What is this Wildcat Cartridge I bought? "24-06 36 degree"

[TexasRifleman]

A good family friend passed and I bought a rifle and dies from the estate, just to help out. It appears to be designed for varmint or light game hunting.

The rifle is built on a Mauser Mk X receiver, it's got a medium heavy barrel, nice McMillan stock, glass bedded etc, with a real nice Leupold VariX scope.

Also came with about 200 rounds of ammo, some fire formed brass and dies.

The dies are from Redding and they are marked "24-06 36 degree shoulder"
There was a box of Nosler 70gr Spitzers (the purple tip) and that is what appears to be loaded in the extra rounds.

I did shoot it at the range, and it is very accurate, I am impressed. It appears to be a very well put together rifle.

Is this a common wildcat cartridge? It's based on 25-06 brass, necked down to 24, and the shoulder angles are pretty sharp.

I have no loading data as far as what powder he was using or amounts, just the dies and the rounds already loaded.

I remember seeing the gun fired 10 years ago, so it's been around a while.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!!

 

[dakotasin]

i imagine that your suspicions on its intended uses are spot on. i would also guess this to be one of the most accurate rifles you'll shoot, w/ a custom chamber, and probably a custom barrel. the sharp shoulder angle will promote accuracy and brass life.

for powders, more conjecture, i would imagine h-4831, rl-22, rl-25, and rl-19, and maybe even h-4350 would work well...

 

[griz]

I remeber seeing loads for the 6mm-06 in one of the common load books. (the internet is nice but God bless the paper versions of books) It should be a fine place to start. I'll see if I can find it.

 

[bogie]

Ask over at www.benchrest.com, and one of the folks there may have heard of it. Is the 'smith marked on the barrel?

 

[TexasRifleman]

Thanks so far. No markings on the barrel at all except "24-06".

The receiver is one of those Interarms generic Mauser bolt actions
with this barrel added.

It's a great shooter, I'm just trying to find a starting place to work up a load of my own.

Thanks again!

 

[griz]

Couldn't find the 6-06 data, but all the books mention that the 240 weatherby has almost identical capacity. That would be another place to start.

 

[Sunray]

Here's a page of 6mm-06 data. Looks about the same as a .243 Win.
http://www.geocities.com/graymist44/W6mm06.html

 

[TexasRifleman]

Thanks for the info. I found a can of H414 in a box with all of this, and I pulled a bullet. Looks the same as 414 to me, of course I know you can't tell for sure but I bet that's what is in there.

Will start with that and work up something.

These 70gr Ballistic Tips seem to be just barely seated. It appears
he was seating the bullets way out to get closer to the lands, but you
can almost pull the bullet by hand because of that.

Maybe I need to move to a heavier bullet to get some seating depth?

Or does it really impact things that much to be back from the lands more?

Thanks for all the info.

 

[Rabid Rabbit]

Try this site. http://ammoguide.com They say they can id cartridges with a couple pieces of data. It worked for me.

 

[Powderman]

As you say, you pulled a bullet and saw that the powder looked like H414. That puts you ahead of the power curve.

Weigh the charge, subtract 10% and load with that same powder to the same OAL.

For cases, if the CTG is based on the 25-06, you can use that brass. Lube the case neck with some good lube (Sizing Wax), and run them through the sizing die. Then, fireform in your rifle with a reduced load.

Take good care of that rifle!! Don't rapid fire, and shoot at a tempo of 5 rounds/clean/cool for 10 minutes to preserve accuracy.

I would also be leery of putting a brush down the bore. Clean with Kroil and Sweet's, with a bore guide and a Dewey rod.

Sounds like you have a keeper!

 

[halvey]

Or does it really impact things that much to be back from the lands more?

Most likely yes. You can try to seat deeper, but since your friend was shooting a wildcat and it sounds like he knew how to reload for accuracy - he did it for a reason.

 

[HankL]

.243 Super Rock Chucker ?