475 Wildey Magnum
Historical Notes:
The 475 Wildey is the brainchild of Wildey J. Moore. This cartridge was designed
to be used in a big bore gas operated, semi automatic handgun which was also
designed by Wildey Moore. The original pistol was chambered for the 45
Winchester Magnum. In order to build the gun, Moore decided to sell stock in his
company to raise capital for production. In time some of the investors wanted to
take active roles in production and marketing of this particular handgun.
Unfortunately, many of these were not shooters or people knowledgeable about
firearms. Moore's share in the Wildey company was diluted to 25%, and without
his knowledge, other shareholders in the company formed a separate investment
company to gain control of Wildey Incorporated. In January 1983, Moore was fired
from his company, but the new management ended up in bankruptcy less than a year
later. It took a few years for Moore to get back on his feet. Using this time to
advantage, he designed an entirely new pistol with improved ballistics and a new
cartridge, the 475 Wildey Magnum. The 475 Wildey is based on the 284 Winchester
cartridge cut off to 1.395 inches then neck reamed to handle the 475 bullets.
The cartridge is the same length as the 45 Winchester
Magnum, however, of
greater diameter. Case forming dies for this cartridge are available from both
RCBS and Wildey Incorporated. Bullets for the 475 Wildey Magnum are available
from Barnes bullets in American Fork, Utah. A real shot in the arm cam for
Wildey when the pistol was featured in Charles Bronson's movie, Death Wish
III.
General Comments:
The Wildey is a very heavy handgun designed to handle breech pressures exceeding
48,000 psi. Due to its size and weight, its usefulness will be most
likely limited to hunting and some sport shooting, however, accuracy has proven
to be outstanding. Five shot, 25 yard groups consistently average less than1
inch. Ballistics are also impressive with 100 yard remaining energies exceeding
that of the muzzle from a 44 Magnum. Load data from Wildey indicates that 18
grains of Blue Dot powder should be used with a 300 grain jacketed bullet. With
that load, a 300 grain Barnes JSP gives a muzzle velocity of 1610 fps with a
muzzle energy of 1727, most impressive. At this time, preformed cases for the
475 Wildey Magnum are available directly from Wildey Inc.
Source: Cartridges of the World
| 475 Wildey Magnum Reloading Data | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet (grs.) | Powder / (grs.) | MV | ME | Source |
| 250 SP | Blue Dot / 21.0 | 1850 | 1900 | Wildey, Inc. |
| 300 SP | Blue Dot / 18.0 | 1610 | 1727 | Wildey, Inc. |
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