First deer with 9 X 71 Peterlongo!

[sharps4590]

About 8:30 this morning a button buck kept acting too stupid to leave in the gene pool so he's in the refrig. because it's too warm to let him hang. RCBS 35-200, ran through a .360 die, gas checked, about 12 BHN over 42 grs. of IMR-4064 for a little over 1900 fps. Deer was quartering away about 60 yards and the bullet took it about 3 inches in front of the left ham about 1/3 down from the top of the deer and exiting, taking out the 8th and 9th rib on the left side leaving an approximately 1 1/2 inch exit hole. Deer flailed maybe 15 yards and piled up. Dead when I got to it. Meat on the left shoulder was a lot more bloodshot than I expected.

The 9 X 71 Peterlongo cartridge is a proprietary cartridge of Johann Peterlongo of Innsbruck, Austria and was developed about 1917-18. The rifle is a Peterlongo on a 98 Mauser and gorgeous. Typical for top of the line Austrian work. I have pushed 200 gr. jacketed loads to close to 2900 fps with no pressure signs. No loading data is extant to my knowledge. I don't honestly know what the cartridge is capable of but it's a dandy!!

Pictures to come!

[missionary5155]

Good afternoon and Congratulations !
Thank you for the good write up and details. Sitting in the bushes with a fine rifle makes it a very special day to remember.
I also admire those 100+ year or so European rifles made in shops by hand labor that spared no flawless craftsman work with files and rasps and polishing. Middle and upper class southern German and Austrian hunters were well supplied with beautiful specimens of hunting hardware.

[badguybuster]

200 grains at 2900fps.......thats 300 Win Mag territory. Impressive

[sharps4590]

Thank you sir! Indeed thy were missionary, indeed they were!! I've expended some treasure in acquiring such pieces, hunting, Schuetzen and target. Elegant and exquisite are words that come to mind. One hasn't experienced a perfect trigger until he's used a Schuetzen rifle, 4 lever set trigger.

badguy, with a 250 gr. bullet I believe it's a better cartridge than the 318 Rigby....if my memory hasn't completely failed me. I didn't work the 250 gr. bullet as much as the 200. Not a lot of need for it in Missouri. It is 8mm longer than the 35 Whelen.

[NEKVT]

Nice deer load. Got my first buck with 356Win Model 1894 Big Bore 20" barrel with same bullet and 41.5gr 4064 at 1950fps. Mine was hardcast so minimum meat loss. Basically same load as the proven 35 Rem.

[Beerd]

Very good!

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Pictures to come!

we've seen lots of dead deer but never a Peterlongo.
..

[Mk42gunner]

Very good!



we've seen lots of dead deer but never a Peterlongo.
..

Yes, details of the cartridge please.

Robert

[bruce drake]

Very nice. I'd start with calling it an 8mm-06 (8x63) on steroids as well.

[sharps4590]

Very good!



we've seen lots of dead deer but never a Peterlongo.
..

lol!! Yeah, ain't that the truth and, probably more button bucks than we care to see. Here's the rifle...



The cartridge I had to form from the 9.3 X 74R. First thing was to turn off the rim then re-cut the extractor. Then size in a 9 X 71 Peterlong die, trim, fire form, trim again. As there is no data extant I had to work it up from scratch. I don't remember from where I calculated a starting load but I worked it up and down until I found a jacketed load I was satisfied with. From there it was easier to come up with a cast load.

I need to get to church but I think I have a picture of the cartridge. Oh, my work up is in Cartridges of the World, post 17th edition. I think there was a break down in communication because I think I remember Todd's write up not being what I did.

[444ttd]

what time is supper?

good eating!!!! very nice gun!!!!!!!

[Beerd]

beautiful rifle!!
thank you for keeping it alive & kicking in it's original form.
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[skeettx]

Great post
Thanks
The 9mm or 35 Rem or 358 is a great hunting caliber !!
Mike

[sharps4590]

Beerd, sadly, the rifle is not in original form BUT, it wasn't me who botched it!!!! It USED to be octagon to round with a full length rib. Some previous owner had the rib removed and the top flats milled off. The bottom of the rear portion of the barrel is still octagon and there is NO inletting in the wood for a rear sight band so the rear sight had to be on a rib and, some other little not so obvious mods not visible to the naked eye. Then there's the recoil pad with white line spacer. That was not done in Germany or Austria in the 1920's. Whoever did the work did a good job and unless one is familiar with Germanic firearms from between the wars, they'd never know the difference. And a Lyman aperture sight? Not hardly, in Germany between the wars. I wonder why the mods though? The ammo was never widely available outside Austria and never in the US. The cartridge did not survive WWII. Maybe a PO was going to have it re-chambered to some American cartridge and never got around to it? I am eternally grateful that never happened and, we'll neve know the truth. I don't believe the rifle was fired after the mods as the Lyman aperture sight could not be lowered enough to get POI less than a foot high. Best way to get it on was to cut a dovetail in the ramp and installed a taller front sight. Still, yeah, it's a pretty nice rifle and it DOES shoot very well, cast or jacketed!!

skeet, you're exactly right!! Over the last 10 years of messin' with various 9mm and 9.3mm rifles, I have become quite enamored with 35 and 36 cal. cartridges. I still love my big bore, black powder cartridges but with smokeless....those mid-30's are hard to beat until the game gets to be the big kind that can hit back. Even then, loaded to their max, those like the 9 X 71 are a force to be reckoned with.

[Texas by God]

What a fine looking rifle. Were any action modifications done for that Long cartridge?

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[sharps4590]

Not outside the Peterlongo shop that I'm aware of Texas. The rifle was made by Johann Peterlongo in Innsbruck and, it's his proprietary cartridge. It feeds flawlessly with cast or jacketed. The 250 gr. bullet does impinge on powder capacity a bit but the 200 doesn't.

[sharps4590]

Nice deer load. Got my first buck with 356Win Model 1894 Big Bore 20" barrel with same bullet and 41.5gr 4064 at 1950fps. Mine was hardcast so minimum meat loss. Basically same load as the proven 35 Rem.

NEK, you're exactly right. I never thought of the comparison but that is a 35 Rem. load and yes sir, it has definitely been proven over the decades.