Cannon shells.

Once got to shoot a .45-90 Sharps rifle. Quite a poke!

The bullet and charge would be the same as for the musket, but in a smaller and lighter carbine, there could be some umpf. So, I'm down loading the stuff, as I'm only shooting short range paper.

Great machine work and soldering Steve. I'm very impressed. You using an Unimat lathe or a larger one?
Been looking at a Snider lately but the brass issue keeps me from getting it - picked up an unfired 1963 vintage Replica Arms 1860 Colt Army - in a fitted case. Will be installing a Howell .45 Colt conversion cylinder on it soon. Up to my ears in that brass and .45 Schofield.

heh. How well would Erma shoot with one of these? Missed you posting here.

Proportionally, the Snider carbine would, for Erma, handle like a full size rifle. The recoil would likely be manageable, though it throws a big bullet, it does so with a modest load of black powder, so less of a hand cannon than you might think.

That's especially important for a smaller framed soldier or someone not used to recoil. Did she get training in slug-throwers or did she stay with plasma throwers or lazers? I do miss her, and I would love to replace the two portraits I lost of her in the fire. One you did and one I commissioned. (mind you, I bought this in 88, when you did a Portland comic-con.)

There are no person portable energy weapons in Albedo, just slug throwers.

okay. cool. Still want to redo that one image of Erma with the rifle cocked to the side, wearing apparently a dress bikini with loincloth, (wide straps, not thin) in blue with thin yellow trim. you did this at the con, so I am hoping to re-create it

Oh yeah. Know what you're talking about.

I seriously want a redo of this one if you are willing, it was huge. not 8 by 10, more like 12 by 16. I think it went for $99, but it was a long time ago. I guess my first question would be Are you willing to re-create this image?

Loved those helical magazine caseless ammo ILR carbines you had in Albedo. Was looking back thru the first ed of the game at the weapons pages for EDF and ILR. Noticed you used reflex sights on a lot of them, way before they caught on irl

Very nice. I just picked up some original loaded spiral wound cartridges for the snyder. I need to mic out the bullet to determine age and caliber but they are minty.

Neat. I'd love to get a vintage Snider in a couple versions and some .577-450 , though they look awfully fragile. Nearly everything I've gotten for a while now has either home made or converted brass. 50-70, 43 Spanish, 43 Mauser, .44 Russian, 577 Snider and soon to be 577-450 and 9mm Largo (just got an Astra 600)

The Snider's are a lot of fun to fire. I had a minty Remington Rollingblock in 43 Spanish that was surprisingly accurate. Best part was modern brass. I could shoot for a half hour, get out my press and load up all of the cartridges for another half hour of blasting.
Those old tubular Astras are wonderful guns.

Got a Argentine rollingblock in 43 Spanish. Made most of the brass from H&H magnum cases, but now use 348 Win.

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41423189/ Pick up one of those presses if you can - dang nice for loading at the bench or while traveling. Will handle up to .50 /70 or any of the 7/8x14 threaded dies. Found that one at a gunshow some years back for 25 bucks. Out of production but they are still floating around out there. Does come with a plate for bench mounting with bolts or even a C clamp

Found a pic of an early .577 round http://oldbritishguns.com/images/st.....iderBullet.jpg Your version way superior.

Neat. That is like the second or so version with the iron disc base. Took a while to get to a drawn brass version.

Yep. Almost bought one of the buckshot loads they had for guard duty - was neat but I was afraid it would crumble if mishandled. I read they had issues with those rounds in India - ammonia vapors from urine and excrement would attack the thin wound brass and ruin it in a a few months

Nice work! I've resisted the temptation to make my own brass, partly because I lack the tools but mostly because I lack the nerve to mess around with vessels engineered to produce lots of pressure. I've read too many horror stories about balloon-head cartridges blowing out, but if you use black powder and a little common sense, it shouldn't be a problem.

And yes, I've had an Astra 400 for a while. It came with 100 rounds of 9mm Largo, but I've fired it with .38 ACP (I'm not stupid enough to try .38 Super). At a friend's suggestion, I tried it with 9x19mm (Parabellum) and it functions fine with target loads. Ejection was about 90%, though.

Oops, I meant Astra 400. The local shop had 600s as well. They get in all kinds of stuff. Didn't know about the little Mauser semi autos in .32 and .25 for example. I plan to see how light I can make reloads and still function. The Sniders are really solid, the base/head/rim is just over 1/4 in thick. I have just one Snider made from a 24 gauge brass shot shell, and was just a tad worried that it was a ballon head, but, yeah light loads should be fine.

I noticed Cabelas had a load of the 400's and 600's in. Starline makes Largo brass. I used some of their .38 Supercomp brass in a Spanish 9mm Largo Destroyer carbine a few years ago. Had a bunch of it left over from an odd project - CZ 52 with a 9mm barrel rechambered to .38 super. Used to load it to .38 acp specs.

Astra pistols are fascinating. Would love to find one in 9mm Parabellum.

I've seen a few here in AZ lately - was considering one but ran into a Para Ordnance P -16 in .40 S&W unfired in the box - made in Canada in 1995. Couldn't resist a double stack 1911 type in that cal. Fitting a 9mm barrel and extractor to it currently. Might even get a .38 super barrel for it too

Para ordinance pistols are very first rate. I think other than a few odds and ends I have enough handguns, but i am always looking for interesting long arms, like and FN-49 or a MAS 49/56 in an obtainable caliber.

This is my third one. First was a P 14 45 Limited .45 acp. Rough finish but damn nice shooter with Bomar type sights. 400 bucks used. Found a nicer one from same shop a year later for $500. Coworker talked me out of the first one. I was kidding around with a pair of the things I needed a dual shoulder holster and a Shadow costume... Current one - I swapped a Ruger Precision .308 that wasn't very precise... for the P 16. The Ruger was an employee purchase I regretted - damn thing had crappy accuracy, even with known well preforming match loads. 1960 Vintage Sears 51L in .308 was outshooting it - Swede action with stock and barrel by High Standard.

Did I mention that I got a MAS49/56 some years ago? Very handy, like an over-size SKS.

Oooh lucky! What Calliber? The MAS is easier to reload than the SKS though. Not entirely a fan of long strippers, so mag lading I find superior. The action is nice and simple. I kind of like French arms.

Its the 49/56 so its in 308. Has the bayonet and grenade launcher hardware. For my old man eyes, could use a 'scope, but originals are going for mad money, so will likely opt for a modern commercial one.

Nice. I picked one up about 5 years ago, also a .308 conversion (I think Century did these, the originals are all 7.5 French). Great shooter. Slightly picky with magazines. I can't believe what they are selling for now (about $1000). I think I paid $450?

Th 49/56 were official conversions to 7.62x51 to be compatible with NATO.

Learn something new every day. I figured it was just for ease of resale!

Years ago I got a 49/56 in .308, with a scope set (case & manual included). I sold the rifle separately to someone who was supposed to buy the scope when he got some more money. Never happened. Eventually, when you got your 49/56, I offered to sell the scope to you, but had no idea how much to ask for it and things faded out after that. I still have it, BTW, and it's still for sale. How much? I still have no idea. Prices for everything are going nutz and I hate that.

Sorry for letting things slide. Yes, I'd still be interested! I'll take a look at some of the on line stuff to get an idea. But would offer $300. right off the bat. If the market is more crazy, then maybe work up an honest compromise. Wouldn't want to pay more for just a scope than the gun, and still have the option of after market.

And found that a complete original scope and mount are crazy pricey, supposedly around 1K. I could offer $500. but if you can find a more serious buyer, you could be looking at twice that. No hard feeling if you want to pass.

MY apologies for not getting back on this - cataract surgery tends to be distracting - your offer sounds good to me.

If it is all you say it is, and can take a somewhat lowball offer for it, then let's do it. And thank you ever so for the opportunity.

All right, then. I already had it in a Priority Mail Box (large), but I'll add some more packing just in case. I'm still at the same mailing address (since Jan 97), but I'll send a note here.

How would you like to be paid? Cash, check, paypal, or what?

A check will do.

Prices are really getting out of hand, it's getting so that you have to be pretty well off to pick up anything. I don't think I originally paid more than half this for the scope and the rifle it came with (converted to .308).

Check arrived safely, box sealed, addressed and sent off yesterday first thing. The P.O. Lady said it should arrive this Saturday. Have fun.

Impressive! I should have talked to you about my .357 magnum Holland and Holland caliber Griffin & Howe rifle before I sold it. It was a lovely rifle, but I could not find ammo for it for love or money, alas.

.375 H&H? Heck you can form the cases from a few current rounds - but .375 brass should be available - or was before all the panic the past year. 8mm Remington Magnum is based on the .375 and same for the 300 H&H. Dang, a Griffe-in & Howel? Those were wonderful - gunsmiths based out of NYC years ago and worked with the original Ambercrombie and Fitch store - the one that outfitted the Rich for going on Safari, etc - not the one that sold overpriced crappy clothing to teens...

Plenty of H&H once shot at my local shop. Was using some to make 43 Spanish and 43 Mauser, but got lazy and now use 348 Win.

357 H&H. Basically, a 375 H&H case necked down to 35 caliber. A mildly popular "wildcat" in the 1930's (there was some commercial ammo available), but not much heard of since then.

Ah, gotcha. Just found it in a case conversion manual - Donnelly - page 409. 35 G&H Magnum. Dies would be a problem unless you had a set that came with the rifle - otherwise an easy one to load if you had load data for it. Hmm neck size .375 cases and load according to the info in that book I have. Would have loved to have seen that one. I'm sticking to common rounds these days and doing easy case forming jobs - pile of .30/40 Krag brass trimmed and resized to .303 British. Tends to fit the chamber better than current .303 production brass - if you can find it.

I actually need .30-40 Krag brass. as I have a .30-40 Krag.

Can you still mail order components in Cali? I think Grafs and probably Huntingtons has it in stock. I found mine - bagged Remington - at a local shop - sort of forgotten in a corner. Also got a free float target fore end for my #4 Enfield - the trimmed down wood Parker Hale put on their sporter was a mess - prior owner screwed it up good - 5 bucks for the piece. Ended up with a butt stock too after a little digging in the odds and ends pile along with a rear sight for a Jungle Carbine - can do a 100 yard zero with that one.
Oh if you have any 303 British brass, you can resize it in a Krag sizing die to make 30/40s 2.22" long instead of 2.3 long
Looks like Huntington's has 30/40 in PPU and Hornady flavors http://www.huntingtons.com/store/search.php?mode=search&page=1
I learned to handload that round in the early 80s - inherited my late brother's 1896 Krag - one of the ones cut down to carbine length and fitted with the front sight from an 03 Springfield.

No mail order in California, since July 1 2019 of complete ammunition. and most companies won't do business with California any more.

Huntington's sells the empty new brass and is based in Oroville. I have no idea if in state sales of that are allowed. I'd give them a call. i've actually had the owner on the phone when I was ordering some items a year or so back before the website was set up for online ordering.

I will see what I can find. Thanks!

Looks like they have a very nice store - big sporting goods place started by the guy who started RCBS years ago. Looks like his one son is the owner now.

Need a reloading die set for 30-40 Krag?. Somehow I have two and don't have a gun or brass.

Yes please!

I'll scrounge up the 7.7 Japanese and the Krag dies and shoot them off to you.

thank you very much. I will send my address via notes, as well as Email, as I am no longer in Los Angeles.

Did find this: https://www.ammunitionartifacts.com.....mp-howe-magnum

Would have been fun to play with - work up some plinking loads using lead and jacketed pistol bullets of the right diameter...

Damn that's neat!

I have a trapdoor 45-70 myself.

Got in partial trade, partial cash years ago at a gun show.

Its in pretty decent shape, and according to the books I've bought over the years, its an 1873 thats was upgraded by the arsenal to, I think, the 1885 spec. (It has the fancy sight.)
Its also marked as an ex- New Jersey state militia or national guard rifle. (I'd have to look it up again, I forget which.)

Made up around a hundred rounds with American Pioneer powder substitute to cut down on fouling.
(Yes, its made for the purpose.) And some 500 grain bullets I cast for it, using a mould that gives the original round nose army issue slug.

However, there are no longer any ranges less than 85 miles from my door...
So I've never been able to fire it.

I had an Astra 400 myself, a long time back. Great guns, and surprisingly accurate, given the tiny sights.
It still looks like a cartoon gun though.


-Badger-

Now have two 1873s and a 1866 in 50-70.

I just found another coffee can full of cast bullets for my old .50/70s. I can see some of them didn't fill out the mold all the way, so they'll go back into the melter the next time I cast. American Pioneer, I remember that stuff - haven't seen on a shelf in a while. Used it in 50/70 and 45/70. Interesting stuff -seems to be Ascorbic acid based powder. Need to try some out in my TC Hawken - pawnshop find - mid 1970s kit that looks unfired. Someone probably had it as a wall hanger. Picked up a roundball mold and a lee target Minie mold for it along with a TC nipple for Musket Caps and another nipple that uses 209 primers - has a screw on cover with a firing pin

The shop where I used to buy American pioneer powder is long gone.

I am reasonably sure its still made. But I have over half a pound left, and I only use it for one gun.

So I am fairly well supplied for the time being.

-Badger-

I think I have 3 cans of it along with 4 or 5 pounds of Pyrodex of differing grades. Toss in a can or so of Triple Se7en
Been making some blackpowder type shotshells at times with century old tooling and messing with shotgun chamber plugs that turn a cartridge gun into a 209 primer fired muzzle loader along with playing with some percussion revolvers, etc. Ended up with a supply of soft lead - roofing lead from a mall I worked at. Place was being reroofed and no one wanted to pay hazmat fees for getting read of the lead. I told the project manager I'd take it off their hands for free

You know you can make your own percussion caps?

https://sharpshooter-22lr-reloader......sion-cap-maker

Oh, yes.
Thats been around in one form or another since the late 60s or early 70s.

-Badger-

Looked into it, hadn't seen the stuff for a few years, found out they had a factory explosion but as of late 2020 they were back in production.

Gotta love the old cartridges! My latest acquisition is a Spencer carbine in .56-50, so picking up brass and dies is a must. Been shooting .45-70 and 45-110 for a while now.

Dang, always wanted to try one of those.

Quite a nice addition to the collection and Sniders are very nice rifles

I briefly looked into loading my own rounds when I had a friend that inherited an old WW2 Enfield SMLE. Best I could tell from the markings, it was a Number 4 mark 1 but it was obviously a sporterized import. She was considering using it as a defense weapon but the .303 British isn’t something you can get cheap. If I wasn’t in CA I would have bought it from her so she could get something more useful. I’m pretty new to firearms myself but I do find the older ones much more interesting than modern firearms.

.303 is a nice round and the Enfields are excellent weapons. I acquired a sporter #4 recently - work done by Parker Hale of England in the 1960s. Not sure on the ammo situation in CA - bit low in AZ but I've found ball and hunting ammo for mine and I can reload for it

I've got 3 Enfields, two No.1 Mk. III*'s, and one No. 4 Mk 1, and love them to death. very accurate, with smooth actions. Very nice weapons. Probably a bit awkward for home defense though.

True on that unless you live in very open country. Me, I just keep my duty pistol handy and a war trophy Wakizashi on the bedroom desk Rest of the collection is in a safe. I'm still kicking myself over passing on a very minty Lithgow N.1 Mk III. Love those Aussie made ones. Did some parts replacement on a 1913 vintage No. 1 Mk III for a coworker - needed a mag and rear sight along with a good cleaning and surface rust removal. Had been left in a backyard shed for ghod knows how long...

I think I clicked the wrong reply link. Oops
Edit: OK maybe not. I don’t comment enough to know how this works, lol.

Yeah I agree it would be horrible for home defense. I wanted it because I heard about the nice action on them and I don’t own any bolt action rifles yet. I also kinda like the design of Webley revolvers since you really don’t see break top style revolvers anymore.

Generally cartridges became more powerful after the First World War, and a break open action tends to stretch due to higher stress on the frames, and don't lock up. Anythin Below .45 ACP, and #8 S&W is okay, even 9mm by 20 Japanese Revolver is okay. but generally solid frames are stronger and don't stretch out of tune or timing like break tops do,.

Did I mention that I got a MkIV Enfield converted to a "Jungle Carbine"? Because it was a cheesy conversion I got it cheap, but I wasn't worried about provenance, just wanted to have an example of the Enfield action.

Smooth, ain't it? I've got four

How does the solder hold up to the load? I'd be worried about that breaking down eventually.

Haven't fired them yet, but they do seem to fit reasonably snug in the chamber so don't expect much chance of the heavy solder joint to fail, especially with weenie loads.

They did make foil cartridges for the things. Suppose pressures are close to a shotgun.

The early foil cartridges were one-shot items only. Concerns about solder joints on reloadable brass are legit, which is why I'm only doing light loads in snug chambers, lest any fire-forming stress the joints.

Now that I have some experience with them, in my Snider carbine, the chamber is nice and tight with minimal fire-forming and no obvious stress on the solder joints of the home made cases. However, my Nepalese Snider has a badly oversize chamber that has been a problem. There have been badly stressed 24 gauge brass and even a few burst cases, the home made cases suffered more in the body than the solder joint, but I'm not risking any more to that gun. I even made some double-walled cases, fitting a section of tube into the unmodified 24 gauge brass (the chamber takes unsized brass) with as yet mixed results.

You might have to just make some cartridges specifically for the oversize chamber.

An eventual experiment I plan is turning/spinning my on cartridges, but that's a ways in the future.

I'm looking into that now. Adapting larger diameter, thicker wall tube to the existing cases, or at least the case heads.

.577 Snider conversion? This here may help you save a little labor in working on them:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bri.....s-t11880.html.

I myself have a 1884 marked .45-70, with the infamous needle bayonet, and the Buffington sights. Shoots very straight, I just have to get "old load" .45-70. Still purusing my fetish for Japanese weapns, having aquired another type 38 rifle in 6.5mmx 50 Japanese, and may soon acquire a Type 14 pistol made in 1940. Otherwise my collection is the same.

Don't have any 6.5 brass anymore, but do have a few 7.7 cases if you can use them?

Definitely! Thank you.

JG Sales in Prescott AZ took in a large collection of Japanese Arms a couple of years back - down to just this for the handguns https://www.jgsales.com/handguns-c-16_1244.html One type 14 and a couple of 94s.

Martini Henry you say?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssmDdhaHKaA&ab_channel=britishmuzzleloaders

yep, had one tool some years ago for that - used toy gun caps but those are so damn weak now. I've seen that link before. Bit concerned as to the priming compound they offer. I have a decent supply of caps and lots of primers - been reloading about 40 years now - one tends to build up stocks of supplies over the decades. Have cartridge conversion cylinders for the percussion revolvers - Victorian tech revived with the aid of CNC machines and better steel than the originals

I seem to recall there was someone in the Sea-Tac area that shoots the Snyders; he was fire forming brass from either 20ga or 28ga full length brass shells...

24 gauge.

Ah! Cool -thanks for clarifying that for me!

I think your work is brilliant...

V.

Reminds me of tube drills some garage experimenters use to drill granite, just to show they can (using select frequency).

Nice! What are you turning them on? Also, odd thought with no knowledge of feasibility, could such things be brazed? (granted, might soften the pieces too much and lead to deformity)

Using a modest sized machine lathe ( the kind Micro Mark offers). As for brazing, might it simply melt the brass? And annealing the brass at the head might risk collapse when first sizing.

Cool! Yeah, it very well might, and tat's a good point too.
Another question, silver-solder or regular 60/40?

Silver.

That makes sense, thanks!

can solder take this kind of pressure? I've seen brass alone explode from less powder than this can hold. (blew that revolver to hades too.)

Brass cartridges are not designed to hold all the pressure, only obdurate the chamber. The chamber holds the full pressure. If a revolver blew up, it was either an overload or other failure of the cylinder. In my case, the brass sets snugly in the chamber, so has only the slightest expansion against a fairly generous solder joint and solid turned brass head.

hmmm. What I recall of it, the rotating cylinder that held the cartridges, blew apart. I know the guy liked to play with home loading, so probably you're right -- overpressured it with too hot a load.

Very cool! I picked up a .577 snyder at a gun show several years ago... never did find any ammo for it.

I have the later model where the trapdoor actually locks... I've seen early types where it does not lock, it is only held shut by its own weight and the dropped hammer (sort of like a rolling block). I'm sure it worked, but they also changed it for a reason...

Still have it? There is a relatively economical source for brass in the US, a guy in eastern Washington state converts 24 gauge brass to 577-450 Martini-Henry or 577 Snider brass. Converting your own brass for 24 gauge is easy, if you can find the brass to start with. I made my own because I can as a modest technical challenge.

I do! I'll have to check him out out.

The early ones had only a little friction pin in the back of the breech. But they went with a more positive lock when the occasional case head would fail and blow the breech block open, shearing off the hammer from it's stud. Like I found out. Yikes!

Whoops! You look better with two eyebrows, try to keep them.

this can't be right, the snider didn't have a fixed cartridge, I've got a box of 1880 ammo and it made of lead foil and a brass base.

The early cartridges were built up in several styles, with variations of iron and brass built up heads and foil and paper bodies. While drawn brass cases could have been made and used, they chose the cheaper and un-reloadable styles for a while.