Greetings all! I'm new here, but xphunter and sscoyote know me as the site administrator over at SavageShooters.com. (hey guys!)

Anyway, I'll get to the point of this thread...

I'm looking at putting together a Savage Striker to use for deer hunting here in Ohio. Unfortunately, Ohio's pistol regulations eliminate the possibility of using and cartridge that has a shouldered case. Additionally, the Savage can't be setup to shoot rimmed cases (well, it can but it's more work than it's worth), so that rules out most popular pistol cartridges as well. Thus a project is born.

After discussing my situation with a friend, he was able to give me a few options as to what cartridges would fit the bill with relative ease and also permit me to use the handgun for larger game in the future when the opportunity presents itself. Namely, he suggested the .50 Beowolf or .416 Whisper.

I'm not to keen on the Beowolf, as the selection of bullets under 400gr is well, less than appealing. I want this gun to be accurate to atleast 200 yards, and I just don't think the .50cal pistol bullets are up to the task.

The .416 Whisper on the other hand sounds very appealing, but unfortunately I can't find any information pertaining to it anywhere online. Bullet selection in .416cal is excellent, so that isn't an issue.

The .416 whisper also got me thinking about other possible combinations, and after looking at the bullet selection for various calibers something in a .375 would work as well.

So, what I'm looking for is information on the .416 Whisper, and any information on a similar cartridge in .375cal that will fit a standard Savage bolt face (.223 or .308 case head dia.). Naturally it will need to short enough to cycle in a short action, and I'd really like something that would allow me to retain use of the magazine if at all possible...just incase I make it to Africa next fall.

Look forward to what ideas you guys can throw my way. This will be my first hunting handgun, so this is foreign territory for me.

Not sure about the .416 Whisper...but I was looking at the .35 Rem case...a .41 cal bullet should make it oretty much a straight cartridge. I necked it to .375 and made a little difference...don't have a .41 expander to try in it though.

While talking Savage's...would you happen to have a line on a .223 Rem rifle barrel? Preferably a varmint taper...blue or SS is fine. I need a 1-9" twist barrel to cut back to 16" and rechamber to 22-250 for shooting 69gr bullet in a long range match.

This is a tough one.

Whisper cartridges are based on the .221 Fireball case up to.338 (to fit .223 casehead size) and the 7mm Bench Rest case up to .416 (to fit the .308 case head size). I believe they all have a shoulder you'd need to talk to JD at SSK to be sure. This will disqualify it for use in OH.

I looked at several Wildcats to fit your bill, and came up with nothing.

IMO you be far better off with an Encore or Contender and use a rimmed case. There you have a large selection of cases/cartridges to fit your bill. Especially since this is your first handgun.

I can understand your desire to use the Striker.

There maybe someone else here with an idea for you.

Good luck on your Quest.

Sorry, I can't be of any help here.
Straight-walled wildcats are a place of ignorance for me

Dan B has a good idea. That would work but you are stuck with pistol bullets with flat noses and low BC's.

I have spurned an Idea off his.

Mind you were talking a new wildcat here, at least I've never heard of one like this before. But here goes. I have alot of spare time on my hands right now.

Lets take the 35 Remington and neck it up to .416. This leaves you with a case that will measure .459 at the base of the web, and measure .436, plus or minus a couple thous of an inch at the mouth of the case. The game warden will need his caliper with to tell its not straight. Now for the good stuff!!!

I built this wildcat with my "Load From a Disk" Ballistics software.

We necked up the 35 Rem to 416. The load I cooked up uses a 350gr Barnes X Bullet. I chose this bullet because of the high BC .521. A charge of IMR 4198 that uses 80% of the available case capacity is predicted to launch that bullet at 1681 FPS at the muzzle, with 2196 Ft Lbs of kenetic energy @ 40600 CUP. This gives it a TKO of 35 at the muzzle and 30TKO at 200 yrds. Zeroed at 100 yrds, it will drop 12.85" at 200 yrds. Impressive. I'm sure we could milk some more out of this. BTW the COL is 2.88" with the bullet seated .300 into the case. We may need to seat it deeper, and that will change the ballistics somewhat. You should be able to use the magazine to.

Now for the bad stuff. You will need to have a custom reamer made to cut the chamber, and make the custom reloading dies. This will be expensive not to mention the custom gunsmithing to your Striker. Headspacing could also be a problem, no rim or shoulder. It would have to headspace off the case mouth meaning no crimping bullets which could lead to bullet setback in the cartridges in the magazine due to recoil. We may not be able to headspace off the case mouth with a bolt gun. The 35 Rem cases may not be strong enough either. In this case we could use the 308 Win and shorten it to fit a loaded round in the magazine. Only a experienced gunsmith could answer this.

I have this data/case specs saved on my hard drive should you decide to do something like this, if cost is no object, and you Just Gotta Have It. This was a fun exercise for me.

We could even call it the .416 OSOK Waddya Tink Bout Dat.

osok

I did a little more looking around for you. The .338 Whisper on the 221 Fireball case is virtually straight walled as is the 416 on the 7mmBR. SSK Industries does these. Check with them for info on these cartridge's and conversion on a Striker. This would be cheaper alternative than developing a new wildcat.

since it sounds like a major undertaking on the striker.....what you REALLY need is an encore handgun with a custom OTT 460s&w braked barrel. it would be a flat shootin straightwall fer ohio with lottsa thump.

I forget now what it was called, but there is a 338 based on a blown out straight 223. With the 222mag and the 204 you could use that as a parent case and gain some in powder capacity. I would also think that it could be made to feed fairly easy in the Striker. Bullet selection may not be the greatest for velocities you will achieve, so with that in mind I would say to maybe try some cast bullets. I am going to take a shot in the dark and say you would be right in the 357 max ball park for speed and velocity. Some one on the board here I am sure could run some numbers for you.
Jeff

I think you'll be hard pressed to find a bullet for your 416 project that'll expand at the velocity you're able to get with the Whisper. As you know, it was originally designed as a sub-sonic cartridge. While you can push the bullets super sonic I don't think you can reach the velocity needed to mushroom a bullet designed for a high power rifle.

hangunnr

I forgot about the 458 Barnes, aka I believe to also be called the 458x11/2 or somthing. Pretty much a 458 win mag shortenened. I bet if you talk to JD he will point you in that direction. I forgot how easy the Savage bolt faces were to change, should be simple. As toi the feed problems, dunno on that one.
Jeff

Quote:

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Nothing against the Encore, but I'm just not a fan of T/C firearms. They're as bad as Budweiser when it comes to smearing their advertising fecis everywhere you look, so the name kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It's a personal thing...nothing against their quality or reputation.

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.......well.....i can KINNDA relate. the deer hate em too.

Well, after talking with a few people today I've decided to go with the .50 Beowulf simply because everything is readily available (except a reamer). Shot an email off to Alexander Arms about getting a barrel, as well as Jim Brockmann who offers a custom .50 Beowulf bolt-action rifle through an agreement with AA.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one of them will hook me up. Waiting on an email back about a muzzlebrake as well, but that's not as big of an issue as .50cal muzzlebrakes aren't that hard to come by. Barrel will be 15.5" overall (13" long with a 2.5" brake).

Shooting a Speer 325gr HP, AA reports 1950fps from a 16" barrel so I should still be in the 1600-1700fps range. Using 1700fps, drop at 150yds will be 3.9 MOA and just under 9 MOA at 200 yards.

Plan on using a Leupy 2-8x32 VX-III, and will likely have Premier Reticle do their thing with dots for 150 and 200 yards once I get my own handloads squared away.

just in case you have interest, OTT can do rebarrels on savages and can add muzzle brakes also. you could have a "PERFECT" EDM process chamber to your exact specs on that thing. no reamers used or needed whatsoever.

Jim,
Mike S. is one of the "good guys."

if you want to check out reviews etc of mike sirois work, check out the "specialty pistols" website. there is an ott forum there also.

OTT.....on target technologies......very impresive n inovative stuff.