Lee Loader

I know them only as a Star Wars fan. Despite that I've seen one for sale in person and I like to learn about stuff.

I managed to carve out some time last weekend and wandered down to the local range to try out my test loads for both the 7.63mm and the 9mm Mausers. I'll post the results for each caliber under their respective threads.

I have to say, finally putting rounds down range with those pistols was a thrill.

After folks finished drooling over the two pistols (especially the range officer), I loaded up some stripper clips and made some observations.

I noted that having that much metal that far forward of the grip made them very easy to control even single-handed and keep the muzzle on target after each round. In addition, putting the stock on and using the bullet box as a fore grip made control trivial.

No chronograph, so I only have calculated velocity data.

My range test fire results for the 7.63 C96 Mauser were as follows:

5 rounds each using Unique powder @ 5.2/5.4/5.6/5.8 grains
Starline SU30MSR brass
Sierra SRA8005 85gr RN HMJ bullet
Winchester small pistol primers
COL @ 1.325
10 yards to target
Calculated velocities:
5.2 @ 1003
5.4 @ 1026
5.6 @ 1049
5.8 @ 1072
Nice 6" groups
Bolt locks open even on the lowest load (5.2gr Unique)

Observation - Using basic paper targets with 5 small bullseyes. Shooting at targets waist-high or higher (center/upper left/upper right bullseyes) = dead on. Shooting at targets lower than waist-high (lower left/lower right bullseyes) tended to hit 1" to 2" higher than aim point </scratching head> Dad taught me to "front sight shoot" and it's been a couple of years since I have been to the range, but I noticed it was harder to focus/refocus on rear sight/front sight/target in rapid succession...eyes getting older

5 rounds each using AA#5 powder @ 5.1/5.3/5.5 grains
Starline SU30MSR brass
Sierra SRA8005 85gr RN HMJ bullet
Winchester small pistol primers
COL @ 1.325
10 yards to target
Calculated velocities:
5.1 @ 1053
5.3 @ 1109
5.5 @ 1164
All fired, but all Fail to Eject

Post-Range Activities

Cleaning both pistols was...interesting. Disassembly was fairly straight forward. I had viewed several YouTube videos and felt fairly confident I could tear them down to their individual components, clean, oil, and reassemble.

I gotta say...only the Germans (and I am of 90% German ancestry) could make a pistol this damned complicated. I can tear down, clean and reassemble my Taurus PT-908 in 5 minutes on a lazy day. Tear down of each Mauser took me a total of 10 minutes each maximum (I went slow). Cleaning was a breeze. I have really vague memories of watching dad tear them down and looking down the barrels to see some moderate pitting. However, when I thouroghly cleaned both barrels (Hoppe's #9 Bore Solvent) and lightly brass bristle brushed them to the point of the patch coming out "white glove clean", I swear I didn't find pitting to the degree I (mis)remember. That's a good thing, I suppose...

As an interesting asides, I found matching serial numbers on _almost_ every fiddly little part of both pistols. The individual wood grips even have matching serials stamped into them on the sides that are against the frame. If you ever find yourself in a position to acquire one of these, have a gunsmith go over it and note which parts do or do not have numbers or unmatched numbers...it is highly likely that parts with unmatched or unmarked serials will be after-market.

Note: I disassembled each pistol one at a time, so that I could use a fully assembled pistol as an assembly reference for the one spread all over the workbench. Yeah, I have a couple of books which have exploded views and disassembly/assembly instructions, but from my technical writer point of view they leave a lot to be desired in terms of showing precise positioning of certain bits and order of assembly...hmmm...I see an opportunity here

Now, on to reassembly. Wow, this step is not for the faint of heart. Unless you are really confident in your engineering abilities or you really really really need to clean it thoroughly, I recommend not breaking it down to the component parts. It took me the better part of 30 minutes per pistol to jigsaw-puzzle-piece these back together, and I am considering doing it again as I want to verify the positioning of a couple of parts (yeah, it is possible to ever-so-slightly mis-assemble a couple of the parts).

After wiping off the excess gun oil and snapping everything back into place, I checked all the actions (OK, so far) and cycled through some snap caps. Everything seems to be working as designed.

Now, on to production loading.
For the 7.63mm, I think I am going to stick with the 5.2gr Unique. Although it seems "dirtier", it has shown that it works, reliably cycles the action, and doesn't batter the bolt stop. Due to its "fluffiness" double loads are unlikely, and I have managed to dial in my Lyman powder measure for this powder and load. I may try the Lee Precision Drum Powder Measure to evaluate accuracy with Unique.

For the 9mm, I think I will use the 5.4gr AA#5. Again, it works in the Mauser, should work with the same loads in my Taurus PT-908, and seems a little "cleaner". I haven't dialed in the Lyman powder measure for this powder/load yet, but that's just sitting in the garage for a bit, listening to a little old time rock and roll, and carefully weighing loads. Afterwards, I'll treat myself to a pint of home brew - specifically my Old T-34 Motor Oil Russian Imperial Stout - 12.5% ABV (yeah, I make beer, too, but that's a whole 'nuther story ).

I want to thank everyone on the forum for their advice and their wisdom in this project. It was a genuine joy to be able to see these venerable firearms in action.

If you haven't already I can highly recommend the Precision Drum and at least one box of drums. So far I've run True Blue, HS-6, H110, Varget and a couple of others with little or no variation. It's best solution of found for really small loads since I started this in "67.

Nice reports on the war horses.

Make smoke,

AdmKeth wrote: I gotta say...only the Germans (and I am of 90% German ancestry) could make a pistol this damned complicated.

Having owned one, and disassembled, rust blued, and reassembled an M96, I wholeheartedly agree with you They are literally 'Steam Punk' technology

Having said that, you should tinker with a W German SIG Sauer. Almost the exact opposite!

Ohio3Wheels wrote:If you haven't already I can highly recommend the Precision Drum and at least one box of drums. So far I've run True Blue, HS-6, H110, Varget and a couple of others with little or no variation. It's best solution of found for really small loads since I started this in "67.

Nice reports on the war horses.

Make smoke,

I have the Precision Drum which came with the whole Turret Press package. With as cobbled together as I have gotten in order to make the Lyman work, it's kinda shaky. I am definitely going to try the Lee Precision Drum, and I was already leaning towards another set of drums if I was happy with the results. Rumor has it that the drums are a wee bit leaky with ball powder like #5, but I'm willing to put everything through their paces before deciding which way to go.

Not sure how it compare to #5 but True Blue is a very small spherical and I didn't have any leaks.

Make smoke,