Fireforming Improved Cartridges

THERE are very few handloaders of centrefire ammunition who have never heeded the siren call of a wildcat cartridge. Playing with wildcat cartridges is the true mark of the rifle enthusiast. They all embrace the concept despite the knowledge that wildcat cartridges are seldom better than commercial rounds, except for very specialized purposes, and almost never practical. History has revealed that the vast majority of wildcats have had very short tenure.

On the other hand, a few wildcat rifle cartridges have turned out to be extremely useful and have been adopted for commercial manufacture with little change. Most case-forming for wildcats involves neck and shoulder alterations to an existing case, mostly to sharpen shoulders and reduce body taper, and sometimes to move the shoulder forward. The trend toward sharper shoulders now found in the newer factory cartridges first became popular with wildcatters. The theory is that comparatively straight cases with minimum taper combined with a sharp shoulder, arrests the forward flow of brass thus preventing the necessity of trimming cases to length frequently. It appears that