43 Spanish

[bigted]

Guessing that this subject has been beaten to death but with all the information I have been a bit more cornfused.

Here is my dilemma ... MY Remington Rolling block is (or does not seem to be) normal. I have the .439 barrel but my chamber is not cut for that cal. My fireformed brass takes a .454 inch boolit and shoots them well but ... It still has the .439 barrel.

What do I have?

[trails4u]

I believe you have a 43 Reformado. Good info here:

http://www.militaryrifles.com/Spain/Ovid-Rem.htm

[bigted]

Sure sounds like this is the chamber i have ... BUT ... The rifle is a US made Remington with the rite wrist stamping.

That feature alone is what has got me confused i guess. It should be the .439 chamber by all i read but seems like it has been roached out in the neck for the reformado chamber.

All is well as i shoot soft lead boolits from a mold i had Tom at Accurate molds make for me ... It throws a 400ish grain round nose flat point at .454. Very nice mold and my old Remington eats it rite up.

Be nice if whomever reemed the chamber woulda marked the rifle as such for goobers like me to know for sure what we are playin with.

Thanks for th added info ... Hadnt read that un yet.

[marlinman93]

Sounds like it has been reworked. I'm surprised that a .439" bore would shoot a .454" bullet accurately, or accurately for long. I would think that it wouldn't take very many shots for accuracy to fall off with the huge disparity.

[salpal48]

The spanish Rechamber them to 11.5x57MM reformado. leaving The barrel as is. . It is a almost straight wall case. . . I have the same Rifle. You can use a 45 cal.452 . I found a 45 colt 250 gn .452 works well.
All were Re- Chambered By the Spanish Military

[bigted]

Good to know ... Finally I think it is sinking in ... Wheww ... Thought for awhile that me noggin just too thick to understand. Thanks for clearing this up.

[marlinman93]

If your bore slugs to .454" then I'd not use a .452" bullet. It will likely lead the bore up quickly. If you can find a hollow base bullet design, then you might get away with a slightly smaller bullet that will expand to seal the bore.
I have a .44 Long CF rifle and I use a Lee .446 hollow base bullet in it because it's slightly large and the bullet bumps up and seals well.

[trails4u]

Marlin;

His bore is .439...it's the chamber that has been modified to .454 for the Reformado. It's a strange duck, but there are a bunch of them out there.....

[marlinman93]

Marlin;

His bore is .439...it's the chamber that has been modified to .454 for the Reformado. It's a strange duck, but there are a bunch of them out there.....

Yes, but he said he's shooting .454" bullets in it. Way too large for a .439" bore.

First post:
"My fireformed brass takes a .454 inch boolit and shoots them well but ... It still has the .439 barrel."

[marlinman93]

Marlin;
His bore is .439...it's the chamber that has been modified to .454 for the Reformado. It's a strange duck, but there are a bunch of them out there.....
Yes, but he said he's shooting .454" bullets in it. Way too large for a .439" bore.
First post:
"My fireformed brass takes a .454 inch boolit and shoots them well but ... It still has the .439 barrel."
I was simply stating that "If" his bore was .454" a .452" bullet would be too small. An earlier post mentioned using .452" bullets in a .454" bore, so my reply was to that post. Should have quoted it.
But as I told him earlier the .454" bullet is much too large for the .439" bore, and I'm amazed it does shoot them with any accuracy.
My post:
"Sounds like it has been reworked. I'm surprised that a .439" bore would shoot a .454" bullet accurately, or accurately for long. I would think that it wouldn't take very many shots for accuracy to fall off with the huge disparity."

[missionary5155]

Howdy bigted
Are you shooting with BP or smokeless ?
If I am remembering right the original Reformado used a hollow base 400 (+-) grain slug of about .439 diameter. Was seated so the nose was entering the rifling. When the BP fired it expanded the base to seal the case / chamber but then the expanded rear swaged down easily to groove which is about .445.
Mike in Peru

[bigted]

it likes the pure lead .454 inch boolits. i spark it with a duplex load of IMR4227 below the main charge of 2Fg goex. it seems to do well and i have spent copious time studying the brass and primers to determine if any extra pressure is present. none in the least and the bore does not collect a copious amount of lead ...[just in the tiny pockets in the bore where it remained uncared for so many years ago]... that comes rite out with a tight patch soaked with ballistol/water. recoil is very tolerable and seems like the last load i spent time with were the 6 grain IMR 4227 followed with 55 grain GOEX 2Fg powder. this under the 400ish grain .454 inch accurate molds mold that Tom built for me.

so i have asked this question before ... concerning the big diff between bore/groove and chamber dia. ... do any of you shoot the .439 inch boolit in this setup with the reformado chamber [being the .454 inch neck inside the brass diameter] and the remaining .439 inch bore. if so how in the world do you keep lead from spraying up the bore past the boolit upon ignition till the boolit expands to the chamber then back down to proceed up the bore? not being antagonistic here ... just wanting to form an opinion on what to do with this ol hummer ... i have some ideas anyway that im toying with but do not want to jump too soon.