Tonight was a good night. I feel like we’ve completed a major chapter in this book.
I am now the proud owner of twenty freshly loaded rounds of .43 Spanish.
The re-loading proceeded without a hitch. I settled on a piece of 270 Winchester brass for a powder measure. It threw a 65.5 grain charge that put me at just the right height. I believe that after the cases are fire formed, I will need to increase this charge by a couple grains to make up for the case expansion. I believe Patrick predicted 67.4 grains which is nearly exactly what I believe the final load will be. Uncanny isn’t it?




I double checked the bullet to land clearance and stuck with a cautious 2.970” as my overall length. I cycled all of the loaded rounds through the rifle and they all fed and ejected easily. After some additional testing, I will likely extend the overall length to 3”. Here you can see how deeply the bullets are seated. I didn’t bother crimping as there is ample neck length gripping the bullet. Crimping is more suited To cartridges that have to suffer the pounding of recoil while stacked in a magazine. The flawed bulled in the middle will be used as a fouler.



Depending on work, I will try to shoot this weekend. My usual place is snowed in this time of year so I’m not sure where I’ll go.
Wish me luck, Joel.