Does anyone here load 7.5X55 Swiss ?

TX Hunter

New member
Hello, I was wondering if anyone here loads 7.5x55 Swiss. I am about to start, I know the Swiss K31 has weak primary extraction I didn't know if there might be any special procedures for this cartridge.
 
No special procedures, but watch your COAL. Some published loads tested in older models will be too long. A couple loads that work for me:

150 Speer (#2023) 48.0 IMR-4320 COAL 2.85 About 2,800
175 SMK (#2275) 44.0 IMR-4320 or 48.5 IMR-4350 COAL 2.933 2,450

Sierra got best accuracy for the Match King with the IMR-4350 load.
 
Thank You Bill

Thank You Bill, I was starting to fill like the Lone Ranger. LOL I have a good Trimmer so that shouldn't be a problem. This is the one Rifle I have that Hand Loading is pretty much a necessity. I have some Speer 150 Grains, and some Hornaday 165 grain Bt. Thanks again Sir.
 
I have had good luck with h335 and any cheap 150 gr bullets I can find. Don't remember the grs though. I have made some loads with 165 gr but have not tried them yet. I usually shoot the GP11 surplus. It shoots so well. My 150gr loads do outshoot it but just barley and that could be because they recoil somewhat less. I don't shoot the k31 that much anymore(moved to handguns) it is a very well made accurate rifle. I have owned 7 but now I am back down to one. And yes you need to watch your COL. The throught is pretty short.
 
I conducted some load development for the 7.5 Swiss. I have never purchased Swiss ball, but a bud gave me a chance to shoot some across my screens.

AA4350 gave excellent accuracy and just about duplicates Ball velocities with 51.0 grains and a 168 Nosler Match bullet. As you can see 52.0 grains produced velocities over Ball, so I do not recommend that load. It is here for reference.

Any of the 4350 powders can be used in the 7.5 Swiss, that is IMR 4350, AA4350 and H4350. Buy by price.

Instead of AA4350 I am shooting surplus WC852 in the 7.5 Swiss. This is a ball powder, and I purchased my lot from Jeff Barlett at GIBrass.com . It turns out Accurate Arms purchased a 90,000 pound lot of WC852, faster burning than Jeff’s lot, and now it is labeled as 2700. My lot of WC852 shoots extremely well, was dirt cheap, and I am using that up. But if I did not have the surplus powder, I would give IMR4350 or AA4350 a go as it shot very well.

7.5 x 55 Swiss Model K-31

AP11 Swiss Ball headstamp DA 78
24 Mar 04 T = 70 ° F
Ave Vel = 2565
Std Dev = 11
ES = 23
Low = 2551
High = 2574
N= 4

168 gr Nosler Match 51.0 gr AA4350 INDEP brass and primer OAL 2.850
22 Dec 01 T = 58 ° F
Ave Vel =2536
Std Dev =17
ES = 45
Low = 2510
High = 2555
N= 9


168 gr Nosler Match 52.0 gr AA4350 INDEP brass and primer OAL 2.850
22 Dec 01 T = 58 ° F
Ave Vel =2624
Std Dev =31
ES = 72
Low = 2588
High = 2660
N=5

Notice the grease ring around the bullet of Swiss service rifle ammunition. This ring has approximately the same consistency as the beeswax mixture used for a toilet bowl wax ring. The Swiss did this to improve accuracy and accuracy life. I was surprised to find that the Austrians, Italians, and Russians all fired greased service rifle bullets prior to discovering a decent bullet jacket. They all did so to prevent fouling and heavy wear. The Swiss kept this practice up to the late 70's, and apparently, some Swiss target shooters still grease their bullets.

IMG_1567.jpg


The only real difficultly I encountered was establishing the base to shoulder distance. No one sells a 7.5 Swiss case gage, so I used the Sinclair version of the HORNADY HEADSPACE GAUGE KIT, BODY w/5 BUSHINGS. http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/7288 With this gage I was able to properly set up my sizing die and only push the shoulder back 0.003".
 
Straight pulls need the same loading techniques as semi-autos. FL resizing every time plus watching OAL and case lengths. And no neck sizing only.
The 7.5 uses regular .308" bullets too.
 
Thanks Gentleman

The only Powders I have Right now are H4895 and H380. I appreciate the help, and good advice. I have Fired this Rifle with Factory Hornaday 168 Grain Amax and it was very easy to get good groups. I love the Trigger on this Rifle
 
H4895 ought to work fine in this cartridge, I just have not tried it. This case has a bit more capacity than the 308 Win, and less than the 30-06, and the 4895 series of powders shoot outstandingly in both.

There is plenty of H4895 data on the web, if you have not already developed your own.

Oh, I do recall, don't over tighten the front action screw. Swiss rifles.com has real experts on these rifles and it might be worth looking over there.
 
I used to reload for it, but then sold the rifle.

The best way to get around sticky primary extraction is to keep your loads on the moderate to mild side and, as someone mentioned, watch COAL and also case length.

It also helps if you wear heavy ski boots.

Makes it easier to kick the action open when you do get a sticky case. :)
 
I have the same bullets that are in the pic of Slamfire, boy does that rifle kick.;)

Only fired it say 3 times.

Not reloadable are they?




Jeff
 
The GP11 brass is high quality brass but it is berdan primed. Reloadable if you can find the correct berdan primers. I believe Tula makes such an animal.
 
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