Dutch Mannlicher M1895 German Capture ?

[Pat]

Virgin commercial US brass is where it's at for reforming to 6.5 Dutch.

 

[7up]

Right then, I have done some testing with two junker PPU cases, and once fired Berdan primed 303
The cruddy PPU's came out better IMO.

Used 308 FL non expander, then 6.5x54 MS FL. Trimmed to match 2.10 OAL
Results below. This was very easy, hardly any effort required on the press lever. If this is epic fail what should I be seeing collapsed brass or this, and do I still need the 7mm-08 die ?

 

[Pat]

Not terrible, but I'd suggest you run it through a 7mm-08 die to reduce/eliminate the bulging ring in the neck just above the shoulder. On the upside, it looks they've stood up well to what you've done so far without collapsing the shoulders.

 

[7up]

Hi used the 7mm-08 and its done the job ?

 

[Pat]

The mouth, shoulder and neck look great. Is there a raised ring near the case head, or an effect of the lighting?

If there's a ring, you're probably not FL sizing all the way through the stroke. You could try chambering it as a dummy round and see if it chambers, extracts and ejects properly, and even loads in a en bloc clip the way it should.

 

[7up]

The mouth, shoulder and neck look great. Is there a raised ring near the case head, or an effect of the lighting?

If there's a ring, you're probably not FL sizing all the way through the stroke. You could try chambering it as a dummy round and see if it chambers, extracts and ejects properly, and even loads in a en bloc clip the way it should.

That's where I have deburred and chamfered, No ring inside. Will try the case in the gun. Clips on route to me

 

[7up]

Hi, its been a while, but have the rifle home. Initially thought I couldn't see any depot markings although there looks as though some marks have faded on the wood behind the magazine. Closer look , could that be a very faint eagle there (green square), in natural light I am quite sure this is a depot mark ?
Stock appears to be 1917 dated ?

Bore needed a clean, a little dark but good rifling.

Bolt wouldn't initially close on my made up rounds, so using a old bronze brush to push into the case mouth , then locked in the chuck, and I spun in a pillar drill to polish the bottom portion of the base. Brass used was PPU would you believe. They now all go in. Picture shows before final polishing. The en-bloc clips were a little fiddly, some of mine came with a mixture of rust and paint. My advice to all is remove the paint and rust as my rounds were not feeding upwards in the clip until all this was removed. Nice to see the clips drop out following the final round.

Updated : As for the rounds if you are planning to use .303 ensure (as directed by forum members) that you run the cases all the way up into the die. If you do this then you shouldn't need to do any messing around like I initially did above. I tried a new unfired batch and did not need to machine or polish off any bases of the brass.

Updated , I have cloned a Dutch type sling and attached with a screw and washer. I used a screw of the same size so that I did not bore out the original hole.

Overall very happy, thanks all for your help

 

[7up]

Well what can I say, shot the rifle today, and on the money. What a neat ,nifty, sharp little round this is !
PPU Brass worked a treat with the en-bloc clips too , cheers