1889 Schmitt Ruben load data.

[Biddle1990]

Hello all.

Been presented with an opportunity to aquire a 1889 Schmitt Ruben. This will be my first Swiss rifle.

From doing some reading, I gathered that this will be a home load adventure. I already reload for vintage military rifles,however this one is by far the oldest!

So think using cast bullets will be the way forward, this will be new to me also. Can you use modern jacketed bullets?

Looking for any advice/loads anyone may have for this rifle.

Thanks!

Information

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[Sunray]

It uses regular 7.5x55 Swiss. There's data(kind of limited numbers of bullet weights though) on Hodgdon's site. Remember that it uses a 'normal' .308" bullet. Most manuals should have it too.
Rummage around here as well.
http://www.swissrifles.com/sr/

[mr.e moose]

Don't listen to Sunray, the 7.5x55 GP11 round is more than the action can handle. The GP90 round that the 1889 was designed for is more like a 30-30 or 30-40 round in terms of pressure. Not until the rifle was redesigned to have forward locking lugs as in the 96/11, K11 and the K-31 was GP11 safe to shoot.
He has been banned from Canadian Gunnutz for giving unsafe reloading advice.

[Parashooter]

Since you ask for advice, I'll advise you it's spelled Schmidt-Rubin and that the 1889 action, by virtue of its lug position, is indeed not suited to a steady diet of 7.5x55 ammunition intended for the stronger 1911 and later models.


1889 lugs are positioned at rear of locking sleeve, placing weak slotted section in compression when fired, inviting distortion of sleeve with repeated use of 7.5x55 ammunition normally loaded to some 25% higher pressure than 1889 design limit.

Here are some sample QuickLOAD software estimates for a 210 grain cast bullet with RL7 powder (a reasonable combination to approximate the original military round, which used ~29 grains of nitrocellulose powder for ~1980 fps MV and maximum chamber pressure below 37000 psi). This is not tested load data (of which little exists for the 1889) but merely educated guessing.

Cartridge : 7.5 x 53.5 GP90/03 SWISS
Bullet : .308, 210, LYM LRN GC 311290
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.059 inch or 77.70 mm
Barrel Length : 31.0 inch or 787.4 mm
Powder : Alliant Reloder- 7

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.724% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Burnt B_Time
% -- % - Grains fps ft.lbs -- psi -- psi -- % --- ms

-06.9 53 27.00 1958 1813 28053 3614 100.0 2.159
-05.2 54 27.50 1982 1857 29188 3664 100.0 2.121
-03.4 55 28.00 2005 1901 30353 3713 100.0 2.084
-01.7 56 28.50 2028 1945 31547 3762 100.0 2.048 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 57 29.00 2051 1990 32772 3811 100.0 2.014 ! Near Maximum !
+01.7 58 29.50 2074 2034 34028 3859 100.0 1.980 ! Near Maximum !
+03.4 59 30.00 2096 2078 35315 3907 100.0 1.948 ! Near Maximum !

[Eaglelord17]

Do not shoot 7.5x55 ammo through your 1889, as you know it is dangerous and extremely unsafe. The pressures generated by the GP-11 round are way to high to safely be handled in that action (hence why the Swiss redesigned their rifles in the first place).

Congrats on acquiring a Swiss rifle they are addictive, I have a fair bit of them. In regard to shooting I shoot both a IG 1889 and the K1893.

So to start for brass you may have to trim down the brass to the 7.5x53.5mm mark or you might be fine with the 7.5x55 brass. For example my IG1889 is fine with the 7.5x55 brass but my K1893 needs the brass to trimmed down to chamber. Next for loadings. This is what I use to load my GP-90 approximation. This is not legal loading advice and I give no guarantees that it is safe to use, just simply stating what I use. I use a .308 220grn flat based round nose Sierra bullet under 32grns of 3031 powder. I haven't really played around with this a ton as this functioned and I don't shoot enough to really want to go beyond that.

They are fun rifles, and with that 12rd magazine it feels like your shooting forever.

[Parashooter]

. . . I use a .308 220grn flat based round nose Sierra bullet under 32grns of 3031 powder. . .

Strange . . . I find when I try to put the bullet under the powder, it falls out before I can seat the projectile. I have to put it over the powder. Does gravity work differently in your workspace (or maybe you fire downhill only)?

[Bill Hollinger]

Guys, it is very important that whenever you reload your own ammunition you need to be extremely careful and follow guidelines. Any deviation from them can cause injury or possibly death.

When giving advise on reloading please be careful to give sound quality advise that will ensure the safety of the shooter and of their beloved firearms.

Biddle, if you do not have reloading manuals and supplemental publications for reloading your particular round I’d advise purchasing them. Reloading is serious business and should be treated as such. Thanks, that is all.

[Bill Hollinger]

Strange . . . I find when I try to put the bullet under the powder, it falls out before I can seat the projectile. I have to put it over the powder. Does gravity work differently in your workspace (or maybe you fire downhill only)?

Okay, that made me laugh!

[Biddle1990]

Guys, it is very important that whenever you reload your own ammunition you need to be extremely careful and follow guidelines. Any deviation from them can cause injury or possibly death.

When giving advise on reloading please be careful to give sound quality advise that will ensure the safety of the shooter and of their beloved firearms.

Biddle, if you do not have reloading manuals and supplemental publications for reloading your particular round I’d advise purchasing them. Reloading is serious business and should be treated as such. Thanks, that is all.

Bill, I have a few manuals. Just asking for advice on a new caliber to me. And I know these older 1889s are more pressure sensitive.

Thanks!

[Eaglelord17]

Reloading manuals won't do much for GP-90 cartridge pressures, they tend to all be based around the 1889/96 and later strength actions.

Best of luck finding a good load, they are tons of fun to use and you don't really feel any kick as the loading is so light.