Strange case indeed

[DanielWGriggs]

Found a guy at the range shooting a large bore rifle of unknown caliber. didn't talk with him as he seemed very involved in shooting and note taking. I did get to go over his area after he left and found a couple of cases marked 30.06. I know many wild cats are based from this parent case but this one has me stumped. It is 1.83" long and .415 Id. is this a 41 caliber conversion based on the 06. I have not heard of it before. any ideas?

[BloomGrad]

Could be a .411 HAWK.  It's supposed to be very good.  Dave Scovill from Rifle Magazine had a hand in the designs.

Check out Z-Hat Custom.  They are the guys involved with the HAWK designs.

http://www.z-hat.com/HawkCartridges.htm

[BloomGrad]

Well I just looked up a .411 Hawk an it is longer (2.42" trim length) than that 1.83" you mentioned.  Sorry. 

Although those HAWK rounds do look interesting.

Could be some round from SK Industies of JDJ design.

[DanielWGriggs]

The thick rim of the case makes me think that it would headspace on the mouth like a .45auto. I know that the .44automag is made by inside reaming the neck but this doesn't appear to be made that way either. It was being fired in a bolt action.

[BloomGrad]

I have to wonder why this fellow left behind a few brass cases.  If this is a wildcat, and if it is rare, my cheapo nature is to keep any and all of my brass that I slaved over.
 
If he went to all the trouble to make these cases he must have a lot of time on his hands.

I scanned LoadData.com and the closest I could come was .414 SuperMag.  There was a .411 Bowman listed but no diagram or sizes listed.

Still leads me back to SK Industries and all of their strange stuff.

Maybe somebody has a wildcat reference book handy?

[davem270win]

You might try asking in the cartridge collecting and Trading Forum. Include all the basic case measurements.

[Con]

Sounds like a wildcat (obviously) and an interesting one. I'm currently about to embark on a 411/338WM and have been researching the 411cals. Closest I've heard to this one is a 411DavisHawg, but its closer to 2" long and straight. Did the one you find have a shoulder at all? Wildcattters with a lathe can create just about anything though ... one I've considered is a straight 30/06 case to take a 429" projectile and head-space on the case mouth ... just for fun/experimentation with cheap pistol projectiles.
Cheers...
Con

[BloomGrad]

Wouldn't this be interesting if the case that was found had a some kind of fault and catastophic seperation and that's why the guy dropped it?  And now we are all chasing our tails on a round that does not exist.

No, I didn't think so.

Maybe Mr Griggs could give us all more of the case dimensions.  OAL, Height to shoulder, shoulder height, width of shoulder, estimated degrees of taper, ID or OD of the nesk...  Or a picture?

It's nice to think that somebody out there might be playing with the really new or really strange.

It keeps life interesting. 

[Smokin Joe]

That's sort of what I was wondering......cases left on the ground because of a "half-case" separation?

[DanielWGriggs]

I started showing an interest in what he was shooting and from the groups on target at 50yds hardly larger than one hole as near as I could tell through a spotting scope, then the guy became agitated and nervous and left in a hurry. I should have asked him for his membership card but didn't.

The case is marked super-X 30-06 and measures the same as near as I can tell with plastic caliper dial type instrument. the oal is 1.83 the mouth of the case is chamfered. inside measure is .419. outside is .445. Looks like an 06 cut just behind the shoulder by .10.  Near as I can tell from the fired case seating depth is .40. guessing from what I saw of the bullet oal with the bulletwould be 2.40" Looked like a hornady 405 sp interlock.

I cannot think of a use that is not covered by a 444, unless with the reduced recoil it could be used in an auto rifle for faster shooting. I know that the auto mag was based on the o6 cases cut down and reamed. So what do we have here the superautomag for a carbine, m1 garand type wepon. a double tap with something like that wouldn't be necessary. He was using a bolt action rifle?

[deltecs]

Sounds to me like someone has designed a .416 from a 30-06 case to be used in short action rifles.  The overall length of 2.40" certainly will fit it the short actions.  I wonder if his intent was metallic sillouette shooting, wild boar, or black bear in close.  It should be a good brush buster.  It must be blown out at the shoulder a bit to have enough surface area for good headspace.  Should be no problem though.  I wish you had asked the guy what it is.  Most of us avid enthusiast have more trouble shutting up than getting started. 
Greg
Detente: An armed citizenry versus a liberal society