Anyone ever attempt a .303/.41 caliber wildcat?

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Evening all I was discussing what to do with a martini enfield with a ruined barrel today with my friend and gunsmith and he said he’d always thought about doing a wildcat using a .303 case blown out straight walled to .41. The more he talked about it the more interesting it sounded I know Elwood Epps did a bunch of .303 wildcats but haven’t heard of this one and was wondering if any of our members had. I know our Australian members including @Bob Nelson 35Whelen have experience with .303 wildcats.

 

[Josh P]

The one I want to try is the 303/375. I can’t find a decent Martini/loaner parts in the States, but restoring a Martini is on the to-do list, so I’ll follow this thread with interest.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

The one I want to try is the 303/375. I can’t find a decent Martini/loaner parts in the States, but restoring a Martini is on the to-do list, so I’ll follow this thread with interest.

If you do go that route Elwood Epps still has the reamers in ontario not sure about shipping barrels back and forth acrossed the border though,

 

[Hunter4752001]

Unless you particularly want a wildcat, maybe talk to your gunsmith about 405 Winchester. Note: I haven't heard of anyone doing it, but the rims are very similar so it should be possible. The overall length of the 405 would be slightly longer but that shouldn't affect a Martini action.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

I should have clarified I’m not looking to do it personally, I had the martini in my gunshow stock and will probably end up giving it to him if he wants to tackle the project. I was simply looking for information because it seems like it should have been done already.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Evening all I was discussing what to do with a martini enfield with a ruined barrel today with my friend and gunsmith and he said he’d always thought about doing a wildcat using a .303 case blown out straight walled to .41. The more he talked about it the more interesting it sounded I know Elwood Epps did a bunch of .303 wildcats but haven’t heard of this one and was wondering if any of our members had. I know our Australian members including @Bob Nelson 35Whelen have experience with .303 wildcats.

@Tubby’s Canteen
Would be interesting but why not go for a 444 marlin barrel and screw that in.
Cheaper and easier.
Bob

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

My large frame martini is a 450/400 2 3/8 (European 10.3x60)
Must finish it off, woodwork, mount sights etc
Gumpy

 

[BlueFlyer]

The length of the cartridge is very important to consider and I doubt the 405win will feed into the chamber. Any 303 based wildcat is perfectly suitable for the Martini, but I am not sure they are the best choice.
My first large Martini was barreled in 45/70. Reamers are readily available and it works very well. I load it to the same level as a Ruger #1 - no problems apart from the recoil in a 6.5lb rifle.
The second rifle is a work in progress and is based on the 348WIN case, any 348WIN based wildcat will work and has a much better case capacity than either the 45/70 or 303Brit cases. I had a new 416 Sprinter barrel sitting around, so that why I went down that path.

My large frame martini is a 450/400 2 3/8 (European 10.3x60)

This sounds like it might be similar to where I have headed, it probably has a bit more taper which would make it easier to load into the chamber.
4D Reamer rental have a 40/348 Ackley Improved reamer available and a 375 version as well. They also have some "Alaskan" wildcats that would be suitable. Unfortunately they will not rent outside the USA.
Luckily Pacific Tool & Die were happy to manufacture reamers for me and their cost was far more reasonable than other suppliers for custom reamers. You have to be patient though, it was about 6mths from first contact to when the reamers arrived. The current project has been chambered using the reamer detailed below.
Red dot sights are the perfect option for Martini actions as it feeds and ejects through the top, and normal scopes don't work well. I wave 2 small, 2 large and 1 Greener Martini.

 

[AZDAVE]

I built a 40/60 maynard on an enfield a long time ago. The brass was made from 303 brass. Can also use 30/40 krag brass to form the cases too.

 

[Certus]

Evening all I was discussing what to do with a martini enfield with a ruined barrel today with my friend and gunsmith and he said he’d always thought about doing a wildcat using a .303 case blown out straight walled to .41. The more he talked about it the more interesting it sounded I know Elwood Epps did a bunch of .303 wildcats but haven’t heard of this one and was wondering if any of our members had. I know our Australian members including @Bob Nelson 35Whelen have experience with .303 wildcats.

Very close to the .416 Strauss.
Decent ballistics.

.416 Strauss : a .303 wildcat

Piet, a South African, emailed me information about a wildcat he shoots.The .416 Strauss aka.the 416-03 Strauss in named after the inventor, a friend of Piet.

www.thefirearmblog.com

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Very close to the .416 Strauss.
Decent ballistics.

.416 Strauss : a .303 wildcat

Piet, a South African, emailed me information about a wildcat he shoots.The .416 Strauss aka.the 416-03 Strauss in named after the inventor, a friend of Piet.

www.thefirearmblog.com

Good article thanks for sharing

 

[Sarg]

I actually have a barrel from a Martini that I’m going to fit to one of my Lee Speed projects, it’s in a caliber called .400 British & it was from Canada, I to was looking at the 40/60 Maynard which is very similar I think but with a heavier loading ?

This all started 20yrs ago from my research into rebarreling a Lee Enfield, later a Lee Speed sporter into a .40-416 caliber, then I went to .405Win & involved another chap who went ahead & built a shorter cartridge on the .405Win case (which I supplied him) on a repo Lee Speed which the action of I also supplied him with.

I had & have a few Lee Speeds in 375Ex 2.5in & did in the early days use blown out .303 case in these, it is quite a powerful cartridge & far more than the 38/55win some compare it to, also have a couple of Lee Enfields in 38/55 but as yet don’t have them feeding well !

In short I think a .40 or .416 on the .303 case would be a cool reasonably powerful project .

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

@Sarg do you have any load data for the .400 British ? I’m surprised there are not more .303 wildcats given the amount of surplus rifles all over the world in .303

 

[Sarg]

Sorry I don’t as I only had it fitted to a Martini for a short time & I broke the bloody extractor, I also didn’t have any dies to load up some test ammo, it is ear marked to fit on a Lee Speed project with a full rib added to add some weight as even the 375Ex has noticeable recoil with full loads !

Believe me there are hundreds of Wildcats on the .303 Brit case about, mainly in Australia from 22/303 (Roo shooters in the day) 25/303 (a good useable Oz caliber) 270/303 & 35/303 some of the more common in days gone by, also a lot in Canada be careful as some of the loads folks quote are for the P14 Enfield-,Mauser type action with its added strength.

 

[yumastepside]

Von Gruff did a 400 on a 303 case....the 375x2 1/2" FNE can be made from 9.3x74r cases as the 375/303 version is about 1/4" shorter....using the x74r case to make a 400 you can make it any length you like to suit your action.

Roger

 

[Sarg]

Von Gruff did a 400 on a 303 case....the 375x2 1/2" FNE can be made from 9.3x74r cases as the 375/303 version is about 1/4" shorter....using the x74r case to make a 400 you can make it any length you like to suit your action.

Roger

No he used the .405Win cases I sent him, the BSA commercial action I sent him & my ideas !

You could make a nice Wildcat on the 9.3x74R case, either in .375 .40 or even 45 but it is not the same case as the .375Ex 2.5in as I remember different rim thickness for a start, I tried making longer .45Colt cases to fit in a .410/45colt rifle using 9.3x74R cases to get the bullet closer to the rifling & add more power.

I did & it worked great but I think I had to use .30R Blaser cases in the end ?

 

[yumastepside]

Sorry, my mistake on the 405 cases...yes, there are slight differences in the 375FNE and x74r cases, luckily the bolt face on the Lees allow for a bit of variation...no problems so far with my LSA, but I defer to your greater knowledge of Lee enfields, and my envy of your collection .

Roger