I have picked up a couple of Wildey's in the last year and am finding them an interesting and fun pistol to shoot.
Here is one that I just got running last week. It is a Wildey "Pin Gun" chambered in 45 Wildey Magnum. That is the 475 Wildey necked down to 45. This gun features a 9" barrel and compensator after that.
I have not done any chronographing yet, but the published balistics are 250 gr bullet at 1730 fps and muzzle energy of 1661 ft-lbs out of a 12" barrel. The cartridge is rated at 50,000 CUP.
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Cool gun!!
Very nice! That's a beast! :o
Beast is definitely the right word.
Does the gas action help soak up the recoil
Quote from: sqlbullet on October 06 2014 02:28:37 AM MDTBeast is definitely the right word.
Does the gas action help soak up the recoil
The recoil from the Wildey's is really not that bad. First they are very big and very heavy. I just put the "pin gun" on the scale and it is 4 lbs - 6.5 oz so you have a lot of weight to soak up the force. The 12" barrel gun shown below with a Delta weighs 4 lbs - 7.5 oz.
With the adjustable gas system, you start low and single load and increase the gas until the bolt locks open on an empty magazine. The gas system seems to "soften" the recoil down to more of a shove that getting hammered.
I have had an 8" Wildey chambered in 44 auto mag for about 8 years and never really liked it. I ordered the 8" barrel so I could hunt whitetails with it and carry it easier. After shooting the 10" and 12" barrels, they are really a lot better to shoot.(//)
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Interesting hand cannon.
Quote from: dakota1911 on February 22 2015 05:44:39 PM MST
Interesting hand cannon.
The coolest handgun ever made! I don't own one in .45 Wildey Magnum though. Mine are .45 Win Mag, .44 Auto Mag, and .475 Wildey Magnum.
Rudy
Supposedly there is a group of investors who are trying to bring the Wildey back into production and have Wildey Moore working with them. I will believe that when I see it.
Starline is supposed to run 475 brass next month and the same group will be manufacturing ammo shortly there after.
We will see I guess.
That's a nice looking pistol. How's it feel? What's recoil like?
The grips are huge, but the single action trigger makes it OK to shoot even with my medium sized hands.
They are very heavy and the 10" to 12" barrels actually give the gun better balance than an 8".
Because of the weight and gas system, recoil is quite manageable. (read above)
Quote from: BEEMER! on February 23 2015 05:33:43 AM MST
Supposedly there is a group of investors who are trying to bring the Wildey back into production and have Wildey Moore working with them. I will believe that when I see it.
Starline is supposed to run 475 brass next month and the same group will be manufacturing ammo shortly there after.
We will see I guess.
I also heard that Wildey Moore wanted to start building them again over a year ago. Would love to see that happen again but who knows. I also heard NY or NJ was being considered as the location, I forget which. Not sure why he would go there to build them.
Lots of great gun makers in the North East, Henry in NJ, Kimber and Dan Wesson in NY, Colt in CT, S&W in MA.
If its NY, they have a deal where you move in tax free for 10 years.
I have heard two stories and I do not know which or for that matter if either are true.
1. The equipment and machinery are still in the old shop. The building owner will
release the contents when all the back rent is paid up. That probably won't
happen.
2. The equipment has been released and is currently being set up at a new site
in CT. Production could start in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2015.
I know there are other great manufacturers in the area. I would think however that if you're starting up a new company then why not go to a more gun friendly state than NY or NJ?
As far as the old equipment goes, I have no idea who or where the original stuff is. I always thought the King of Jordan had all that stuff from when they merged and were working on the Jaws Viper gun. Supposedly the Jordanian Govt. had no interest in the Wildey itself. If so, perhaps they left it there? I really don't know, I'm only speculating. Either way I wish Wildey Moore great success if he starts up again. I'm a big fan of the Wildey handgun!
Rudy
The group of investors that are resurrecting the Wildey are now selling 475 Wildey ammo.
Wildey Moore is on board with them and they have parts on order and hope to start delivering new pistols by Christmas. Here is their facebook site.
https://www.facebook.com/wildeyparts
The old Website has been updated slightly. At least the phone works now. I bet the Doctor's Office that had the old number is a lot happier.
http://www.wildeyguns.com/
Could be like the Bren Ten fiasco also.
Interesting to see some updates there...looking forward to see how things progress.
Thanks BEEMER. 8)
I just looked up the site and they claim to be back in business. Has anyone checked?
I understand that they are producing pistols as of mid-September. If I had the werwithal to do so, I would invest in a .475 Wildey. Either a 12" or 14" barrel seems appropriate. (The 18" barrel seems a bit much).
Images of Clint Eatwood starring in Sudden Impact spring to mind!
Greetings from Wildey Guns. I spotted some of the postings here and thought I would introduce myself to the forum and address a few questions.
1. Yes, we are back in business.
2. Yes, Wildey Moore is onboard as senior consultant and designer. (We hope to introduce a new gun after we are up and running)
3. As you might guess, getting a gun into production can be a logistical challenge.
4. We are using most of the 20-odd parts manufacturers we used in the past. They know the gun, they have the tooling, and can ramp up production fairly quickly. Average lead time has been about 12 weeks, once the tools are identified and put back into production.
And there is the rub. We would have been in production before Christmas, except one of our suppliers could not locate the tooling for the slide! So, that has been a setback.
5. Our first shipment of frames arrives at the end of January, so we will have limited production as we await the new tooling.
We appreciate everyone's interest and enthusiasm for the Wildey and are thankful for your patience.
If you email me, I will put you on the "Founders List" and will keep you informed of our activity.
Kind regards to all,
George@usafirearmscorp.com
The Wildey Survivor
The Ultimate Handgun.
We hope to have the new website up next month, in the meantime,
visit our facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/wildeyparts/
Quote from: Captain O on December 24 2015 08:00:45 PM MST
I understand that they are producing pistols as of mid-September. If I had the werwithal to do so, I would invest in a .475 Wildey. Either a 12" or 14" barrel seems appropriate. (The 18" barrel seems a bit much).
Images of Clint Eatwood starring in Sudden Impact spring to mind!
Wrong gun Captain, Eastwood had an Auto Mag.
Charles Bronson used the Wildey in Death Wish 3.
Here's my 14" Wildey.
(//)
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WildeyUSAFC, welcome to the forum! Glad to hear of the re emergence of the company and the pistol production.
Thanks for the heads up and good luck with the venture! :D
I am excited always wanted one.
Quote from: BEEMER! on January 04 2016 05:37:30 PM MST
Quote from: Captain O on December 24 2015 08:00:45 PM MST
I understand that they are producing pistols as of mid-September. If I had the werwithal to do so, I would invest in a .475 Wildey. Either a 12" or 14" barrel seems appropriate. (The 18" barrel seems a bit much).
Images of Clint Eatwood starring in Sudden Impact spring to mind!
Wrong gun Captain, Eastwood had an Auto Mag.
Charles Bronson used the Wildey in Death Wish 3.
I remembered that after I had posted. I still think the Wildey will make a great hunting piece.
The Wildey's really do shoot very well.
The one biggest gripe I have is the size of the grips. The mag well was made large enough on the original design to hold a double stack magazine of 9mm Winchester magnum cartridges and is huge.
The 9mm version never happened.
Website never should have pushed in that condition. About 1/3 of the links go to a private page or error out. The site is also using http basic auth rather than sessions.
Doesn't give me confidence in the management team.
Quote from: sqlbullet on January 06 2016 08:30:53 AM MST
Website never should have pushed in that condition. About 1/3 of the links go to a private page or error out. The site is also using http basic auth rather than sessions.
Doesn't give me confidence in the management team.
The Wildey Website has been up for the 6 years that the company was not operating. The phone number rang into a Doctor's Office even. The new "Management" just updated certain areas of the website and the error pages are one's that do not apply anymore.
I agree that it is not the best setup, but they are machinists and not IT guys.
I am sure they have "bigger fish to fry" right now.
That would s kinda my point.
To succeed in resurrecting this product the need a well managed road map. Part of that would be a marketing plan that should have included removing dead links when they updated the phone numbers.
Effective marketing of the platform is a huge fish in the tank. Fry it early.
There is one Wildey Magnum I'd be interested in...wait for it! :o
One chambered for the 10mm Magnum with a conversion barrel for the 9x30 Dillon. Brass for the 10mm Magnum is still available through Star Line and the 9x30 is made by using the 9x25 Dillon dies raised up for the extra cartridge length.
(http://www.ammo-one.com/10mmMagnum.jpg)
Here is the 9x25 next to the longer 9x30 and a rimmed 40 magnum.
(http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j441/_The_Shadow/made%209x25Dillon%20%209X30%20rimmed%2040%20caliber_zpsx4fbcdkp.jpg)
sqlbullet
I agree to a point. It appears that they are getting into this underfunded and they probably know it.
Over marketing a product that they have not produced yet is what took the Wildey down originally.
You can add The Auto Mag Corp and The Bren Ten group into that category also.
All of them were selling product that they could not produce for the price they had advertised it for.
I wish them luck, but it is going to be a tough go in my opinion.
Shadow
Why not stay with the parent case, the 475 Wildey which is a cut down 284, and is available from Starline and just neck it down and bypass retooling bolts and magazines?
Added later-
I was thinking about this over a sandwich at lunch.
The 44 Auto Mag cases are available. How about a 10mm Auto Mag or a 357 Auto Mag Wildey. The 357 is formed easily from 44 AMP brass.
Yep. They should have put up a coming soon, history and contact page. Much better strategy. They could have archived the old site and provided a link.
Quote from: sqlbullet on January 06 2016 12:14:18 PM MST
Yep. They should have put up a coming soon, history and contact page. Much better strategy. They could have archived the old site and provided a link.
I agree with that completely.
For those who aren't already aware, user 'WildeyUSAFC' is George Benedict of USA Firearms Corp. They are the new parent company for Wildey Guns located in Winsted, Connecticut.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/09/30/wildey-guns-is-back/ (http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/09/30/wildey-guns-is-back/)
In reference to a 10 mm Magnum for Wildey, one was designed in 1986 but was eventually discontinued...the .41 Wildey Magnum (also known as the 10 mm Wildey Magnum). Two other calibers, the .44 Wildey Magnum (also known as the 11 mm Wildey Magnum) and the .357 Wildey Magnum (also known as the .357 Peterbuilt), were also produced during that time but also ceased. Ballistics on each were listed in the 1987 version of the Wildey Survivor Instruction Manual & Parts Catalog. The manuals were revised in 1990 and only included the .45 Winchester Magnum and .475 Wildey Magnum. I expect the other calibers, including the 9 mm Winchester Magnum, were discontinued before that time.
If you find a copy of the book The World's Most Powerful Rifles and Handguns by Robert Adam (1991), a photo of each former Wildey cartridge is on the bottom of page 61. There is a posting online, but the image is dark. I believe the names mentioned in the caption are slightly off; from left to right should be the .357 Magnum, .357 Wildey Magnum, .41 Wildey Magnum, .44 Wildey Magnum and .44 Magnum. The .475 Wildey Magnum cartridge does not have a shoulder.
http://www.amtguns.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/The-Worlds-Most-Powerful-Rifles-and-Handguns.pdf (http://www.amtguns.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/The-Worlds-Most-Powerful-Rifles-and-Handguns.pdf)
In looking at the provided ballistics for the .357 Wildey Magnum, the calculation for the barrel pressure is quite significant out of a 10-inch barrel. Of course, being a smaller projectile, it was fastest out of the Wildey calibers. A 125 grain with a muzzle velocity of 2,300 ft/s and muzzle energy of 1,468 ft/lb makes the barrel pressure 52,797 psi. The 158 grain has a lower muzzle velocity, but higher muzzle energy and barrel pressure. Some would say if you were shot by this projectile, it would definitely feel like you were hit by a 357 Peterbilt. :P
I have seen references to the various cartridges that you mention, but I have never seen or heard of any pistols chambered for them,
Were any pistols ever produced to shoot any of these cartridges to your knowledge?
They did produce pistols chambered for the 44 Auto Mag cartridge.
One thing I never understood was why the 45 Win mag and the 475 Wildey Mag cases were designed to the length which is about .10" shorter than the other magnums like the 357 , 44, and the 44 AMP. I have a Wildey in 44 AMP and you must seat the bullet deep in the case to get it to fit in the magazine
I did notice on another forum that in regards to the .357 Wildey Magnum, there was an article in the Guns & Ammo magazine years ago reviewing this caliber. It was a limited test market production, and the barrel kit along with a few rounds were provided to some good Wildey customers to try out an provide feedback. Less than 100 guns were made and around 5,000 rounds of ammunition. The project was never taken to full production, although Guns & Ammo gave positive remarks.
This person on the forum actually had a barrel and some ammunition for the .357 Wildey Magnum that his grandfather previously owned. He also had barrels for some other calibers, including the .45 Winchester Magnum and .44 Auto Mag. There were also loading dies for them.
The three Wildey calibers designed in 1986 were necked down versions of the .475 Wildey Magnum brass casing. Also, the .45 Wildey Magnum introduced in 1997 is of the same setup. He stated that the .357 Wildey Magnum cartridge is cut .02-inch shorter and bottle necked down to fit a .357 Magnum bullet. I expect the overall length of each cartridge to be roughly the same, around 1.575 inches...the same length as a .45 Winchester Magnum. The .45 Wildey Magnum may be slightly longer, around the same length as the .44 Auto Mag, as it uses a .45 ACP FMJ bullet. I believe the rest are either hollow point or soft point.
Without an actual cartridge for each Wildey caliber to make a comparison, it will be hard to determine specific dimensions. What we do know is the base and rim measurements will all be the same with the same style casing being used.
Interesting.
I saw some dies on Ebay several months ago for 10mm Wildey and 11mm Wildey. They looked like RCBS dies and the label on the boxes was hand written on what looked like masking tape. The same seller had a couple dozen other very odd caliber dies so I figured he had picked up an estate and had no idea what they were.
I do not know George but I have talked to him on the phone several times and I wish him and his partners well.
Do you know the location of any of the odd caliber barrels or dies made from the 475 parent case as I would be interested in them.
Do you know Jim Dolson?
I'm sure some people around the country have the barrels, ammunition and dies for these calibers. Due to their rarity, I'd expect they won't given up anytime soon. I've seen none on Gunbroker.com at all in the past few years looking on there. Normally it's been a .475 Wildey Magnum, .45 Winchester Magnum or a .44 Auto Mag.
I have a 2006 .475 Wildey Magnum pin barrel gun which I purchased in 2007 on Gunbroker.com, the only one of it's type I've seen on there so far. It was shipped to an FFL in Raleigh, NC where I picked it up. I also purchased 50 rounds of ammunition from Wildey F.A. when they were still in business. For value purposes, I most likely won't fire the gun unless I obtain another one...preferably an older version made in New Milford, CT. The first ones made in Cheshire, CT are highly sought, but I'm not sure what calibers were available at that time. The original calibers for Wildey guns starting in 1980 were the .45 Winchester Magnum and 9 mm Winchester Magnum. The .475 Wildey Magnum wasn't produced until around 1984. It's possible the production facility was still in Cheshire, but I expect it more likely to be New Milford. In 1999, production was moved to Warren, CT where it remained through 2011. In the Death Wish 3 movie from 1985, the metal plate had Wildey, Inc. - Brookfield, CT. Their post office box was there, but New Milford was five miles up the road. Anyway, older guns are more valuable. :)
I don't know Jim Dolson. From looking online, if I have the correct person, he was residing in Texas before moving to Oklahoma. The Wildey I purchased on Gunbroker.com did originate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so that is a bit interesting.
Jim and Wildey Moore were/are good friends.
Jim was from Corpus Christie and moved to Oklahoma as he got older to be by family.
He sold guns for Wildey and had access to all the odd or low piece count Wildey's. If the odd calibers were around, I know Jim would have had them at on time.
Thanks for the info.
There is one more odd caliber, the .30 Wildey Magnum. A source mentions that it was produced by Wildey, Inc., but I've never seen it in any of their manuals or on the website. It is also a necked down .475 Wildey Magnum, using a .30 caliber bullet (not sure if it is the 7.62 mm, 30-06 or similar size). I currently don't know of any firearms which use the cartridge.
I bought a 45 Win Mag Wildey back in 1989, S/N 1109. It was a complete POS. Why anyone would want to bring back that thing is beyond me.
At the time, I had an 45WM LAR Grizzly, 44 Desert Eagle, and 44/41/357 Automag and thought adding the Wildey to the collection would be nice. I was wrong.
Tony Rumore
Tromix
This person on another forum shot the .357 Wildey Magnum back in 2009, best one of the calibers he ever fired and consistently accurate. Unfortunately, he only had 20 rounds so things were limited.