Help! I have an original RB in .43 Spanish, and the bore is quite nice. I was given a few loaded rounds with the gun, and they grouped about 1 3/4" at 50m. I bought myself a brand-new Lyman mould for it (439186) which is the only kind for it, and a .439 sizer and nose-punch. I cast up about 26 and sized and lubed them with Lyman Moly lube. Loaded with 26 grains of H4198. The alloy is rather hard, it seems. Anyway, I just shot the thing, and at 50m, all the bullets cut perfect side profiles! The thing keyholes so badly that it whistles when you shoot it. What's going on??? Is it just that the alloy is too hard, did I put too much crimp, what? I slugged the bore, and it is .439, just like it should be. I don't understand, please help if you can!
.43 Spanish loading troubles!!!
- Thread starter gabrielguitars
- Start date
Win, I like and don't like you right now. I had 2 loaded rounds from the original loaded rounds that came with, so I pulled one of the bullets - yes filler (looks like Kapok), but the somewhat surprise is that the bullet is .446, like as in .43 Mauser, .44-77, blah blah blah. So, no question as to why it shot so well, there was no possible way for the bullet not to be engraved by the rifling, as it is .007 oversized, but how in the world do you load those big bullets into the cases? Obviously, the original owner was having some trouble as well, because these remaining 2 rounds weren't shot off because they wouldn't chamber - bulged neck. Hmmmm. I think I just wasted a bunch of money on a mould and sizing die.
Your bullets need to be softer (so maybe they will bump up to fit on ignition) and probably a couple thou. bigger. Bullets too small and/or too hard will keyhole, that's why it is good to try diff. bullets if possible before you buy the mold and sizer/s.
Try just lubing the bullets in a pan and NOT resizing them.
Slug your bore as well.
You just may have to sell your .438 size die on the EE...
With cast bullets you want to be 0.001" or 0.002" over the bore diameter.
Measure your unsized cast bullets as well. If they are under the bore diameter they are not going to shoot very well. A custom mold may be in order.
Go to a softer alloy as well.
Slug your bore as well.
You just may have to sell your .438 size die on the EE...
With cast bullets you want to be 0.001" or 0.002" over the bore diameter.
Measure your unsized cast bullets as well. If they are under the bore diameter they are not going to shoot very well. A custom mold may be in order.
Go to a softer alloy as well.
I think the most important thing is to slug the bore and find out what the real bore diameter is. Your slugs are keyholing because they are either not spinning or not spinning fast enough and that suggests they are much too small. Also as suggested earlier, cast some soft bullets; 2 - 5% alloy so that they will bump up. The filler is in the case to keep the powder against the primer and ensure uniform ignition
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
Thanks guys. A lot of you are telling me to slug the bore, but I already did that, and it is .439. I didn't try any bullets for it before buying a mould, because there is only one size bullet for this gun. Anyway, I am going to try a softer alloy, and will load some sized and lubed, and some pan lubed without sizing to see the difference. Failing that, I may purchase a .446 mould and a .442 sizer and give that a try, or get a custom mould made by mountainmolds. We'll see.
