7.5 French

[kestak]

Greetings,

I am doing a double check here because none of my books have data about it but my dies have the data and it is only one source:

7.5 French uses a standard .308 bullet. RIGHT?

Moreover, anyone noted the once-fired brass is as rare as a Democrat representative voting for a pro-gun bill???

Thank you

 

[MMCSRET]

Yes, .308 projectiles are what you want, load data is available on line. Google is your friend. You can form cases from 6.5X55 Swedish Mauser cases. I've made a lot of them for use in 1936(?) bolt gun and 1953(?) semi auto. Be sure to use a mil-spec primer with the semi auto to prevent slam fires. At one time Cabelas was selling 7.5X54 ammo in their labeled boxes loaded in formed 6.5X55 R-P cases.

 

[Slamfire]

I had Syrian ammo, awful stuff, I remember measuring the bullets and they were less than 308.

However, because there is sufficient case neck expansion (so the bullet is not pinced in the chamber) you can shoot the slightly larger 308 bullets.

When I got my MAS36 all that was on the market was Syrian and 6.5 x 55 Swede. The 6.5 Swede shares the same case head diameter.

I fired 20 or 40 rounds of boxer primed 6.5 Swede in my MAS36. That totally expanded the case neck, which needed trimming afterwards. The sized and trimmed brass was totally usable.

Accuracy with 6.5 bullets in the 7.5 bore was laughable. I aimed at a point on the 50 yard berm, and the bullet would randomly land within 6 feet.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I'm gonna post this here again because it relates directly to this topic. especally in the light of certian members propensity to give out dangerios and erronious advice reguarding case head diameters.

PLEASE PLEASE don't tell folks that they can safely make 7.5 MAS from 6.5 swede.

Back in the day you might could have done so but no more. Domestic brass manufqcturers have gotten lazy of late and started producing swede brass with an undrsized .473" case head vs the correct .480" for the 6.5x55swede.

This would not be a big deal in most cases except that the mas round is another .007" at the case head over proper 6.5x55, So 7.5MAS brass so formed would be a whopping .014" undersized at the critical web area.

Besides it's likely cheaper and easier to get correct 7.5x54 brass from Grafs than 6.5x55 to reform

 

[Slamfire]

PLEASE PLEASE don't tell folks that they can safely make 7.5 MAS from 6.5 swede.

Back in the day you might could have done so but no more. Domestic brass manufqcturers have gotten lazy of late and started producing swede brass with an undrsized .473" case head vs the correct .480" for the 6.5x55swede.

This would not be a big deal in most cases except that the mas round is another .007" at the case head over proper 6.5x55, So 7.5MAS brass so formed would be a whopping .014" undersized at the critical web area.

Besides it's likely cheaper and easier to get correct 7.5x54 brass from Grafs than 6.5x55 to reform

Opps!



__________________

 

[MMCSRET]

All very true, but back in the day there was no correct 7.5 cases available. We were making 6.5 Swede cases from U.S. military '06 cases. Worked OK, most of the time.
Fortunately, most cartridge cases are available now, while they weren't 40 years ago. in that respect, the good ol' days weren't!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Gik-tal]

I used to make 7.5 french rounds out of 30-06 a while ago when I had a freind with a rifle he could not find ammo for. You have to fire form the brass once, but after that its good to go. To do this run the 30-06 brass thru a good of Sizing die to reform it, then trim it to length. Now take a miniunm load and subtract 20%, I was using 40 grains of IMR-4895 topped with a 150 grain FMJ bullet. Fire these normally, they will not be accurate, but you are having to reform brass in this step. Now take brass home and reload normally, reject any cases that might crack, I think I had about one in a hundred that would. I then loaded a 150 grain FMJ bullet over 46 grains of IMR-4895.