Wildcat Fever!

[longshooter99]

I've got the late night wildcat fever! I've been playing with the idea of making some sort of pistol cartridge from '06 based casing, mainly because of availability and gives you the opportunity to play with length. For example, the common .45 ACP has a rim diameter of .480, which happens to be the same as the 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser (not 06 but close enough). So, why not blow out the Swede to .45 and shorten it down to say 46mm, which is the same length as the .460 S&W? Im thinking it could be like a .460 autoloader

Now, I realize this probably isn't very realistic, but then again it's probably a good thing I don't have the kinda of cash a project like this would require. Anyways, I've always wondered what the limits of headspacing off the case mouth are. It obviously works for pistol cartridges of modest pressures. .45 ACP is around 21,000 Psi I believe, but the .454 Casull is above 60,000 Psi (I think) which utilizes a rim. Not to mention the only rifle cartridge that utilizes the mouth for headspace is the .30 carbine which generates 38,500 Psi.

So what do you guys think? Am I on to something or should it just remain a fantasy

 

[rcmodel]

Your thinking is doable.
But not in a conventional belayed blow-back or short recoil pistol you might be thinking of.

That kind of pressure requires more beef & a different system to control the delay before extraction can begin.

Like the Desert Eagle pistol.
It is a gas operated, rotating bolt action very similar to the M16/AR15 rifle.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMI_Desert_Eagle

Or the Wildey, an extinct gas operated design.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildey

Head-spacing on the case mouth is not the problem.
Building a gas operated handgun that doesn't need a trailer to carry it around in is the problem.

In short, if it was that simple to make a 60,000 PSI semi-auto pistol?
You could already buy one at the gun store, because S&W, Glock, SIG, Springfield, and Kel-Tec would already be doing it!

So, Fantasy is the file folder I'd put it in.

rc

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I wonder if it'd be possible to do it in an AR, but I imagine it would necessitate an AR-10 platform due to the AR-15 bolt head not having enough material for the larger case head. But then you might possibly run into feeding issues as a .460 is a little short for an AR-10 mag and too long for an AR-15 mag. But if there's a way to stuff an AR-10 sized bolt into an AR-15 platform, maybe you could shorten the .460 casing down to about 1.50" (roughly halfway between .460 S&W and .454 Casull). If those two things were possible it could make for an interesting pairing with an S&W x-frame if you could get the x-frame to use moon clips.

** I have no idea if these things are possible. I'm just doing a little brainstorming. I've always thought a semi-auto carbine in .460 would be fun with a 10-20 round magazine but I always pictured something more along the lines of an M-1 Carbine

 

[longshooter99]

That's very interesting, I never knew a Desert Eagle had a rotating bolt, then again i've never handled one As a side note I have been finding some information on .30 Carbine pistols, apparently Ruger has been chambering their blackhawk revolver in it for over 40 years! Learn something everyday.

 

[joustin]

The DE reminds me of an AR15 the way the bolt looks

 

[ironworkerwill]

I know it's been tried and done but I want to build a .22-32acp. And I want to hunt squirrels with it.
You could do something like a .45-50 Beowulf. I don't have any idea where you'd find a barrel for it or have one made. And if you could, it would be brutal to shoot.

 

[longshooter99]

I wonder if the rest of the "auto mags" work the same as the Eagle? Honestly the only real handgun experience I have is my father's Taurus Judge, which is a blast (pun intended) to use on snakes.
Lately I've been dreaming up my own pistol design. Since you guys mentioned the eagle's bolt design I keep trying to apply my rifle knowledge to the situation. It probably would never work for various reasons but if I had the time and money ( and lots of both) I think it would me cool to have a rotating mauser style bolt in a pistol. The 2 main problems, first mauser was a control feed and secondly, I can't think of any semi auto control feeds.