Lee PrecisionTitan ReloadingMidSouth Shooters SupplyWideners
Reloading EverythingRepackboxLoad DataInline Fabrication
RotoMetals2
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 40

Thread: What can .43 Spanish be made from?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    the south end of northern Virginia
    Posts
    1,121

    What can .43 Spanish be made from?

    I know this subject has probably been beaten to dust But... I just got a screaming deal on a military model Remington rolling block with a great bore and was thinking about putting it to work. What can .43 Spanish be made from that's not as expensive as Bertram cases. Will .348 Winchester or .50-90 sharps work I'm not worried about forming or trimming. I can get everything needed except brass Maybe I should have it bored out to .50-70 Govt.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    2,377
    Well if you aren't onto long range shooting then the 50/70 should be right up your alley. Get a faster twist barrel than the old times used to better stabilize those big bullets. Brass is available from starline so the quality is there. I have one of the swedish rolling blocks but undecided as to caliber.Was thinking of a carbine style with 22 or 24" long barrel in half octagon but cannot think about a caliber. Frank

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
    Bent Ramrod's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Southern Arizona
    Posts
    4,284
    The usual case to start with is the .348 Winchester. It generally has to be thinned near the base, and the rim diameter may need turning down, depending on the chamber.

    Then it needs neck expanding, forming in a .43 Spanish die, and trimming to length. The neck may need outside turning or reaming, as well.

    After making up 50 cases, you may wind up wondering how Bertram can sell theirs so cheap.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    East TN
    Posts
    1,264
    I recently noticed that Starline is offering 348 Winchester brass. Their pitch is a minimum quantity of 250 cases for a modest charge of $425.00! At that price you really want to be careful in forming your .43 Spanish. At that rate each "oops" you have will cost you $1.70 in penalty.

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master
    Mk42gunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Butler, MO
    Posts
    9,020
    I just looked at Track of the Wolf, they have .44-77 brass https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categ.../CASE-44-77-SH but it is $3.39 a piece. It should be a simple neck down.

    When I got my 1879 Argentine, I bought the reformed .348 brass from Buffalo Arms. It worked, but some of it needed to be sized farther to fit my chamber.

    .348 brass was readily available then so I bought a few bags thinking I would do the conversion myself, utter failure. The Lee dies that I have and the Pacific Super C press weren't strong enough to squeeze the base of the cartridge down far enough to chamber, I don't remember if I ever tried doing it once I got my Rockchucker or not.

    When I bought my rifle, the guy I talked to at TotW made a comment about most of the people there had the chambers reamed to use .348 brass. Not something I would do at least without clearly marking the gun.

    One of the biggest drawbacks to converting .348 Winchester brass to .43 Spanish is the need to increase the thickness of the rim from the normal 0.060"ish it comes as to about .090". That alone makes it worth waiting for Buffalo Arms to do another run of conversions, at least to me.

    Don't get me wrong, the .43 Spanish is a lot of fun to play with, but it isn't as cheap or easy as the .45-70.

    Robert

  6. #6
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    UPSTATE new york
    Posts
    1,722
    buy the ready made brass, at least one box, go shoot. I believe there a lot of peeps who use 45-70 as a donor case. it will head space on the shoulder after full throttle fire forming.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master AntiqueSledMan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    516
    Track of the Wolf also lists 43 Spanish available, CASE-43-SPANISH $3.39 ea.
    https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categ...ASE-43-SPANISH

    This is the way I'd go, AntiqueSledMan.

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy Remmy4477's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    267
    I played with a 1879 argentine in 43 spanish years ago.
    I had bell and Jamison brass. My problem it was only good for maybe 3 reloads if you were lucky then it would split towards the shoulder of the case. All my loads were black powder rounds.
    I got tired of replacing brass so it went down the road and was replaced with a rebarreled roller in 45-70 and have not looked back.

    A 50-70 would be a good one to think about! Not sure if theres enough meat in your barrel to have it rebored?

  9. #9
    In Remembrance



    curator's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Fort Myers, Florida
    Posts
    1,383
    With a mini-lathe you can turn down the .348's head diameter to chamber in your gun. Do a chamber cast so as to turn the least amount and not get the brass too thin. A simple .030 thick "O" ring will compensate for the .43 Spanish's .085-.090 rim thickness. Anneal the neck/shoulder area before fire-forming. I fire-formed my brass with 10 grains of Unique and a full case of Cream O' Wheat cereal held in place with a bee's wax wad. Once-fired .348 Win brass is often for sale for a lot less than $1 per case if you look around. I made 50 cases from .348 brass for my Argentine roller several years ago and they are still holding up after 20+ loadings with black powder. I do not resize these after firing just reprime, load and shoot. My #439186 Lyman mould drops slugs that measure .441" when cast of 50/50 COWW/plumber's lead. Unsized these are large enough to thumb seat and chamber in my rifle. .43 Spanish is do-able and not all that difficult. Bell, Jamison, and Bertram brass do not hold up well and often crack after 2 or 3 loadings despite their high cost. Buy, borrow, or steal: "Shooting the .43 Spanish Rolling Block" by Croft Barker (Cistern Publishing Company) It has a lot of good information that will guide you successfully without having to learn everything the hard way.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    New York, the empire State
    Posts
    1,595
    I found Track of the wolf will have the Best matching 43 spanish and 44/77 on the market. there brass matches original rifle with the thicker rims. all older remingtons have that rounded rim. .I purchase Bertram in the past and if you do not adjust your headspace for your Rifles they will not fire. Now if You have 1 rifle thats Fine but i have 6 different 43 spanish Tracks works in every one.
    NRA Endowment Member
    International Ammunition Association
    New York, the Empire State Where Empires were Won and Lost

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Prineville, Oregon
    Posts
    521
    Quote Originally Posted by AntiqueSledMan View Post
    Track of the Wolf also lists 43 Spanish available, CASE-43-SPANISH $3.39 ea.
    https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categ...ASE-43-SPANISH

    This is the way I'd go, AntiqueSledMan.
    Thanks for the link SledMan. I gave 'em and order.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Posts
    108
    Imade mine from 24ga brass shot shells.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master Drm50's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    SE Ohio
    Posts
    2,361
    I made 43 Span for RB out of 348win. I did turn some off cases toward the base. The form die I had
    was home made by some machinist and would start to dig into the brass, it had to be turned. I did
    nothing to rims because they fit and fired in the RB. The 348 brass was Remington 1x from old Red & Green Kleanbore box days. I only loaded 3 times but didn't loose any cases. I don't know how you would make 43 Span out of 45/70.

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy



    tucumcari_kid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Salt Lake City
    Posts
    134
    I would have to agree to probably buy the proper brass when it's available. 348 W brass is going to run you anywhere from 1.50/case (lucky!) to 3.00/case. I have some 43 spanish brass and some formed brass from 348. I didn't form the brass since I was able to buy the reformed stuff. I have a couple hundred 348 brass, but since I have a 71 Winchester, I am a little hesitant to use those. I think ultimately, since the 348 was designed to replace the 33 Win and 50-110 and all those rounds, I can imagine a 50-110 would have to be close as a base, but that's just me musing. The 33 Winchester is a bit short, but same rim as 348. The 50-110 is plenty long but a bit smaller rim diameter (.607).
    -Mike

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    South Jersey
    Posts
    6,314
    Hawkeye. There’s an old saying .... If you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler. I learned that with my RRB in 43 Spanish. Worse yet to get a German Schuetzen rifle capable to shoot. A caliber that went extent in 1900 after 20 years ... a box of 100 cases = $378. But there are only 3 known 9.5x47R rifle owners in the US
    Regards
    John

  16. #16
    Boolit Master brstevns's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    MO
    Posts
    3,338
    They can be made from the 264 wn mag, 7mm rem mag. 300 win and weathery mag. 375 H&H mag and even the 458 win mag to name just a few. All it takes is just a little work, but I enjoy making them.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    the south end of northern Virginia
    Posts
    1,121
    Well I solved the case problem by selling the .43 for double what I paid for it and got a BSA international MK1 with the funds. I have no problems modifying brass when a parent case is available but I wasn't about to put 750.00 into brass for a rifle that I had 160.00 in.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
    DonMountain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Mid-Missouri
    Posts
    1,159
    Quote Originally Posted by brstevns View Post
    They can be made from the 264 wn mag, 7mm rem mag. 300 win and weathery mag. 375 H&H mag and even the 458 win mag to name just a few. All it takes is just a little work, but I enjoy making them.
    Can you outline a procedure to do this for us?

  19. #19
    Boolit Master brstevns's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    MO
    Posts
    3,338
    Quote Originally Posted by DonMountain View Post
    Can you outline a procedure to do this for us?
    Belt needs to be removed, I use my drill press and a small file. If you have a lath this will be a fast job.
    Cut to a length just a little longer than need.
    Fire form with 10gr, Unqiue with cornmeal, gritts etc. over powder charge. Seal by pushing round into a bar or soap or a large candle to make a nice plug.
    Round will fall to far into chamber so you will need a small c clip or o ring to keep round in place, I use a small c clip placed in extractor groove.
    Fire form and trim to correct lenght , leave clip in place for extractor or use finger nail to remove brass. Case will headspace on shoulder, but your need the c clip so the extractor can pull brass from chamber , there are other ways to form a rim on the brass but the clip works for me.
    Anneal brass before loading live rounds or before fire forming brass
    Hope this was of help

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Eastern WY
    Posts
    1,957
    Long ago, one of the solutions I saw was to enlarge the chamber rim to accept the thicker wider .348 case, keeping the 43 Spanish chamber. The other solution is to reduce rim thickness and diameter of the .348 brass. The rim should be trimmed from the 'front' so primer pocket depth is not changed. I had a .43 Egyptian, cases were 'HARD TO FIND' (totally different dimensions). A company called Connecticut Cartridge Company (CCC headstamp) made many of the 'exotic' calibers in the 60's. Contract for 30 Carbine for Viet Nam ended availability of 'exotic' brass.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check