Finally shot my 71/84 Mauser!

[Nightshift82]

I finally got around to loading and shooting my 1888 71/84 Mauser. I was quite impressed with what she did (and not blow up on me).
Loaded up 20 rounds with 370 grain rcbs FN lived with lbt blue sized to .447 (bought from Montana bullet works). 28.5 grains of imr 4198.

The group is at 100 yards. Had to aim at the bottom of the paper.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170418/a0805ab37d8cf11d5c57b9a11a7dd6dd.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170418/d87ed7476befe5c9f12edefe29b28fad.jpg

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[Der Gebirgsjager]

Great gun and great shooting. The old lion roars again!

[dogmower]

going to do the same thing tomorrow! I loaded 20 with the lyman 446 mold (forget the number). came out 447 with my pc and 350 grains. used 30 grains imr4198.
my question is: how did you configure your cases? I found that my 71/84 (commercial carbine) would NOT chamber any brass over 2.25 inches. I cut down some 45-90 and used 45-70 that I had on hand. lathe turned the rims to .585 and they cycle just fine.
let me know about your brass and chamber dimensions if you can. I think mine is actually chambered for 43 Spanish, which would be interesting. it's all numbers matching, and I've never heard of the 71/84 in that caliber.
anyone out there have any information?

[Nightshift82]

I took the plunge and bought a quite expensive box of Bertram brass for mine. I just reloaded my brass a few days ago with the Lee FL die set. My case length is 2.355 oal is 3.02. My rims are .590.
I can get you measurements of my brass after I fire these rounds again.

I am trying out 12.5 grains of trail boss in these next 20 rounds too.

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[Buckshot]

............I sold my M71/84 as it was a cut down infantry rifle, and was pretty much a sporter length rifle.

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

However I still have a M71 Mauser (above) 2nd from the top. My 1871 has a .451" groove as is common. Dunno why the Germans took a .005" reduction in groove diameter when they went to the M71/84. I use the Lyman 457121, which is a 475gr slug dropping at .452". At the first NCBS at Topaz Lake NV, I could hit a 1x1 foot plate at 600 yards just about every time in a howling wind :-) That is, once I found out where to hold :-)

http://www.fototime.com/F391EA10AFB5A03/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/F4FE29F490676A1/standard.jpg

They're a magnificent piece of shooting machinery.

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

[Gewehr-Guy]

Nightshift82,nice rifle and great shooting. If you can find a front sight from a YugoVZ-24 it should bring your groups down into the center of a 6in. bullseye at 100yrds, works on my rifle anyway. It measures around .250 and you can file down to match your load. Your 4198 load is a good one for me , also try Reloader 7 at 27.5gr, my favorite. In 2015 at the CBA Military Nationals match I shot next to Mike from Minnesota, he shot a 71/84 and taught me a lot about it.

[Nightshift82]

Awesome! Mine just has a mismatched bolt, and missing the key lock screw. Anyone know the size I would need to replace it?

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[pworley1]

I use the lyman bullet and about the same load you used. I have to put up2 targets, one right above the other. I aim at the bottom one and hit the top one. Very nice rifle. Enjoy.

[35wailin]

It's nice to see those old girls shooting again. I inherited a K-71 a few years ago. It is all matching, except it has been sporterized. I bought some Bertram brass and have loaded up some bullets for the 43 Spanish over black powder just to get it shooting. It is all over the place, but that is expected with undersized and probably fairly hard bullets. I plan to paper patch the rest of the bullets up to about .452/.453" and try her again.

They are a blast to shoot with black powder, but a pain to clean up afterwards.

If anyone is on FB, i have a group dedicated to these old rifles.

[Nightshift82]

What's the group name?

I am totally hit by the bug of these old rifles, they are so fascinating. I have a Swiss vetterli and a Dutch Beaumont on the way from gunbroker now. It's really something how my firearms taste has gone backwards in time.

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[iron brigade]

I just bought a 71/84 myself. Also bought the same Rcbs mold. Going to try forming and reloading 45-90 brass. Annealed the brass tonight, now if the gun would get here.

I will be shooting smokeless as well. Should be fun. Nice shooting by the way.

[Jeffjmr]

Nice group for that distance and iron sights. You have set a bar for me to reach!

I annealed the shoulders and necks of the few pieces of CIL brass I was able to scrounge up and I am glad I did because the Lyman dies WAY Over sized them. They don't form the shoulder properly for my gun either. Now I only run them through the M die using up to 19.5 grains Trail Boss so far. No issues, they rechamber easily and I am hardly working the valuable brass at all. I know others are using 20 grains of Trail Boss and I'll try that next outing. I am using the Lyman 446110 340 grain bullet.

Tons of fun to shoot. Enjoy!

Jeff

[Nightshift82]

20 grains of trail boss? Am I really too light with 12.5?

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[Reverend Al]

I have a full military 71/84 repeater and a slightly sporterized model 71 single shot and they are both fun to shoot. My 71/84 shoots well with SR4759 although about a foot high to the sights. Another "back burner" project I have to get around to finishing is re-forming some belted magnum cases into "shooter" brass for the .43 Mauser since Bertram's prices have gone out of the roof in the past year or two. I started re-forming some .300 Win Mag brass and have it about 1/2 way done. Looks like it might work out just fine for inexpensive "shooter" brass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0E_Hly-uE0

[Ballistics in Scotland]

A belted magnum case should work well if you care to turn down the belt, and if the rim is wide enough for reliable extraction. An alternative for brass would be the current 6.5x68R, which from RWS is about as durable as brass gets, and cheaper than Bertram prices. The head diameter is given as .520, but some I used to make 7.7x60R measures .518in.

[iron brigade]

.458 Winchester magnum brass will work. Need to turn the belt off and then fl size.

I have read of using a 308 and a 45 acp dies to neck size. I have both and will try it.

[Texas by God]

I want one.

[dogmower]

got out to shoot my new (to me) 43 mauser carbine, and it's actually a 43 Spanish chamber, but the bolt head is .586 diameter (43 mauser). no worries. used a mix of 45-70 and 43 Spanish brass with the rims turned to .586 on the lathe and beveled for the extractor. load post above - 30 grains imr4198 over lyman 446 boolit, 350 grains. shot to point of aim at 200 meters, with groups of about 10 inches. as with all milsurp rifles of this type, the sights, not the rifle itself, is the rate limiting factor in terms of accuracy. the good news is that ALL of the 45-70 brass fireformed nicely to the chamber without one split case. if someone has a true 43 mauser chambering, could use 45-90 cases just as well. the base diameter of the 45-90 (and 45-70) is .505 while the 43 mauser (and 43 Spanish) is .516. I thought that'd be too much, but so far, so good. just neat to shoot a rifle originally made in 1871 and hit a small chest-sized target at 200meters.

[Jeffjmr]

20 grains of trail boss? Am I really too light with 12.5?

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You are using a heavier bullet than I am, 370 vs. 340, so 12.5 might be an OK starting point. The rule of thumb for TB is start at 70% of case capacity and work up from there, being sure to NEVER compress. I have seen folks report 20 grains with no issues from two different sources. I can say with certainty that 19.5 grains with my 340 grain cast show no signs of pressure, including the ability to rechamber the fired round easily, which allows me to continue to neck expand only to reload. No sizing necessary.

I am loading 20 grains my next outing and I am pretty sure that will be the max because that will bring the powder right up to the base of the bullet. With the 370 bullet you would likely not be able to safely load 20 grains of TB. Place your bullet next to your neck where you would likely seat it and be sure to not have powder above the base of the bullet.

Jeff

[Gunfreak25]

I have a 71/84 too and just ordered some 45-90 brass to form. I am having a custom base forming die machined on a lathe to use with my shop press to swage the bases of the 45-90 to the Mauser A Base beveled rim. In theory it should work, might have to ream out the primer pockets when finished. My dies just arrived today and next is a nice mold. Accurate makes a .433 smooth sided paper patched bullet with a flat nose that is 350 grains and is what I will be using, since I like to paper patch. My patch material is 100% cotton rag vellum which adds .012 so that'll give me within a .001 of the .446 size needed for the Mauser.

What is the Facebook group you have for these rifles? I am on the Martini Henry page and Nepal Cache collectors myself. Always loved the 71/84 ever since I restored one from a parts gun when I was 17. I am 26 now and built this one from a parts gun too albeit more complete and in better condition. Just scored an original mag tube off ebay to finish it off.

[Ken in Iowa]

I have a 71/84 too and just ordered some 45-90 brass to form. I am having a custom base forming die machined on a lathe to use with my shop press to swage the bases of the 45-90 to the Mauser A Base beveled rim. In theory it should work, might have to ream out the primer pockets when finished. My dies just arrived today and next is a nice mold. Accurate makes a .433 smooth sided paper patched bullet with a flat nose that is 350 grains and is what I will be using, since I like to paper patch. My patch material is 100% cotton rag vellum which adds .012 so that'll give me within a .001 of the .446 size needed for the Mauser.

What is the Facebook group you have for these rifles? I am on the Martini Henry page and Nepal Cache collectors myself. Always loved the 71/84 ever since I restored one from a parts gun when I was 17. I am 26 now and built this one from a parts gun too albeit more complete and in better condition. Just scored an original mag tube off ebay to finish it off.
Where can we see pics of the finished product Gunfreak 25?

[iron brigade]

Took my 71/84 out yesterday. Rifle shot a foot high and slightly left. Load: 26 grains of Imr 4198. Rcbs 44-370. Drops at 393 grains. 3.5" 5 shot group at 100 yards. 4 were in 2 inches.

I used 45-90 brass, and fl sized then trimmed. Rims had to be turned down a bit to fit bolt face. Primers backed out halfway. That is to be understood because of the difference in the rims.
Upon reloading the cases back up, I discovered I could use a 45 acp carbide sizing die to neck size the case. Works great. Thought I would pass along this info to those working with these neat old rifles.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

That's good to know information. Thanks, iron brigade.

[Gewehr-Guy]

Iron Brigade, I also had had your problem with excessive headspace with 45-90 brass,having misfires with shallow F-pin strikes. I clamped a steel rod in a vice, slid the case over it and used a small brass hammer to tap around the rim turning it downward , thereby increasing rim headspace. It worked well so I later made a simple little die to do all my cases. I never thought to use .45 die, a good idea as my Lee set of dies are kind of hard on my brass.

[iron brigade]

What a great idea, could you make me one of those dies? I would gladly pay you for it.

[Gunfreak25]

Where can we see pics of the finished product Gunfreak 25?

I will be making a new thread here when the base forming die for the brass gets here, I will post pictures of how to convert the 45-90 over to 43 Mauser using the die and of course where to buy the die from if he wants to make more for others. I'll put some pics of the rifle up too of course, and eventually a range report.

[Peregrine]

I will be making a new thread here when the base forming die for the brass gets here, I will post pictures of how to convert the 45-90 over to 43 Mauser using the die and of course where to buy the die from if he wants to make more for others. I'll put some pics of the rifle up too of course, and eventually a range report.

Please do, i'll be watching for it.

[Gunfreak25]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?333847-Coming-soon-How-to-form-45-90-into-43-Mauser&p=4035505#post4035505

[17nut]

Iron Brigade, I also had had your problem with excessive headspace with 45-90 brass,having misfires with shallow F-pin strikes. I clamped a steel rod in a vice, slid the case over it and used a small brass hammer to tap around the rim turning it downward , thereby increasing rim headspace. It worked well so I later made a simple little die to do all my cases. I never thought to use .45 die, a good idea as my Lee set of dies are kind of hard on my brass.

I just slid an O-ring in front of the rim the first time i fired my cases and has had no problems with headspace and/or primers backing out. That way the shoulder moves forward to where the case lies against the bolt. Then again sizing/forming the case the first time you could just size short and check until the case will barely ckamber and call that your sizing deapth.