent to have the project gun be built on a compact action with a sporter weight barrel configuration. A Charles Daly Mini Mauser in .223 was chosen and shipped to Z-Hat for the conversion. 

Douglas Rifle Barrels supplied one of their premium chromemoly #3 contour barrel blanks in .20 caliber for the project. It was decided that the barrel length would be 22 inches to keep the weight down for carrying. This would allow the rifle to be both a walking varminter,” as well as suitable for bench shooting. 

The original Charles Daly walnut stock would be retained, but the finish would be changed from a shiny gloss to satin oil. The barreled action would be glass bedded and the barrel channel would be free-floated. In keeping with a non­reflective and subdued stock finish, the barreled action would receive a charcoal colored, baked on Teflon finish. 

When the project rifle was received, it was truly a work of art. The stock was refinished in oil and the stamped check­ering replaced with hand checkering by Ron Reckner of Custom Gunstocks. The barreled action and all metal parts now had a long lasting matte blue Teflon finish by Phil Filing of Glenrock Blue.  A Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44mm scope was mounted with Warne bases and Millett Angle-Lok rings. 

Of course, the real test of Fred Zeglin’s accuracy work would come after firing the rifle. Since there is no factory ammunition available in .20 VarTarg, the author formed a batch of Remington .221 FireBall brass using a Redding full-length sizing die. To seat the bullets, Fred included one of his own in-line bullet seating dies, which has a micrometer adjustment. 

Since Hodgdon’s Lil’Gun powder is the author’s favorite powder in the .221 FireBall, it was chosen for the initial handloads for the .20 VT. The Hornady 32-grain V-Max and Sierra 32-grain BlitzKing were the chosen bullets for testing, along with the Remington #7 1/2 primer. 

A starting load of 13.0 grains of Lil’Gun showed that the gun would be a real shooter. With a watchful eye for the obvious signs of too much pressure, the loads using Lil’Gun were tested up to a maximum charge of 14.5 grains, with the best accuracy obtained using 13.8 grains. Three shot groups hovered around the half inch mark. 

After loading up a batch of the formed .20 VT cases with the above powder charge and the Hornady bullet, the author was able to do some field testing on some pasture poodles in Montana. At a velocity of 3,600 fps, the 32-grain V-Max bullets did an excellent job of coming apart on the rodents. The accuracy of the rifle/load was nothing short of amazing out to 200-yards. After the varmint shoot, other powders were gathered for some more load development. These powders were Hodgdon H4227 and H4198, Accurate Arms 1680, and Alliant Reloader 7.  Other powders were ruled out due to a case capacity of 19 grains of extruded powder being a full case. 

Both of the test bullets shot very well with the other pow­ders. Accuracy was very good when velocities were held to less than 3,700 fps.  Two loads with RL7 almost reached 3,900 fps but showed signs of maximum pressure. The best group with the Hornady bullet measured a tight .420, using IMR 4227, at a velocity of 3,460 fps. The Sierra shot a group measuring .480, using Hodgdon H4227, at a velocity of 3,544 fps. 

Although the .20 VT cartridge is capable of hitting varmints in excess of 200-yards, the project rifle was specifically built to be a light­weight walking varminter, in an efficient caliber, with low report, and above average accuracy for shots out to around 200 yards. The Z-Hat project rifle proved to be exactly what the author requested! 

For anyone interested in having a rifle built for an existing wildcat, rechambering a currently owned rifle or designing a completely new cartridge, it is highly recommended that they first purchase the book “Wildcat Cartridges” by Fred Zeglin. There is a lot of technical data, descriptions of the more popular wildcat calibers available, and instructions on designing new cartridges. There is also contact information of applicable manufacturers that specialize in wildcats. 

In summary, shooters and hunters either in gun shops, shooting ranges or on Internet chat groups often discuss the sub­ject of wildcat cartridges. In fact, you could very well get into heated debates on whether wildcats are valid improvements over existing calibers or, for the most part, just a waste of time.  
It all depends on who is doing the talking.