cast boolits in Spanish 7X57

[Texas by God]

I recently aquired a 1926 Oveido 1893 Spanish 7mm. Does anyone here have experience/insight on cast boolit use with these rifles? The bore looks decent for a 90 yr old rifle. All numbers match- can't tell about the bolt as the gun has been sporterized by a master grade bubba. It's actually pretty. Best, Thomas.

[runfiverun]

check your throat and barrel diameters.
you might have a 29 caliber not a 28.

[Texas by God]

check your throat and barrel diameters.
you might have a 29 caliber not a 28.

Yes I will. I've only dry brushed it to take a look- I'm going to soak it in Hoppe's overnight then get the Sweet's after it. If the slug is tight all the way through the barrel- should I lap the barrel or wait and shoot it first?

[HangFireW8]

Never lap until you're sure it shoots poorly, or fouls badly. You're just adding to the wear and tear of the barrel.

[Texas by God]

Never lap until you're sure it shoots poorly, or fouls badly. You're just adding to the wear and tear of the barrel.

Thanks. I've done it to a 6.5 Arisaka and a 8mm Mauser and it just made them easier to clean. I'll clean it then slug it and see what's what.

[sghart3578]

I don't have the exact same rifle but I may have something similar.

Years ago (at least 25) I bought a BRNO VZ24 in 7X57 that was shipped to South America in the 30's. It had a terrible looking bore but shot pretty well.

Fast forward 20 years and I am looking in through my stuff for a winter project. I find the old rifle and decided that I would give it some attention.

I cleaned the bore with a home made electrolysis unit then scrubbed with JB bore paste. I slugged the bore and realized that I had a typical European sized 7mm bore. I bought a mold from NOE and size the boolits to .291".

It turned out to be a spectacular shooter. I bought an unfinished stock from Boyds and my son gave it seven coats of Tru Oil.

I am relaying this story to you because I don't think you should worry too much about the bore. With the right cast bullet it will be fine.

Attachment 178991

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product...a00nmais651hd0

Best of luck,


Steve in N CA

[Ben]

Very nice.
I love the stories where everyone lives happily ever after !

[runfiverun]

yep they are nice.
but not knowing you need a 291 boolit makes for a long miserable trek.

I had a beautiful long barrel 7 mauser that I couldn't get to shoot jacketed at 25 yds.
in frustration I traded it off, not even thinking about being able to use cast boolits in it.
all I knew back then was the lyman/rcbs line-up and standard sizes.
they worked great in many things but...

[sghart3578]

yep they are nice.
but not knowing you need a 291 boolit makes for a long miserable trek.

I had a beautiful long barrel 7 mauser that I couldn't get to shoot jacketed at 25 yds.
in frustration I traded it off, not even thinking about being able to use cast boolits in it.
all I knew back then was the lyman/rcbs line-up and standard sizes.
they worked great in many things but...

runfiverun,

You are absolutely correct. And the fact that I knew to use .291" bullets in it is a direct result of reading this forum and all of the information so generously shared here. Thank you all.


Steve in N CA

[Texas by God]

Thanks everyone. It's soaking in #9 as I type.

[Texas by God]

Well- with Federal Classic 175 rn it will group 5"/3shots. At 25 yards. I already have a .308"barrel laying around so I'm going to make the 30-30 bolt action I've always wanted. Call me stupid or wish me luck-or both!

[corbinace]

Five inches is pretty good compared to my Oveido with jacketed. Then sghart3578 turned me on to the NOE mold and the rifle has changed personality altogether.

Thanks again, Steve.

[Texas by God]

I considered that but I'm well into .30 cal casting and will be starting with a fresh barrel. 30-30 actually feeds from the magazine and a slight bolt face modification will complete the conversion. Best, Thomas.

[gnoahhh]

Now that's a conversion I would like to see when your done. Interesting.

[sghart3578]

Now that's a conversion I would like to see when your done. Interesting.

Me too!

[runfiverun]

me three [or 4?] I have a half built 98 and getting a 30 cal barrel wouldn't be all that hard.
[like I need another 30-30]
but a 98 shooting the 30-30 would be something a bit different.

[725]

I shoot an as cast .288 from NOE and it works just fine. Need more development work, but it's very promising.

[Texas by God]

Thanks for the encouraging words! I'll be updating as I go in The Barrel Works. Best, Thomas.

[hpdrifter]

I recently aquired a 1926 Oveido 1893 Spanish 7mm. Does anyone here have experience/insight on cast boolit use with these rifles? The bore looks decent for a 90 yr old rifle. All numbers match- can't tell about the bolt as the gun has been sporterized by a master grade bubba. It's actually pretty. Best, Thomas.

hey TbG. I can't take credit for the "Master Grade Bubba", but I did refinish the stock. I took a lot of wood off of it......and it still coulda used a bit more.

It might be just a larger bore than expected. I couldn't get any accuracy out of it either., but all I used was jacketed.

Hope the 30-30 conversion works for you.

[krallstar]

This info from an old group buy. Hope it helps. This is a Group Buy for the Badgeredd designed, 170 grn FNGC which will be produced by NOE. This design is for the milsurp 7x57's and commercial guns that their owners can verify one of the four size options will fit. This design is offered in four paired band/nose diameters as follows:

Option #1) .287" bands / .276" nose

Option #2) .289" bands / .278" nose

Option #3) .291" bands / .280" nose

Option #4) .293" bands / .282" nose

Click on the diagram to enlarge.


The skinny top grove just below the front band is not a crimp groove. It is a scraper/lube purge groove.

This design is meant to be lightly crimped on one of the drive bands. This works well when there is sufficient neck tension; that means the ideal sizing diameter will be .002" - .003" over groove diameter, no more than that is needed.

This boolit was designed to work best in Military Surplus rifles with throats that measure .300" to .725" in length. Long, worn out throats are not uncommon in Military Surplus Mausers chambered for the 7x57. Even guns that appear to have new, unfired replacement barrels exhibit throats that are over .300" in length. The throat of my 1908 Brazilian Mauser is .380" and this rifle looks to have never been fired after the last refurb at the depot. My 1893 Spanish Mauser produced by the Oviedo Arsenal in 1915 and reworked at least once since then has a .490" throat with a gorgeous, bright, sharp bore. There are also plenty of commercial rifles out there with long throats. If your rifle has a throat shorter that .300" understand that you will have some or all of the gas check protruding down past the neck. With crimp on gas checks (Hornady, Gator) there doesn't seem to be a problem here; but that is for each prospective buyer to decide.

Buyers must measure the throats of their rifles before committing to this Group Buy. This can be done with a pound slug, cerrosafe throat cast; or by the following quick & dirty method:

1) Measure the length of a casing and write that measurement down,
2) Insert a flat based jacketed bullet backward in the case,
3) Chamber that dummy round gently,
4) Extract the dummy round,
5) Measure the dummy round overall length now that the backwards jacketed bullet has been pushed further into the case.
6) Subtract the original casing length from the length of the dummy round. The result is your throat length.

Next, you must slug your barrel groove dimension. In Military Surplus Mausers brand new barrels seem to mostly run .286" to .288" in the grooves. But, there are exceptions even there. I have heard of grooves as fat as .291" so nobody should assume .287" for military or even .284" for commercial rifle grooves. My Ruger M77 MkII grooves slug at .285" and I have heard of commercial grooves slugging even fatter than .287"

Last of all, buyers should check their land height. This is best done with pin gauges. Start with the .276" diameter gauge. To do this insert the pin gauge at the muzzle. If it slips in over the lands it is too small. Insert the next higher pin gauge, and so on, until you get to the size that will not enter the bore. That is the minimum nose diameter that will ride on top of the lands properly. Just to be on the safe side here, insert the pin gauge into the chamber as well. Then gently tip the muzzle down so that it slides down into the throat. Basically you are making sure that the pin gauge doesn't slide down into the bore. Pull the bolt and use a flashlight to verify this. If it does slip down into the bore, gently push it out with a cleaning rod and try the next larger diameter, until you get a diameter that will not go down the bore. My 1893 Spanish Mauser suffers from this condition. So, I have to go to the next larger nose size option (above what the throat actually requires) to ensure the nose isn't flopping around or slumping as it starts into the bore. If the muzzle lands are worn down more than at the throat I would recommend that you go with the fatter diameter that the muzzle needs. So either way, go with the fatter nose diameter that is present at either end of the barrel.

Write that number down and check the four band/nose options listed above. Pick the nose diameter that is the closest to, but larger than the pin gauge diameter that would not enter your bore. Example, my Ruger M77 MkII accepts a .278" pin gauge, but will not accept a .279" pin gauge. That means I have to order option #3 (.280" nose) and size down to .288" on the drive bands for this rifle.