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sharps, thanks for the correction, glad I have a box of 50 340 grain Buffalo Arms bullets to try. When I get minute of deer or coyote, I'll be a happy camper!

This insight, loading recipes, bullet types gets me much farther along and is greatly appreciated.

Merry Christmas to all!

Mt Al,
You might try fireforming one of your cases that have the too tight necks. Use a forming load without a bullet, but with a granular filler (such as worn-out polishing media, grits, or with deference to sharps 45-90, cream of wheat) separated from the powder charge (a light charge of fast burning powder) with a quarter to half sheet of toilet paper tamped over the powder and the whole thing plugged with another wad of toilet paper. This will keep the necks squarer than expanding with a plug. If you find fireforming helps, fireform the rest of the cases. I just use an "M" die or 45 Colt expanding die with "shop made" plugs to bell or expand case necks that are long enough to square up. These die bodies are threaded 1/2"-20 and common bolts of that thread size are useful to make the plugs from. After a while a collection of different plugs will be accumulated for different uses. A lathe is a necessity of life, after all.
Mike

I've taken oversized M dies (but as close as I could get) and chucked them in a drill press and taken them down to just what I wanted with emery cloth on the turning die.

The 1904 DWM catalog shows lead bullets for 11 to 11.20 mm weighing between 19 and 25 grams.

I have loaded for an Austrian cape gun in 11,2x51R Kropatschek-Heissig (basically a shortened 11.15x60R Mauser), good success with around 300 grain bullets.
With the rifle I inherited a good supply of 11,15 mm lead bullets cast from an original mold, weight around 295 grains. These worked well.
The bore of this rifle is quite tight, groove diameter around 10.9 mm. So it was possible to use 300 grain jacketed bullets for the .44 Magnum. These worked well too.
Powders used were Swiss black powder and SR4759, velocity around 400 to 420 m/s

fuhrmann

This is the next installment of the process of regulating a Scherping double rifle in 43 Mauser, with much appreciation for those who have chimed in, extremely helpful.

Given the wide spread of the first black powder 385 grain loads, I used the Nitro for Black chart, taking the advice to speed up by reducing the bullet weight.

For starters, 6 cases were loaded with 31.5 grains of IMR 4198, CCI large rifle primer, 7 grains of Dacron and a 340 grain Buffalo Arms bullet w/lube. Seated to the recommended length.

Given how bad the first attempt was, I stuck with 30 yards. Could not have been more pleased!

Shot right, then left, the waited about 15 minutes between before shooting again.

Not sure how the pictures will show, but:
-The first double hit about 5.5” high and an inch apart.
-Second double, the bullet holes touched. I thought that was a fluke, but then….
-Third double, they almost touched!

They are hitting approx. 5” high, and per Der Ami, wonder if a bead fell off the front sight blade.

The Dacron puffs were found well-regulated about 7 yards from the muzzle, surprisingly clean. They were blown off course by about a foot at that distance from a light quartering wind due to their poor ballistic coefficient and sectional density.



Very pleased to be this close with a first Nitro for Black attempt. Now with questions:

How does one clean the barrel after shooting lead bullets with lube in the grooves? I inspected the barrels between shots and after the session and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, for what that’s worth.

With these ‘formed’ cases, .446 dia bullets just drop right through the neck on the case. Can I/should I just bump the necks, slightly bell the mouth and seat the bullets? I followed Der Ami’s advice as closely as possible.

Is it assumed, since the bullets hit so close at 30 yards, that they will ‘cross’ farther out? Next session I’d like to go waaaaay out to 50 yards with 8 loaded rounds. If that’s the case, should I reduce the load by a grain or so or just try again with the same load?

Thank you again for the advice, hope to be slaying critters at close range this fall!

Great progress and great questions.

I’ll defer to those more knowledgeable regarding changing the load before trying a further distance. If it were my rifle, I would keep the same load and see how it does.

Re the cases, if you can seat a bullet without resizing, and finish with good retention after seating, I would go that route. The thought being the less you work your brass, the better.

Loved your comments about Dacron’s BC.

Congrats on the progress.

Chris

Mt AI,
You seem to have a good handle on the project. I concur with CJF's comments, not only does less working of the neck mean longer case life as he said, but leaving the rest of the body" fireformed" will precisely center the cartridge in the chamber. Shooting the second shoot very quickly after the first, as you are correctly doing, sometimes makes it hard to determine whether the bullets are crossing or shooting wide. You can sort this out by using 2 targets side by side, shoot the right barrel on the target then quickly shoot the left barrel on the left target. Then after cooling, repeat the process. Once the correct number of pairs have been fired, place one target on top of the other and mark the bullet impacts on one target through the holes in the other one. This prevents delaying the second shot in a pair to locate the first. If your bullets are sized to .446" and "fall" through the fired neck, you might try them "as cast" (pan lube or by hand) and see how they work. Once you determine what limit you will put on your shots, you may want to start regulating the loads at a distance appropriate to that limit rather than 30 yards.
Mike

Mike, thank you and you mentioned this in an earlier post and I'll implement that method next time out.

Chris and Mike, I'll load up some identical rounds and shoot at 50 yards this time and see where things land and keep stretching until the groups exceed 'minute of deer' or so.

Your advice and others has been invaluable. Just wish there was more time to load, shoot, etc. but we get out when we can.

Mt Al
Good luck,
Mike