.44 Russian in 44-40 revolver.... ?

[Sharps '74]

That was my point.

Some time ago, there was a flood of pistols (Star, Astra 400, Husqvarna and others) on the US market chambered for the 9mm Largo or 9X23mm. Also known as the 9mm Bayard Long. Not to be confused with the more powerful 9x23mm Winchester. People successfully shot .38 Super in them but suffered poor feeding and function.

The Steyr cartridge was also a 9mm similar to the above. According to the "Book of Pistols & Revolvers", there was also a "Browning 9mm Long" which was shorter than the 9x19 Parabellum (Luger). The bore diameters were all similar at .355" but I'd have to check "Cartridges of the World" for case lengths, rim diameters, etc. Dies would be another matter, but I'd bet you could work around that without investing in custom dies. Nonte was known for that.

If one knows what he is doing, you can do a few interesting things to create ammo for unusual guns. If I had one of these odd ball guns, I'd do what ever it took to get it shooting.

 

[nitro-express]

Interesting, I own and shoot several 9mm Browning Long handguns.

And to handload, you are correct, it does require an odd combination of dies. As a base I used a set of LEE 38 Short/Long Colt dies, which in itself is a collection of 38 Super and others. I also use a 9mm Luger sizer to optimize the sizing of the case.

Reloading data is a bit hard to find, but not impossible. Because of the app .359 > .360 groove, I used 357 mag bullets, a light weight Hornady XTP's. It was a learning experience for sure. I was able to contact someone in Norway and have them send me the page from Ladebok on the 9mm BrLo. There is also an old article by Nigel Utting that is also fairly informative. Handloader 153, IIRC) I did experiment with 38 Super brass, but settled on PRVI and some Norma. Internal volume issues have to be factored in when using 38 Super vs PRVI vs Norma. I kept velocities below factory ammo and was happy with my results. After sorting out all the details, I lost interest and moved on to some other projects.

I did try some cast bullets, but the results weren't too encouraging.

9mm Browning Long

Source: English translation from Vapenjournalens Ladebok (Norwegian)

Recently large quantities of Sweden’s military surplus has been offered for sale. This included quantities of the “07 gun”, the Husqvarna produced FN Browning model 1903 pistol, Swedish military designation m/07. Original military ammunition and FFV ammunition are loaded with an odd sized Berdan primer. Proper sized (5,05mm) Berdan primers are available from RWS, (pn 5005), harder to find than Fiocchi boxer primers, but they are available. If Boxer primed brass is preferred, 38 Super brass can be trimmed to length and utilized, rim and base dimensions being the same.

38 Super dies may be utilized for reloading, although the bullet seating/crimp die may require some rework, shortened, by trimming a millimeter off the bottom of the die. Alternately, a custom RCBS die set can be special ordered. With a little adjustment a 9mm Parabellum may be utilized, although it is not quite ideal.

The m/07 is a blowback pistol, it does not have a locked breech. Therefore, it should not be loaded hot. Powder charges should be increased until reliable function is obtained, and no further. For our data we used a 90 grain bullet, cast from a RCBS mold. A better choice would be a 92 grain bullet cast from Lyman mold 358242, preferable because of its long nose. The 90 grain RCBS bullet is stubby, seating and crimping the bullet is challenging because of its short bearing surface.

Bullet diameter is often stated as being .355” for this cartridge, but like some other 9mm’s, the groove diameter on our test pistol measured .360”. Cast bullets were sized .358 and the .357 jacketed bullets seemed to be a good fit. Bullets any larger are not a good fit, they are difficult to seat in the case.

Pistol: Husqvarna m/07
Barrel: 5" (127 mm)
Groove diameter: .360" (9,14 mm)
Maximum case length: 20,3 mm
Case Trim Length: 20,1 mm
Case: FFV
Primer: RWS 5005

Factory Ammunition chronographed in the test pistol:
FFV, 110 grain (7.1 gram) FMJ, 1065 f/s (325 m/s)


My testing found that PRVI ammo is a whisker over 1000 fps, and Norma factory a whisker under 1200 fps. Norma cases are a bit heavier and stronger than PRVI. Shortened 38 Super are the heaviest.

Being a blowback pistol with a feed ramp that does not fully support the case web, I found that the cases would start to exhibit a bit of "Glock bulge" when pressure got a bit higher. Blowback pistols are somewhat preferential to the burning rate of the powder used. A Norma factory rep was somewhat helpful in that respect. It was unfortunate they did not have any records of the load they supplied to Century Arms.

 

[Sharps '74]

A couple of other reloading anomalies that fly in the face of your quote from the book .....

- The .30-'03 case was shortened .07" (1.8mm) to create the .30-'06. The .30-'06 can successfully be fired in the .30-'03 chamber, the bullet making a bit of a jump to engage the rifling. That keeps those '03 chambered '95 rifles shooting.

- I have a nice rolling block in .43 Spanish. I have some expensive Bertram brass with that head stamp and some made from reformed .348 Winchester obtained from BACO before the law prohibited this. I prefer the BACO. I've never been concerned about it, but there are definite differences between the Bertram and the reformed .348.

- One of my pals uses 30-30 brass to reload for his .32 Spl. '94 Winchester.

- I just did a run of .45 ACP rds using range pick up brass. Name the brand and it was in the mix, the shortest case length being US GI. All function just fine despite the fact that many are not head spacing on the case mouth as per spec.