French model 1892 8mm revolver all you need to know

3.2 gr Unique with a .002" oversize 110 gr soft cast bullet is doing 740 fps in mine and shooting sub 2" at 20 yds. That's enough for me.
 
What is everyone using for a mold?

I can never find much information on available molds.

Has anyone ever thought of making a listing of molds for obsolete cartridge and muzzle loaders?
 
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Mold is not available for this. You can have it custom made but its expensive. I found it easiest to buy from jethunter. costs me about $0.24 ea. shipped to ontario so for the amount of shooting i do with this old gun its cheap enough not to bother casting. By the time you buy dies, brass its an investment already. I buy 32-20 ammo which i take apart and i use bullets for something else i cut and resize brass for 1892 french and 1887 swedish. If you need some i can make them up for you.
 
Hi drslav

Thanks for your posting.

I have the dies and plenty of 32-20 brass.

I was just wondering if there was a mold that was easy obtained and as I see by your posting, I guess not.

I would like to have a mold, so I guess it's off to the custom order for me.

Yes, my investment gets deeper as I go.

Thank you also for the offer to help make up some brass.

You are an asset to the GunNutz community.
 
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If possible, you should slug your barrel before you invest in a mold, there's been some variation is bore sizes noted on these guns. My best is .3295", I have another that is .328. Most of the ones I've handled have been in the ..328" to .330" range, but several people here (drslav included iirc) have found smaller sizes, some as small as .323".
 
The .330 NEI mold will be perfect for a .328 barrel ID. Use a lead alloy with a ratio of roughly half ww and half pure lead and you will be in business.
 
Been out shooting the 8mm again. Loaded up some 2.8 gr trailboss loads and am seeing a fairly consistent 650-660 fps. My barrel slugs to slightly under 0.324" which would explain my low speeds with 2.8 gr trailboss.

Previously I tried softer loads, but noticed that under 2.6 gr the cases wouldn't expand enough and some burned powder would sneak backwards beside the case.
2.6 gr Trailboss - 610 fps
2.7 gr Trailboss - 630 fps

I'm using JetHunter's excellent cast bullets. They are very consistent at 0.327", 112.5 grains and 13.716mm length.

How I've been loading them

1. Trim starline 32-20 casings to 27.5mm.
2. Run the casings through a Hornady 8mm lebel rev sizing die.
3. Run the casing through a Hornady 8mm lebel rev expanding die just enough to allow the 0.327 bullets into the case mouth.
4. Prime the casings with CCI small rifle primers.
5. Measure and load 2.8gr trailboss powder.
6. Seat and lightly crimp bullet with a Hornady 8mm lebel rev seating die to an overall length of 34.8mm.

After the first shot the cases fireform to the cylinder and require a little trim. After that they retain their dimensions. I have loaded some cases over 5 times and haven't seen any splits or anything unusual, though the primer pockets are definitely getting looser. They fit nicely in a 38/357 case.

Technically the OAL should be 36.7mm, however I've been seating to 34.8mm to avoid crimping in the lube groove of the bullet.

Definitely a great prescribed antique to use as a shooter.


 
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One other cool thing about the M1892: the cartridge has a max rating of about 18,000 psi according to my sources. That might not mean much for most people but anyone who reloads for old guns will be impressed.
 
jethunter said:
One other cool thing about the M1892: the cartridge has a max rating of about 18,000 psi according to my sources. That might not mean much for most people but anyone who reloads for old guns will be impressed.
Click to expand...

Wow.
Almost half again the pressures that we are used to staying within for most all of our other antiques.
Does this stronger metallurgy also carry over to the older M1873?.
 
vviking said:
Wow.
Almost half again the pressures that we are used to staying within for most all of our other antiques.
Does this stronger metallurgy also carry over to the older M1873?.
Click to expand...

my thinking with the 1873 ( and one of the biggest reasons I bought one ) is ..... a lot of these are chambered in 45 acp over the last , almost , 100 years . where are the pictures of these in pieces from using 45 acp ammo .
I'm sure more than a few rounds of jacketed ammo and +p ammo have been fed into these guns either by accident or intentional . but I have yet to see pictures and threads about how unsafe these guns are with 45 acp . I've seen top pressure ratings from 17,000 to 19,000 psi and +p around 21,000 to 23,000 psi for 45 acp .

so my thinking is , to be on the safe side , a low pressure 45acp would equal a top pressure loading in these guns .
455 webley which is a common round that these guns are also chambered in has a converted pressure of around 15,000 psi which is also around a low end 45 acp loading .
 
According to Quickload, CIP rates the French M73 11mm revolver cartrdige at 16,679 psi. So I assume that is what the revolver was designed to work at. Pretty impressive considering the date. French metallurgy was as good as it got back then.
 
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