Husqvarna Rolling Block

[contender4570]

Hello black powder shooters,
I am new on this forum and i want to tell you about me.
My name is Dick and i live in the Netherlands at the coast.
I am shooting black powder rifles any kind for about 12 jears now and i love it.
Last week i bought a single shot Husqvarna rolling block with a beautiful octagonal barrel.
I think it is a hunting rifle,short and light with a beautiful buttstock.
My gunsmith told me the caliber is 8x42R but he can not find any brass for it.
Is there somebody here who can help me to buy this brass?
I allready try to form it from 45-70 and 7.62x54R but that did not work at all.
Thank you,
Dick

[Cap'n Redneck]

Hi,
"The Handloaders Manual of Cartridge Conversions" page 870 has the following info:

Cartridge introduced ca. 1888.  Bullet dia.:  .318".  Bullet weight:  175 grains.

"Cartridges of the World" 4th. edition, page 264 is listed as a source for additional data.

Make from:  9,3 x 74R. 
Cut this case to 1,7". 
Anneal and full-length size with the expander removed.
Ream the inner diameter of the neck. 
Trim to length, chamfer and full-length size again.

This should produce a case 1,66" long.  The loaded cartridge length is 2,28".

Both the 9,3 x 74R and the finished 8 x 42R uses RCBS Shellholder # 26.

We have a supplier here in Norway called: www.hjemmelading.no
He lists three different brands of 9,3 x 74R:

Norma (comes in boxes of 50ea.), price Nkr. 950,-
Partizan (comes in boxes of 20ea.), price Nkr. 250,-
RWS (comes in boxes of 20ea.), price Nkr. 425,-

https://www.hjemmelading.no/categories/93x74r

Hope this info helps you along!

Sincerely,
Cap'n Redneck.

[SB]

Hi, I have made brass for all my Husqvarnas in 8,1x42R from 7,62x54R brass.
One of the rifles have a very deep rim and for this I have fire formed the brass to chamber on the shoulder instead of the rim.
Size the bullets so the cartridge is chamering.
Husqvarna made beutiful rifles, please post pictures of yours 😊👍
Dies I have bought from CH4D.

[contender4570]

Hi Cap`Redneck and Sigbred,
Thanks for the helping answers.I allready know now my rifle is a model 33 and the rim size is 15 mm.The rim from the Nagant brass is a little to small and that is the reason why i took the 45-70 brass.I filed it down with my drill to 15 mm and than shorten that brass to 44 mm.After doing this full sized the brass in my Kropatschek die (without centerpin) to 8 mm.After that i took a 44Mag die to make the neck on 25 mm down,took a .357 die and size it further down,the same with 9mm,.30M1 and the last die was .32ACP.The bullets that fit is a lead .321 170 grain.7.6 is stamped in the barrel.It is a lot off work but hopefully it will work.Today i will fire forming the cartrides with 41 grain Swiss 2.Maybe the brass is a bit to long but i can allwys make them shorter after a fire formed them.
I hope that you guys will give your opinions,good or bad haha.Thanks again,Dick

[contender4570]

By the way Sigbred,where did you bought your CH4D dieset?What kind and how much powder do you guys use for this 8x42R cartride?The book Cartridges off the World only mentioned 22 grain(IMR) nitro powder.

[SB]

I bought direct from CH4D. We can only debate black powder here. I use 35gr Wano FFF. Works great. The rim is a bit small, but as long the ekstractor works its okey.

[contender4570]

Good morning Sigbbred,

Thanks again for your answer yesterday!
I did the fire forming at the range yesterday with the 45-70 brass,i had 6 pieces to try out.
Only one off them came out perfectly and the other 5 where split in length.
Maybe because i forgot to aneal them again after the brass was finished?
Anyway today i will make brass again from 7.62x54R as you told me, i  will inform you about the results.
Regards,
Dick

[SB]

They often split if you forget to aneal 

[contender4570]

Hello Sigbbred,
Today i made 10 new cartridges from 7.62x54R,they are a lot easyer to make as the 45-70 brass.
I will aneal them and fire form them thursday at the range with the normal 170 grain bullet and 40 grain Swiss 2 powder.
Can you form the brass with your CH4D 8.1x42R dieset?
I saw on the website from STROBL Reloading CZ a die set for about €150.
It is not in stock and they mailed me when the set is for sale.
Are this kind of rifles also free to buy in Norway?
In Holland everybody can buy this kind of black powder rifles or single shot pistols.
Also repeating rifles like Kropatschek,Beaumont,Mauser 71/84,Swiss Vetterly`s etc,but only original black powder guns.

[SB]

Hope the brass will last a long time 👍
I have only tried light bullets. 130gr. Not sure if they will stabilize heavy bullets.
Here in Norway all Black powder weapons from before 1890 is free for sale. Very much fun with these old rifles 👍

[contender4570]

Hi Sigbbred,this evening i fire formed my new made brass,10 out off 45-70 and 10 pieces out off 7.62x54R.
This afternoon  i annealed all my brass and it worked out fine,beautiful brass came out after i fired them all.
The only thing was all off them where very difficult to get them out off the chamber,i needed my cleaning rod and my little hammer.
Also most off the bullets are making key-holes in the paper at 50 metres,i used lead bullets (.321) 170 grain and 41 grain Swiss 2 powder (fire forming)
What do you think,are my bullets to heavy or to big?Better to use full metall jackets in stead off lead?
I wanted to order the die set 8.1x46R from CH4D,but they did not mailed me back after 3 days.
Strobl CZ have them normally also,but it is now not in stock.
What kind off bullets do you use in your rifle,also .321 or .318.
My barrel stayed very clean after shooting 20 rounds,i mean no lead in the grooves.
Do you have an adress where i can get a die set 8x42?
I allready know that 8x42 is not a very common caliber,but it was a lot off fun to shoot it.
Hope to hear from you,
Greetings from Holland,Dick

[SB]

Try lighter bullets. Mine like 120-130gr. Lead. 321.
Take a  camber cast.

[contender4570]

Today i bought the lighter bullets,140 grain in size .321 as that is the barrel size.
Yesterday was my firepin broken,so monday i will make a new one at my work.
All my brass is ready to reload,maybe the Corona rules makes that i can not visit the range,we will see...

[SB]

https://www.ch4d.com/products/dies/caliber-list?filter-col=caliber&filter=8.1x42
https://www.ch4d.com/

God luck with lighter bullets.

[contender4570]

Hi Sigbbred,today i will try 15 cartridges in my model 33 with less blackpowder as i did when fire forming the cases.
I will use 30-35 grain Swiss 3 with 145 grain lead bullets,i hope that the groups are getting smaller and no keyholes anymore.
Last week i also started a new projekt:Husqvarna Rolling Block 12 gauge in a nice shape i think.
I took the complete shotgun apart and first cleaned it all over.
After that i polished all steel parts for reblueing and took the paint from the stock / vorend with light acid.
The wood came out very nice,maybe walnut?
Inside off the barrel is also very nice and shining,i do not know when the shotgun was build,maybe 1900 or so ?
I will take my time to complete it anyway.
One off the extractors is missing (right side) and i will make one myself.