just picked up a type 99 arisaka not really with shooting it in mind more just to hangon to (good shape, matching numbers, not defaced like most are, blah blah) but the more i look into it the more i want to shoot it buttt i cant find any 7.7 jap anywhere but online. anyone know of a shop that might have any or know of someone that might be willing to load 100 for a fee if i bought brass and bullets?
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7.7 jap???
- Thread starter hiimdoc
- Start date
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=117348
As a practical matter, you have to spring for a couple of boxes of loaded ammo and then use the brass for reloading.
Grafs has the brass although they dont ship to Mass. Hornady and Norma both make factory ammo. I am surprised that Prvi Partizan doesnt make it as they make Grafs brass and I think a lot of the Hornady metric stuff.
There were a few bags of Prvi Partizan brass (100 pcs. ea.) at Hoffman's in Newington, CT, last I knew. It's been hanging around awhile, but it's been a few months since I was last there. Were I to have the dies, I'd load you up some. http://hoffgun.com/ Better call ahead first to verify availability.
Article C-383 is 7.7 x 58 Japanese brass; sadly the US HQ (Stratford, CT) doesn't do any sales at this office. http://prvipartizan.com/cases.php
"polygunbag.com" often has .310 bullets, though they are sold out of most items currently. I have a few of the 150grain tracers remaining, as well as, some .310" Sinterfire frangibles. Would the 123g .310's work for plinking fodder?
Don't rule out cast bullets either. I have a few that drop around .314" that could also work in the 7.7 such as the Lyman 311410 and a Lee (unmarked) mold that drops a ~200 g gc bullet similar to the Lyman 311414. http://www.three-peaks.net/bullet_molds.htm
One last edit...Hansen & Hansen (Southport, CT) has crates of wartime 7.7 Jap ammo, but unfortunately, it is for the m/g which uses the semi-rimmed case.
Article C-383 is 7.7 x 58 Japanese brass; sadly the US HQ (Stratford, CT) doesn't do any sales at this office. http://prvipartizan.com/cases.php
"polygunbag.com" often has .310 bullets, though they are sold out of most items currently. I have a few of the 150grain tracers remaining, as well as, some .310" Sinterfire frangibles. Would the 123g .310's work for plinking fodder?
Don't rule out cast bullets either. I have a few that drop around .314" that could also work in the 7.7 such as the Lyman 311410 and a Lee (unmarked) mold that drops a ~200 g gc bullet similar to the Lyman 311414. http://www.three-peaks.net/bullet_molds.htm
One last edit...Hansen & Hansen (Southport, CT) has crates of wartime 7.7 Jap ammo, but unfortunately, it is for the m/g which uses the semi-rimmed case.
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Perhaps there is another caliber whos brass can be formed into 7.7 jap. Kinda like how 284 winchester can be formed into 7.5 swiss.
Way back, Ken Waters (reloading guru of Handloader magazine) tried this using .30-06 brass and concluded that it was dangerous because it led to over expansion of the head and web area.
KW has done it, I haven't... so I can't argue with his conclusions. The specs sure seem quite similar though. Are 7.7 Jap cases much thicker around the head and lower body? (I guess I'll have to cut some apart...)
Cabelas has some in East Hartford, CT. I bought 2 boxes a couple weeks back. It is a great gun to shoot, mine is accurate as all getout, my dad brought them back after the war, a type 99 and a 38. 6.5 Jap is also at Cabelas.
I have made the brass on a couple occasions from .30-06. It was pretty easy and I never had any issues with the brass. It was the only you could get the brass for these for a long time. However I am big believer in having brass that is headstamped correctly. Any confusion could ruin someones day.
gerrycaruso
NES Member
Most of my 7.7 brass is PRVI that I got from Graf but before I found it I made some from .30/06 and they worked fine. It was a lot of trimming to get them from 63 to 58 mm. You can avoid that by using 8mm Mauser brass. It will be 1 mm short but you can omit the trimming. I've reloaded the PRVI brass several times and it has worked fine. I love shooting that old rifle. It's not as pretty as my other military bolt rifles but it's stronger than any of them. All but the last ditch rifles have chrome lined bores.
Cough up enough to get yourself 100 rounds. Get a neck sizing die if you are the first one shooting the stuff. Get a full length AND a neck size if you are getting fired brass. Once you fire form it in YOUR rifle, then just neck size. The brass will last a very long time.
If you re size from .30-06 to smaller things like 6.5x50 Jap, 6.5x55 Swedish, 7.7 Jap, etc. I use a nice new pipe cutter to trim the brass to something closer to final length, then I don't beat the crap out of my trimmer. I just chuck the brass in a holder on my drill and use the drill to spin the brass in the pipe cutter. It is very fast.
If you re size from .30-06 to smaller things like 6.5x50 Jap, 6.5x55 Swedish, 7.7 Jap, etc. I use a nice new pipe cutter to trim the brass to something closer to final length, then I don't beat the crap out of my trimmer. I just chuck the brass in a holder on my drill and use the drill to spin the brass in the pipe cutter. It is very fast.
Actually I'm making 6.5x55 Swedish, but they are real close. I run the .30-06 into a 7mm-08 FL die and bump the shoulder to about 1/16 to 1/8 from it's final resting place. Then I switch to 6.5x55 FL die and do the final resize and shoulder bump. Not a single pit, wrinkle collapse, nothing. Then I take a pipe cutter and trim to very close to final cartridge length and final trim on my power trimmer. I'm going to make a video eventually. But after much screwing around and many messed up cases. This is the sweet spot. All the rounds have been fire formed and the velocity never ranged by more than 70 ft/sec. I'm going to load with Sierra HPBT and see how the cases perform in known loadings.
Are you really finding 6.5 Swede to be scarce? You can buy Remington bulk still, can't you? Or do you just like making things? The smaller rim on the parent (.30-06) doesn't cause any grief? (I realize it isn't much, but it's enough to utilize a different shell holder and such..)
OAT, I picked up a Lee #10 shell holder for the auto-prime... now I just need 6.5 Jap brass, dies, bullets, Type 38 rifle, etc...
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I believe tha tmost of the American made 6.5 Swede uses the same smaller rim. I had a couple thousand pieces of new brass that I was trying to sell and a few guys didnt want it because of this.
Nah, I can find the stuff. And a couple NES members sent me some in exchange for some .45 brass (cause I have an obscene amount of it). To answer the question directly, Yes. I love making things. I started off just seeing if I could make 6.5 out of .30-06. I was going to give up until I realized I had a 7mm-08 sizer. That was the magic piece. Between What I had for 6.5, what I made for 6.5 and what I traded to get 6.5... I'd say I'm pretty good. Once it's fire formed I'll be neck sizing only.. So the stuff should last damn near forever. The smaller rim has cause me no grief what so ever. It's only a difference of .003 per side. If your extractor is only holding on by that, you've got bigger problems anyway.
I just think the idea of making one caliber out of another is so damn cool. I'm working on two custom calibers. Once is a cut down and reamed out .30 Carbine. Now .800 long and reamed to .3110 for a .32 cal bullet (for use in a modified SACM M1935A - 7.65x20 RAD). The other is a modified FN 5.7. That one is cut to remove the shoulder and loaded with a 6.5mm bullet (which I will have a mold made for - 6.5x23 NES). That one will be fired most likely from an M1935A also. Just stuff to do. No real reason.
I just think the idea of making one caliber out of another is so damn cool. I'm working on two custom calibers. Once is a cut down and reamed out .30 Carbine. Now .800 long and reamed to .3110 for a .32 cal bullet (for use in a modified SACM M1935A - 7.65x20 RAD). The other is a modified FN 5.7. That one is cut to remove the shoulder and loaded with a 6.5mm bullet (which I will have a mold made for - 6.5x23 NES). That one will be fired most likely from an M1935A also. Just stuff to do. No real reason.
Very good...proceed!
BTW, those 5.7s make a dandy 200g swc for 7.7 Jap, 7.62x54 and 303 Brit, too. Just run them through a sizer die and fill them with lead. Maybe not the most precise bullet, but it can be done.
BTW, those 5.7s make a dandy 200g swc for 7.7 Jap, 7.62x54 and 303 Brit, too. Just run them through a sizer die and fill them with lead. Maybe not the most precise bullet, but it can be done.
