Swedish Mauser!

[Ian]

Or, From Sweden with Unrequited Love if you prefer, as their disdain for cast bullets is legendary in some circles.

I had made my peace with Karlina, coaxing her grudgingly up to a bit over 2,200 fps with a heavily modified Lyman 266469 and some specially-prepared brass formed from LC-68 .30-'06. Loooooong story, but in the end I made a deal with her to stick with Sierra 160 SP bullets and her favorite dose of H414.

Fast forward to a few months ago when a rather unusual Lyman 268645BV came up for sale, and the hamster in my head woke up. I can powder coat now to cure undersized bullets, and have pushed .30-caliber cast bullets to well over 230,000 RPM with decent accuracy. So I bought the mould. Of course the #$%&@#* thing cast .002" out of round and only made .2645" with 1/2 #2 alloy once I re-aligned the blocks, and gas checks fall off, but what the heck. I powder-coated a few and got them up to .2665" and the checks, applied after coating, now crimp on firmly. Throat is still .268"+ but you never know what will work and what won't until you try.

My 6.5x55 dies are a mess. I have a new Lee sizing die for jacketed bullets and an old modified one for thick necks. I'm done with thick brass and determined to only use the correct headstamped brass for now. Unfortunately, all my brass has been sized for jacketed bullets and has a neck ID of .261". I can't find my RCBS expanding plug, I went out to the shop and turned one to .2675" from O-1 tool steel and fit it to a Lee universal expanding die body. I had a box of 50 primed cases that had been short-sized in the FL die, so still fireformed at the shoulder and are snug in the chamber. After expanding, the necks are .266" and wongo as all hell. Not enough tension on a .2665" bullet, .002" or more runout, and visibly crooked. The only bullet seating die I have is a Lee and it seats the bullets so crooked I have to bend them by hand to chamber. What a mess.

Looking at Quickload for a 1800-2000 fps load with a gentle pressure rise, I decided on using IMR 3031at 25 grains for 19,600 psi peak pressure and 1,922 fps predicted muzzle velocity. I loaded up 10 and hit the range with a VERY large piece of target paper.



Annnnnd the results at 100 yards. I had to really cram the bolt into battery on abouthalf of these:



1-3/4" not counting shot #6 up there to the left (?).

I can't believe it. Now I'm going to invest in a Forster in-line seating die and some better case sizing equipment. I also need to decide to either lap the mould, try to double my PC thickness, or polish down the expander spud one more thousandth before I harden it.

 

[Joshua]

That looks pretty good. Polishing the expander would seem to be the most expedient solution.

 

[Ben]

Ian,

I'm very impressed for a Swede.
Groups like that at 100 yards are amazing.

Ben

 

[Ian]

177K rpm if the actual velocity is what was predicted. I'm impressed too considering how awful the runout and neck tension was, honestly I was expecting the bullets to corkscrew off into the wild unknown. I should be able to improve on both the velocity and the group size by getting my reloading tooling in order.

 

[Ben]

Can't wait to see the " improved version " of the target.

Ben

 

[462]

Battle of the Mausers. I like it.

Before you order the Forster, you're still welcome to that Lyman Precision Alignment seating die.

 

[Spindrift]

Splendid results, Ian!
And what a stylish, nice sporterized mauser you have!
It sure is handy to have a simple tool that allows you to increase the size of your bullets, one of the many merits of PC.
Your post made me think of a quote I read the other day (can’t remember who said it):

«People who claim something cannot be done, should not interrupt the ones doing it».

Good luck with your entanglements with the Swede, and please keep us posted!

 

[Bret4207]

More proof of the old saw about, "You never know until you try." Something is wanting to work there for sure. Powder/alloy/pressure/bullet specs coming together somehow. Of course it's still sub-2000fps and not 2500, but I wouldn't get too worried about that. Well done!

You rifle looks good too. Nice!

 

[Ian]

I was also using a 162-grain bullet, not a 120-grain Kurz. I should be able to get 2400 fps with reasonable pressure, which I will work toward as I get my equipment and processes sorted. Goal here is something like 2200 with sub-moa accuracy using 6.5x55 brass.

 

[todd]

good shooting!!!!!!

i still have to do my richard's gun stock on the 1916 Spanish Mauser in 6.5x55 swede ( https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/726180A ) after muzzleloader season.

i have a bunch of 120 or 140gr sst( or are they nosler bt?). what i don't have is brass. i'm going to make 6.5x55 from '06 brass.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I was in a shop today going to visit the mechanic working my truck.

They had THREE Mausers (all '98's) for sale chambered in 6.5 Swede. I was tempted with one!! All tbree Bishop Walnut appeared factory barrels. Lyman receiver peep sights and ivory beade banded front sights.
Two was 499 one was 379$. I didnt pick them up.

No 10mm M&P pistols. (What I wanted to handle)

CW

 

[Ian]

Model 98 or Model 96 made in 1898?

 

[462]

As far as I know, 1898 Mausers were originally chambered in 7.92X57 mm only. The Oberndorf produced 1896 6.5X55 mm Swedish Mausers were very few, 5000?

 

[Bret4207]

As far as I know, 1898 Mausers were originally chambered in 7.92X57 mm only. The Oberndorf produced 1896 6.5X55 mm Swedish Mausers were very few, 5000?

It depends on what you want to call an "1898 Mauser". Everything from an actual first gen '98 to all the variations, including the shortened actions, are technically "98 Mausers".

 

[462]

Yep, many variants of the '98 Mauser, but they were all originally chambered in 7.92X57 mm, not 6.5X55 mm as CW posted. Either he mistyped, or the rifles had been rechambered at some time.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

These where all three 1898 Mausers. Various versions!!!

Obviously put togethers.

 

[462]

These where all three 1898 Mausers. Various versions!!!

Obviously put togethers.

Okay, that makes sense.

 

[Bret4207]

Yep, many variants of the '98 Mauser, but they were all originally chambered in 7.92X57 mm, not 6.5X55 mm as CW posted. Either he mistyped, or the rifles had been rechambered at some time.

Again, depends on which variation you're looking at and if you consider that variation a "98 Mauser". An '09 Argentine is a 98 Mauser in 7.65 Argie. There were 7x57's and mess of other calibers in the mix too. I can't lay my hands on my copy of Ludwig Olsens book, but there were a mess of different variations.

 

[RBHarter]

The 93-98 was licensed to like 65 countries or producers . The 1903 Springfield resulted in a law suit for patent infringement and the Model 70 walked the fringe . There are major and minor variations like the Turk with a large ring and a small thread barrel the 95 with long spacing between the action screws . The civilian versions that had belted mag bolt faces accommodate a 4" OAL and somehow fit in a nominal 98 Mauser stock .

 

[Bret4207]

The 93-98 was licensed to like 65 countries or producers . The 1903 Springfield resulted in a law suit for patent infringement and the Model 70 walked the fringe . There are major and minor variations like the Turk with a large ring and a small thread barrel the 95 with long spacing between the action screws . The civilian versions that had belted mag bolt faces accommodate a 4" OAL and somehow fit in a nominal 98 Mauser stock .

Derzackly! It's akin to the people who claim a '98 is made of way better metal than a '95 or '96. Well, again, it depends on because all 3 actions were made in the same foundries at the same time. Yeah, SOME older actions may not have the same metals as later ones, but it's not as simple as the design identifying which is which.