I bought some Egyptian military surplus rifle rounds about 50 years ago . They were really old back then even . Never seen such loads before . Nearly every cartridge will split the case and pop out the primer . Big heavy ball of lead too . Mangles a coyote when you hit him . Usually cuts them in half and digs up a big ball of dirt after passing through the carcass . I usually pray a little before shooting them . They are corrosive so I have to clean the old rifle after each shoot . They came in bandoleros of 200 each and if I remember back in the 70's each bandalero cost a whopping 4 bucks . It was quite exciting back in my youth to shoot them but sadly I have become timid in my older years and don't get them out much anymore except to impress the city folks with tales of daring bravado mixed with stupidity . Works every time .
This is an excellent article, thanks for posting it.
FTR, I've shot 8x57 machine gun ammo thru a K98 Mauser, and it was not unusual for the case necks to split. The stuff was loaded pretty hot, the difference in recoil between the MG ammo and regular Euro-spec 8x57JS ammo(S&B) was noticeable.
Most American "standard" 8x57JS ammo is loaded pretty mild, about like a 30-30 load.
I'm one of those people who developed high pressure loads for the old .45-70 for use in modern high strength rifles. Loads that exceed the fps and OAL that you see in the load manuals under "Ruger level". It can be done safely, but it takes a very strong rifle and a lot of reloading knowledge, throat reamers, software and those pressure tape sensors, which really help (expensive though).
When you see dropped primers with no casehead soot, get out the primer pocket gauges and measure. Significant excess pressure will deform the primer pocket and the case head. At this point the brass is ruined, the primer falls out, and you know your load is way too hot. Because the design is so old, even the best .45-70 brass (Starline) is only good to about 52,000psi before it deforms. So this is not going to shred a rifle strong enough for 70,000 psi ammo. But I matched the power of the .375 H&H and the old .450-400 Nitro Express tiger rifle.
I bought some Egyptian military surplus rifle rounds about 50 years ago . They were really old back then even . Never seen such loads before . Nearly every cartridge will split the case and pop out the primer . Big heavy ball of lead too . Mangles a coyote when you hit him . Usually cuts them in half and digs up a big ball of dirt after passing through the carcass . I usually pray a little before shooting them . They are corrosive so I have to clean the old rifle after each shoot . They came in bandoleros of 200 each and if I remember back in the 70's each bandalero cost a whopping 4 bucks . It was quite exciting back in my youth to shoot them but sadly I have become timid in my older years and don't get them out much anymore except to impress the city folks with tales of daring bravado mixed with stupidity . Works every time .
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent article, thanks for posting it.
ReplyDeleteFTR, I've shot 8x57 machine gun ammo thru a K98 Mauser, and it was not unusual for the case necks to split. The stuff was loaded pretty hot, the difference in recoil between the MG ammo and regular Euro-spec 8x57JS ammo(S&B) was noticeable.
Most American "standard" 8x57JS ammo is loaded pretty mild, about like a 30-30 load.
I'm one of those people who developed high pressure loads for the old .45-70 for use in modern high strength rifles. Loads that exceed the fps and OAL that you see in the load manuals under "Ruger level". It can be done safely, but it takes a very strong rifle and a lot of reloading knowledge, throat reamers, software and those pressure tape sensors, which really help (expensive though).
ReplyDeleteWhen you see dropped primers with no casehead soot, get out the primer pocket gauges and measure. Significant excess pressure will deform the primer pocket and the case head. At this point the brass is ruined, the primer falls out, and you know your load is way too hot. Because the design is so old, even the best .45-70 brass (Starline) is only good to about 52,000psi before it deforms. So this is not going to shred a rifle strong enough for 70,000 psi ammo. But I matched the power of the .375 H&H and the old .450-400 Nitro Express tiger rifle.