First Cast Loads Through My Mausers

[7x57]

Most of my casting in the past has been centered around pistol shooting. I then started casting for my Winchester 94's, and had good results. So, that inspired me to start with my milsurps.

First up is a K98 russian capture I got a few years ago, it has a nice, pristine bore. I loaded up some rounds using my RCBS 32-170-FN. This mold throws right about .325" and that is the sizer I run them through with Javelina lube. I started with 12 gr. of Red Dot in S&B brass. I cannot recommend the S&B brass, it did not like my shellholders.

Once I got the range, I used the 300m sight setting and fired a group, 11 shots total. 2.5" at 50 yards is a pretty good starting point.



Next up is a Mexican FN 1924 Carbine in 7x57. I got this several years ago and have only shot it once to make sure it went bang. Using regular jacket loads, it had some serious muzzle blast. I had my doubts about cast bullets in this gun, the bore looked pretty rough, after some JB and elbow grease, it got a little shine, but not much. I had my doubts about any sort of accuracy. Best I could measure, (don't have a micrometer) it had a .285 bore.

Reading up on this site about cast in military 7mm's, it seemed the best bullets were long, fat and heavy to fill the generous throats in these guns. I only had one 7mm mold, but I figured why not take a chance and try. I started out with the Lyman 287346 run through a .286 sizer with Javelina lube, with 10gr of Red Dot. I had hell trying to get a shot on paper, until I figured out it was shooting about 9" high at 50 yards. Gonna need to get a taller front sight for sure. Once I got the range I fired off a 10 shot group and was very pleased with the results! 2.3" for the first load tried at 50 yards. I am really looking forward to experimenting with other loads for this gun, it is real nifty and light enough for my son to handle and shoot.

[Hardcast416taylor]

My deepest regrets. You have found that these Mausers will shoot! Now comes the agonizing task of making loads that will perform even better. Couple of nice looking examples of Mausers.Robert

[leadman]

IIRC Numrich has a taller front sight available for the Mausers.

[7x57]

My deepest regrets. You have found that these Mausers will shoot! Now comes the agonizing task of making loads that will perform even better. Couple of nice looking examples of Mausers.Robert

Yep, I am currently casting up another much needed batch, waiting for the pot to come up to temp. Looks like I'm gonna need alot of these.

[7x57]

IIRC Numrich has a taller front sight available for the Mausers.

I have seen those, but $20 bucks seems a little stiff! May have to bite the bullet, though. First, I'm gonna try the sight off a junk VZ-24 barrel I have laying around. It is a little taller.

[Nobade]

I have seen those, but $20 bucks seems a little stiff! May have to bite the bullet, though. First, I'm gonna try the sight off a junk VZ-24 barrel I have laying around. It is a little taller.

I think the ones from Brownells are about half that.

[UBER7MM]

[

Originally Posted by 7x57: Reading up on this site about cast in military 7mm's......I am really looking forward to experimenting with other loads for this gun, it is real nifty and light enough for my son to handle and shoot.

Those military Mausers have tight twists. You might have some real success with a heavier and longer bullet in a 160 grain or heavier and a slower powder in the 4895 range.

Just a thought,

[Buckshot]

............Both groups are about 1.5", fired from a 7x57 M98/08 Brazilian Mauser at 50 yards. RCBS 7mm-168 (172grs with lube & GC). It does have a nice bore however. Both surplus powders were full caseloads from a 29" bbl.

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

[303Guy]

You guys are making me want to try cast in my mint-bore Brit again. I've toyed with the idea of barraling a Lee Enfield with 7x57. It's a cartridge I like. I'd make it so it can take both the rimless and rimmed 57. But I digress.

[UBER7MM]

303Guy,

The idea of a rifle that can chamber both rimmed and rimmless cartridges intrigues me. Can you elaborate more on that for me please? Do you need two bolts, or is it a special cut in the bolt face that would allow such both cases? Do you need multiple extractors, one for each rim? Please advise. I've never heard of such a thing before.

Thank you and regards,

[dualsport]

I can vouch for the replacement front sight from Brownells. I just installed one easy-smeasy on a Chilean 7.62 Nato barrel on a 1912 Steyr, the Sportsman's Guide special. Anyway, the sight is good quality, one piece machined steel, wider and much taller than the original. It's a square post, not a pyramid like the originals. Then I filed a square notch in the original rear sight. Much better.

[UBER7MM]

I can vouch for the replacement front sight from Brownells. I just installed one easy-smeasy on a Chilean 7.62 Nato barrel on a 1912 Steyr, the Sportsman's Guide special. Anyway, the sight is good quality, one piece machined steel, wider and much taller than the original. It's a square post, not a pyramid like the originals. Then I filed a square notch in the original rear sight. Much better.

I've taken an inverted 'V' front site and filed the sides parallel, and the point on the top squared. It was much more useful after that. I suggest that you have a spare before you start just in case you don't like the end result, you can revert back.

[303Guy]

... a rifle that can chamber both rimmed and rimmless cartridges ...

The idea is have a rim thickness clearance between bolt face and chamber, exactly as rimmed cartridge rifles do, then set the rimless head-space to suite. I've turned off the rim from a 303 Brit case and cut an extraction groove and it extracted and ejected just fine. Because of the scarcity of rimmed 7x57's, being able to use the rimless 7x57 would seem to a good idea. The sizer dies would then be no issue too. SAAMI pressures for the 7x57 are low enough for the Lee Enfield I believe but someone could always slip a home load into such a chamber. (Same applies to the 45-70 where three different load levels are indicated).

[curator]

I use the rimmed .307 Winchester brass in my Long Branch No4 Mk1/3 DCRA. (mostly to keep the loads separate from other hotter loaded .308s) The gun will handle both standard 7.62 NATO and the rimmed version: .307 Win. equally well. The No.4 Lee Enfield extractor has considerable movement available.