Reloading metallic cartridges

[Patrick Chadwick]

Try Hensel. http://www.henselgmbh.de/

They can make you a custom mould - I have 3, and am very satisfied.


Patrick

[villiers]

Attachment 28400Again (& again) thank you Patrick ... I´ll get on to them as soon as I´ve done the casts (hope that´s how they work). Just back from the 100 metre range with the Werder. Seems it´s quite a bit better´n the Mauser `71. Got Five (more or less) in the black and then a ten in the lower small target. After that there was so much crud in the breech that I couldn´t get a shell in. Took less than 5 minutes to dismantle the whole gun (barrel, action, trigger guard etc. etc.)

[Patrick Chadwick]

After that there was so much crud in the breech that I couldn´t get a shell in.

Well, I believe I did warn you, you do need an adequate lube wad under the bullet and do need about 1mm of clearance between the bullet and the throat in a clean breech, because of the crud build-up. For military competition shooting you need to be able to fire up to twenty shots without dismantling the rifle!


Patrick

[villiers]

I´ve got a distinct feeling that all that lube I used was only adding to the final crud. Bullets had three grease grooves AND a dab of grease under the bullet. All were heavily greased before insertion. Have now got some nitro BP imitation powder to try out. So, I´ll try that when I get my bullet mould. Next to the 100 metre range´ll be the M71 Mauser. Have set up the Vo test rig in the workshop/garage planned for New Years´ Eve during the fireworks display.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Bullets had three grease grooves AND a dab of grease under the bullet.

Patrick, I apologize if this sounds like banging on and on and on... but you need more than a dab of lubricant. The grease in the grooves would be enough if it was purely a matter of lubrication for single shots. But the grease wad beneath the bullet is NOT for lubrication in the sense of friction reduction, but is vaporized an mixed wit the powder residue, thus kepping the residue soft enough that most of it is swept out by the NEXt shot. If the quantity is inadequate, the crud will build up and become baked hard, until, as you have discovered, a major cleaning is required. You will know that you have enough when a) a star of molten lube appears around the muzzle b) you can shoot as long as you like without having a fouling problem in the chamber. The barrel then has a dynamic steady-state condition where the soft crud is being swept out as fast as it is being generated. If you only have grease in the grooves, then a hard ring develops behind the bullet, right in the throat. With muzzle-loaders this can make it impossible to seat the bullet right down on the powder every time, with a resulting erratic performance. Hence the invention of the Minie bullet!

I think you will actually need about 0.3-0.4ml of lubricant beneath the bullet to active this condition.

Finally, a caution about the BP-Ersatz powders. Without having used them myself (so I admit that this is hearsay) I read again and again that they are corrosive, and will ruin a barrel pretty fast if you do not clean it thoroughly a.s.a.p. after shooting.


Patrick

[villiers]

Says on the box that it´s clean and non-corrosive ... to be used in exactly the same way as PB.
The more grease/lube I put into the case, the less space there is for the powder (?) (But I´ll try out a larger quantity and see how many rounds I can breech). As yet (funnily enough) the barrel on the Werder is `mirror´, minty and looks almost better than new. Can´t shoot it for any length of time as the patience of other people on the range wears thin pretty quickly as the visibility diminishes in clouds of smoke.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Can´t shoot it for any length of time as the patience of other people on the range wears thin pretty quickly as the visibility diminishes in clouds of smoke.

That's what gives you the edge over those .223 peashooters - you will get used to aiming through the haze, they won't!


Patrick

---------- Post added at 10:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 AM ----------

The more grease/lube I put into the case, the less space there is for the powder

Another good reason to have a slightly lighter bullet!

[villiers]

So I´ve slugged the breech and the muzzle end of the Werder barrel with Cerrasafe (found it very easy to work with), and sent the castings together with a fired case to Hensel after I spoke with him on the `phone. The original bullet was only 22 grammes (339.5 grains) so am waiting to see what he advises. Think he can also rig up a provisional front sight for 100 metres.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Patrick, I think you did just the right thing. Keep up the good work - and keep us posted!


Patrick

[jarmann]

reloading for 11,15 x 50 R WERDER rifle
I made some test cartdriges for this jaeger 9th bat., rifle out of 45/70 and .43 spanish cases ,use 22 and 25 gn vitha N 110 over a .446 355gn bullet ,will first fireform to see witch dies I ca