Pet loads for M1895 Chilean Mauser in 7mm Mauser

[DGP4]

Thanks for that load info Kwahe! If I can find some Norma 203B locally I will try it. I know Norma 204 is very close to H4350 which is very popular in 7mm loads. I noticed they recommend magnum primers which is a surprise to me. As to peep sights, the ones I remember were the Lyman 103 sights there were frequently used on Springfield 1903 rifles some years back. I found an article by Major Townsend Whelen dated to 1922 where he mentions he commissioned this sight from Lyman for use on his sporting Springfield rifle.
http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/Cast_Bullet/Vault/Cocking_Piece_Sight.html

 

[blastit37]

Please be advised that a brand new military M95 (as well as M93) has a barrel with a .286-.287 in. groove dia. This is opposed to the standard replacement 7mm barrels with a .284 in groove dia. A used military barrel could be as big as .288 or larger (I have replaced barrels that would swallow a standard 7mm bullet). This is why I and many others find that longer and heavier 7mm bullets stabilize better than the shorter ones. I would wager that Mr. O'Connor had replacement barrels on his rifles.
.286 dia. bullets are hard to find and very expensive.

 

[DGP4]

Thanks for the info Blastit37. In my case, however, I put a 270 WIN bullet (.277) in the muzzle of the rifle and the tip barely fit in, way tighter than what you suggest. It could be that some of these rifles had tighter bores when manufactured. Mine sure does! The two O'Connor rifles were a 1955 Winchester Model 70 massaged by Al Biesen (his) and a Mauser VZ33 sporter built by Tom Burgess originally for him (hers) so neither had a military barrel. He had his gunsmith cut down the Winchester barrel to 22 inches as that was his preferred length.

 

[DGP4]

By way of update, I bought some no name 140 grain soft point flat based bullets from American reloading and proceeded to test loads with Reloader 19. I started at 45 grains and went up to 47 grains in half grain increments. At 46.5 grains I got 1 inch groups at 75 yards with some stringing and all shots touching, so I called that good to go. My chrono battery conked out before I got to that load but based on prior loads I suspect velocity is in the 2350 fps area. This gun is really accurate! I have a hard time shooting with the small tangent sights and my aging eyes, so these groups are pretty amazing to me! I may move up to some higher quality bullets now.