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Does anyone shoot lead bullets in their Vetterli/Vitali? I have seen many of these old monsters on youtube and they look anywhere from cool to ridiculous. Evidently they were refitted for rear echelon use and not meant to be used by front line troops. There are lots of warnings about conditions that vary considerably from one gun to another. I was thinking even if I didn't shoot it; it would look really cool above the fireplace.................
I was given one of these old rifles a while back. It looks to have had the 6.5 conversion done but the bolt and magazine have been rendered useless by the previous owner. It was a wall hanger in an antique shop for years. The old fella that owned the shop shellacked the wood and quite a bit of the metal along with it. It’s like a Maaco paint job: looks fine from 20 yards away!
I had a Vetterli with 6.5 conv.
I never shot it.
watching this Youtube and reading the comments, I'm glad I never took on the project to cast for it, as it sounds they are typical for crummy action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M2ZgPtCsqw
I bought one a few years ago for cheap money ($130). It literally came off a wall before it went to the store. I patched up the holes from the rod that went through it to hang it on. I got a set of dies (6.5 Carcano), cast bullets (not sure what size I used), and loaded up a few with 8.5 grs Unique. Actually, it shot well.
Mine is still in the original 41 caliber. I think the brass is a tad longer than the 41 Swiss Vetterli, and I will shoot cast in it soon.
I have one in the original chambering. I get very good accuracy using the 429421 at .425", cast of pure lead, with 12gr Unique and a standard rifle primer. Average velocity from that really long barrel is 1,422 ft per second. I really, really did not want to spend hundreds of dollars on a set of custom dies, so I use a set of the cheap 41 Swiss dies made by Lee for crimping the bullet. However, I seat the bullet with a 45-75 seating die. I realize most people don't have one of these lying around, so you may have to experiment with other dies to see what you can do. The good news is that the brass doesn't need to be resized.Attachment 281345
I too have one and placed in 1 of the top 3 positions, but usually taking 1st or 2nd, all Winter long in my Club's 50 & 100-yard 'milsurp' only shoots. Like Hornady308, I too use Lee Swiss 41 Vetterli dies to load it.
My bore is 0.429" so I had some cast 44Mag boollits at 0.430" on hand, but due to the original heeled boolit design, with the added case neck thickness ... they would not chamber. Using a friend's trick, who loads for a Swiss Vetterli, I sized them down to 0.426" and they work perfectly! I too NEVER need to size the cases and shot 20-40 shots each weekend.
I had better luck with 16.6-grains of Alliant 2400 and shot an incredible (witnessed) 3" group with it offhand one day at 100-yards. Let's just say that with a 150-year old rifle ... that the Capt of our Club's rifle team asked me to join his squad! I have not duplicated or bettered that feat ... yet. I also tried SR-4759, expecting good results, but they were 'meh' ...
To start out, I put a dental elastic ahead of the rim and fire-formed the cases to fit the chamber perfectly. Now I just decap, add a new primer, add powdah, seat/crimp (lightly!) boolit and go shootin'! As a bonus, I only paid $200 for it, toot schweet!
Next up ... some black powdah loads for it!
FYI, I used the modified 8mm Lebel cases from Buffalo Arms.
Lefty, that Powdah comment caught my eye. Just how far northeast is northeast for you?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lefty223
Mark ... you know me from the Club where Fred shoots ...