Forming Obsolete Cases
peterw...@hotmail.com
variety of cartridge cases used by old rifles from the .348 Winchester
case. Many of these are almost straight, as is typical of black powder
cases, whereas the .348 Winchester has a taper of about .050 inches
per inch, about twice the taper of the 7x57 Mauser. When forming a big-
bore case it would seem that, rather than remove the taper and
shoulder from the .348 case, it would be simpler to start with
something like a 50-110 case in the first place. Are .348 cases
significantly cheaper than high quality 50-110 cases from Starline or
other supplier?
Thank you,
Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinst
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jadel
# A recent issue of _Shotgun News_ has an article about forming a
# variety of cartridge cases used by old rifles from the .348 Winchester
# case. Many of these are almost straight, as is typical of black powder
# cases, whereas the .348 Winchester has a taper of about .050 inches
# per inch, about twice the taper of the 7x57 Mauser. When forming a big-
# bore case it would seem that, rather than remove the taper and
# shoulder from the .348 case, it would be simpler to start with
# something like a 50-110 case in the first place. Are .348 cases
# significantly cheaper than high quality 50-110 cases from Starline or
# other supplier?
#
Yes.
Midway has Starline bulk brass in 50-110 for 29.95 per box of 20 .
That's about $1.50/case.
Winchester .348 Win brass is 29.99 per box of 50 or about $.60/ case.
The most poplular use for .348 brass is to form other cases from it.
J. Del Col
Gunny_2008
Yep. I use it to form .41 Swiss Vetterli. Works great.
Åmund Breivik
# something like a 50-110 case in the first place. Are .348 cases
# significantly cheaper than high quality 50-110 cases from Starline or
# other supplier?
They have been in the past, I haven't checked the prices lately. For
many years, new .50-110 brass was very hard to find if available at all.
Also, in some calibres it may be impossible to insert a .50-110 case for
initial fire forming as the case is too long and/or too straight-walled.
Most of the calibres you'd form in this way are shorter than a -110
case, so the longer case must be trimmed to length or it'll hit the
rifling and not chamber. Since the brass will change length somewhat on
fireforming, using -110 brass means you'll have to trim twice.
I've formed quite a few 12.7x44R cases from .348, and it's a fairly
simple process. The tapered .348 case chambers easily even though it's
way longer than the chamber, and on fireforming it expands nicely with
very few cases lost to splitting. This leaves only one cut/trim
operation, as opposed to .50-110 brass that would have to be cut in
order to chamber and then trimmed again after fireforming. Depending on
exact chamber dimensions it might even be possible for a cut-down -110
to _shorten_ during fireforming, leaving it unable to be made the
correct length.
Still, I have considered using -110 brass for some applications, and
I've also given serious thought to using .500 S&W brass for shorter
calibres. There are quite a few potential parent cases out there.
Aamund
David L. Burkhead
Argentine, some of my research mentioned that the cases for it could be
formed from a variety of other cases (although apparently someone is making
ammo for the 1891 Argentine right now anyway). My question is how is that
done? Are there special die you can buy or what?
Anthony W
# And this brings a question of my own. When I was looking a Mauser 1891
# Argentine, some of my research mentioned that the cases for it could be
# formed from a variety of other cases (although apparently someone is making
# ammo for the 1891 Argentine right now anyway). My question is how is that
# done? Are there special die you can buy or what?
I've made 7.7mm Arisaka cases by running 06 cases into a 7.7mm die then
cutting them to length and load and shoot as notmal. Later on I found
that 8mm mauser cases require one trip through the Arisaka dies then
load and shoot. The cases come out of the chamber just right...
The important thing to start with is a case that is long enough and has
the same head size. I'm pretty sure you could make the 7.65mm Argentine
from 8mm Mauser cases pretty easily.
The Speer reloading manual covers this or at least the earlier ones did.
Tony
sta...@prolynx.com
# And this brings a question of my own. When I was looking a Mauser 1891
# Argentine, some of my research mentioned that the cases for it could be
# formed from a variety of other cases (although apparently someone is making
# ammo for the 1891 Argentine right now anyway). My question is how is that
# done? Are there special die you can buy or what?
#
Military Mausers, for the most part, have a common head size, except
for the Swedes. 7.65 Mauser shares the same base as 7x57, 8x57, .
30-06, etc. So all you really have to do is run one of the other
caliber cases into the full-length sizing die, expand the neck if it's
a smaller caliber donor case and trim to length. No extras really
needed. Remember to keep your loads down, the 1891 model is lacking a
lot of the 1898's features. Some of the newer 7.65 Mauser loads are
right up there with the 7.62 NATO loads as far as pressure is
concerned, not what you want. The .311-.312" bullets you need are
readily available, .303 British shares the same diameter. This is not
really a first reloading project if you're a tyro.
Stan
Alex Cunningham
#"David L. Burkhead" <dbur...@sff.net> wrote:
# And this brings a question of my own. When I was looking a Mauser 1891
# Argentine, some of my research mentioned that the cases for it could be
# formed from a variety of other cases (although apparently someone is
# making
# ammo for the 1891 Argentine right now anyway). My question is how is that
# done? Are there special die you can buy or what?
#
Cases for the 7.65 Argentine Mauser can be made from 30-06 brass.
First trim the case to 2.1", anneal and full length size in the Mauser die.
Trim to length (2.09") and chamfer.
--
Cheers!
Alex.C
There are twelve million sheep in Ontario.
Problem is nine million of them think they are people.
Gunny_2008
"David L. Burkhead" <dbur...@sff.net> wrote in message
news:gfdbvu$jbi$1...@dailyplanet.umd.edu...
# And this brings a question of my own. When I was looking a Mauser 1891
# Argentine, some of my research mentioned that the cases for it could be
# formed from a variety of other cases (although apparently someone is
making
# ammo for the 1891 Argentine right now anyway). My question is how is that
# done? Are there special die you can buy or what?
#
For many, it is just a set of reloading dies that reshape the brass to the
right dimensions. Basically, just lube the case well, put it in and out of
the die a little at a time and and the case takes on the required shape.
You usually have to trim to specified lengths. The last step is to fire
form them by shooting them in the gun. The brass will stretch and fill the
chamber, making a perfect fit. It really isn't that hard to do.
jadel
# And this brings a question of my own. When I was looking a Mauser 1891
# Argentine, some of my research mentioned that the cases for it could be
# formed from a variety of other cases (although apparently someone is making
# ammo for the 1891 Argentine right now anyway). My question is how is that
# done? Are there special die you can buy or what?
Yes, there are special case-forming dies sold for that purpose. You
may also need to trim the cases. There are special dies and tools for
that, too.
For some rounds, case forming is easy. For others, it's a chore
involving extensive modifications, including lathe work on the rims,
etc.
I used to form cases for a French 7.5 x 54 MAS. Now I can buy them.
J. Del Col
peterw...@hotmail.com
# On Nov 11, 8:37 pm, "David L. Burkhead" <dburkh...@sff.net> wrote:
# # And this brings a question of my own. When I was looking a Mauser 1891
# # Argentine, some of my research mentioned that the cases for it could be
# # formed from a variety of other cases (although apparently someone is making
# # ammo for the 1891 Argentine right now anyway). My question is how is that
# # done? Are there special die you can buy or what?
#
# Yes, there are special case-forming dies sold for that purpose. You
# may also need to trim the cases. There are special dies and tools for
# that, too.
#
# For some rounds, case forming is easy. For others, it's a chore
# involving extensive modifications, including lathe work on the rims,
# etc.
#
# I used to form cases for a French 7.5 x 54 MAS. Now I can buy them.
#
# J. Del Col
#
How much can you neck down a case in a single step? For example, how
many steps would be needed to form the 6.5x450 Marlin wildcat from the
standard 450 Marlin case, which is almost straight?
Thank you,
Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist
jadel
Short answer--more than I'd be willing to do.(annoying emoticon here)
I didn't even know there was such a beast. That drastic a reduction
would also require that the cases be annealed.
Some folks have necked down .270 WSM cases to 6.5. All it takes is
one pass through a custom 6.5 WSM forming/resizing die. That might be
a wildcat worth looking into.
The two cases I've made--7.5 X 54 MAS and .35 Whelen were easy,
thought the MAS required trimming and fireforming of the 6.5 Swede
brass I used.
J. Del Col
Martin H. Eastburn
Martin