7.62*39 Necked up to .358? Has this been done?

[bunnielab]

I know there is little new under the sun so I though I would ask here before I begin any real research on the matter. I know that the *39 case has been the base of a bunch of BR wildcats but has it been necked up to .358?

The idea would to be able to use cheap and commonly available .357mag pistol bullets. One could used 180g Partitions for deer (or 200g cast) and use light (110g) JHP as varmint rounds. I would think that pushing a bullet designed to expand around 900-1100fps to twice that would cause it to upset is a pretty dramatic manner. One would also be able to use cheap cast bullets as plinking loads. The rifle I have in mind for this is a CZ 527 carbine.

I realize that this is not going to revolutionize the world of cartridge designe but I think it might be an interesting project.

 

[Jim Watson]

I think there is a 9x39 the Russians use for suppressed weapons.
So the case will accomodate the caliber.

A new barrel and reamer would make it a fairly expensive project, though.

 

[kludge]

Yes. .35x39 and more recently .358 Gremlin being worked on by some Hoosier hunters.

There was even a company that converted Mini-30's to .35 cal

I've posted about this before, but the .358 Gremlin is a relatively new development. They are also doing a .358 WSSM for Hoosier deer hunters.

 

[bunnielab]

I was going to call mine the ".35 Cheapskate".

But the .358Gremlin seems to be exactly what I am looking for and Hornady seems to already sell dies. I cant seem to find any load data but that is to be expected I guess.

 

[Tim the Enchanter]

Here is someone working on duplicating the 9x39 in the States:
http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/Groza/9x39/9x39_info.htm

 

[Deer Hunter]

The .358 Gremlin is the 6.5 Grendel necked up.

Some MINOR differences, but essentially the same.

 

[R.W.Dale]

No matter how weird the wildcat Idea someone somewhere has already done it twice

 

[Deer Hunter]

9x40mm based off of .223.

That's my idea. Someone already has and is working on it, too.

 

[GregGry]

No matter how weird the wildcat Idea someone somewhere has already done it twice

What about a 50bmg necked down to a .22 lr? If I am the first to think of it I shall call it the 50 NA +p, as in the 50 nuclear apocalypse +p

 

[R.W.Dale]

What about a 50bmg necked down to a .22 lr? If I am the first to think of it I shall call it the 50 NA +p, as in the 50 nuclear apocalypse +p

.50BMG to .224"

already been done both short and long

 

[GregGry]

Holy ****, thats all I have to say. Seriously. Seriously...

I would think that the barrel would blow up since your basically trying to burn a huge amount of powder with an escape route that might as well not even exist since its so small.

 

[kludge]

The problem with the 9x39 is that the bullets are just a hair too small to be legal for Indiana deer hunting (9mm = .355", Indiana minimum is .357").

 

[moooose102]

.50BMG to .224"

and we keep the bullet from melting, HOW?!?!? lets see, m.v. of 10,980 fps! lol!

 

[Deer Hunter]

Actually they probably would have to load it fairly low, or else the bullet would simply fall appart.

Someone on this board made a 6mm-50 BMG.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

would not the .357 Max be around the same ballistics?

 

[highorder]

would not the .357 Max be around the same ballistics?

Yes, but the usual motive is a semi-auto rifle as a platform for firing 9mm rifle ammunition suppressed.

A rimmed straight wall pistol cartridge doesn't fit the bill.

 

[Shimitup]

I vaguely remember trying to stretch em that far to make .308's into 358's to feed my Browning BLR, too much hassle and necks way too thin.

 

[RyanM]

IIRC, a completely different .50 BMG to .224 project resulted in velocities very close to 7,000 FPS, using solid brass bullets. Crazy.

 

[bunnielab]

I never even thought about .357Max. That would be pretty close to what I was looking for. As an added bonus I could get a t/c barrel chambered in that pretty cheaply to play around with loads before committing to getting a bolt gun barrel made.

 

[highlander 5]

Guns and Ammo did an article about converting a Mini 30 to shoot .357 bullets. IIRC it was very close to or equaled the 35 Remington. I'd google 357x39 and see what pops up.