43 Spanish RB

[rikkit]

Well I had at one time swore off of rifles chambered in out-dated military rounds, BUT
I was made an offer I couldn't retuse, so a 43 Spanish is going to follow me home next week. Wood is typical, solid but not at all attratve. The bore looks as though it had passed from the Armory last week, bright, and with sharp lands and grooves, the kicker is it will come with 125 pieces of brass. I have not had the chance to slug the bore yet, but I thought I would get this post up to see if any of you other Milsurp junkies have any cast loads worked up for this caliber. Any advice would be greatly appreciated . TIA

[Mk42gunner]

It has been a few years since I shot mine. The only loads I have used in mine were the lyman 439186 and a casefull of Goex 2F. The next time I am gooing to try some comparisons with a Rapine 439702, I haven't cast any with this mold yet, but the nose looks larger.
Be sure you have some extra shell holders on hand, I remember breaking three or four of the Lee's. I was using reformed 348 Win brass from Buffalo Arms.

Good Luck,

Robert

[longhorn]

Just noticed that Croft Barker has written a book on shooting the .43-ad in SPG's BPCR Journal. Might google Croft Barker-the publisher is in Flatonia, Texas. (And, yes, there is such a place-been there.)

[Buckshot]

.................I have an Argentine 1879 contract Rem RB, below:

http://www.fototime.com/7CD7CAD02940F78/standard.jpg

The bayonet for it is just above it. Put'em together and they're about 7 feet long! For load data I basicly used that for the Trapdoor Springfield. That's what Lee shows for their loads in their manual.

http://www.fototime.com/14622A982A0BAF6/standard.jpg

I have both the RCBS and the Lyman moulds for it and also had Mountain Moulds make the one above. It's 425grs. I wanted all those lube grooves in case I decided to try loading BP so I could supply lots of lube! You can also use the Bullets designed for the .43 Mauser as they're .446" and so you just size it down. It's a 340gr slug.

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

[Bull Schmitt]

You should slug the bore to check its size. Some of these rolling blocks have barrels made for .439 bullets while others are made for .446 bullets. Let us know how it shoots and what bullet(s) you try.

[NickSS]

I loaded for a 43 Rolling block mostly with black powder and the Lyman bullet. I shot the bullets as cast as I did not bother to get a sizing die. As I recall it was a good shooter. Mine was an Argentine roller and was quite accurate.