I thought I might cover a general topic - "So you wanna wildcat do ya?" - with a specific example - the .50 Alaskan. Below you will find the steps I use to make my .50 Alaskan ammo starting with .348 Winchester cases and cast bullets. The processes, in general, are applicable to any cartridge, be it wildcat or obsolete, that one would like to make starting with another case.
 
The first photo is of the .348 Win case marked to length, trimmed to length, and the resulting .50 case.

 
The second photo shows trimming the .348 case to length. I removed the shaft from a manual case trimmer and chucked it in a 1/2" power auger. There's lotsa metal to remove to get the case to proper length.

 
The next step is to remove the burrs - both inside and out - caused by trimming the case.

 
Since this case is going to get blown out essentially straight, the shoulder and neck get annealed first to soften them up as much as possible. I hold the case between my index finger and thumb while I am annealing. When the case gets too hot to hold onto, I drop it. I used to drop it in water, but it seems to me that that might just harden it a bit. I've been told by an internet metalurgist that brass does not "temper quench" like iron/steel does. Still... I'm certain it doesn't harden with air cooling.

 
Here's what the annealed case looks like.

 
After I have annealed all of the cases I intend to fireform, I charge them. You can see the components in this image. They are: About 15 grains of Bullseye; enough Cream of Wheat to fill the case about half way up the neck; and some paper towel for wadding. I put a piece of paper towel between the powder and the CoW just so there is no chance for the powder to get mixed with the CoW. Once the CoW is added, I put a wad of paper towel on top and tamp it down just so the CoW doesn't pour out the case mouth.

 
Here are the powder-charged cases:
 
Here are the CoW-charged cases:
 
And here are the cases ready to be fire-formed:
 
Here are the cases immediately after fire-forming. So far I've done this with 100 cases. Only one has split, and that one wasn't annealed. I fire-formed 40 cases before I started annealing, and only one split. Still, annealing is too easy to do, and even if it only saves 1% of the cases, it's still worth it to me.
 
After fire-forming, the mouths are very uneven and need to be filed square. I tried to use the case trimmer, Brithunter even made a custom pilot for me. However, the cutter is just too small for the fire-formed case mouth. Filing isn't too tedious - at least not to me.

 
After squaring the mouth, I remove the burr inside and out and chamfer.
 
Next, I like to polish the cases. On one hand it's purely cosmetic. On the other hand, I can see any flaws better on a polished case. I polish the cases by using something wooden lathe turners will be familiar with - a jam chuck. I make the jam chick from an 8mm Mag case. The .50 case gets jammed on the 8mm case and spun. I use an artificial abrassive pad that is fine enough that it just polishes. Here is the polishing process in pictures:
 

 

 
Now that the case is made, it's time to make the bullets. I'll spare you the casting process, and start out with the cast bullets in hand. These are bullets dropped from Lee's 450'grain mould. With my alloy, they turn out 439 grains.
 
Notice that they have no gas-check heel. Try as I might, I have been unable to get un-gas-checked bullets to leave no lead in my bore. Put another way, bullets without gas-checks SERIOUSLY lead the bore of my rifle. I'm sure some casting guru could make an alloy that wouldn't lead, but I am simply not capable of doing so. So, I need to put a gas check heel on these bullets. Another THL fellow came to my aid. Drinksgin made a little lathe for cutting gas checks in non-gas-checked bullets. (Don is quite a 'fixer'.)
 
Here is the lathe in operation:
 
Here is the result with gas check along side:
 
And here is the finished product.
 
Now it's time to lube the bullet. Again a THL member comes to my aid. Jay Edwards gave me some of his special lube to use in addition to the gas check, to try and alleviate the leading problem. Here are the GC'd bullets sitting in the melted lube.
 
Here they have cooled, and along side is a removal die I made by fire-forming a 7.62x54R case to the .50 Alaskan chamber. (It didn't blow the head out enough to use as a suitable case for making .50 Alaskan cases.)
 
The next two pictures show the die in place and the bullet in the die after removal from the lube.

 
These are the lubed bullets.
 
And here is a loaded .50 Alaskan cartridge.
 
So... if you wanna make your own wildcat, be prepared to spend a little time in 'other' activities. As for me, I enjoy makin' 'em from scratch.
 
However, there is an easier way. You could simply buy the .50 Alaskan cases at ~$1.00 apiece, and loading them with Barnes' 450-grain .510 Original bullets. :smiley:
 
Paul

Paul, this is a great post. Been through this sort of thing many times myself with various wildcat and commercial cartridges. The explanation and pic's. are superb. It is a rather simple thing but really fascinating. Bullet casting can be boring or fascinating. It's what you make of it. I've about got out of the cast bullet making business myself but still have lots of mold blocks of various calibers. Thinking of selling some of them..............Paul H

Thanks Paul H.  I got some of Barnes' 300-grain Originals, and I have some of thier 450's on order, but I've shot neither. Since I rely heavily on chronograph data when working up loads, I haven't been to the range for about four months. Dark too long, and the sun is too low in the horizon when it's up. There is enough daylight and the mid-day sun is high enough to operate a chronograph consistantly now, so all I need to do is find some time.
 
I had to "work" at getting the .50 ready for the Colorado elk hunt, but I didn't get to spend the time I wanted with it and various bullets. I hope to change that soon. I would put a pressure sensor on the rifle, but since I am loading it for a MV of about 1800-ish f/s with the 450-ish bullet weights, the chamber pressure is only going to be between 20 and 30 kPSI. Since I'm so far below the receiver's max pressures, I'm more interested in hitting the "right" MV. All of this in the context of Optimal Barrel Timing theory.
 
The problem with the 300-grain Original bullets is that in a .510" caliber, they are very short. They're almost "round balls", being about 0.7" long and .510" in diameter. As a result, they have a ballistic coefficient similar to a RB. I can get them scooting along pretty good even keeping the pressure below 25kPSI, but they end up being only good out to about 100 to 150-yds. "Good" being defined as carrying about 1200 ft-lbs of energy and having a trajectory less like a rainbow and more like a rope.
 
I just love shooting that rifle.:D
 
Paul

Paul,
 
Nice how-to.  Good idea'ers there by Drinks and Jay too.
 
Nels

Thanks Nels... I get a lot of help from my friends here at THL. Present company included..
 
Paul

Great post Paul. That loaded round looks factory. By your next trip out here you should have that thing shooting like a dream and you'll get an elk with it.

Paul I got to hand it to ya,:biggthumpup:  great post, your lay out made it so easy for me to understand on how you guys do it, thanks. Ron

Thanks Buckshot. The whole .50 Alaskan project was pretty much a 'joint venture' with folks here at THL. Jay was the instigator, bringing the .50 Alaskan cartridge to my attention. And as you can see, others contributed significantly to the finished project. Hunterbug set up the elk hunting trip, but I missed.
 
Actually, it's not a finished product yet. I'm still working on the stock and sights for it. I intend to put New England Custom Guns (NECG) open sights on it. A four-leaf express rear sight, and a banded front ramp. I'm working on a Mannlicher-type full-length forearm. Hopefully I'll get everything together by this Fall. In the mean time, I can get it sighted in evn in its current state.
 

QuoteBy your next trip out here you should have that thing shooting like a dream and you'll get an elk with it.

I'm gonna give it the ol' college try, HB.
 
Paul

Paul now your talk'n those are two thing you don't see on  rifles these days, that express sight, mannlicher type stock or for arm ......... Ron

Paul,

From your ol' amigo here in central Texas!!!!!

...........Outstanding....!!!:biggthumpup:

Ol' John:Banghead:

Thanks amigo!:D
 
How you doon?
 
I was fiddlin' with the MAI this PM and wuz thinkin' about you. I'm gonna hafta get a Hogue stock if I'm gonna finish the load work-up (OBT-based stuff) on my rifle. With the barrel band and custom trigger, it won't fit in a milsurp stock. That's fine though, 'cause when I put the wooden stock on it, the Hogue can move on to something else... maybe a .358 MAI :D
 
Paul

I  hope Sue doesn't  see this!

Oh, she's OK with all this. Besides, most of that water is already under the bridge. :)
 
So where are the fish pictures? :)
 
Paul

Hi Gitano,

     Hmmm I have a feeling that to properly anneal the Brass it needs to be quenched. Both brass and copper react this way unlike steels which is confusing I know . Trying to remember back to Technical College now and that was some years ago .

    Nice to see you getting on with the project :smiley:  my Brithunter Martini one is on hold due to the Police being awkward still and I don't have a space on my licence so if I go ahead I would be in illegal possession of a firearm . Would love the thread te barrel so I can work on the fore stock, I have a Walnut old Vickers Martini target stock which is cracked at the wrist which I am going to use for the fore stock. However if I thread it the legal position is not clear :frown  so I cannot even really do that.

Great and informative thread! Are you all set with 348 Win Brass?  Cabelas had some in stock.