Blown-out .218 Bee wildcat?

[craig110]

I was just up in Kittery, Maine, and so stopped by the Kittery Trading Post. Among other things that I like to look over in their shooting / reloading section is some buckets of loose brass that they sell for 6 cents each. I've found some odd calibers in there in other visits which has made for a CRB start to a brass collection. When I got home, I realized that two obviously different types of cases were both marked with the same headstamp: W-W Super 218 Bee. One of them is a normal .218 Bee and the other is a blown-out shoulder wildcat variant. Both of their neck interiors measure to the same diameter and the blown-out version is just slightly shorter (of course) and has a very abrupt shoulder angle of about 45 degrees giving it an overall appearance like a shrunken .270 WSM though with a larger mouth-to-body ratio.

What did I get? Is this a .218 Bee case fireformed to .218 Mashburn Bee or .218 Ackley Improved Bee? A picture of the two cases is below with the regular .218 Bee on the left and the mystery guest on the right. (Sorry for the lousy picture, but my cell phone camera doesn't take good closeups.)

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w46/craig110/0328081712.jpg

[Tailgunner]

Craig
Not near my referances right now, but you can regester for the forums at www.cartridgecollectors.org (http://www.cartridgecollectors.org) . There are a couple wildcat collectors there that can help you.
While you're there, check out the photos taken at this years SLICS show (Saint Louis International Cartridge Show), and note where some of the photo takers are from.

[Tailgunner]

OK, a quick look at one referance shows that Mashburn liked a 30^ shoukder
Crister liked a 65^ shoulder, but he also shortened the case quite a bit
McCrea liked a 60^ shoulder
Eichalberger also liked a 30deg shoulder

This referance dosn't show a Ackley varient, but he normaly liked a 40^ shoulder.

BTW, these are only the most popular versions, not all of them.