A German Wildcat whoever heard of one? Due to strict German regulations a new cartridge and rifle has to undergo proof testing. Rifle and chamber design must be supported with design drawings in accordance with laid down requirements and of course with a check. For an individual Wildcat designer this can be quite taxing. I think a Wildcat made in Germany is really something special. No wonder we don't see many.

The 7.62 UKM is an imposing and good looking cartridge. The design concept, shape and looks are based on the 6mmPPC or a proportionate maxi 6mm PPC, except for shoulder angle. According to Michael Uekötter factory brass will be available in the near future, or that is at least planned.

This cartridge should be well suited for 1000 yards target shooting and of course to bust Prairie Dogs at 2500 yards or more. Naturally it will also make a super long range big game rifle. The cartridge design should prove to be on par with or better than most 300 magnums.

I am not a long range target shooter and came across this cartridge by chance. Since most wild cats are generated on this side of the pond I felt impelled and impressed by this German creation to write about it. With the permission of Michael Uekötter I thought it makes an interesting addition to my web page.

Cartridge Dimensions: L1 = 41,57(1.636"), L2 = 48,96 (1.9275"), L3 = 57 (2.244"0,) L6 = 79 (3.110"), P1 = 14,91 (0.587") P2 = 14,08 (0.554"), H1 and H2= 8,68 (0.3417") Dim. in mm and inches. Case water volume with bullet seated appr 4.85 cc. (75.0 gr).

The Triebel Company of Germany make the forming and loading dies; they also made the chamber reamer. The same reamer is used to make the dies. The final form die has an upper extension with a reamed 8mm hole which allows a piloted inside neck reamer of .3058" to reduce the thick neck walls concentric with the die chamber. Minimal final outside neck reaming is done with thew K&M tool. With this method a zero neck/bullet run out is achieved.

The dies are made with a 1-1/4" x 12 thread. The adapter bushing for the 7/8" x 14 dies is removed from the RCBS or Redding loaders to accept these larger dies.

The Match Rifle was made by Hannes Kepplinger of Germany and sports a US made Shilen Super Match Barrel 27,5" long with a 1 - 10" twist. A Kepplinger Custom (Single Shot) action, laminated wood stock, match trigger, Schmidt&Bender 4 - 16 x 50 "Varmint ZF" scope completes the rifle.

Here are some more Loads with Norma MPR.
The 168 grs Sierra with 77 grs 3300 fps
The 181 RWS TUG with 75 grs 3240 fps (same as the Nosler Partition)
My "Match"-Load is the 185 grs Berger 74,5 grs 3,149ft/sec.

At present John D.Taylor a columnist for the "Tactical Shooter" magazine is having a 7.62 UKM build on a SAKO TRG 41 action. He also has a complete set of Triebel tools and a Reamer. I hope we will hear about this rifle in a future review. If you are interested in a complete set of design drawings and tooling complete with reamer please contact Michael G Uekötter. With US dollars it is a good time to buy in Germany right now.

For more information please contact:

Michael G. Uekötter, ,As of Sept 8/07 Rotwildstrasse 4 78532 Tuttlingen Germany

Barreled actions are available from "Roedale Precision" with hand selcted barrels from Lothar Walther.