41 Swiss Bullets

[birddog58]

I am new to reloading and new to the forum and may have bit off more than I can chew reloading for my M78 Vetterli. I just slugged my barrel and came out to .417 and .405 at the groove, after reading what other barrels slugged at (from .425 to .431) I slugged it again and came with the same measurement. Has anyone out there heard of barrels this tight and if so what bullets are they using. I Beartooth has .418 335grains would these work. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks

[prs]

My son-in-law has several of those fine old rifles. His slug-out all over the lace too, but none as small as yours. Sounds like you found your boolit with that .418". With soft alloy, a tight barrel, within reason, is not such an issue so long as the round chambers.

prs

[mtnman31]

Yep, mine is about the same at .419". It isn't easy to find appropriate molds.

[aap2]

Birddog: My M78 Vetterli measures .4355 groove to groove, which is on the large side. I ordered a Buffalo Arms Vetterli mould that casts a .436 boolit. but while I'm waiting for them to make it, I loaded up a bunch of 320gr Beartooth .432 boolits and was surprized that they actually shoot quite well despite being "undersize" by about .004". Good accuracy (12.5gr Trailboss). no leading and no other problems. Brass formed from 8mm Lebel. I believe (as some posted previously) that the tall, wide lands displaces a lot of lead and you can get away with boollits that are undersize without going to a hollow base design. I would try the .418 boolit in your .417 bore, it might be perfect. And if it's a GC design, all the better..helps to seal the bore (mine did). Best of luck.

[The Virginian]

Does anyone sell already formed brass? How are the Lee dies for this cartridge? Can .44 magnum .430" sized bullets work well in this gun?

[runfiverun]

430 to 417 is gonna make a longer thinner boolit.
there are 418 molds to be had.
http://www.accuratemolds.com/catalog.php?page=6
here are some that are available,and they can be modified to suit your application.
click on the picture of the boolit to see some drawings and measurements.

[The Virginian]

Has anyone used the 44 magnum bullets in the 300 grain range in this cartridge and are there any other parent cases besides 8mm Lebel or 348 Winchester that can be used to make brass?

[Spector]

I use the 300 grain Lee RF-GCed boolit and WIN 348 cases.................Mike