Kurachan
02-15-2009, 12:54 AM
As the owner of 1886 Mauser 71/84 in pretty decent condition, it was just begging me to be taken to the range, Shoot me!, Shoot me!, it said!!
For shootin’, we need ammo, so this is what I did. First a mould was made, this one is made out of an old Lyman .38 wc mould (at the suggestion of another member). It was turned into a nose pour with a base plug. Cast in pure lead, the boolits base measures about 0.430”, weighs 386gr and is tapered like an original. Because of the boolit taper, the patch is tricky, it’s now not a true shape… Patches are printed out on a laser printer using a CAD program so as to get the right shape and also so you can figure out which ’round it is before you start rollin’. As with any paper patch boolit, you have to decide which way to wrap them.... This proved counter intuitive and contrary to most information out there. I found they worked better (shot better) edge away from the direction of spin… Original Mauser boolits are wrapped this way too. Or at least they are in the pictures I have.
The paper is then licked (yes that’s right!) and rolled, nothing is done to the base until they are nearly dry. Then, the boolit is firmly pushed base first into a simple hand die that forms a kind of rosette. So far, so good. The paper is just plain 80gsm copy paper and the finished boolit is 0.446" at the base. This rifles barrel is about 0.432” in the bore and 0.447” in the groove and the chamber is revolver style with no step for the neck…
To the loadin’, Bertram brass, Remington primers, 69g worth of GoEx giving about 0.100” compression using a 0.020” over powder wad. Then an “Oreo” cookie of 0.040” card and 0.100” beeswax. Using a press mounted wad punch (0.447” dia.) and by feeding it alternately “two of cardboard” and “one” of wax, out the top came those little cookies! Into the case with those, and seat the boolits.
Off to the range! The pic is the first 5 shots (probably in 30 years) at 25 yards. One shot is standing, 4 off the bench. The 4 from the bench form the diamond. Since then, I have been improving and can get mostly black at 300 metres. Still to try, is Swiss powder, more or less compression, different paper etc. etc. There's plenty of paper confetti to be found out in front of the firing position, the occasional over powder wad, but I have yet find any cookie wads...
For shootin’, we need ammo, so this is what I did. First a mould was made, this one is made out of an old Lyman .38 wc mould (at the suggestion of another member). It was turned into a nose pour with a base plug. Cast in pure lead, the boolits base measures about 0.430”, weighs 386gr and is tapered like an original. Because of the boolit taper, the patch is tricky, it’s now not a true shape… Patches are printed out on a laser printer using a CAD program so as to get the right shape and also so you can figure out which ’round it is before you start rollin’. As with any paper patch boolit, you have to decide which way to wrap them.... This proved counter intuitive and contrary to most information out there. I found they worked better (shot better) edge away from the direction of spin… Original Mauser boolits are wrapped this way too. Or at least they are in the pictures I have.
The paper is then licked (yes that’s right!) and rolled, nothing is done to the base until they are nearly dry. Then, the boolit is firmly pushed base first into a simple hand die that forms a kind of rosette. So far, so good. The paper is just plain 80gsm copy paper and the finished boolit is 0.446" at the base. This rifles barrel is about 0.432” in the bore and 0.447” in the groove and the chamber is revolver style with no step for the neck…
To the loadin’, Bertram brass, Remington primers, 69g worth of GoEx giving about 0.100” compression using a 0.020” over powder wad. Then an “Oreo” cookie of 0.040” card and 0.100” beeswax. Using a press mounted wad punch (0.447” dia.) and by feeding it alternately “two of cardboard” and “one” of wax, out the top came those little cookies! Into the case with those, and seat the boolits.
Off to the range! The pic is the first 5 shots (probably in 30 years) at 25 yards. One shot is standing, 4 off the bench. The 4 from the bench form the diamond. Since then, I have been improving and can get mostly black at 300 metres. Still to try, is Swiss powder, more or less compression, different paper etc. etc. There's plenty of paper confetti to be found out in front of the firing position, the occasional over powder wad, but I have yet find any cookie wads...