I want to start paper patching

[Mr_Flintstone]

Specifically for a 6.5 Carcano. I recently ordered a 6.5 Carcano rifle before checking the availability of components. I got my reloading dies ordered, but I’m having trouble finding bullets. As a workaround, I thought about ordering some 120 gr .257 cast bullets and paper patching them up to .269 or whatever my barrel slugs to. Is this too big a difference in diameter? My original thought was to get some 6.5 Creedmoor bullets, but I don’t know if I can get enough paper around them since they come about .264”. I don’t have any molds to cast for this round. I just want to get something that I can shoot that will be fairly accurate. I welcome all comments and recommendations.

[Harter66]

I size a 260-120 NOE .257 and patch for a .264 WM for squirrels and stuff not in any attempt to reach it's potential .

I've been trying a 266469 patched up for a .270 dia 6.5 Japanese .

You might get away with a .258/9/60 patched with heavy paper and moderate loads someplace between jacketed start load and top cast loads .

I would suggest an NOE 270-140 as a place to start . I have one that is ok in the 6.5 Japanese as cast and way too fat for the WM .

If you have a true .268 you should probably start with a .261/2 bullet depending on bore/minor dia being .260/1 .

[country gent]

you would want a paper roughly .003 thick to start with. A smooth sided bullet might work better than one with grooves

[longbow]

I would think it is doable even with jacketed bullets. I have a copy of an article by Ross Seyfried where he paper patches for odd calibers where bullets are not readily available. If you would like a copy PM me your e-mail and I will send it.

As a note, I made a smooth sided mould for PP for my .308 and that worked just fine. I used an N reamer which makes for 0.302 cavity so perfect for standard .30 cal. It worked well in the .308 but when I used thicker paper for .303 British I got poor results. In the end I knurled the smooth bullets and that did the trick. Ross Seyfried used files to roughen up the jacketed bullets by rolling them under pressure on the file to raise "texture" to grip the paper patch.

Longbow

[charlie b]

I have not patched smaller stuff, just the .50cal for my muzzle loader. Look over in the BPCR area as lots of those folks shoot PP bullets.

The onion skin paper I use is 0.015 thick. Two wraps adds 0.06" to bullet dia. The key is to cut the strips accurately and then wrap consistently. I use a template to cut the strips to length. Wrap dry and then run the patched bullets through a size die.

[yeahbub]

A little late to the party, but. . . . .

OP, It's good you're thinking ahead, but you won't know precisely how to proceed until you have the rifle in hand. That said, patching a .257-.260 to work in a .269 groove dimension should work just fine, as long as they enter the throat without catching or bunching up the patch (too big fo the throat opening). When patching conventional .30 cast for 8mm, I start with either two wraps of .004 or three wraps of .0025 and size them to the final diameter for the throat. I get better than hunting accuracy, typically 2-3" at 100 yards or better from the half-dozen molds I have tried. Another fellow on the site reported that he had patched .358-.360's to .380 for use in a .375 Win and got good results, so the idea of patching up a small-for-caliber boolit is certainly workable, though I expect the way-undersized types need to be solidly wrapped.

IIRC, the 6.5mm Carcano came with a gain-twist barrel. You don't mention whether the rifle has been "sporterized"/shortened. This can be a problem due to the rifling twist at the end of the barrel possibly being less than necessary to stabilize 140-160gr length boolits. Being slightly shorter, accurately shooting a 120gr may not be difficult. I remember reading articles on disappointed people who had an accurate full-length rifle but had the barrel cut to carbine length which would no longer perform with the lengthy heavies. Paper patching Carcano shooters will be better able to speak on what their results have been.

Let us know how it turns out.

[26Charlie]

Just an anecdote - I once bought some 6.5 mm bullets (pull down) intending to use them in the 6.5 mm Swedish Mauser. First shot gave me two holes in the target - evidently the bullet had broken at the cannelure. Investigation showed that the bullets were .268 from Italian, not .264 from Swedish ammo.
The stress on a jacketed bullet is much greater than a lead bullet so you should be ok with any cast.
Sadly, I sold those bullets to a Carcano owner.

[Mr_Flintstone]

I was able to find some .267” jacketed bullets to get started with, but I still want to keep the paper patching in mind as a reserve. .257” bullets appear to be more available than .267-.269”.