What is this? .43 Spanish

[Hinnerk]

Not sure if this is the best forum for this question but here goes.

I found a set of .43 Spanish reloading dies at the flea market and there was something else in the box. It is stamped 437 and T. It has a tapered hole that seems to be .437" diameter at one end and .480" at the T end. Is this some kind of bullet sizing die? Anyone ever seen something like this?

214566214567

[toot]

most 43 SPANISH heads are .439 I be-leave. so .437 is not very far off if you paper patch.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
43 Spanish was a paper patched cartridge. .437-9 slugs being the going average of what we have measured.
The near pure lead slugs were wrapped to about a .442 diameter which easily "bumped up" to grooved diameter when kicked in the rear with about 75 grains of BP.
W have several. They all shoot well with a bare .444 40-1 cast sitting on a case full of Goex 3F. I would not hesitate to use it to hunt any critter. 350 - 450 grainers will settle the day real fast.

That "extra sizer" would make easy work of squeezing down most any .458 - .460 40-1 slug to a groove less .437 ready to get wrapped.
Mike in Peru

[marlinman93]

That is a bullet sizer and the T should indicate "top" where the bullet inserts.

[Hinnerk]

That is a bullet sizer and the T should indicate "top" where the bullet inserts.

That is what I was thinking. It looks homemade but there must have been some kind of pusher. Would this have fit into some kind of press?

There does seem to be wax inside the tapered hole.

[justashooter]

same principle as the pusher i made to re-size .452 bullets to .446 for 43 mauser.

[toot]

i push a .457 .405 GR. into a home made .439 sizer for my 43 SPANISH, works great. beats buying them.

[marlinman93]

They would usually sit over a raised cup that caught the bullet as it dropped out the bottom. A rod device threaded into the press would push the bullet down through the sizer. Similar to a Lee sizer, except down instead of up.

[texasnative46]

missionary5155,

SPOT ON, imo.

The old .43 Mauser is A KILLER on big game at "woods ranges" for sure.

yours, tex

[marlinman93]

missionary5155,

SPOT ON, imo.

The old .43 Mauser is A KILLER on big game at "woods ranges" for sure.

yours, tex

The .43 Mauser was developed by Remington Arms after they tried to sell the Rolling Block rifles in their own .44-77 Rem/Shps cartridge. Most of the old Rolling Block cartridges in .44 and .43 caliber were all slightly modified versions of the original .44-77 bottleneck.
The original cartridge .44-77BN was used for the US Creedmoor team to successfully win the 1874 Creedmoor matches in 800-1000 yd. targets. It's quite capable in the right hands to take game at farther than "woods ranges".

[Texas by God]

The .43 Mauser was developed by Remington Arms after they tried to sell the Rolling Block rifles in their own .44-77 Rem/Shps cartridge. Most of the old Rolling Block cartridges in .44 and .43 caliber were all slightly modified versions of the original .44-77 bottleneck.
The original cartridge .44-77BN was used for the US Creedmoor team to successfully win the 1874 Creedmoor matches in 800-1000 yd. targets. It's quite capable in the right hands to take game at farther than "woods ranges".
Don't you mean the .43 Spanish? I thought Mauser brought out the .43 Mauser in the 1871 single shot bolt action.

[marlinman93]

Don't you mean the .43 Spanish? I thought Mauser brought out the .43 Mauser in the 1871 single shot bolt action.

Yes, and it was still a rework of the .44-77SBN original. If you look at my post I was replying to Texasnative46 mention of the .43 Mauser. And yes the Rolling Block was chambered in numerous calibers, including the .43 Mauser, which is also called .43 Egyptian (11mm Egyptian), .43 Spanish; all based on the .44-77SBN. The .44-77SBN predates the 1871 by two years!

I use .43 Mauser brass resized in my Rolling Block in .44-77SBN. It's so close to the original .44-77SBN that it takes very little to make it fit.

[john.k]

Not surprising,because the Mauser bros. were originally tied up with Samuel Norris,Remingtons agent.

[marlinman93]

It was very common for makers to copy existing cartridges developed by other gun makers, or ammunition companies, and then put their slightly altered designs on the market under their own name. Sometimes they didn't even make any changes when they "stole" another company's design. Just added their name to the end of the cartridge, and it became theirs. Winchester was guiltier than almost any other company for doing this. But they were so wealthy and big that most companies didn't want to get tied up in a law suit with them.