12.7x44R from 8mm lebel

[Brett Ross]

OK, I have recently purchased a Swedish rolling block in 12.7x44R and gathering things to star forming and loading for it. Found most of what I need but .348 Winchester brass seam to be unavailable at this time. I took a Lebel case and it looks to be a good fit. Question is, has anyone out there tried forming lebel brass for their Swede.
Tony

[Gar]

I started with .348 Win brass but have switched to using 8mm Lebel. The Lebel brass has a larger rim and fits my RB better than the .348.
It's an easy conversion, I just trim the Lebel brass to length, run it through a a FL sizing die without the expander and fire-form the case.

[Brett Ross]

I reassembled the rifle last night and it appeared as it was workable. I had some concern the brass may end up a bit thin after expanding that far but good to hear it is working for you. My plan was to do it in two steps. Step one fire form in my Vetterli, re-anneal and fire form for the Swead. My thought on this was to prevent split brass but if you are having no issues, I will likely skip step one.
Tony

[Gar]

I forgot to mention, I anneal the cases after I run them through the sizing die and before I fire form them.
I think I've only lost one case from splitting and that was due to a bad cut when I trimmed it.

[Brett Ross]

Tried 4 in one step last night. Annealed, loaded with 12.5 G of Red Dot, filled with corm meal and topped with a wax plug, results were mixed. One split and the other formed but unevenly.

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I may of not annealed them soft enough. I will re-anneal these 3 and form again to get better fill out. I have 5 more cut and anealed that I will try forming in my Vetterli first- re-anneal and form in the Swead. I will post the results.
Tony

[Gar]

I use 10 grains of Unique, an over powder card wad and I compact the COW and use a wax plug. Yes, sometimes they do not form completely. My worst ones will look like the one in your picture on the right. I found a lite load of SR4759 (don't have my reloading notes in front of me) and a 350 grain bullet will finish the forming just find.
I assume your Vetterli is a .41 Swiss??
I use the 8mm Lebel brass for that also, 10 grains of Unique and the COW filler blows those out every time.

[Brett Ross]

Well I re-fire formed the three un-split cases and the still have a waist but are loadable. My next step is to load these three with 12G of unique under the Lee 450G .515 boolit , I will size to .510. If all goes well I will start working on forming more cases. This is the Rifle they will be shot from.
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Tony

[Gar]

Good looking RB, did you refinish the wood? Look purtty!

[Brett Ross]

No, just a bunch of hand rubbing with BOL.
Shot the thee I had formed and hit a gal jug with all three shots at about 30 yds. I did the initial forming of 5 more in the .41 Swiss. They look good I will re-anneal and finish up in the 12.7x44r. I will post pics when done, along with the reloaded rounds. I would like to find a piece of 50 Alaskan to try. I may post in the wanted section. I think it may work better in mine and be less of a hassle.
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Tony

[Gar]

The 50 Alaskan should work just by trimming to length and running them through the sizing die. I haven't tried it, I can't bring myself to buy the brass at buck plus a case.
Like me know how they work out.

[Brett Ross]

Ok the two step process worked better for me, all formed more uniformed and no spits.139344

OK now to re-anneal and load up shoot, then time to go into production.
Tony

[skeettx]

Why not use 50-70 brass??

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/941127246/starline-reloading-brass-50-70-government

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW6MQfhGfMM (http://www.midwayusa.com/product/941127246/starline-reloading-brass-50-70-government)

[enfield]

50-70 brass is easier, but if you do use 348 brass you could anneal after cutting the neck off, expand with the Lee expander some, anneal again, expand with something larger, anneal etc. until you get close to .50" I think trying to fireform in one go is asking for wasted cases. I have 348, Lebel and 50-70, some of the chambers in my 12mm will only take the 348 and I have to index them as well.

[Brett Ross]

In reading my understanding was you need to turn the head down on the 50-70 along with the case at the base, but it seams like the 50 Alaskan it will work in some with less modification. I do have some 59-90 cases I use to form Beunomt cases from but they appear to be .020 bigger at the base. I will have to try to find a 50-70 to check fit, I would hate to buy 50 cases to find they don't.
Tony

[Brett Ross]

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The five on the left were formed in the 2 step process and this is the first time loaded with boolits. The 3 on the right were formed in a single step and this is the second time loaded with boolits. The two step fire forming process, while a bit more time consuming, has yielded better brass for me. I'm still on the hunt for 50-70 and 50 Alaskan to see if they will work in my rifle but for now this is working, if not a bit tedious.
Tony

[Brett Ross]

I was able to get out to test some rounds at 100 yds Saturday. Loads were Lee 450G, sized .510, Ben's red finished with Ben's LL over 12GR Unique. All shots taken from the bench with no rest other than elbows. First 3 were high off the target but after I fingered out the sight picture the rest were on target.
Tony
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[enfield]

are they keyholing ? or is there 2 rounds in every hole ? that boollit and .510 size are what I use. The guns are capable of shooting quite well but those original sites are pretty crude to look through. you should gear up a simple peep sight just to see what it can do.

[Brett Ross]

Enfield, I don't think they are keyholing. Looking closer at the target I believe their are 6 holes, two pair touching and two more not.
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[Ed in North Texas]

. I would like to find a piece of 50 Alaskan to try. I may post in the wanted section. I think it may work better in mine and be less of a hassle.
Tony

I've been informed that not all Swede RBs will chamber the trimmed .50 Alaskan. Mine does and the heavier case should last forever in loads appropriate for the old RBs.

I'd send you a case, but I'm doing my reverse snow-bird routine for the summer and won't be home to get one until September. Yes, the .50 Alaskan are expensive, but if the case fits there is only a bit of trimming needed for "case forming".