WTB: .446 mold for 11mm Mauser

[bones92]

Looking for a mold that will cast .446 bullets for the 11mm Mauser. Kind of a long shot, but you never know what people may have laying around their loading bench.

[jonk]

I have one, but I won't sell it.

If you haven't, slug your bore. I have a 71 and a 71/84. The former slugs out to .452. A heavy .45 colt bullet as cast at .454 in fireformed brass does quite well. The 71/84 is pretty close to spec, and that's what I use the .446 for.

If you are interested in some bullets from a lyman mold, cast from 20:1, I'd make you a reasonable deal. PM me if interested.

[Tom-in-Pittsburgh]

bones92,

You may have already figured out that you want either Lyman mould 446110 or RCBS 44-370FN -- both are available new from all the usual suspects (Midway, Amazon, eBay, Buffalo Arms, etc).

And Western Bullet sells bullets cast from the Lyman mould:

http://www.westernbullet.com/43ma11ca.html

I shoot a 71/84 with excellent results using the Lyman bullet.

Good luck,

Tom

[bones92]

JonK and Tom,

I have seen that Lyman mold on Midway's site, and wondered about it. But it sounds like a good starting mold.

Part of the issue is that I have several M71s and several M71/84s.... so I figured I'd start off with a "spec" mold to begin with.

I just finally got around to trying my hand at casting soft lead bullets (for muzzleloaders), and it's addicting! I had assumed I would use the same soft, pure lead for the 11mm Mauser bullets. Am I off in my thinking? Do I need a bit more hardness in the .43 Mauser? I figured a soft lead bullet is less wear on the rifle. I plan to load with real BP, so I'm not looking for scorching muzzle velocities.

Thanks, gents. I appreciate the guidance.

[Tom-in-Pittsburgh]

I use 1:16 (tin to lead) in my 71/84. I got rid of my 71 because it wouldn't chamber a groove-diameter bullet and I didn't want to go to the trouble of heeled or hollow-based bullets.

To start with, I would pick whichever of your 71/84s has the best bore. Also, each of these rifles is marked on a flat on the breech end of the barrel with the bore (land) diameter. My 1888 Amberg is marked "11" and a "standard" .446" diameter works well for me.

I am also sending you a PM.

Thanks,

Tom

[jonk]

I use 1:16 (tin to lead) in my 71/84. I got rid of my 71 because it wouldn't chamber a groove-diameter bullet and I didn't want to go to the trouble of heeled or hollow-based bullets.

To start with, I would pick whichever of your 71/84s has the best bore. Also, each of these rifles is marked on a flat on the breech end of the barrel with the bore (land) diameter. My 1888 Amberg is marked "11" and a "standard" .446" diameter works well for me.

I am also sending you a PM.

Thanks,

Tom

Tom in Pittsburgh! I remember your posts in the forums at Gunboards.com fondly. I don't get on there much any more.

I want to pick up on what you said about groove diameter and chamber specs. This is an issue with many rifles of this period, for various reasons. Some originally used undersized bullets to 'bump up' on firing. Others used heel based bullets. Others just didn't care. This held true even into the smokeless era, with the expectation that cupro nickel clad bullets woudl upset into the rifling.

Using a soft lead projectile will facilitate this, yes. But you can have a little hardness to it too; 20:1, 16:1, what have you. Just not straight up wheelweights or whatever. You can also cheat it a few thousandths with a neck reamer for brass. Generally though: unless you get into paper patching, I've found that soft lead is limited to a fairly mild charge, using filler, before accuracy falls off. What hardness you use would depend of what your gun likes, of course. Obviously, if your chamber permits seating a groove diameter bullet or larger (as I mentioned with my own 71) it's a non issue.