Swiss m1878 10.4mm revolver

Everglade

Everglade

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Recently purchased a very nice Swiss m1878 revolver here on the exchange thread.
Caliber is 10.4mm
It is in amazing condition for a 140 year old revolver.
It looks quite massive.
Probably has not been shot a lot.

Going to shoot it.
So started preparing for reloading.
Ordered a set of Hornady .41 Mag dies and 100 pcs of Starline .41 Mag cases.
Looking for some lead heeled bullets in 10.4mm range.

2Qqry.jpg


Will post on my progress
 
With heeled bullets you don't need a seating die,you just put them in up to the end of the heel
You do need a special crimping die for heeled bullets ,regular ones would make a mess of the bullet.
 
Everglade said:
Sweet, thanks
I will check it up.

Will a seating/crimping die from Hornady .41 Mag kit work?
Click to expand...

On a standard modern, inside lubricated bullet the case is larger than the bullet and crimping bends the lip in a bit. The die lets the bullet in and contacts the larger diameter case.
On a heeled, outside lubricated bullet the case is the same diameter as bullet except for the heeled bit that is smaller and stepped down in diameter to fit inside the case. To crimp these you need a special tool or die that only squeezes at the case mouth.

A pair of modified pliers can work but a better solution is a collet type die that squeezes when pushed up into a taper. Very much a custom fabrication.
 
Yeap you guys are right.
But I don't see any original 10.4mm brass available.
Keeping in mind we have to replicate the cartridge and .41 Mag case internal diam might be a bit tight for the heel.
Main idea of the crimping process is to prevent a bullet from shifting further inside the case.
With heeled bullets you can not push the bullets any further pass the heel.
So my point is I want to see if crimping is reqired at all on the 10.4mm Swiss with cast bullets.
If so, will have to puchase a crimping tool from Old west bullet moulds for $50.
 
On a revolver the main idea for the crimp is to keep the bullet from coming out of the case under recoil or in the box on the way to the range. Powder all over the box is annoying but having the bullets in a revolver move into the cylinder gap and jamb up the works really sucks.

The internal diameter of the case is whatever you need it to be by expanding the mouth or you won't be able to seat the bullet without mangling it. Hopefully the special crimp die will crimp the lip and reduce the diameter of the case around the bullet heel enough to chamber if needed.

I'm not really familiar with the dimensions of this round but these older guns are all individual and measurements can vary a lot from one to another.
 
Finally got some 10.4mm Swiss bullets cast for me.
Now I'm looking for some proper seating die.
(Already tried Hornady .41 Mag seating die and it does not work as it simply damaging bullets).
 
Thanks Terry!
I have a custom made 10.4mm Swiss collet crimp die from Old West.
Finally after playing with it for some time I was able to find a proper way to seat and collet crimp 10.4mm heeled bullets.
By the way you made perfect bullets, thanks!

2RxBb.jpg


jethunter said:
Regular seating/crimping die won't work on most heeled bullet designs.

I've seen home-built crimpers made from vise grips that worked quite well on 41LC heeled bullets. Or you need a collet type crimper.

Some info here: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?224068-crimping-heeled-bullets
Click to expand...
 
Thanx ))
3gr of Trail Boss behind 200gr soft lead round nose bullet.
Charge is 80% just to be safe.
Probably will have to reduce the charge to say 2.4 - 2.6gr.
Round specs are 600 fps.
Bullet diam 10.76
Will have to check if I need to size bullets.
 
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