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Nelsdou

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  1. Paper patch works good too in the Husky 9.3x57s. The Reverend is right on about using the M die. The Lee universal expander doesn't work as well. After wrapping and drying I'll lightly lube the paper with LLA or sizing lube, not really for lube purposes but as a precaution to prevent the paper from picking up moisture. Nice hog Reverend!
  2. Very cool Buck. I've got a Carcano in line to re-barrel to 35 Rem. One of the hurdles is the stock but I see you're well on your way on that. I finally wrenched my old barrel off using a Wheeler 700 Rem receiver wrench that worked surprisingly well. The barrel threads and breech an "odd" size and configuration so a barrel blank will be needed to be machined to match. The 35 Rem cartridges feed and cycle ok through the action, 5 but not 6 will fill the clip because the 35 Rem case heads are slightly fatter than the Carcano's. However the bolt face grabs and feeds the 35 Rem rims just fine. Your project encourges me to get on with picking up a 35 barrel blank.
  3. Beautiful job on the stock and nicely configured with the sling arrangement, choice of scope and stepped mauser barrel. Interesting choice to go with the 7.65x53. Doesn't get a lot of press but is a very potent round. Nels
  4. Nelsdou

    Carcano Action

    I have the M38 short rifle in both the 6.5 and 7.35mm. The 6.5 was pretty accurate using the .268 Hornady bullets but the throat wear has become severe. $80 A&B barrel is pretty reasonable; I've used one in a Tweed that shoots very well. I've got some more homework to do in trying to figure out what to stock this thing in. Nels
  5. Nelsdou

    Carcano Action

    Anybody re-barreled a Carcano? I was musing over cartridges with similar dimensions to the Carcano's to see what might work with the clip system without too much difficulty and came across the 35 Rem. 9 thou difference on the rim, 5 thou difference on the shoulder, .147" difference in cartridge length; should be doable to feed. Marlin is still making the 35 Rem lever action rifles so brass should be available. Power-wise the 35 Rem is less than the 358 Win but looks plenty potent for most game, and within reasonable limits of the Carcano action. Looks ideal for a short carbine, easy to carry and moderate recoil. A poor man's Mannlicher-Schonauer comes to mind if one could put a 20 inch barrel, folding leaf sights, and a full length stock on a Carcano. The bottom metal would be a dead give away though, much like a Mosin. Given that I've got a Carcano short rifle in good working order except for a shot out pitted barrel, looks like a possible "project" would be a 35 cal barrel, 35 Rem reamer, and machine work to cut threads to Carcano specs. Possible obstacles could be needing to make an action wrench to fit the action to get the old barrel off and the usual fun of pulling a barrel that's been torqued since 1939. Assuming I get that far, my guess a Mannlicher type stock for this kind of frankenstein would be a custom affair and could get pretty pricey unless I do alot of my own whittling. Anywho, I've put a lot of rounds through this particular Carcano and the metal is in excellent shape except for the bore. Hate to toss it into the wall hanger category. Looking for some feed back from anyone thats been there done that or if I'm overlooking any major gotchas. Nels
  6. Tinker, Check out http://personal.stevens.edu/~gliberat/carcano/ for info on the Carcanos. There's a pretty good technical paper there called "shooting the Carcano" that covers about all you would want to know, including some reloading information. I have a 91/38 short rifle with standard cut rifling (not gain twist) that is also know as the "Oswald" rifle. The barrel is pitted, but with the .268 Hornady bullets, 37 grains H414, mag primer, I can routinely hit a softball at 100 yds. Carcanos are "different" but once you get used their quirks and the clip loading system, I think they're as simple and rugged as any other military rifle of its time. Right now I'm casting up some lead projectiles from a Lee "Cruise Missile" mould from Midsouth that drop at 170 grains and shooting them over 10 grains of Unique. Accurate and should be a good small game/javelina killer. Nels
  7. I used an A&B barrel on a Twede project. After shooting about 60 rounds of jacketed bullets through it, I cleaned it thoroughly to get all the copper out then fire-lapped it with a Beartooth kit. There's other fire-lapping kits, but what I liked about this one was it uses soft lead bullets you roll yourself on steel plates using 320 grit in a grease paste. Kind of tedious, but you control the quality and quantity of the grit embedded in the slugs. Before lapping, using some strong lights and a strong magnifying glass peering down into the muzzle of this A&B barrel I could see some fine lines running radial to the bore, both on the lands and grooves. Don't know if those are button or cutter "chatter" marks, but they looked rough enough to me. Fired six fire-lapping rounds over squib loads then clean, then six more, and so forth. After 48 rounds, those radial marks in the bore disappeared. If I do my part this rifle will print cloverleafs w/120g Sierra's over 48g of RL22 @ 100 yds. Now, could I have gotten these results w/o fire-lapping the A&B barrel? Maybe. Maybe after 1,000 rounds or more of jacked bullets to burnish the bore surfaces to an equilvent finish. Or bought a much more expensive barrel that's already lapped? Maybe. The A&B barrel worked for me, and I didn't mind the extra work to get the results I wanted. Nels
  8. That spoof license is "real' here in New Mexico. Our pandering for president governor, Billy Richardson, endorsed issuing over 30,000 New Mexico drivers licenses to foreign nationals. When some folks (Republicans) requested a listing of those licenses to check against voter registation for voter fraud, the liberal judges jumped in and ruled "confidential information" and denied the request. It was pointed out later that one can obtain that same information through not one, but two state sponsered data service businesses, and of course, for a price. Front page Sunday news in the Albuquerque Journal.
  9. Have a 9.3 x 57 Husqvarna, also Normal Brass, haven't tried loading yet but plan to do so soon for Deer season. will report any problems that develop. I only have a couple of loads with data, a 250gr. nosler BT loaded with 49.5gr. Varget, a 286gr. loaded with 47.4gr. Varget also may try IMR-4320 using 48.9gr. also several other loads using different bullet types same weight range. Does anyone

  10. Rich, Did you go with the Turk sights on the Swede barrel? I've go the same project under way but using the M96 Swede rear and front sights and realized the Swede rear sight won't fit the cutout in the Turk handguard, so I got a Swede handguard. Should still pass for a Turk at a glance. I assumed the 6.5x55 POI would be way above POA at the longer ranges if I kept the Turk sights. Nels
  11. Back in the days when you could easily get a Swede replacement M96 or M38 barrel in 6.5x55, mating it to a K. Kale action was a nifty, cheap, and accurate sporter. (Large ring receiver threaded for a small ring barrel) A superb cartridge with the safety and strength of the 98 action. Never heard anyone ever complain about the Swede barrel quality either other than them having "steps". I imagine there may be a few Swede barrels out there still, but no longer cheap. Nels
  12. The Husky's a keeper! Shot a couple of sighters at 50 yds then move the target back to 100 yds and launched three. Iron sights, front bead, rear notch. 24 grains of 5744 behind 270 grain Mt. Baldy cast lead bullets. Another node shows up at 27~28 grains of 5744 with a 2.75 inch group. Nels
  13. Yep I cleaned the chamber pretty well. The chamber neck is still on the tight side, but does not appear to be eccentric from getting 360 degree contact marks on the cartridge. Well, taking a couple of mils from the cartridge necks won't be too bad. Trying to seat cast bullets with sharp-edged .367 gas checks and not getting them cocked is a bit tricky and the Hornady seating die tries to shave lead off the bullet's ogive. But man-o-man those are big bullets compared to the 8mm! The cast lead bullets are Mt Baldy 270 grain, but with lube and GC are actually closer to 280 grains. I'm anxious to see what these cartridges look like after firing in the Husky before I consider doing anything more on the chamber neck. And I haven't tried jacketed yet to see if there are any differences on loading. For those I'm going to try some 9.3 Hawk bullets that are a bit softer and should be more effective at lower velocities. BTW, the bedding job came out perfect on the stock, so I hope to get some range time soon. Nels
  14. Using once-fired 8x57 cases. I trim them to 8x57 length, de-burr, and FL to 9.3 in the Hornady die. Case length comes out to about 2.235 or so. The dummy loads for setup purposes are trash brass, but dimensionaly the same. No crimp. After a chamber cleaning and using some homemade dye-check I played with several dummy loads. Checking out the bullet seating die, I found I could aggravate the problem by sloppy seating and crooking the necks a bit. But with everything straight and true the case necks at .394 OD (with seated bullet) are no-go. Relieved to .390 OD, life is good. This rifle has an extremely long leade; with the .390 OD case neck, I can't seat a .367 cast lead beer can bullet out far enough to hit the rifling. Nels
  15. For Z or any other 9.3x57 reloaders out there: Got my 9.3x57 dies and bullets reforming some 8x57 brass and ran into major difficulty in chambering a dummy load. My case necks (with bullets seated) at .393~.394 OD are way too tight. Turned down the neck until I got an reasonable slip fit, which is at .390. Chased down a 9.3x57 cartridge drawing off the 'net that shows the neck OD right at .394, which I assume is a max dimension. Until I saw that drawing, I was suspecting I just had some thick brass, now I'm not so sure. Anybody else seen tight necks in their 9.3x57s? Turning down cartridge necks is a PITA. Nels
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