Loading for my Martini Henry.. Im a noob

[ovenpaa]

A slight flare at the mouth of the neck might help the bullets to go in easily however best thing is to give it a try first of all.

[dromia]

The case neck ID should only be a couple of thou less then the boolit diameter. If you have a too tight fit then the case neck can size down your boolit upon seating making it too small for the bore and consequently degrading accuracy. That is why cae flaring tools aren't used much by cast boolit loaders as they can let you get the base of the boolit into the case to seat it but don't expand the neck to the correct diameter or depth. The stepped Lyman "M" type expanders are the proper tools for this job. Boolit fit is king and it is folly to get a good boolit and then resize it at the boolit seating stage.

[Mossy]

Hi Dirtbag,

Only just started reloading for my Martini Henry but thought I would pass on what I have tried so far.

Lee Classic Cast press
Lee 577/450 dies
Cases formed from 24 ga brass
H777 powder
480 Grn Paper patched bullets
Fibre wads
Felt wads soaked in lubricant
Cotton wool balls

I ran the new cases through the FL sizing die, and then used the through powder expanding die to very lightly open the mouth of the case. This was done by setting the expander to just touch the case and then winding in the die a 1/16 of a turn at a time, and trying the bullet for fit. Although I measured the case mouth each time, I took a guess at the amount of expansion that would be needed to seat the bullets. You shouldn't have to do this once the cases have been fire formed.
Basic loading sequence: Primed case, powder, half a cotton ball, fibre wad, lubed felt wad, fibre wad and then bullet. I lubed the paper patch with Imperial sizing wax and had no trouble seating the bullets. Thought I might have creased or torn the paper but all seated sweetly. The cotton ball fills the case nicely and I made sure that the wads did not go below the neck portion of the case.

Started with 50grains (by volume) of 777 and checked the cases after firing. Then moved up to 60, then 65 grains and finally 75 grains. No pressure signs in my gun and cases looked good.
I can't comment on accuracy as I haven't had a proper chance to get used to the rifle just yet.

I bought the cases and fibre wads from: www.reloading.org.uk, and I note that they are now selling a necksizing die for the 577/450. Their website is worth a look. Were very helpful too.

Good luck with reloading.

Mossy

[dirtbag]

Hi Mate thanks for the great info, I have gone for this setup nearly the same. I was offered a very good deal on RCBS kit , but did not have the money and some bits I did not need. So i have purchased the basic and minimum bit by bit, also selling my airgun has helped as well.

I got a Lee classic cast press
Hornady electronic scales 1500GS (will do for now if crap?)
Lee perfect powder measure
577/450 Dies
RMC Cases
480 grn non paper patched (tbc) wonderlube to fill the grooves if not pp
Im going for pyrodex RS
Card Wads
Felt wads "cookies" soaked in wonderlube

All my gear should be with me soon and looking to have a martini video up as well before I "retire" from videomaking, for my zf41 sharpshooter may be too late to put a vid up of that.

Never thought id get into reloading, but I can see (feel) the bug now, I am already researching loads for my milsurps. Just a matter of time.....

Hi Dirtbag,

Only just started reloading for my Martini Henry but thought I would pass on what I have tried so far.

Lee Classic Cast press
Lee 577/450 dies
Cases formed from 24 ga brass
H777 powder
480 Grn Paper patched bullets
Fibre wads
Felt wads soaked in lubricant
Cotton wool balls

I ran the new cases through the FL sizing die, and then used the through powder expanding die to very lightly open the mouth of the case. This was done by setting the expander to just touch the case and then winding in the die a 1/16 of a turn at a time, and trying the bullet for fit. Although I measured the case mouth each time, I took a guess at the amount of expansion that would be needed to seat the bullets. You shouldn't have to do this once the cases have been fire formed.
Basic loading sequence: Primed case, powder, half a cotton ball, fibre wad, lubed felt wad, fibre wad and then bullet. I lubed the paper patch with Imperial sizing wax and had no trouble seating the bullets. Thought I might have creased or torn the paper but all seated sweetly. The cotton ball fills the case nicely and I made sure that the wads did not go below the neck portion of the case.

Started with 50grains (by volume) of 777 and checked the cases after firing. Then moved up to 60, then 65 grains and finally 75 grains. No pressure signs in my gun and cases looked good.
I can't comment on accuracy as I haven't had a proper chance to get used to the rifle just yet.

I bought the cases and fibre wads from: http://www.reloading.org.uk, and I note that they are now selling a necksizing die for the 577/450. Their website is worth a look. Were very helpful too.

Good luck with reloading.

Mossy