My take on the .30 Parabellum
 

I finally got my 1921 Parabellum and slugged the bore.... .311"+
So what to do, as most all of you know jacketed bullets of the right weight in that caliber is made of Unobtanium.
Lee makes a fine .32 mould intended for revolvers, but it casts a nice 85grains .311" bullet from 94/3/3 (94% lead + 3% tin + 3% antimony).
I first dabbled a little with freechecks wich is gaschecks made from pop can aluminium and crimped onto a flat base bullet.

A lot of work for little to no gain so next i tried Hi-Tek coating from Australia. Dang that just works!

I havent shot the pistol much at all and even less with jacketed but that little fart will outshoot me all day long with those cast bullets :)

Here's some pics:

The Lee bullet:
http://forum.lugerforum.com/picture....pictureid=3561

The freecheck:
http://forum.lugerforum.com/picture....pictureid=3559
http://forum.lugerforum.com/picture....pictureid=3560

The finished bullet:
http://forum.lugerforum.com/picture....pictureid=3562

Hi-Tek coating is way easier and faster:
http://forum.lugerforum.com/picture....pictureid=3563

Superman beware!:
http://forum.lugerforum.com/picture....pictureid=3564

And the load: 5.0grains Reload Swiss RS12
Quickload says 1225fps from a 95mm barrel

I use Winchester small pistol primers and they look like fired primers.
We are talking 28½kpsi and are far from primer deformity in any way, shape or form.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/picture....pictureid=3565
http://forum.lugerforum.com/picture....pictureid=3566

There is a bullet company here in the USA called Western Bullet Company that casts and sells 92gr lead RN bullets designed for the 30 Luger brass. It measures 0.3105-0.3115in, which works excellent in these old "generous" Luger bores. I have loaded a fair amount of them with no leading problems........I do load the rounds to factory specs.

I have yet to try any of the Hi-Tek coatings, but I hear good things about them from handloaders here in the USA. I think that I am going to try some Hi-Tek coated bullets for 45LC brass, as I do experience leading despite bullet/bore matching to the best of my abilities.

I always enjoy hearing about handloading "fixes" for problems that one experiences along the way. Thanx for the info.

So thats where you get Kryptonite bullets.... If you don't mind me asking, whats the purpose of the Hi-Tek coating?

The Hi-Tec coating stops the plain lead bullet from laying down lead in the bore when fired. Some guns have no problems when the bore diameter is matched correctly to the bullet diameter, and others are cursed with leading. It can be a real "pain" to get the lead out of the bore.


The Hi-Tec coating is much cleaner to handle as there is no bullet lube used on these bullets, so no clogged up seating dies. Also, no handling of the raw lead.

It's in essence a "jacket" that encapsulates the lead and renders bullet lube un needed. No lubing and no leading what so ever. Lubing 500 bulets on my Lyman 450 takes the best part of 2 hours, Hi-Tek coating tales less than 20min.

Oh and the colour actually is called kryptonite green ;)
http://hi-performancebulletcoatings.com/

That's amazing!

Q: Did you LUBE the lead bullets or just shoot them with a gas-check as shown in the picture? Lube is critical.

They were lubed. Nothing wrong with them they shot fine but making the checks and applying them is a laborious task.

I use a lyman 311227 with N320 from Vihtavuori powder , brass case from Winchester or Thun , but I don't use any gazcheck .....
Goes to 380/390 m/s in my 1906 swiss
Seems to be like your's reload for the result

All Swiss military brass i have encountered is Berdan primed, is the Thun different?
What do you pay for Winchester brass?
The cheapest 7.65x21 brass i have found is Prvi at €22/100

I shot about 200 rds of "Bayou Bullets" - they use the Hi-Tek coating - through my 9mm Luger. It *LOVED* them!

:
Since 2004 : the one's I own and after , swiss military case are in boxer and made from Thun
About winch , I buy cartridges complet , also Fiocchi and Prvi
28€x50 winch , Prvi 16€x50 but 1000 to buy , Fiocchi 22€x50
/
After use , I reload the case

Todays load is with 86gr S&B .309 bullets and a fairly stout (5.4gr) load of Swiss RS20.
I dont know exactly what it is with my Parabellum but for the first time in my life i have shot a 95 point score. I shoot ok with my Colt SAA, but my Webley revolver and Kongsberg 1911 are spreaders. I think it's because i have "small" hands at least i have short fingers and my grip is way incosistent on those huge axe handles.

Funny thing is that the S&B bullets are some sort of brass jacketed as they are the same color as the cases.

The S&B's and the usual Kryptonite bullets (wich shoot to the exact same point of aim, go figure)

Did the tin and sticker myself, thought it looked cool ;-)
The original tin is from a German brand of chocolate called Scho-Ka-Kola.
The firm started in late 1800's and this mix is from 1934 and actually distributed to the German soldiers during WWII. Especially tank crews and air crews benefetided from it as it contains 2½% ground coffee and 2% ground cola nut (less peeing during battle). The Dark kind is the best chocolate i have ever tested :-)
I cut the bottom out of a tin and soldered it on top of another to get the internal height that accomodated the 7,65x21 cartridges.

...why cant i mix text and pics. They all come at the end. Guess i better study and get better.

I like the "new tin". Very inventive to say the least. I am unfamiliar with Swiss RS20 powder, as it does not come into the USA. Where on the burn chart does it fall??