Teach me right

[gunnut14]

I recently purchased 2 43 Mausers.
I want to shoot them both.
One with smokeless the other with black powder.
I do not want to shoot matches as I cannot afford the required rifles for BPCR matches.
I want to shoot for the knowledge gained and for the fun of it but haven't a clue.
I have read all the books I can find and altho I have gained a lot of info I am still at a loss to do it right.

What I have learned so far is.
1) I I want to shoot a P/P boolit it must be patched to bore size ,On my rifle .446 and expect it to bump up to groove size on firing.
2)load the powder through a drop tube to 65 grains by weight.
A card wad,grease cookie, and second card wad.
3 ) seat boolit so there is no air space in the case.
4) no crimp required if single loading.

What I do not know will fill a couple of volumes but most of all I need to know.
1) using the above data do I need to increase to powder charge and compress powder.
No 2 books give the same data and that makes it even more confusing.
Cartridges of the world says 75 grains of BP
All of the articles on the 43 Mauser I have read say 70 grains of BP
Mike Venturino in Lymans Cast Bullets Handbook says minimum of 85 grains of BP
So who is right? If no one where and how do you start?

There are no BP shooters anywhere around me and the ones I talked to when I drove several hours to see them kinda shrugged it off as I was not shooting a BP cartridge rifle.
This is something I promised myself I would learn and bought the Paul Mathews series of books which gives me a reasonable insight as to BP shooting but no particulars that I can wrap my mind around as far as the 43 Mausers are concerned.
I do not intend to give up and need some positive guidance.


gunnut14

[NickSS]

I have a 43 Mauser bolt action rifle and it is a dandy BPCR that because it does not have a hammer is not allowed in NRA BPCR events. I have never used a PP bullet though I know some who do and love them. I just do not have the patience to use them. I use a grease groove bullet cast from a lyman mold in my rifle. I size them .448" and lube with black powder lube of my own make. As for developing a load every rifle is different as is different lots of powder, primers etc. What I do to develop a load is figure out how much powder the case will take and allow a card wad and seating the bullet so as to give a bit of compression say 1/16 inch. I load 10 rounds with this load. I then add 2 gr of powder to the first load and load 10 more and etc Until I have loaded 50 rounds. you may have to use a compression die for the last few increments to get it all in the case. Use a drop tube for placing the powder in the case. I then go to the range and shoot them off in groups of 10 using a blow tube between shots. You will find that your groups will shink in size and then reverse and start getting larger while you are doing this. Pick the load that gives the best results and use it if it is acceptable to you. If not you can make some sample loads varying theplus and minus a grain to see what happens. The net result should be a load that shoots pretty good in your rifle. I have found that the weight of the powder is not as significant as the amount of compression and different rifles like different amounts and that is why you see such a wide spread of weight data for a particular cartridge. My mauser using GOEX FFG likes a load that is compressed .3" but you rifle could be different.

[gunnut14]

Thank you for the info.
What do you use for a compression die?
Where can you buy one?



gunnug14

[Simonpie]

The info about trying a range of loads sounds spot on to me. From my trapdoor experience I've found everyone's advice is wrong because each rifle seems to like a certain individual setup. Make this testing part of the fun or you'll be really frustrated.

Compression dies can be found at buffaloarms as well as other places. It is pretty much just a steel cylinder that slip fits into a case. I made one from a cut off bolt and attach it to a spare decapping die.

Don't knock competition. Many times there are "Vintage surplus" matches for the M1 type shooters. Shooting on older equipment doesn't bug these guys and you can learn a lot. Technique, equipment, etc. Having a set deadline to get out of the house and a record of how you shot does wonders for improving performance, even if you're outclassed.