I went to the range today to try some cast lead bullets in my M-1910 Mannlicher Schoenauer in 9.5x57 M-S caliber.

No leading. I cast them from one pound of monotype to two pounds of pure lead. About 6% Antimony and 3% Tin. Cast easily. No heat treating. Sized them 0.376" and lubed them with Tamarack lube. Only two lube grooves were in the case. The front lube groove was ahead of the mouth of the case to get the cartridge to feed smoothly.

I started at 30gr of XMP5744 and worked up to 37gr. I planned to keep going until I got leading. Didn't get it even though I guesstimate the velocity at the end was between 1,700 and 1,900fps. I am thinking of going to IMR4064 or IMR4831 powder and keep going. I may get to full jacketed velocity without having to heat treat the bullets.

Harry O,
What mould did you use for the 9.5? -JDL

Lyman 375167 plain-base 273gr round-nose. I couldn't find anything else that would even come close to working in this gun. The usual 38-55 bullet is useless. As it is, I have the put the front lube groove of this one (out of three lube grooves) ahead of the case mouth in order for it to feed smoothly. I was surprised that there was no leading with a plain-base bullet, but it did fit well.