.44-77 and paper patch?

[Don McDowell]

.079 is what it should be I believe.

[Caprock]

All the Jamison 44-77 brass I have for my Shiloh is around .074. The breech won't close on .079 thick 43 Spanish that I tried.

[Distant Thunder]

Don,

It seems to be all over the place. Pick a number between .070 and .085", I've just about seen them all. I hate to have a bunch of brass ready to go and then discover that the rims are too thin for proper headspace! I know it's a bottleneck case and you can headspace on the shoulder, slim though it is. Conversely, I don't want to have to set up and turn the rims down of a bucket full of brass. As much of a PITA as the latter would be at least when finally finish the rims would be correct.

This really shouldn't be so difficult!

[Distant Thunder]

Caprock,

Thanks, that helps. I may eventually be able to bracket this in to something I can work with.

I suppose I could wait until I have the rifle back, whenever that is, but what fun would that be.

[Don McDowell]

Jim while waiting for the 1st shiloh, I got a bunch of cases, a bullet mould and loaded up 50... Turns out they wouldn't chamber because the bullet was seated to far out.
My suggestion would be to gather up some cases you're planning to use , drool at them for the 8-10 decades it takes for the rifle to be dllevered, then start worrying about the small stuff.

[Distant Thunder]

Don - I know you're right, but what makes you think I'm any better at this waiting game than you are!

If thins go well I'll explain my concerns about brass a little better down the road. I really just would like to know the chamber that I'll be loading these in as best I can.
I won't load any ahead of time. I would like to have enough brass ready for final sizing, a mold or two ready, maybe some bullets cast up and some patches cut. I may make up some bore pigs ahead of time. My .45 pigs might work? I don't know.

The long pole will be the brass, so I am obsessing about that right now.

I think I have all the info I need to make one mold for sure, probably the original style ppb. That will be the easiest to get to shoot well.

I do have a bout 300 gg bullet under my loading bench that could be used for fireforming and sight setting. They're good bullets so I haven't throw them back, yet.

I know, I know, patience my son! But it's so hard to be patient! I'll be more patient next time!

[Distant Thunder]

First off I find the search on the Shiloh forum almost useless. So after hours of digging through many post I believe that Shiloh cuts their chambers at .077" for the rim. So figuring that, something around .074" to .076" should make the rifle happy.

A rim diameter of .620-.625" with a thickness of .074-.076" should work well.

Also I have designed two bullets on my CAD software and I'll try to get those posted tomorrow. With luck I'll cut the first of those late this year and the other I'll wait until I know more about what the rifle requires.

I have all the dies I'll need. Also I have a wad punch which I'll alter to be a rotary style at some point. I also plan to refinish the wood while I wait. I can't really think of anything else I'll need to do.

With fall coming there will be much to do to prepare for winter and that will keep me out of trouble while I wait somewhat patiently.

Anyone have an idea how long it typically takes Shiloh to rebarrel one of their rifles?

[Hiwall55]

I got 160 pcs of NEW Jamison 44-77 brass and can tell you its .071 to .073 thick. My rifle is at my Smith getting the barrel put on when he gets time.

[Don McDowell]

Jim it's around 3=4 months, depending on how it lands in the run they're doing, but with you supplying the barrel it may not take that long.

[Distant Thunder]

I know they've had a setback recently and I'm not sure how that will affect things, but if I got an early Christmas present I'd be a happy, happy, happy man!

Like I said, fall is so darn busy for me that it is actually best if I don't have it before December so I can concentrate on the things that must be done before the snow starts to pile up. That will also give me time to work on the brass and molds. January and February are the worst possible months to start load development. My fingers freeze up pretty fast when it's 10 degrees! And it can be much, much colder!

At this point I don't know how much finish work they will do on the barrel, but negotiating those details in emails and phone calls wasn't getting anywhere. I decided to just send the barrel and action and we'll workout the details when they're ready to start the work. Kirk seemed very concerned about how centered the bore would be on the octagon, but I checked that and it was within .002" total so it's pretty close. I don't see that causing him any problems. The tight bore shouldn't be a problem either really. It certainly won't take them long to actually do the work once they start, not from what I've seen before with other rifles.

They will have the rifle tomorrow so I'll start the clock and we'll see. So far it's going very well.