Wild West Guns brought to the SHOT Show 2019 two new cartridges – .30 WWG and .35 WWG. Both of these cartridges are created by necking down their .457 WWG cartridge case to .308 and .358 calibers respectively.

SAAMI drawing of the .457 WWG cartridge

First things first, let’s talk about the parent cartridge – .457 WWG. This is a SAAMI standardized cartridge. It has the same rim dimensions as the .45-70 Government but operates at much higher pressures – SAAMI maximum average pressure (MAP) of 43,500 psi as opposed to the 28,000 psi of the .45-70. The higher pressure allows .457 WWG to launch 350-grain bullets at a muzzle velocity of .2,300 fps. To withstand the higher pressure, .457 WWG cartridge has a much stronger case than the .45-70 Gov’t. It has a 2.21″ case length and 2.665″ overall length. These dimensions are .105 and .115″ longer than the case and overall lengths of the .45-70 Government cartridge. I assume it is designed so to prevent accidental chambering of the .457 WWG cartridge in a .45-70 Gov’t chamber. The opposite is safe – .457 WWG can safely chamber any .45-70 load.

Wild West Guns custom lever action rifles

The new .30 WWG and .35 WWG cartridges operate at same pressure levels as their parent cartridge and manage to launch 150 and 180-grain bullets to 3,000 and 2,850 fps respectively. The company has also displayed lever action rifles chambered in these new calibers. The Wild West Guns offers Marlin receiver based lever action rifles – both standard and takedown. A new barrel assembly for their takedown model rifle chambered in one of the new calibers costs $1,500 (at the time of the show it was available at an introductory price of $999). A new Wild West Guns rifle chambered in these calibers will cost you $2,750 and its takedown version has a price tag of $3,500.

A cased takedown Wild West Guns lever action rifle with two sets of barrels

Let us know in the comments section what do you think about these new cartridges?