41 swiss bp or smokeless

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fan6.5

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i have been using 50 grs of triple 7 in my 41 swiss with good results.iam interested in switching to smokless does anyone have any suggestions.i have my 41 swiss converted from rimfire to centerfire.excellent rifle cartridge combo.t7 keeps the fouling down but i am interested in using 2400 or sr4756 as i have these two powders.using 348 win cases,win primers.she is on the bull at 70 yards as long ihold 14 inches low ,rifle is sited at 225 yards.new front site going on as soon as i find my piece of brass to make it out of.
so far two bullet weights have been tried lee 240 and rcbs 250.i like the rcbs better,as groups are smaller.looking for a heavier and longer bullet to try.
any 41 swiss shooters out there doing the same.
 
I boo boo'd on my first set of cases and trimmed them too short but the old girl still shot well using a 320gr .430" and 20gr 4759.

This load is very dirty too, cases are coated in black soot in this rifle and the odd unburnt kernal of powder.

Another load I have lists 13.5 grs of Unique but I've not tried it.

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After going full length of a Mule Deer
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Beautiful pictures and a fine looking arm there!

I have never had the opportunity to enjoy a verletti, how do you rate the rifle overall for mechanism function ,stripping and cleaning etc...?

Is the bolt one solid piece of steel or some tube shroud design, does it eject the spent cartridges or do you have to turn the rifle over to allow them to fall away like the Gras and the Snider??

How is the buttstock attached, is it a long bolt from back to front like a martini henry??

It is a truly handsome rifle.
 
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With a 300gr bullet at ~1400 fps, I have used:

- 22.0 grs SR4759;
- 30.0 grs H4198 and RL7; and
- 45.0 grs IMR4064 (nearly a full case).

13.0 grs of Unique is a good (max) load, but MV falls well below 1400 fps. My best groups were with the SR4759, but all worked well. The IMR4064 (and powders of similar burn rates) leave a fair bit of incompletely burned powder in the bore, which indicated that the pressure is a bit low for those powders, but does not hurt accuracy. Anything slower than that would not work well.
 
Musketfire said:
Beautiful pictures and a fine looking arm there!

I have never had the opportunity to enjoy a verletti, how do you rate the rifle overall for mechanism function ,stripping and cleaning etc...?

Is the bolt one solid piece of steel or some tube shroud design, does it eject the spent cartridges or do you have to turn the rifle over to allow them to fall away like the Gras and the Snider??

How is the buttstock attached, is it a long bolt from back to front like a martini henry??

It is a truly handsome rifle.
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Thanks Musketfire!

This is my first 'antique' I have ever owned or operated so I cannot compare them to the ones you listed. I can say you need to be quite assertive in cycling the action to get the elevator system and feeding to work the best, for this one anyway.

Stripping and tear down is very straight forward, the tube mag is very thin brass and the threads are touchy there.

Bolt is a two piece shroud, the big knurled disk on the end is threaded with the spring tension behind it so hold on when you loosen that puppy.;)

The cartridge ejects straight up from the port.

I'll let Andy comment on how the butt stock is attached, I haven't removed mine yet.
 
vetterli is very easy to dismantle,one screw in side of action,pieces drop out bottom of action, must removed for bolt to come out.bolt can be removed by knocking out key at rear top of action,key should not come out all the way.to dissamble the bolt i leave the bolt in action ,decocked remove knarled nob,work the bolt as normal and pull out.full dismantle in the amount of time it takes to read this.
showed friends how to do this,140 years old dismantles faster than brand new rifles.
 
Rather than start a new thread about the 41 Vetterli, how difficult is it to convert the bolt to CF? Would most gunsmiths be able to do this?

I picked one up in almost excellent condition, but the near-impossible to find ammo situation is a real downer...and I doubt the .41RF Short rounds I bought will reach the end of the barrel or even be safe to fire.

(and yes, I know I'll have to register it if I convert the rifle to CF)
 
ModerateSniper said:
Rather than start a new thread about the 41 Vetterli, how difficult is it to convert the bolt to CF? Would most gunsmiths be able to do this?

I picked one up in almost excellent condition, but the near-impossible to find ammo situation is a real downer...and I doubt the .41RF Short rounds I bought will reach the end of the barrel or even be safe to fire.

(and yes, I know I'll have to register it if I convert the rifle to CF)
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May not be a bad idea to get a donor bolt to modify instead of the one matching the rifle you have there.
From what I've read you don't want to bother trying to shoot the old ammo as much of it will not work anymore, the cases may have corroded from the powder in them and not be safe if they do go.

Have any of you boys ever come across one of the sportered Vetterli's Sear's Roebuck & Co. used to sell circa 1908? I'd sure love to get one of them.
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the conversion is very easy.tools needed drill press ,drill slightly larger than firing pin.imake my firing pin holder out of a piece flat metal,a rotorytool does most of the shaping.on the web look para shooter up,he has a good idea ,he uses a piece of dogs nylabone to hold firingpin,measurements too. para shooter explaines it better than i can. i converted mine ,i used an original pin that had the two front ears broken off,over half of work done for me,second rifle being worked on over the next week.348 win cases used,some rifles willnot chamber without having the area in front of rim turned down in a lathe.
found local on n.s. site.my solution ,take one of resized not fireformed cases when i go to buy a 41 swiss,less work.ah hell,like i d passup a cheap sporterized swiss. my front on my shooter has been raised with a piece of brass, will have to file it down to have it shoot where i want it.shooting this weekend coming.guess a reloading session is in order.plan to try sr4759
the conversion to cf is simple, under two hours.pitted bores are common .they shoot better than i thought.next choosen rifle has minor pitting,let you know how it shoots after weekend.i beleive my great plains flint will make it to the range too.
 
Three-forty-eight Winchester supposedly still is a standard item. Winchester is the only manufacturer, though, and they produce it only when it is required. Order it from your local shop, take what you can get, have your Visa card handy and be sure you have a new battery in your Pacemaker.

Whatever the cost, the stuff is WORTH IT. It is the only stuff you can use to make:
10.35CF Vetterli (Swiss)
10.35 Vetterli (Italian)
.50-70 USG
12.17x44R Svedish
and ammo for the two Beaumonts, the Comblain and a whole raft of others. It also makes up into .50-100, .50-105 and .50-110 for those Winchesters hiding in the closet.

Very useful stuff.

Grab it while you can.
 
Picked up 200 new, unfired brass. Getting powder, primers, & dies next week.

Curious to know about bullets...does everyone cast them themselves, or is there somewhere you can buy cast bullets for the Vetterli? I picked up a mould for one, but would rather not be melting lead on my balcony. I contacted a guy in the US that makes custom cases and bullets, asking if he ships international, but no response yet.
 
I use .348 Win in my Vetterli and 28 gr. 4198 seems to be the most accurate load. A couple of friends are using 8mm Lebel brass and like it better because of the slightly bigger rim diameter for more consistent extraction.
 
piper394 said:
I use .348 Win in my Vetterli and 28 gr. 4198 seems to be the most accurate load. A couple of friends are using 8mm Lebel brass and like it better because of the slightly bigger rim diameter for more consistent extraction.
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Piper, what are you using for a projectile?
Like Moderatesniper I haven't started smelting yet and I hate asking other gunnutz to make them for me. You casting your own or do you have a supplier?

Cheers,
Noel
 
Noel
I'm using a Lee mold no.90858 , it's .430 diameter and 310 gr. It's very accurate, but too short to work in the magazine so it's single shot unless you carry one in the chamber and one in the ramp. I'm casting with wheelweight lead and making my own lube of 80% beeswax and 20% Crisco shortening.
 
iam using a 250grs .429 rcbs swc.over 50grs of triple 7.works excellent at 60yds,on the bull.she is an old bp rifle so ill keep using powder that makes her smoke.if your shooting this rifle you will have to raise the front site ,mine shot about 1ft high before i raised the front site.
 
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