Reloading 43 Mauser - BP cartridge steps

[H Wally]

Now I have a BP cartridge gun, brass and black powder, I guess I should know how to reload for it.

Here's what I understand:

You can reload by hand.

Upon firing, use a rod, pop out the primer, push in a new one, pour powder load into cartridge, push new bullet in.

My questions (which I have googled and searched on the site, but so far haven't found suitable answers):

1) I have FFF powder - is that acceptable?

2) I have regular rifle primers. They fit, albeit tightly. Will they work?

3) Provided they're the right bore diameter, is it appropriate to fire FMJ pistol bullets through it? ( I ask because I have read old Martini enfields and long lees experience bore wear with newer ammo. I don't know if that's the function of the FMJ or the smokeless powder.)

4) Bullet Lubing. Don't know a thing about it. I know most cast bullets have rings to hold lube, and that lube supposedly softens/lessens fowling, but how necessary is it? What does it truly do?

Edit - I now understand that lubing avoids leading in the barrel, providing the bullet isn't going too fast.

5) For FMJ commercial bullets, as they don't have the lube groove, are they still ok to use?

6) Long term, are cast bullets better than FMJ? I mean purely in function, not wondering about cost. It seems more straitforward right now to just buy correct diameter FMJ bullets so I can get the show on the road.

7) With cast loads, is leading an issue in the barrel usually? Is that a function of speed, heat, or lead hardness?



You see - I know very little, but I like my rifle too much to make a stupid mistake and bugger it up


Relevant things I've found:

Basics of casting - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lj6CdM6IxU&NR=1

 

[ben hunchak]

H. Wally...you're all over the map here........The .43 uses .446" or thereabouts sized bullets, for BP loading you should use soft cast bullets with a proper BP lube. The BP lube is more to keep the fouling soft so that subsequent shots will not be wild due to hardened fouling in the bore. The soft fouling will also be cleaned out by subsequent shots or very easily cleaned with a patch, hardened fouling is terrible to clean out. Proper sized, jacketed pistol bullets could be used, if they are the right fit, with light smokeless loads. I'm sure however, that best accuracy will be with properly loaded BP loads. The black powder must be drop tubed(for consistent compression), you should exp. with diff. charge weights until the charge fills the case to the bottom of the seated bullet(this length, you have determined beforehand). Finally, you can hand seat the bullet,sitting on the charge, and your OAL will be right....enjoy......You should slug your bore beforehand to ensure that the bullets are a good fit. Correct(historically) shape, size, weight bullets are avail. from M.T. Chambers and others. Make sure that they are cast 30-1 or 20-1 at the hardest and lubed with proper BP Lube, lubes containing petroleum products should be avoided as they will increase fouling/problems.....Ben
P.S...I forgot to mention the std. warning, there should be no air space in the loaded round, as a type of detonation and/or chamber ringing is possible!

 

[H Wally]

Haha - thanks!

Like I said - I know nothing about blackpowder, so I'm up the figurative creek so to speak.

I'm already casting for my .50 cap and ball, so might very well just start up for this as well. I'll go look up what you mean by 30-1/20-1, as right now I'm just melting everything I find and consolidating the results (theory being what I'm getting is free, and as long as it's all melted together the same, it should be predictable)

Just for clarification - you determine proper charge by
A) knowing OAL
B) Determining how far into the cartridge the a given bullet will seat at that OAL
C) filling powder up to that point.

That about right?

 

[ben hunchak]

You are correct, the 30-1 refers to 30 parts lead to 1 part tin, this is no place for wheel weights, 30 pounds of pure lead and add 1 lb. of 95-5 solder(solid core)(95% tin).

 

[H Wally]

I've been using random ballast bricks a buddy of mine gives me.


On that note though, for plinking, what's the harm in wheel weights? From what little I know, they'd likely be brittle, so accuracy wouldn't be amazing, and hunting would be out on account of them just disintegrating on impact, but other than that, they just aren't ideal right?

(I'm asking questions because I like to know the theory behind things so I can work around problems, hence my being a question asking PITA )

 

[mooncoon]

I'll go look up what you mean by 30-1/20-1, as right now I'm just melting everything I find and consolidating the results

Just for clarification - you determine proper charge by
A) knowing OAL
B) Determining how far into the cartridge the a given bullet will seat at that OAL
C) filling powder up to that point.

The 30-1 is the ration of tin or other non lead metals to lead. The reason is that with black powder you want the bullet to obturate or swell up and more completely fit the bore and that requires a fairly soft slug. The rationale is that the base of the bullet starts moving before the nose of the bullet and the bullet therefore expands in the middle.
The optimum charge is determined by the steps you illustrated.

Primers are supposed to be a semi crush fit; otherwise they can potentially fall out. Does not make an awful lot of difference whether they are magnum or standard, in my opinion at least

The drop tube is important because powder just poured in does not burn uniformly compared to powder dropped through a tube. The powder will be about 1/8" to 3/16" further into the shell if dropped rather than just poured.

If you are just firing a few shots (say in the hundreds rather than thousands) jacketed bullets will not wear your barrel out but the lead ones will probably work better and are a lot cheaper. You would probably have to swage jacketed bullets to size.

final thought; a lot of shooters carry a blow tube or piece of 1/2 plastic tubing about 1 foot long to blow down the barrel from the breach with. Warm moist breath will noticeably soften the fowling with one or two breaths.

cheers mooncoon

 

[H Wally]

Hmmk. So for simple starter plinking harder lead is ok, but will not be anywhere near as accurate as proper mixtures. IE - If I wanted to show the family how to shoot cans with a BP gun at 20 yards, it'd suffice

For a drop tube, a 1-2 ft copper pipe fitted to the case mouth with a funnel at the top end will suffice I assume? For a portable one, a sectioned set of pipes could probably work too I suppose.
For home reloading, would tapping the powder into place, or holding it to the vibrating tumbler serve the same purpose in settling the loads?

Also, I think I'll stay away from jacketed bullets. Seems I should just save my money, shoot a little later and get the right gear right off the bat.

 

[ben hunchak]

I fashioned my drop tube from 3/8" copper tubing, 42" long, with a funnel fitted to the top, I still weigh every charge though and use a powder trickler to bring the charge up to exact. None of my BP loads are off as much as 1/10th of a grain, and with the Swiss BP accuracy can astound.
One other point, in regards to the blow tube, used to keep fouling soft and moist in the barrel, you should actually "huff" into it, similar to "blowing" on your cold hands in the winter, you don't actually blow as that would make them colder, you "huff" from the diaphragm, a warm, moist, breath of air.