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35Wailin said:
While it seems to be possible, others have done it. I tried resizing after turning down the belt, but the largest expander I had was .400", I couldn't make the jump from .400" to .451". I collapsed every case I tried even after plenty of lube, gentle short passes through the die and annealing. If I had another expander somewhere in between, I might have been able to make it work.
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A short while ago I picked up 100 rounds of 458 Win. handloads at our local gunshow, primarily for the brass to convert to 43 Mauser. No tapered expander plugs needed at all. Just trim to proper length and then into the full length sizer die and you are pretty much good to go from there as with normal 43 Mauser brass. I have necked up all sorts of diferent magnum brass from 7mm Rem to 338 Win for my 43's and lose a few from time to time even with several different expander plugs but the 458 Win brass makes things real easy for those who wish to avoid all that necking up stuff if you go the magnum brass route. Make sure you use the proper shellholder for the magnum brass headsize.
As a bonus my rifles will extract the smaller rim diameter cases ok but I take a piece of dowel with me just in case.
 
bjmurata said:
A short while ago I picked up 100 rounds of 458 Win. handloads at our local gunshow, primarily for the brass to convert to 43 Mauser. No tapered expander plugs needed at all. Just trim to proper length and then into the full length sizer die and you are pretty much good to go from there as with normal 43 Mauser brass. I have necked up all sorts of diferent magnum brass from 7mm Rem to 338 Win for my 43's and lose a few from time to time even with several different expander plugs but the 458 Win brass makes things real easy for those who wish to avoid all that necking up stuff if you go the magnum brass route. Make sure you use the proper shellholder for the magnum brass headsize.
As a bonus my rifles will extract the smaller rim diameter cases ok but I take a piece of dowel with me just in case.
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Like I mentioned, others have done it, but I was not successful using 7mm & .300 mag brass. I did not think of using .458 mag brass. I ended up just buying proper brass. It was expensive, but in the long run, I should get a lot of life out of them and I have a nice, proper sized rim to extract with. I even found an extractor for my rifle after much searching. The tail end has broken off, but it is still useable.
 
35Wailin said:
Like I mentioned, others have done it, but I was not successful using 7mm & .300 mag brass. I did not think of using .458 mag brass. I ended up just buying proper brass. It was expensive, but in the long run, I should get a lot of life out of them and I have a nice, proper sized rim to extract with. I even found an extractor for my rifle after much searching. The tail end has broken off, but it is still useable.
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There is something to be said for having the original brass to use for sure. No farting around with turning belts, necking up, lack of a proper rim and so on. Personally, I started gathering up 43 Mauser ammo and brass back in the late 70's so I have a pretty respectable, by my standards at least, stash of ammo and brass to work with. What intrigued me was a post put up by Smellie, no longer active here it seems, in which he described guys forming brass for their 43's from 300 Magnum cases. I finally got around to trying out the process and in short order had some workable non-standard brass to use in my rifles. After trying out the 458 Win brass though I think I will stick to it, a real easy process, as compared to say the 300 Magnum stuff if I decide to go the reforming route again.
Did you buy a lottery ticket after finding that extractor, from what I can see they are a pretty uncommon item. Glad everything is working out for you, these rifles are plain fun to shoot.
 
When I attempted to form 43 brass from Win Mag cases, I saw it as a fun sideline project to get the rifle shooting and learn some new skills. However, after much frustration, I gave up and bought pre-formed cases.

Based on information I have acquired since then, I may try again in the future. For now though, I am happy and shooting it, and that's all that matters in the end.

As for my extractor, the piece that a broke off is the spring at the back to allow the extractor to close in behind tithe rim as the bolt is being locked. I'm going to add a bead of silicone or something to provide some spring back action as a stop gap measure until/if I find another complete extractor. Being as how the extractor is probably spring steel, plus the small size, I don't think it would be practical to weld a new piece on and reform it, then heat treat it again to get the spring action back.

I'm still searching for another, complete extractor, but I'm not putting a lot of effort into it, nor am I holding my breath.

I'll just enjoy loading and shooting it. I have cartridges that go "boom" and produce great clouds of smoke, but I need to play with paper patching to get the proper bullet diameter as well as get a load worked out that regulates to the sights. They are way off both wind age and elevation, from my limited accuracy testing so far.

I would like to eventually take the old girl and the spirit of my great grandfathers memory out deer hunting from time to time. If it can hold "minute of deer" @ 100yds, I'd be happy. I plan to take my other heirloom Mosin-Nagant SA marked M-91 out once in a while as well. That one shoots where I aim at least.
 
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