Newbee questions re:Swedish Mauser

[jdoug]

Hi all - Just found this site and recently started with cast boolits for my Gew 88. However I just acquired a Swedish Mauser and want to also cast for it. I slugged the bore about 6-7 inches below the muzzle and got .2665 groove diameter. My question is would the Lyman #266469 mold work for me? It is listed as having a .264 diameter, which would be smaller that what I slugged the bore at. Thanks.

[Larry Gibson]

Lyman's 266469 is a very good bullets for the M96 Swede as is it's lighter weight cousin, the 266455. The "266" of the mould number is the "as cast diameter with #2 alloy, or at least is supposed to be. The 266469 I used some years back dropped linotype bullets at .267. My 266455 drops the bullets at .2665 of #2 alloy or its equivelent. I size my 266455 ina lyman .266 sizer which is fine with my rifles. Just remember that the faster twist of the Swede M96 means that accuracy will come at slower velocity, mostly between 1400 and 1700 fps.

Larry Gibson

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Good point about the faster twist and accuracy at relatively low velocity. The selection of Lyman #266469 is a good one. Its a Loverin design with lots of lube to do its job. Not the easiest in town to cast. You don't have to worry about the diameter of the finished casting as Lymans come out usually on the large side, so expect more on the order of .267 and maybe a little more if you have tin in the mix...and a bit of that helps to fill out those rings sharply. Good shooting. LLS

[jdoug]

Thanks for the quick answers and great info. Seems to me that I could probably use this boolit without having to worry about resizing. What do you guys think? Worth a try?

[Ricochet]

As long as you have a way of crimping on the checks, appropriately sized.

[jdoug]

Ahhh yes. Minor detail that I forgot. Told you that I was a newbee:-? Should I go with a .266 sizer?

[Ricochet]

If you can find one slightly bigger, like .268", it would be even better.

[jdoug]

Very Good. Lee will make custom sizes for $29.00. I shall order one from them.

Thanks:-D BUT - CAN YOU SIZE A .266/7 (AS CAST) TO .268?

[Bigjohn]

There are methods of bumping them up in size but I'm not up to speed on the process.

John.

[Buckshot]

................As long as you can cast a slug dropping at, or a thou over the groove you'll have a place to start your reloading efforts. The Swede (military) barrel has wide lands, so the displaced lead will help to 'fill in' some. I suspect Ricochet is talking about the throat at .268". I have 4 and had 6 Swedes, and not a one would take a slug larger then .267", and a couple wanted only .266" max. Of course there are tens of thousands of them around so one that will swallow a round with a .268" boolit may be found.

Also be aware of the fact that dies are made assuming you're going to be loading .264" jacketed bullets vs .266" GC'd boolits :-) The size die will probably size the caseneck down to something like .260". This is too much. If the dieset is 2 dies only, it'll be a bugger to seat a .266" boolit in a .260" hole in the mouth. I'd suggest a Lyman 'M" die. Another possible issue will be similar with the seater die.

It probably won't like that .266" boolit very much either. While it WILL seat the boolit, when you raise the press handle you might find no boolit in the case, as the die has claimed it. You can try to hone the die out some. Or you can lower the seater stem to the bottom of it's travel , and raise the die body. Or you can use a 7x57 seater.

.......................Buckshot

[Ricochet]

First off, I don't have a Swede.

But generally I do think it's desirable (not always essential) to start with a boolit at least as big as the groove diameter, a little over is usually good, and as long as it'll fit in the throat and the loaded cartridge can be easily chambered and extracted, you're fine. My suggestion was taking into account the as-cast boolits being slightly smaller than the groove diameter, they wouldn't be sized passing through a slightly larger die such as .267" or .268", but the check would be crimped on at a size that would seal the base of the boolit well in the grooves. That's how you get an unsized boolit with the check crimped on, as we were discussing above. One way, anyway.

But you sure can run into sticky problems with boolits being too large to seat in the sized case necks. I ruined a whole batch of 7.62x54R cases that way.

[Larry Gibson]

I've 4 Swedes and they run .266-.267" in the throats. I size in the .266 sizer as the bullets all chamber without the bullet being pushed back into the case by the throat. If your mould drops them over .266 you only have to run the GC far enough into the .266 sizer to just crimp the GC. I've done it without problems with a couple other moulds that droped bullets at .269 for the 6.5 Jap. With the GC crimped a couple coats of LLA does the trick and the .269 bullets then shoot fine out of the Jap.

Larry Gibson

[jdoug]

Thanks everybody. I guess that I'll get the Lyman mold and a .266 sizer and see what happens. Gotta start somewhere:roll: Then I shall return to seek info on powder and loads.

[jdoug]

But you sure can run into sticky problems with boolits being too large to seat in the sized case necks. I ruined a whole batch of 7.62x54R cases that way.

I see that Lee has a universal case expander die that should solve the problem with seating cast bullets. Part no. 90798. http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1202609810.81=/html/catalog/lubesize.html

[Ricochet]

Yes, I use that one, but if the neck is sized quite a bit smaller than the boolit, you can still collapse necks into shoulders, sort of like turning a sock inside out. The Lee expander only flares the mouth, same as if you turned a closed needle nose pliers in it. (Just more uniform.) It's not like a Lyman M Die, which also expands the neck to a suitable diameter for a cast boolit.