doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com So I found this old Cape gun/target pictures now

What size does the ID of the case neck measure? Sounds like you will shooting it in no time! Good job!

m-4

I'm so pleased and excited about this ol' gun I keep checking back in here about every half hour to see if anyone has more enlightening information...lol!

m-4, it mics .418-.420, so no neck turning. I need about a .415 bullet or maybe a bit bigger. I don't have any molds that size...I don't think. Wonder if I could size down a .427, 44-40 bullet that much? Come to think of it I know I don't have a sizing die close to that. oh well...more than one way to scat a kin.

Tons of fun HUH! Do you have access to a lathe? Take a lead bullet & put centers in each end & turn between centers to the size you need. A couple of shots to get everything to settle in and you will soon know exactly what components you need to have it up & running!

m-4

Heck yes it's a lot of fun! I used to do this all the time, obviously not with these cartridges and firearms, and am glad I came back around to it. Back then I was chasing old American made firarms chambered in less than popular cartridges, most of which can be bought nowadays. The process is much the same, only the names have changed and what can be used for the parent case.....and the quality of firearms is up significantly.

No, sadly I do not have access to a lathe. I've lusted for one for years and it may just about be time to bite the bullet and go buy a little one.

Sharps,

You are certainly moving right along. It's clear that your new find has a bunch of us intersted in seeing new life brought to the old iron. At the rate you're moving I expect to see a range report in no time. Yep, you need a lathe. Get one and then start saving your pennies for a milling machine. You'll never lose the reward realized when you've acquired skill on either one. Of course the old masters would tell you to master the file first which would be a fine idea if you were "new" ... I'm guessing that you're at least a tad beyond the years of what is normally considered a young lad. Cheers and keep up the good work.

Buchseman

I'm not bad with a file....but I am certainly no master....of anything....except my Master Electrician license. I have more behind me than I have in front of me...quite a bit probably. 'Course, Dad is in his mid-80's and still going strong. Who konws? Only the Lord in his infinite wisdom.

Speaking of lathes and mills. I know their quality and accuracy cannot be very high, but, does anyone have experience with those combination mill/lathes Harbor freight used to sell, and maybe still does? Would they be accurate enough for turning case rims, heads and the like?

Bushceman, I'm about to come to a......waiting point. I have neither molds nor sizing dies that will fit the old firearm or that I have the ability to make fit. I've not seen any from the usual makers, Lyman, RCBS, et al so I expect it's custom stuff time and wait til it arrives. Meanwhile I'll work on forming brass and go to work on the 16 bore side. That should be as interesting as the rifle side!

I did another case this morning. Here's the finished product with the two from last night. Kind of a cute little thing. First, just before fireforming and the second after.

Nice effort and apparently we really cotton to living vicariously thru your efforts. Can you tell us a bit more about the rifling in the 16 bore tube?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

I'm much the same. I just love to read about guys working with these fine old firearms and bringing them back to life. Maybe some day I can offer as much help as I've received here.

Raimey, I truly don't know anymore than what I posted. It's straight as an arrow, not very deep and as I said there is what I'll call 6 main rilfings equally spaced then 6 more lesser, as in not as high, riflings between each one. I have no way to measure their depth. If you have a particular question I'll sure try to find out. m-4 mentioned a gentlemen but I have not contacted him yet. Perhaps he can shed some light on it.

Sharps,
You are doing great on this project,your cases look really good. To find the depth of the grooves in the 16ga,slug the barrel to fomd groove dia.,measure bore dia.and subtract it from groove diameter, divide the result by 2. It may not be as accurate, but you should be able to measure directly with the depth function on the caliper in the photo.To answer your question about sizing 44-40 bullets to .415 or a little larger,yes you can. I size 43 Spanish bullets from .439 to .425 to use in lead bullet loads for my .404 Jeffery.This wipes out the grease grooves, so I lube with spray lube or Alox. Since it looks like you will be using Black Powder, Alox won't work for you. You might have enough grease groove left to be useful,especially if .417 bullet fits the neck of a fired case and you decide to use that size.It helps if you lube all grooves, including crimping groove. Lee sizers are pretty cheap, and you can get most any dia.you want.The idea is to size/lube to the closest size your lubrisizer will handle, then final size in the Lee, unless you decide to use "white"powder and Alox will work.In this case skip the lubrisizer.All this goes for 44spec/mag bullets also and one of them may be closer to the weight you want.One of your 40-70 bullets, if soft and used "as cast" might "slug up" enough with BP to be usefull. It's worth a try any way. With cnc machines, you can have custom molds made for a really good price now.
Mike