October 17, 2021. Think you need a long case-neck to achieve good accuracy? You might be wrong. Stan Ware broke all rules with his revolutionary Wolfpup cartridge. He proved that a near no-neck design can deliver match-winning accuracy. Learn more about the Wolfpup cartridge. Stan Ware, a retired gunsmith, is a skilled shooter who doesn’t mind thinking “outside of the box”. Stan competes in Hunter Benchrest (HBR), and Varmint for Score(VFS) disciplines. Stan developed the wildcat “Wolfpup” from a 6mmBR parent case in his quest for the ultimate Hunter Benchrest cartridge. Stan was struck by the dominance of 30 BRSs in VFS matches and wondered if a stretched 30-BR could work in HBR competition. The problem was the case capacity. The HBR rules require that the cartridge hold at least 45.0 grams of water. This is equal to the 30/30 case’s capacity. Stan decided that he needed to increase the volume of a 30 BR cartridge by a significant amount. He did this by moving the shoulder forward a lot. He did this by testing the brass and running a 30 BR reamer deeper. After three passes with the reamer, he finally reached the desired capacity (the Wolfpup holds 45.3 grams of water). He then looked at the finished product, which had almost no neck, and wondered “how could it possibly work?” From Trashbin to Winner’s Circle
Stan thought Ware’s prototype Wolfpup was “dead at arrival” because it was so short-necked and so unlike any normal cartridge. Stan said to us, “I said ‘this isn’t going to work’, and I threw in the brass. Honest. Later, I decided to shoot it and see how it turns out. Stan didn’t have any seating dies. He noticed that the neck was short and gave him tension after fire-forming. So he literally seated some bullets (BIB 118s & 125s) with his fingers. He used H4198 for powder and started with 35 grains. This was one grain more than a 30-BR load. Stan did a pressure check-up. “I actually went up 41.0 grains without a sticky bolt. I ended up at 37.9 grams of Hodgdon 40198, which gave me 3150 fps. (Later testing revealed that a second accuracy node was found at around 3020 fps using 36.4 grains H4198. Stan’s short-necked Wolfpup shot well right from the start. After he found the correct velocity node, the gun shot in zeros with both 7 and 10-ogive bullets, as well as 118 and 125 rounds. The Wolfpup was easy to tune. It’s not finicky. It’s a winner. Stan began shooting the Wolfpup in 2006, in both VFS matches and HBR matches. The ‘Pups’ quickly started winning matches. Stan won the Wisconsin State VFS Championship in 2007 shooting the Wolfpup. Stan won the Grand Agg in June 2010 at a Webster City VFS match. He also posted high X-Count and placed first at 100 yards, and second at 200 yards. What’s that for a cartridge almost destined for the trash bin? Stan deserves an award for “most innovative benchrest cart design”? Stan laughs at the idea. “I’m no hero, nor a genius.” I didn’t do anything. For me, the fun part is thinking outside of the box. Shooting is an ancient art of experimentation. It is impossible to know everything. It Works!
How is it possible for such a radical case design to work so well? Stan said, “That’s an interesting question.” Stan explained that the 30 BR is intrinsically accurate so he figured that something based on 30 BR should also be accurate. I believe that the shorter neck doesn’t harm you. The bullet can self-align if the throat is straight. If the chamber is clean, the bullet will center in the throat. A regular case has very little room for this, so a bullet can start off center. However, you won’t always get the same result every time. A conventional case’s bullet will not self-center if it has a stiff neck, especially if it is a BR gun with tight clearance. Reloading the.30 Wolfpup
Stan’s Wolfpup chamber is 0.330? in neck dimension. He turns his necks to a 0.327? Loaded round. Are bullets jammed.020 Forward of the first contact with lands. The bullet is almost in a soft seat when he closes it. Stan says, “To begin with I normally bump my shoulder.0005-.001?” They will go in easily. This gives me a little neck tension. I also use a bushing. I currently use a.322, although it isn’t very sensitive. I have tried a thousandths increments all the way up to a bushing of.325 and it didn’t make any difference. Stan uses a Wilson 30 BR bullet seater die into the which he ran his chamber reamer. This ensures a perfect fit for the case during seating operations. About the Illustrated Gunstock
Stan’s stock includes scenes from Vietnam and a quote. Here’s the story. Vietnam combat veteran, Stan served in “in-country” for the Army’s 509th Non-Divisional Combat Unit (outside Fort Riley) between 1965-1966. Stan visited a shop shortly before he left Vietnam to have a souvenir lighter engraved. The vendor suggested an appropriate inscription. The shop’s metal-worker inscribed: “War is a tragedy. It takes man’s best to do man’s worst. Susan, a talented artist, painted the message and combat scenes on Stan’s rifle. She spent over 20 hours painting the rifle stock. Photos courtesy Ryan Ware, Stan Ware. Similar Posts: Tags: 30 BR, Benchrest for Score, HBR, Hunter Benchrest, IBS, Stan Ware, Veteran, Vietnam, Wolfpup
