Swiss 96/11

[jonk]

Well now this is odd...

I have a Swiss 1889 and a Swiss 1911. Both have rather generous throats that accept the Lee 200 gr 309 bullet quite nicely and still leave the base in the neck of the case. And it shoots well out of them too.

My K31 with its short throat is another story and I've never really used much cast in it because of the short throat.

So I get a 96/11. Should have a long throat like the other long old swiss guns right? Nope. Very short.

Go figure.

Will try some 150 gr bullets and see how they seat.

[Bob S]

Jon,

I have a 96/11 that won't chamber any of the ammuntion with "heavy" cast bullets that I load for my other 1911-types. It has a groove diameter of .3060" (seriously), and examination of the throat with a borrowed borescope indicated that it had not been fired much, if at all. It has the "illusion" of a short throat, but the leade and taper are the same as the other 1911's, just "tighter". It's nowhere near a "K31 throat". The beauty of it is, it's a tack driver with both cast and jackets, but it needs individual attention to make the loads work. I'll bet your rifle will be the same way.

Resp'y,
Bob S.

P.S. Which one are you bringing to Perry this year??

[jonk]

Bob,

Thanks for the info. I should just get off my lazy butt and make a cerrosafe cast of the chamber and first 1/4" of rifling or so and know exactly what I'm working with.

What for Perry this year? That's a good question. I've done the Swiss a few times, Mausers a few times, a Mosin once... might do an Enfield No 4 or P14 Enfield this year. Gotta play around a bit. If I can't settle on anything else before then, probably my Gew 1911 or a particularly good shooting 98k. How about you?