Charlie, my Swiss is a Model 1869/71 rifle that I rescued from being turned into a parts gun or wallhanger. It needed a lot of TLC and quite a bit of stock work. The bore is rough for the first 6 inches or so, but puts 20 shots into a 3" group at 50+ yards with my improvised sights. I use a .430" Lee 310 grain gaschecked bullet and 11 grains of Unique. It is necessary to seat the bullets way out, but I tried seating them and crimping into the normal crimping groove. It did nothing but create a bigger jump for the bullet. I converted the bolt to centerfire and use trimmed and formed PP 8x50R brass. It is quite a shooter. Now that I have my loads where I want them, I will work on some long range shooting. I have quite a few 19th century milsurps along with my four 19th century shotguns. I have a seriously tight budget, so my guns certainly reflect that. I put many hours into making them right and loading my own cartridges. All of my guns were far from original when I got them. They just don't look like crap anymore. My newest rifle is a 1945 vintage MAS 1936 that I pulled out of a dumpster. It shoots amazing groups with cast bullets. Cheers!
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GMC(SW)-USN, Retired
'Earnest Will'
'Desert Shield'
'Desert Storm'
'Southern Watch'
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Threaded Mode