Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Bullet Swagging Jacketed rounds for the 9x57 Mauser

I recently acquired a great, early Commercial Mauser Sporter rifle chambered in 9x57 Mauser. In my quest for reloading this rifle and acquiring the components to do so; the 9mm ".356" rifle bullets seem to be the most elusive. While i can locate them from places like Buffalo Arms and a few others the standard 35 caliber rifle bullets ".358" are much easier to find and in a much larger bullet selection. I would prefer to utilize jacketed bullets vs. cast though i know that is also an option.

This brings me to my swagging question. Will a bullet swagging die successfully take jacketed 35 caliber (.358") rifle bullets down to .356"? And if so, could you be so kind as to point me in the direction where i could find such a product?

Thank you

I'd check with Corbin. Back in the 80's, when I got my pre-war 8x57JR drilling, that's where I got the die to swage standard 8mm S bore .323" bullets down to .318" for my J bore. J bore bullets were not available in the US back then. I only did this with cup and core jacketed bullets - no premiums. I got sub MOA when I waited at least 90 seconds between shots - drillings don't do rapid fire well. Killed a little 6 point in Oklahoma with these bullets. I think I was using Speer bullets.

http://www.corbins.com/

I was swaging them .005" so I wouldn't worry about .002".

I've heard of some 9.3 shooters swaging down .375 bullets, though I can't imagine an excuse for that myself.

Thank you for your info Brazos, i will check with corbin and see what they have to say.

Are bullet swagging dies difficult to set/use or are they made to need almost no adjustments?

Initially I had some .35 caliber Hornady SP bullets in my inventory (even bought a .358 expander die from RCBS in hopes of making this work). On my test round with a spent primer with just a .35 Cal 250-grn bullet over an empty case i could barely get the bolt handle to close. (it had to be forced) I tried various seating depths and even a fire-formed and sized case; both with the same result. Which i assume meant the tolerances are to tight for the .358" is that correct?

I have looked up slugging a bore on youtube and seen how the process works. One question i have is, where do i get a hunk of appropriate sized lead (approx .35 caliber) to initially try this with? I don't have any casting materials around. Are there any other clever or common substitutes i could use for this?

Back when P.O. Ackley was playing around he took a .30-06 and opened up the neck and fired an 8mm-06. No big deal. He continued up sizing the neck and firing larger diameter bullets through the .30 caliber bore.

Therefore I would have a 'smith open up the neck by .002" and fire standard .358 bullets.

grissins,
Most likely the easiest approach to sizing bullets down would be a Lee bullet sizer. They should do what you are asking. You will probably have to lube the jacketed bullets with some regular sizing lube, like One-Shot, RCBS lube, Imperial, etc. What comes immediately to mind, is if this will work from a practical standpoint. When you size a jacketed bullet down, the jacket will spring back farther than the lead core, likely leading to a (somewhat) loose jacket fit. Whether this turns out to be a problem, only experience will tell.
I would lean toward Ringman's suggestion if I were stuck on using jacketed bullets. In my case, I would prefer gas-checked cast bullets, probably close to .358", or as close to that as I could get, and not have any chambering difficulties.
Let us know how this turns out.