.311 verses .312. 7.7 jap Arisaka

My T99 Test Load photos

I figured out how to post photos.

Here is a line-up of what I started testing: Barnes 150sp, Hornady 150sp, Speer 150sp, Hornady 175HPBT, Hornady 180RN
 
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My T99 Test Load photos

Here are photos of my target. The bullseye was centered to the rear aperture and the front blade was off to the left slightly. It appears that my T99 likes heavier bullets.
 
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Ladder Test Targets

These are my Ladder Test Targets. I will submit a follow up in December. I only shoot 1x-2x /year
 
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I've squibbed my Type 99 twice. Once was a PCI factory cartridge. that batch was later recalled by TCI b/c of contaminated powder. The second was a home built cartridge that looked remarkably similar to the failed PCI in that the powder was clumped up. I probably got case lube into the cartridge and that was the cause.
 
burbank_jung said:
I tried lubing my dies once with WD40 and I got a squib load.
Click to expand...
I tried that when I first started reloading and I stuck a case so bad that I had to get the die replaced.

After tinkering around with loading for the 7.7x58 over many years, I've found that resized .30-06 cases give the best accuracy. Back when I started I wasn't experienced enough to know that sometimes when you shorten a case the neck is to thick. However in the large neck tolerance in an Arisaka rifle the thick neck takes up some of the slop. I've never had any high pressure signs. I agree the easy way to make 7.7 case is to run 8mm Mauser cases though 7.7x58 dies once. The end up about 1mm too short but it's not enough to be concerned about.

I also got my loading data for it from a rather old RCBS manual and back then they were very conservative on pressure and the loads were in the .300 Savage territory. Later on I worked up to .308 Win load levels and I was very happy with the results. The latest Hornady book I have show even hotter loads but I don't see the point since I'm no likely to ever hunt with either of my 7.7 rifles again...

Tony
 
I like my resized military 30-06 to 7.7 x 58 brass. The brass does not have some other cartridge size stamped on the head. When I see the military stamps, I know it's for my Arisaka because I have no other rifle that chambers for it. The brass appears heavy too.

My load data comes from a Hornady Manual and the book Petloads. The author identified N-203 (translate to R15) is a very good powder for the heavier bullets. You can see the results above.
 
T99 Arisaka Test

Here are my two targets with my best performing load so far for my T99 Arisaka. The load is a 7.7-174 Hornady 174FMJBT with 45.5 R15 and a COAL of 3.175". The 100 yard target printed a 3/4" group with flyers and the 200 yard group printed a 2" group with flyers. My targets were red paper plates that I centered in my peep sight. The second best result was 7.7-150 Barnes but I'll need to work on this load more. The heavier 180gr RN needs to be retested along with my tests for cast Lee 185gr bullets sized at .3115 and .3125". The bore was determined by casting a pure lead bullet using split shots, cutting the bullet in half, lubing it, and forcing the slug through the barrel with a wooden dowel.
 
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