i just got a snider enfield in .577. i know at shows i have seen afew people with the 'paper case' .577 ammo. do you think it would be safe to shoot? i mean as long as the gun was in good shape? i know nothing of black powder firearms.
safe to shoot old .577 ammo?
- Thread starter JTF#
- Start date
The 577" Snider paper covered rolled brass case ammo is:
a) at least 120 years old
b) probably would not fire
c) has some collectors value which will be negated by fireing
Get some new 24 Guage brass or plastic shells trim to length and hand load.
a) at least 120 years old
b) probably would not fire
c) has some collectors value which will be negated by fireing
Get some new 24 Guage brass or plastic shells trim to length and hand load.
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
paper case amoo is even older then the rolled brass(unless its Indian made) id not shoot any old ammo period weather it be .577 snider .577-450 or even .303
this ammo is worth more if kept as is BTW
this ammo is worth more if kept as is BTW
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I think you should read Green's comment again. Paper cased shells are usually paper covered foil. Those which appear to be foil only have had the paper scuffed off. I would agree with not shooting the old ammo for the simple reason that it is worth $8 - $10 each while still loaded and there is a good chance that the priming has deteriorated. I think the OP would be far better off to use modern cases and bullets which match original ones
While on the subject of original cases, I had occasion to measure the diameter of the paper patching on a Kynoch solid brass case factory shell, recently. The paper jacket was .475 to my surprise. I would expect the outside and exposed paper to have swollen up a bit but it still must imply that the original diameter inside the case must still be close to .470. In writing this, it occurs to me that if I measure the wall thickness of a fired case and the diameter of the neck of a loaded shell, I should be able to calculate the diameter of the bullet inside the factory brass case. Will report back later with the results
cheers mooncoon
The brass shotshells from mag tech work fine
Get a set of dies and load black powder for it
Givin your bore is gd, if your in doubt have a
Gunsmith or collector have a look and evaluate
It's ability to be shot ,
I'm in same boat with 43 Mauser. I have a full
Box of dominion smokeless ammo, at shows here
They sell from 90-125$ for 20 rounds. I do have some brass
From dominion that was once fired, but otherwise I reform
4570 and 348 Winchester cases, much cheaper and it works
Just fine, BILOZIR sells Mag tech 24 gauge brass shotshells
Which you can make 577 snider in
Get a set of dies and load black powder for it
Givin your bore is gd, if your in doubt have a
Gunsmith or collector have a look and evaluate
It's ability to be shot ,
I'm in same boat with 43 Mauser. I have a full
Box of dominion smokeless ammo, at shows here
They sell from 90-125$ for 20 rounds. I do have some brass
From dominion that was once fired, but otherwise I reform
4570 and 348 Winchester cases, much cheaper and it works
Just fine, BILOZIR sells Mag tech 24 gauge brass shotshells
Which you can make 577 snider in
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
the first .577 sniders were a paper tube with a iron head if he's talking about rolled brass or solid brass then say so
All nine marks of British service .577" ball ammo had a brass foil body covered in paper.
MkI had a brass "Potet" shotgun style base, MkII & III had a brass rim, and the others had an iron rim.
No British service ball ammo had a paper case.
The second pattern Cdn case c1886-91 eliminated the paper cover on the foil.
Sources:
"List of Changes in British War Material Vol I"
"The Boxer Cartridge in the British Service" Temple
"British Service Ammunition 1864-1938" Labbett
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
hmm im looking ad a paper case right now although this is a Indian made one
Many rifles will work fine with converted (chopped) 24-gauge plastic shotgun cases.
Reloding for these is a kitchen-table job, so you can have a coffee alongside.... but no smoking, okay?
Reprime, dump in the powder, stick in a Minie Ball and you're away. If they expand too much on firing, you can resize the mouths a bit by holding the case mouth-down into boiling water for a few seconds; it will shrink a bit.
FIOCCHI in Italy still makes 24-bore plastic cases. Will Bilozir at bilozir dot net stocks them in 100 bags. He also stocks 32-gauge for the .50-cal guys. They work in some rifles, depending on your chamber and they are all 2-1/2-inch cases, so there are a LOT of possibobilities.
Most important point of all: DO have fun!
Reloding for these is a kitchen-table job, so you can have a coffee alongside.... but no smoking, okay?
Reprime, dump in the powder, stick in a Minie Ball and you're away. If they expand too much on firing, you can resize the mouths a bit by holding the case mouth-down into boiling water for a few seconds; it will shrink a bit.
FIOCCHI in Italy still makes 24-bore plastic cases. Will Bilozir at bilozir dot net stocks them in 100 bags. He also stocks 32-gauge for the .50-cal guys. They work in some rifles, depending on your chamber and they are all 2-1/2-inch cases, so there are a LOT of possibobilities.
Most important point of all: DO have fun!
Because it is a single shot and on the range, you don't need to resize the shell between loadings. I strongly suspect the shell you have is Berdan primed and needs to be reprimed with Berdan primers. They are a bugger to remove and the only effective way I have found is to drive a pointed punch into the primer, off center, and pry them out. I have a tool that does the job but if it is not set up exactly correctly, you muck up the primer pocket permanently. I have soft soldered a 30-30 shell base into a snider base but it is fidly and you require a lathe to do it
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
