Graf delivered my order of Swiss brass and 7.65 x 53 Arg. Mau. brass yesterday (order placed 10/28/03). Both types looked wondereful, except that the 7.65 x 53mm had shrunk to 6.5 x 52 Carcano (Graf's packing error)! Since I had some new "T" marked Swiss brass on hand as well, I decided to compare the two. Case length and neck dia. of Graf & T are identical. The diameter of the base just ahead of the extractor groove is different though: .495"-.496" for the T; .496"-.497" for the Graf's. This makes no practical difference since the K-31's (carbine) chamber is oversized and my FL sizing die accepted the cartridge with nary a whimper. Nevertheless, there was a statistically significant difference in weight (T-test, n = 15): Grafs are heavier. They also have a nice anneal mark on the necks. Thought you'd like to know. ...Maven

Maven, I bought some of that Graf brass last year in 7.5X55 and 7.62X54R. I've loaded the latter a bunch and it's been good stuff. I haven't used the Swiss brass much though. The K31 and it's short leade has been a bit of a problem for me shooting cast. I didn't have a boolit that would chamber in it without intruding into the powder space. I read a success story on another board using the Lee C312 155 2R, so I bought one. I cast up,lubed and sized a bunch .309 last night and made up a dummy round. It chambers very well in both my K31s with the gas check at the base of the neck. I hope to load up a few with various powders and give them a try this weekend. I also bought one of those C309-113-F soup cans and will try some of them in the Swiss too.

MEboy, I think lots of K-31 owners have assumed that because of the short throat and intrusion of the bullet into the powder space that the rifle wouldn't shoot CB's well. What you have to do is ignore the short throat and seat the bullets far enough below the neck-shoulder junction to allow the bolt to go into battery (serial no's. on bolt are @ 12 o'clock position when viewed from above). Having said that, I've found that my K-31 will handle the Lee 113gr. wadcutter as well as the long, heavy tapered Lyman #311644 with aplomb. It also does well with Lyman #311291 and #311041, as long as all CB's are sized to .309". In fact I have a Lee 180gr. SP, a bore rider whose nose is too small to fit my '06, but it engraves and groups quite nicely in the Swiss. In short, the K-31 is the least fussy CB shooter I own. ...Maven

Maven, I've tried the Lee 180 RN and the 311291 as well as the Lee 150 FN seated deeply with fair success, however I seem to get a lot of fliers. My notes indicate that the only powders I've tried are Red Dot, Unique, SR4759, and IMR 4227. I also confess I probably haven't given the Swiss rifles a fair shake as I've fired only 250 rounds of cast through both of them. I was thinking that I was getting some flame cutting on the exposed part of the boolit with those relatively fast powders. Anyway, I have some of the 155 2R's loaded up and plan on shooting them Sunday. I'll post my results.

I tried the Lee 155 in the Swiss this morning using 2 different charges of SR4759, 13.1 and 16.3 grains. (I used Lee scoop measures) Both did very well except for some horizontal stringing. I lifted the barrel about 45 degrees before firing the last 3 rounds of the 16.3 grain load and they went into about an inch and a half. I think I'll try thoseloads with dacron.

MEboy, The only pistol powders I used in the K-31 thus far are Unique and WC820, mostly because I can use a pistol powder measure to charge the cases. Of the two, I prefer WC820: Burns cleaner than Unique; excellent accuracy and a lot cheaper than Unique. If you're in a mood to experiment with a slow milsurp powder, IMR 5010 in doses of 47 - 48gr. + .7cc grex or powdered bran works very well with CB's from 150gr. to 195gr. ...Maven