I just recently aquired a new "toy"... I'll bet I got a one of a kind... Actually two of a kind since I know my father in law had the twin...

The rifle started out life as a mauser 98 chambered in 9x57 I believe... Anyway, a friend of my f-i-l had the rifle and took and reamed the chamber to make it a 9x62 improved so to speak... basically the same dimensions as a 35 Brown Whelen, but based on a 9mm bore... When I bought the rifle from him, he told me that he used to take .358 bullets and run them though a sizer, size them down from .358 to .356 and then shoot them with out any ill effects or presure signs...

Well in the deal I ended up with all the stuff for the rifle, which inclues probably close to 2000-2500 bullets as well as custom dies, case sizers, etc... What I can't seam to find is the bullet sizer... I can get in touch with the guy that I bought it from, but not for a few weeks. I'm kind of chomping at the bit to get some loads worked up and take her to the range. Do you guys think that the sizing die that Lee makes for lead bullets would work ok? And if so what type of lube do you think I should use? Case lube???

Thanks in advance...

Ivan

I got a lot of help on that same issue a while back. Go to page 4 on the reloading forum about 1/2 way down the page to my thread " 9mm bullets".

Ivan:

Here is a story I think you will like and appreciate. Back in 1972 or 3 I found a real nice Simpson Mauser in a friends gun shop. It was chambered in 9X57. I was faced with the same problem you are now facing. What did I do? I rechambered the rifle to 35 Whelen. I felt I might have a problem with the bore diameter so, I figured the starting loads in Whelen data would be max. I started a bit below them. After a great deal of shooting and testing loads with the 358 diameter bullets, I couldn't create a problem, even though I was looking for one. Got the 250 grain Speers up to 2550fps, with one inch groups and quit. In your particular rifle .002 may not be anything, then again it could create some high pressures. Just my story, and a successful one.


Jerry

If theres enough clearance in the neck for the case to expand and "release" the bullet, I dont see what sizeing them down that little bit is going to do. look at all the .308 bore 7.62x39's out there Ruger makes. I've never had a problem shooting .311 factory stuff in mine.

it might help to measure the bore of the rifle and make a chamber cast so that you will know the throat diameter. the numbers will help you decide what to do.

Thanks for the reply's guy's... they guy that I got it from said that he used to shoot .358 bullets out of it, but some of them had pressure issues, so he said he ran them through the sizer and it went away... I believe the ones that he had problems with were partitions...

I'm pretty sure I can get away with just running un sized bullets through it. As I'm pretty sure that the neck is cut to accecpt the larger diameter bullets.

I was just wondering if anyone had done this before... just trying to quench my never ending need for knowlege...

Thanks again

There is a barrel maker in BC Canada that spent quite a bit of time with PO Ackley back in the 70's. The last time I was on the phone with him a discussion on .411" and .416" cartridges/bullets led to him relating a story about some of PO's and Elmer Keith's experiments. I won't give details but it's pretty amazing how much you can swage a bullet thru a barrel without problems. I do personally know a fellow who, while not on purpose, fired a .323 bullet thru a .308 bore with no ill effects...that's only .015" tight,..you wouldn't believe what PO and Elmer did..

Al Straitiff of Competitor Pistol co. has what he calls extruder barrels. They are a 17 or 5mm barrel chambered for 22 LR with a leade cut in them to extrude the bullet down to barrel size. I've played with both 5mm and 17, no noticeable pressure signs on the cases, velocity goes up a fair bit though, so the pressure increases to some extent.