Have a 7.7 Jap made into a mannlicher rifle. Nice little 18 inch barrel...beautiful wood. think it would make a great little elk gun.

Ammo is hard to find though. Norma makes some, kinda expensive. Wondering if anyone reloads for this and where they get there components?

Any good loads that anyone has worked up that work well in hunting situations?

Thanks guys.....

Sierra, Hornady and Speer all make bullets, and Norma makes brass.

I reload for it. I own one, looks like a POS, shoots terrific. The only bullets I shoot are Sierra and Hornaday 150 gr SP. Norma is the only source of brass I know of... Maybe I should look at fixing mine up a little bit; sow's ear to silk purse.....

Oh yeah... as far as a favorite load. I really don't have one. Every load I've tried has shot under 4 inches at 100 yards. Which is fine for me and the stock iron sights. Currently, I have a big can of IMR-4895 so I've been using it.

since it's a .311" diameter bullet, you can go to most factory companies. I know Sierra makes hunting bullets for it and so does Hornady, and they had some loads in their manual for it too.

as far as brass goes, i only know of norma, and maybe the Old Western Scrounger...i think you might be able to make it from '06 brass with a lot of work and patience, but don't quote me on that.

[ 12-16-2002, 06:10: Message edited by: Curtis_Lemay ]

Grafs is selling brass made by Hornady. $27 a hundred. Mine has a 4x scope, and does under MOA. It's fun to go to the range and out shoot some guy with a Rem Sendero and $400 scope!

Ther was a guy selling 7.7 at a gun show. He made them out of 30-06. That scared the hell out of me, having rounds head stamped 06 which would be disasteros if fired in a 06

I believe that the 7.7 can also be made out of 303 British Brass. I might be a little safer so as not to be confused with 06 ammo.

Bob

Don't make 7.7 brass from .30-06. The 7.7 chamber is way too big at the base for that brass. Don't buy an Arisaka that has been rechambered to .30-06 without having the barrel set back for the same reason.

There are people who do it. There are even people who get away with. But there have also been case failures. Even the strongest of actions is not much help when that happens.

I use 06 brass in mine some mil brass is very close to 7.7 brass. I use 125 7.62x39 bullets in mine for a nice load at 2700fps those steel core mil well go through a lot.

My Type 99 was well done by a pretty serious hobby smith or full time smith. I think they took the time and effort because the barrel is tight enough that I can use 150 Hornady 0.308" bullets. 0.310s work also but the groups are NO tighter and I figure I likely gain a bit of velocity and a slight reduction in pressure. Milsurp 4895 has proven to be best in mine also (2500-2700 fps), but I did not go to a lot of effort, just to get a M.O.D. load!

Make and parentage of brass is of little importance since I have to size it down to the dimensions of my dies and The Norma brass would just be worked a bunch more.
I get 4-5 (at least) full powder loadings and that is about all I would expect!

LouisB

Lyman trimmer for the drill press sure speeds production of brass like this from the parent brass I use that needs some trimming (Lyman is much more appreciated with 30 & 357 Herrett).

[ 12-20-2002, 06:58: Message edited by: TCLouis ]

You CANNOT MAKE 7.7 Japanese cases from .303 British!! They shoot the same diameter bullets, and that's where the similarity ends! The .303 case is rimmed, the 7.7 is not. The .303 has a head diameter of .457" or so, whereas the 7.7 is .472", according to Nonte. Nonte recommends forming 7.7 Jap. from .30/'06, so it is definitely O.K. to do so!!(There was also a 7.7 Japanese heavy machinegun round, which had a larger case diameter than the rifle round. This caused US a lot of confusion during and right after WWII, leading some to conclude that you can't use '06 brass to make 7.7 rifle ammo. This is NOT CORRECT!! However, there may be some 7.7 rifles with sloppy, oversize chambers. These would probably be on the ragged edge, even with Japanese ammo!!

Ken Waters reported fired cases from his 7.7 measuring as much as .481 at rhe base. New .30-06 brass runs about .465. That's way too much slop for me to even consider.

Someone already mentioned that Midway has new 7.7 brass from Hornady at a most reasonable price. Why are we even discussing a possibly dangerous conversion?

It is entirely possible that some 7.7 Jap rifle chambers are as large as .481", BUT, THE SPECS FOR THE CARTRIDGE ARE from .471" to .472"!!! Rifles made toward the end of WWII are notoriously sloppy, and some have bores as large as .315+", although they are supposed to be .311"!! By all means, make sure your chamber is not way oversize, but even Norma brass is not .481"!! My Sierra manual shows .471", Hornady says .471", Nonte and Hatcher both say .472". Have not been able to find any source that says .481"!! Unless there is something wrong with one's rifle, ammo made from .30/'06 brass should work OK!! (BTW, case head diameter for .30/'06 is supposed to be around .470"-.473", so '06 cases measuring .465" are a little on the small side!!)

[ 12-19-2002, 18:32: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

I shoot Norma 7.7 Jap brass and '06 brass. Individual chamber specs will dictate. It is also possible to use 8x57 which will end up a skosh short in the neck, but will function. sundog

Cases and chambers have different specs. The chamber HAS to be bigger than the cartridge in production guns, particularly miltary issue guns. A difference of .010 between Jap CASES and Jap CHAMBERS is not surprising. The case can take that much difference.

You get into trouble when you double the tolerances. .30-06 CHAMBERS run about the same size as the Jap CASE, but the .30-06 brass is a good bit smaller, typically around .465. That makes the room for an 06 case to expand in a 7.7 chamber .015 or so. Entirely too much for my tastes.

All you really need to do is to look at some cases formed from .30-06 and fired in a typical Arisaka to see the bigass bulge. Some of the boys usta put a wrap of tape around their cases so the bulge would be uniform.

No need to take that kind of chance when the right case is readily and cheaply available.

I'm going right out to the shop right now and mike some new '06 case heads!! Just out of curiosity. Don't seem to have any 7.7 Jap brass around any more!!