New poster with an I.G. 71

[wyowillys46]

Hey all,
I've been a lurker for a while an I've got to say this is one great site. I want to start casting paper patch bullets for my Mauser 71 that I got recently. My question is how much do 1:40 or 1:30 lead bullets shrink from mold diameter?I've read that softer lead shrinks more than hard lead, I just don't know how much. I need to know so I can order a mold.
Morgan Neelands
Wyoming

[Buckshot]

.............Hello Morgan, and welcome to the board. A great bunch of guys here. I have a M71 Mauser too. Boolit shrinkage is not a big concern, first off.

So I suppose you've slugged your barrel? Have you paper patched before? Do you know the largest boolit diameter you can chamber? Do you know that there are a couple suitable grease groove boolits avail from Lyman right now? In addition to a couple casting within a thou of normal 1871 Mauser groove diameters, the Lyman 459124 works just great too. This is a 45 cal rifle slug so it drops at .459 to .460".

It has deep LG's and sizes down to .451" just fine. Lube-size to .459", then run it up through a Lee .451" push through die. Voila'! A 43 Mauser boolit for the 1871 :-)

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

[45 2.1]

Lyman offers the 439186 mold. Cast with it useing pure lead or 50:1 lead/tin and patch with 9 lb paper (.002" thick). No sizing needed. It will shoot very well provided you get the patch engraved slightly into the throat.

[EchoSixMike]

Not a paper patched bullet, but I've been using RCBS 44-370 from 20:1 lubed with SPG from my 71/84 and getting 3" 5shot groups at 100yds with 35 gns of IMR 3031. I size to .448 and that seems to work quite well. I was tempted to try black at first, but smokeless has done so well that I've shelved that idea indefinately. S/F....Ken M