NEED HELP with .243 wildcat

[hunter93]

hey evryone i got a 243 wild cat. from a buddy, and i dont load my own ammo, so i want to switch it back to the standard 243 round. what do i hve to do. thanks for the help

[gramps]

Do you know what the wildcat is called?
If it is just a .243 with an Ackley shoulder, you may concider just shooting standard .243 rounds and see how the accuracy is.  Some people do this the 'fire form' brass to reload.  The standard 243 will just form to the Ackley shoulder in the chamber.  Worse case may require a new barrel.
PS....I am not necessarily recommending anything...information only.

[hunter93]

yeah im not sure all i know is that its chamberd for a 243 but it uses a shorter casing

[addicted]

wssm?

if you can't get the realy name then you gotta take it to a smith to have it measured.

[JackOfAllTrades]

The only way to be sure is to take a casting of the chamber with something like Cerosafe, then measure that casting to determine the chamber spec. If it is 243ai, then just shoot factory 243win through it. 

If you're looking to change it to a factory offering of cartridge, then advice would be different depending on what rifle/barrel it is. A rechambering will run you near as much as rebarrelling for some rifles, more for others. Where-as, I wouldn't rechamber a Savage or say a mauser barrel, I'd probably just put a new barrel on it. 

-Steve

[high country]

And if you have some odd case that will not clean up without a bunch of setback and you don't have enough shank.....hosed again. It's a fair amount of work to do it. Do you have any fired cases for that gun?

[FALFire]

Can you post a photo of the round including one of the case head?

[hunter93]

sorry everyone i dont got any of the stuff, cuz ive never shot it. i just got a good deal on it. i can try to get some pictures up of it if that would help. the gun does chamber a standerd 243 win, i just havent shot it yet

[high country]

Does it say "ai, imp, ackley or ack" on the barrel? Do you have any 243 brass that has been fired in another .243? 

[spookgus]

sorry everyone i dont got any of the stuff, cuz ive never shot it. i just got a good deal on it. i can try to get some pictures up of it if that would help. the gun does chamber a standerd 243 win, i just havent shot it yet

Don't close the bolt on a live round until you are certain what you have.

[addicted]

sorry everyone i dont got any of the stuff, cuz ive never shot it. i just got a good deal on it. i can try to get some pictures up of it if that would help. the gun does chamber a standerd 243 win, i just havent shot it yet

Don't close the bolt on a live round until you are certain what you have.

nothing like lodging a bullet into the lands and not getting it back with the casing when you open it up.

[hunter93]

so i shot it and it split the casing

[high country]

Well now that you tried your hand at luck, do yourself a favor. STOP. You have no idea what you are messing with. You have a hell of a lot of experience on this board trying to keep your eyes on the front side of your face, and we don't yet know what you have. For your own safety and those around you....DO NOT SHOOT THAT GUN UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS.

[high country]

Take a pic of the fired case.

[spookgus]

Post some pictures of the rifle, barrel stampings, and newly split case. What exactly is stamped on the barrel.