Israeli Mauser

[Joe S]

I recently purchased an Israeli mauser marked SWP 45. The bore is bright and shiny, but I have not been able to accurately measure the rifling twist. I am coming up with something in the neighborhood of 1-10" more or less. I have a large quantity of Ly310284 200gr cast bullets that I cast for an 03a3 that I no longer own. I would like to use them in the .308 Mauser. However, loading that bullet in this rifle results in the base of the bullet extending past the neck and down into the case to about the bottom of the taper. Would that present any problems? What twist do these rifles normally have and has anyone had any success shooting the 200gr Lyman cast bullet in the Israeli Mausers? Thanks! Joe S

[waksupi]

Welcome aboard, Joe.
Don't worry about the base of the bullet being down in the case. It will work fine. Is it seated out as far as it will go in the magazine, and still not contact the lands? As you know, the magazine length is generally the limiting factor on OAL for milsurps.
Your success will mostly depend on if the bullets are the size your barrel demands.
The Lyman 200gr. should be great in the .30 bore.

[Joe S]

Hi Waksupi,

Thanks for the reply. I have not checked to see if the magazine would be a problem, will do that tomorrow. I did try to chamber a cartridge with that Ly 311284 bullet and it would not chamber due to the nose hitting the lands , unless it was seated quite a bit into the case as I described above. That brings its overall lenght down to about the same as a cartridge with a 311291 bullet, so I did not anticipate a problem with the magazine. That particilar mold (311284) casts a bullet that fit my old 03a3 perfectly, with the lands lightly engraving the nose, but the bore on that rifle was a bit oversized, and I cannot seat that bullet into the lands on my new 03a3 or this Israeli. I was mainly concerned about the depth of the bullet seating, because I have read that it is preferred to seat a cast bullet no lower than the bottom of the neck. I never read what would happen if you exceeded that depth, and wanted to check into it before proceeding. I will give it a try. Thanks! Joe S

[Nelsdou44]

Joe,

In one of my Israeli's the barrel is 1 in 12 twist the best I can tell by counting the turns on my cleaning rod and a tight patch. The magazine was originally manufactured for the 8x57, so you shouldn't have any problem on length.

A while back I picked up some 190 grain Carroll boolits in .309. The OAL with these worked out to be 2.655" and shot OK with 26 grains of H4895. Never got back to that rifle to tune that combo any further. Let us hear what you come up with for that Ly310284.

Nels

[XBT]

Joe,
I agree with Waksupi on this. I regularly load both gas checked and plain base boolits seated well below the case neck with no problems at all.

[Larry Gibson]

Joe,
I agree with Waksupi on this. I regularly load both gas checked and plain base boolits seated well below the case neck with no problems at all.

I've also loaded cast bullets with the base (GC) below the case neck. I had mixed results. With faster powders I've had inaccuracy caused by riviting of the bullet base and damaged caused as illustrated in the article in Cast Bullet Supplements (NRA pub). Heavy, over size bullets (.311 in .308 bore) of softer alloy are particularly susceptable. With slower powders I haven't found the problem that much. I've found that best accuracy with any bullet always comes if the bullet is not below the case neck. However, acceptable accuracy can be found, only way to know is to try it.

Larry Gibson