Swedish M1860 percussion rifle

Started by Øyvind F., 12. March 2012 kl. 8:50:45

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DaJoPa

Hello,

Has anybody experience with shooting the Swedish M1860 percussion rifle?
I would like to know which bullet this rifle was designed with.(type,weight and form)
I have tried my rifle with round balls. At 25 m it shoots nice groups but at 50 m it shoots all over the target.
For what distance is the original sight? My rifle shoots very high. At 100 m it shoots way over a 300 m target
Does anybody know about replica sights for this rifle?

Best regards,

Dajopa

jæger justnæs

I have some experience with shooting the Wrede but I concider myself a novice.
Concerning the original bullet, this picture is from the Norwegian forum by Øyvind F:


The essence of the information crudely translated to English:
Lenght 26,73mm
Bullet diameter 11mm
Band diameter 12mm
Weight 23,8 gram
It was made for paper cartridge use and the military load was 6,375 gram/98 grains.
The twist i approximately 1:30 which is not ideal for round ball.
You van use a variety of .50 caliber bullets sized to bore diameter.
Also, the .476 Linebaugh mould from Lee might be usable without any modification.
Using flat based projectiles, you might find it easier to get sufficient expansion when filler such as cornmeal is used.

Military rifles are known to shoot high.
On my rifle I made a new front sight with a slot for the existing blade and soft soldered it onto the excisting.
Came out like this:
Best når det smeller!

DaJoPa

Hello jaeger justnaes.
Thank you for the information. When I look at the form of the original bullet, it is a flat base and not a Minié, is that right?
I have checked the twist of my rifle and it is aproximately 1:39. Even slower as you mentioned. I knew before, that military rifles shoot high but not as high as this one.
What powderloads do you use? 98 grains is quite a lot for 25m and 50m shooting.
If you have some more information about the M1860 I am glad to hear about it. It is difficult to find information about Scandinavian firearms in the Netherlands, specially when one doesn't know the languages.

Øyvind F.

The bullet pictured above was the original bullet. They later changed to a minié bullet. The twist should be about 1:38, so your measurement is almost spot on.
Øyvind F. - forum admin
Ta også en kikk på kammerlader.no.

Dave Hunter

Dear sir,
   please do you have any information on the minie bullet laterly used in the Swedish 1860 Wrede's Gevar?.I have a nice example of this rifle, that would be nice shoot.
The original style of solid compression bullet can be extreamly tempramental when the rifleing grooves are deep especialy in a cartridge, or paper patch.Flyers etc!.
This is the case when shooting the Austrian Lorenz with original style ammunition this is solved using the hollow base Podewills bullets.Your help and assistance would
be most apreciated.

                           Yours faithfully
                              Dave Hunter

Mustaruuti

I have shot this rifle and have tested a lot of Bullets, loads and different kinds of lubrications.
I have found the best results in my rifle to be with a Minié type bullet, with quite a small load of swiss no 2.
The rifle I have shoots really well, but the sights are really sensitive for light.

The most important for my rifle is the lubrication, it only shoots well at 100m with one kind of lubrication.
At 50m the rifle shoots well with both round ball and patch and with the minie bullet.
/I remember when music really mattered, and when radio was king.

Mustaruuti

The rifle normally shoots high at 50m.
/I remember when music really mattered, and when radio was king.

jæger justnæs

Sorry about the twist rate DaJoPa, I forgot to convert the old Swedish inches into the English ones.
Mustaruuti, can you remember what kind of lubrication you used on the 100m?
I will try to shoot mine at Pforzheim :-)
Best når det smeller!

DaJoPa

Hello Jaeger Justnaes,
Now I understand the differance. I didn't know Sweden had its own inch. Howmuch is a Swedish inch? What was/is used in Norway for measuring?
That is quite a journey from Kristiansand to Pforzheim. Viel Erfolg.
In another topic I am asking for information about the Swedish M1845/54 percussion rifle, do you know anything about this rifle? I think I own one.

Mustaruuti, what shoots better in your rifle, a light weight bullet or a heavy one?

Mustaruuti

It's a home made lubrication :P
Maybe I can get you some :)
/I remember when music really mattered, and when radio was king.

Mustaruuti

The bullet I use is not so heavy. I can't remember the weight right now but I can check it out and get back to you.
Although, I have to say, there seem to be very individual data for these rifles. I have owned 4 different rifles over the years, and the one I have now is the only one I have got to shoot really excellent at 100 metres. I have manged to shoot around 85-90 with the others ones, but this one has shot well over 95 a couple of times with a striking 98 as the best performance. The difficulties with this rifle I have is that the lighting conditions must be good, too much sun is bad, as it makes it almost impossible to see the sights and get it to be at the same place shot after shot, since I have to make my sight low into the white.
In a bench or even shooting free hand (and don't care if you hit the center of the target) the rifle shoots perfect groups.
After 13 shots the barrel start to get real dirty, and after 15 shots the precision start to get worse.
I have not seen any real difference precionwise during a 13 shot series with cleaning or not cleaning betwean shots though.
/I remember when music really mattered, and when radio was king.

jæger justnæs

Sorry that I have no information to share concerning the 1845/54, DaJoPa.
In the 1860's the Swedish inch was adjusted from their old one measuring approximately 2,474cm to 2,96cm. They converted to the metric system just after the turn of the century.
Kiitos for sharing this information, Mustaruuti :-)
Yes, each rifle has an individual performance, that is why this is so much fun!
But getting loading tips may help in the process of trial, success and perhaps failure...
I believe I can be able to shoot somewhere around 85 with the current load/bullet combination. Most important part of the concept is the person behind the gun:lookaround:

Keep up the good work, guys!

JJ
Best når det smeller!

Brian Andersen

Hey. i have and shot same rifle. the M1860.

the bore is 12.17 mm

it like you told us made in sweden but it a husqvarna rifle but call Wredes m 1860.

well to shut it well.
in danmark we have a rifle call m 65 and it have same bore you can
in thes shop order tools to make you own bulet
look for m61/m65/ wredes then you have a wery perfekt bullet
http://www.huntershouse.dk/kat1035-St%C3%B8bet%C3%A6nger/

if you like to play whit round ball you can use cal. 50 it works ok but you may have to use 2 patch.

the Minie bullet i use 80 gain and round ball i use 50 gain of f2 black powder that work wery well.
you will see it shot wery high and i have glube a small peace of match on the front sight that it shot wery good on 50 to 100 m.

if you look at the engfield rifle from 1854 you know where the rifle comming from but the enfield is a cal. 54


if you need more info email me i try to help you out ( diablomandk@hotmail.com )

have fun out there and if someone have some pistol there need alot of work laying let me know


Brian