LoLo25643
08-09-2010, 11:39 PM
Thought I would post this as it has been a fun project for me lately and I have been lazy posting also. I purchased an old German Stalking rifle and one of my shooting buddies helped me get it back in shape.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/kettner.jpg
It's an E.D. Kettner made sometime around the turn of the century. A lightweight little single shot turnbolt gun similar to a 71 Mauser but a shorter action.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/abase4.jpg
It's a short version of an 11mm Mauser and was able to make up a die to push the rim forward slightly on a 45-70 to form the A-base case and fireform to fit the chamber. The chamber neck is large enough to seat and chamber a .454" bullet and have room to expand and release the bullet so I'm using a sized down Lyman 457191 300 grain lead bullet. The 2.10" length of the 45-70 is just right for this particular chamber without any trimming at all. This photo shows the rim die that I had made up in our shop as well as a gage to check the fit. A shell holder for the 11mm Mauser would also work for a gage but went ahead and had this made up anyway. I place the 45-70 case in the die with the punch inserted and use a press at work to form the head.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/abase3.jpg
You can see in this photo how the die and punch are assembled before placing in the press.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/abase2.jpg
This photo gives you a better idea of what the die actually does to the rim by moving it forward. After that the rim diameter needs to be reduced down to about .489" to chamber. Not but about .010" or 012" needs to be removed so not much work there.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/abase6.jpg
This photo shows a finished round loaded with the 300 grain bullet alongside a chamber cast. The rifling has wide grooves and are in the shape of an equal octagon. The sized down 45 bullet is working very well and the cartridge base only swells slightly. Just neck sizing the cartridge and seating the bullet is working out very well and the low pressure loads should not cause any problems. I'm getting around 1,300 fps with the 300 grain bullet and it's a pleasant load to shoot in this light rifle. Accuracy is pretty good and well enough to hunt with at around 100 yards.
I'll be using it this fall to deer hunt with. It's a shame just to retire some of these old hunting rifles just because ammo is not available. If you handload for them they can be brought back to life sometimes and last another lifetime.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/kettner.jpg
It's an E.D. Kettner made sometime around the turn of the century. A lightweight little single shot turnbolt gun similar to a 71 Mauser but a shorter action.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/abase4.jpg
It's a short version of an 11mm Mauser and was able to make up a die to push the rim forward slightly on a 45-70 to form the A-base case and fireform to fit the chamber. The chamber neck is large enough to seat and chamber a .454" bullet and have room to expand and release the bullet so I'm using a sized down Lyman 457191 300 grain lead bullet. The 2.10" length of the 45-70 is just right for this particular chamber without any trimming at all. This photo shows the rim die that I had made up in our shop as well as a gage to check the fit. A shell holder for the 11mm Mauser would also work for a gage but went ahead and had this made up anyway. I place the 45-70 case in the die with the punch inserted and use a press at work to form the head.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/abase3.jpg
You can see in this photo how the die and punch are assembled before placing in the press.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/abase2.jpg
This photo gives you a better idea of what the die actually does to the rim by moving it forward. After that the rim diameter needs to be reduced down to about .489" to chamber. Not but about .010" or 012" needs to be removed so not much work there.
http://www.knology.net/~lolo/abase6.jpg
This photo shows a finished round loaded with the 300 grain bullet alongside a chamber cast. The rifling has wide grooves and are in the shape of an equal octagon. The sized down 45 bullet is working very well and the cartridge base only swells slightly. Just neck sizing the cartridge and seating the bullet is working out very well and the low pressure loads should not cause any problems. I'm getting around 1,300 fps with the 300 grain bullet and it's a pleasant load to shoot in this light rifle. Accuracy is pretty good and well enough to hunt with at around 100 yards.
I'll be using it this fall to deer hunt with. It's a shame just to retire some of these old hunting rifles just because ammo is not available. If you handload for them they can be brought back to life sometimes and last another lifetime.