[Whitworth]

..............I may possibly be getting a M1874 Gras in 11x59R and I was wondering what brass conversion works best for this (or if it's even possible)? I don't know how to access the old board to do a search, so if anyone has any pointers along this line, they'd be appreciated.

Rick

 

[seinen]

..............I may possibly be getting a M1874 Gras in 11x59R and I was wondering what brass conversion works best for this (or if it's even possible)? I don't know how to access the old board to do a search, so if anyone has any pointers along this line, they'd be appreciated.

Rick

I think Old West Scrounger has both brass cases and loaded rounds (expensive).

C/

 

[DocAV]

11x59R Gras cartridges/brass

Forget OWS (just a brand name now, owned by someone else, and still carrying the opprobium from the last ten years of trading under its independant status.

If you want ready to load brass, Buffalo Arms is your supplier.
If you want to make your own ( a bit short at 56/57mm, but of no consequence with BP/Light Smokeless Loads)) Get .348 Winchester brass, make a taper expander to get the Neck out to about .45 calibre, neck size to hold a .446 Bullet (Lyman or Lee ".43 Mauser" Moulds are ideal), Load and fire-form.

I do this regularly with commercial quantities here in Australia (I just expand, then Full length size...and allow the user to fire-form.

Some rifles do require a slight bevel on the case rim, but most Gras rifles I have found are "lax" enough to close on a .348 rim thickness without bevelling.

The other method (if you have sufficent quantity) of 8x56/60R Kropatschek Blank cases, is to Pull them down, remove the cotton over-powder wad, just use a little Wax Plug (very little) and fire form...messy, and the original cases are Berdan (RWS #6504), but the brass is good (I only had a 15% split rate)...then anneal, and reload.( one can also use CBC 6,45 shotgun Berdan primers)
Again, the "blanks" vary from 56 to 60mm lin length, and may need some trimming.
Underlength cases are not a hassle in BP rifles.

Good luck,
Doc AV
AV Ballistics.

 

[Egostomus]

Greetings,

I'm with DocAV. Buffalo is the best place for brass. They even make it with the correct base dimensions. I've used resized, fire-formed .348 brass in the past, but with the stuff Buffalo has available, I'll pay the price and not have to hassle with the forming. It was fun when there was no other option, but now, especially with the paucity of .348 brass on the market, Buffalo is the way to go.

 

[Whitworth]

..............Thank you all gentleman, for the timely response! Just the info I was looking for. I appreciate your taking the time to reply. The rifle I'm looking at is in really excellent condition with a bright shiney bore.

Rick