1871 mauser bore slugging delight

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david doyle

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I just slugged the bore on my new favorite rifle. It is a 1876 produced 71 mauser. (Well I say "I" but actually I had the boy hammer a .454 soft webley bullet through and caught it in my wife's new winter boot.;)

This rifle's bore is very good and I am excited to get it shooting.

These rifles have 4 groove rifling which oddly enough is perfectly indexed at the muzzle:eek: 12-3-6and 9 oclock dead on.

The results were that between the lands the slug measured .433 and .433

The groove diameter was .452 and .452.

I am wondering how this compares to other 43 mausers and what the knowledgable would suggest for a bullet diameter and for a bullet wieght to replicate the original load?

I will get some pics of rifle up once I can tear myself away from it long enough to operate the camera.
 
First up is a pic of the rifle with a webley and german ungulate knife for scale.(I need to get a riechs revolver now eh)

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Next we have the rear sight, it has two flip up express type sights and the ladder calibrated to 1200 Meters. I guess you use a mkI thumb to hold it in place as it appears to be origianlly designed to rely on friction to hold it in place.

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This is the massive main locking lug, you can also see that the bolt stop screw on this one has no staking pin, It come all the way out and I thnk that is how it was originally built. Considering the parts are all serialed it is miracle they were never lost! You can also see the crack that Canada Post created despite the excellent packing and 10 fragile lables (thanks tikka you did a good job). ( I gotta check before I sign but what do you do haul the rifle out in the Post Office??)

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Another pic of the locking lug
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a pic of the very handsome trigger guard and tang
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I'll just add fuel to your need steppenwolf by saying that this rifle is about as balanced and comfortable as anything I have ever shouldered. It is also as slim as a rifle can get and at the balance point it is so thin that your thumb overlaps your fingers when carrying at trail. Any one who loves the win 94 will appreciate what this means. It is light like a feather as well.

Another realy nice thing about these is that the 2 position saftey is Absolutely silent. I mean no noise at all.
 
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I've had two a few years back grey guns but had good bores bought the pair from things military in Calgary for 500.00 they shot well I used pyrodex can't remember the load . ended up selling them to buy something else.
 
I've got a M71 Carbine and have shot it a bit. My barrel slugs at 0.454" and I shoot mostly a 400gr bullet in it. I like 30.0 grs of H-4198 for about 1250 fps.

Although its action is a fair bit stronger than the "Springfield Trapdoor", I stick to those loads of which many are posted in practically every load manual.
 
Thanks Andy, I have a wealth of 45-70 data for the springfield and agree with keeping the pressure down to those levels.

Do you shoot a .454 bullet?
 
david doyle said:
Thanks Andy, I have a wealth of 45-70 data for the springfield and agree with keeping the pressure down to those levels.

Do you shoot a .454 bullet?
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I use a 0.457" bullet, but your chamber neck might not allow you to go that much greater than groove diameter in your gun. A chamber cast is the best route, but you can try a 0.454" bullet and see how that chambers. If there is no resistance, measure how much the neck expands after firing a mild load and if it increases at least 2-3 thou you should be good.
 
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Thanks alot Andy, I appreciate you taking the time. I 'll BTT this when I get my components and get shooting! What I would'nt give for a field of pumpkins and 100 rounds of plinking ammo for this thing.soon.
 
Cartridges of the World suggests .446 bullets and the ones I have used have been okay. The Bullet Barn and bullet dealer on the Sunshine Coast in B.C. sell 11mm/.43 Mauser bullets. Do a www.dogpile.com search , they have a price list on line and reasonable prices.
 
Andy said:
I've got a M71 Carbine and have shot it a bit. My barrel slugs at 0.454" and I shoot mostly a 400gr bullet in it. I like 30.0 grs of H-4198 for about 1250 fps.

Although its action is a fair bit stronger than the "Springfield Trapdoor", I stick to those loads of which many are posted in practically every load manual.
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I agree there was one on the wall at Pro-line Shooters in calgary that had blown up from jacketed bullets and more modern loads there is some Dominion boxes of loaded ammo at gun shows but I don't know how hot they are loaded But they are priced more to collect than shoot
 
M.T. Chambers supplies .43(11mm) bullets and orig. specs. are .446" as mentioned above, can supply bullets in .450, .452,.454,.458,.459, as well as the factory orig. .446"...pls. note that larger dia. bullets may increase outside dia. of case to the point where it may not chamber. Also one should specify what type of lube to use, Black Powder or Smokeless.
 
The M71/84 typically has a bore with a 0.446" groove size and I use cast bullets sized to 0.448". The M71 Carbine on the other hand has a larger bore - mine is 0.454", others go a bit smaller or larger. If you shoot 0.446" bullets in a M71 you will not like the results.
 
I am using Sharps 44-77 brass from "Track of the Wolf" in the US (that I bought before its price doubled) - dimension-wise it's right on except that it's about 1/4" short on the neck, but still plenty long. If I was buying today, I'd buy correct length 43 Mauser brass from Buffalo Arms. I think both are made from swaged 348 Win brass, which makes it very thick and sturdy. At the low pressures you use, you can neck-size it about 10 times before you need to F/L size.
 
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