.
.
I recently acquired an Argentine .43 Spanish Rolling Block rifle.
The Brass for it was made in two ways.
Twenty Starline 50-110 Brass was annealed and reformed in the LEE 43 Spanish Die.
Complex work requiring a Lathe and much annealing (whole cartridge).
https://www.spokaneguntrader.com/vie...?f=33&t=158905
THEN - I found out that 44-77 Sharps Brass (Buffalo Arms in Idaho) can be IMMEDIATELY reformed
with the LEE dies w/o any problems - got 30 of them. NO WORRIES !
Now comes the Bullet ! A PAIN !
I made an Aluminum MOLD and cast straight sided WW Alloy bullets and Paper Patched them.
Worked great ! Paper patch ANY bullet less than .439" diameter - should work well.
HERE is where I got into trouble: I purchased a LYMAN 439186 Mold and cast bullets.
The Brass Cases fit into the rifle nicely.
I loaded 30 of the the LYMAN .43 Spanish bullets with 12 grains of TRAIL BOSS and when I
tried loading them in the Rifle - NO GO ! ! !
After MUCH frustrating experimenting and trying this and that, I figured out that the NECK
DIAMETER was too much by about one thousandths of an inch (more or less). Nothing I did
let the bullets fit. I even made a Taper Crimper out of 7/8ths Threaded Rod. Nope.......
Long story short - I finally fingered out that the Lyman Bullet was the problem !
If you measure all the Lube Rings, you will find the Large Upper Ring is 0.439" diameter.
The smaller lower Lube Rings are around 0.435" diameter. Herein lies the problem (for me anyway).
I pulled all the 30 bullets and messed about until I realized that if I inserted the Lyman Bullet
into the Brass Case only "up to" the Large Lube Ring, they fit into my rifle !
The larger Lube Ring makes the Cartridge NECK diameter TOO LARGE for my 43 Roller !
OAL was NOT a problem.
Lesson for me was - do not allow the Brass to get up to the Larger Lube Ring ! No worries after that !
Perhaps this is obvious to anyone else.......
I hope this helps anyone with 43 Spanish reloading problems using the Lyman Cast Bullet.
Paper Patching, if done with ANY bullet smaller that 435 caliber, should work fine.
P/S - Even ALOX Bullet Lube on the lower rings was enough to make the neck to large !
BTW - informative blurb: A Cheap Thrift Store Wine Bottle Stopper Cone makes a PERFECT
cartridge Brass Flaring Tool ! Grind off the point - after you drink the wine.
DoctorBill (AKA Martini Shooter elsewhere)
7-26-2021