1895 mauser

[txpete]

long story short found a minty 1895 chilean mauser today out of a pvt collection.100% matching and a mirror bore.
thinking might have try some cast loads in this one.ordered dies tonight but midway was out of brass :-? .
any tried the lee 7mm mould??
pics of the rifle.
pete
http://www.hunt101.com/img/363597.jpg (http://www.hunt101.com/?p=363597&c=500&z=1)
http://www.hunt101.com/img/363598.jpg (http://www.hunt101.com/?p=363598&c=500&z=1)

[StarMetal]

Congrads on the fine looking rifle. Slug the bore first. Although it's a mint looking bore I'll bet the grooves are on the large side say around .289. If so you might have to get in on that 7mm mould buy with oldefeller and have him lap it out for you. They just didn't cut many back in those days with .284 grooves.

Joe

[txpete]

thanks, this was one of the first off the line in 1895 strange they would be over bore like that.
pete

[C1PNR]

txpete,

Man, that's a pretty Rifle! Much nicer than my 1902 Rifle! I guess I'm jealous now.

And then I look at my Carbine. I just wish it was HALF that nice!;) The Carbine looks like it was chained behind a pickup and dragged about 5 miles down a gravel road!

Oh, well. They aren't making them anymore so we get with we find. I just hope my Carbine shoots well enough to hold off the hordes of charging ground squirrels this Spring![smilie=l:

[Frank46]

Pete, get some 8mm brass and neck it down. The remington stuff is pretty thin and you may not have to ream the necks. Nice 1895, I envy you. The one I bought for the action had a bbl that had seen better days. Have fun, Frank

[Four Fingers of Death]

That's a purty lookin long arm. Thats similar to the rifle Teddy Roosvelt and his rough riders got on the wrong end of isn't it.

[Oldfeller]

Check Graf's for their Graf's headstamp brass -- they were selling 7x57 for $13 per hundred last month.

[txpete]

going to call graf's today,thanks guys
pete

[Dutch4122]

Pete-

One thing to be aware of with the Graff's 7x57 brass. The reason it is so cheap is that a small percentage of the casings have their flash holes punched off center. I saw this mentioned in a Graff's flyer several months ago. Just something to watch for.

That being said, it didn't stop me from ordering 500 of them last month when I picked up my 1908 Brazilian long rifle. I figure I can sort out the bad ones and still come out ahead at that price! So far just a quick visual inspection on a handful from the first bag of 100 didn't turn up any defective casings hiding among the good 'uns.

Anyway, nice rifle; be sure to let us know how she shoots!

[txpete]

y'all are great and thanks for stepping up with all this info.it will be a bit before I get into cast with this one.. "broke" mad money gone for now but well worth it.
best to all
pete

[txpete]

graf still had some in stock and I have 200 coming :)
pete

[Buckshot]

...............texpete, that's a beautifull rifle and probably couldn't be upgraded. The craftmanship on those is what I would call "Lavish" 8). That's a possesion to be proud of, for sure. SLug that barrel and let us know what it is.

If it will handle some slugs at .285" I'll send ya some 150gr Lyman's.

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

[txpete]

thanks buckshot.on slugging the bore what would be best to use???smallest cast I have is 30 cal.thank you for the very kind offer on the lymans.
pete

[C1PNR]

thanks buckshot.on slugging the bore what would be best to use???smallest cast I have is 30 cal.thank you for the very kind offer on the lymans.
pete
Do you have any fishing sinkers of the "egg" type? The hole in the middle kind of helps make them fit down the bore. A selection of sizes shouldn't cost much at your local sporting goods emporium.

Then an oiled bore, some sort of non marring hammer, and a brass or wooden dowel near bore size should tell the tale.

And I'm very interested in your results.

[txpete]

graf brass came in today.out of 200 I had 14 that the flash hole was WAY off center.no big deal for 13.99 a 100 still a hell of a buy.
thanks for the heads up on the brass.I have enough brass to last a looong time :)
pete

[Jeffreytooker]

Txpete et al:

Try this for bore slugging. http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSlug.htm I bought a couple (5) hunderd of the 7X57 brass from Graf. I have 6mm Rem, 7X57, 8X57. I will have time to make the brass up from the 7X57. GOOOOD winter project. I found very few culls in the brass I got. Keep them for foulers.

Jeffrey

[Bret4207]

Odd note- A few years someone, Ken Waters?, did a test on brass with off center flashholes vs. centered flash holes to see how much the accuracy was affected by the "bad" off centered brass. Long story short- the off center flashholes outshot the "good" brass. Truth is stranger than fiction. 'Course depriming the off centered brass would be a chore....

[txpete]

last night I ran a bunch through my sizer die,always do this even on new brass..anyways the rim is a poor fit for a reg #2 lee shell holder.used my shell holder for the 41 mag and worked great.I ran the 14 which were set off to the side for flash holes through the die they came out just fine just a tad larger on the hole.
pete

[StarMetal]

I find Lee shellholders not accurate and concider them generic in their fit.

Joe

[txpete]

tried some rem 7X57 brass in the lee shell holder perfect fit. the graf brass rim is larger/thicker than the rem brass.
pete