.475 No. 2 (Eley) Double Rifle Question

cdent68

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Good afternoon folks!

Relatively new to this site and still figuring my way around. Recently bought a Lancaster .475 in what I thought was the less common NE version. Sent it to George Caswell at Champlin Arms for safety check and cleaning and found out today it is the easier .475 No. 2 flavor (whew). My problem is that I've spent time and energy focused on finding components that won't help me feed this rifle. I was able to quickly find some used Woodleigh bullets and some cases, but drawing a blank on reloading dies. Is anyone aware of where I can find a set of .475 No. 2 (not the Jeffrey version) reloading dies? Thanks in advance for any help provided.
 
CH Tool and Die used to make dies for any cartridge known and unknown, but I've heard their lead time is way out there these days. Worth a try though.
 
CH Tool and Die used to make dies for any cartridge known and unknown, but I've heard their lead time is way out there these days. Worth a try though.
Correct.... the last two times I contacted them about odd caliber dies I was told 18-24 month wait time.

Now having said that, it's worth a shot to call them and see if there is a set sitting on the shelf; I know two different people that lucked out that way.
 
I was able to find some odd dies and brass in Australia at Norther Shooters Supply and they promptly shipped them to me. There is a US company of the same name so be sure to search the name along with australia.

A quick search there shows they have it, if I am looking at the right thing:

 
I was able to find some odd dies and brass in Australia at Norther Shooters Supply and they promptly shipped them to me. There is a US company of the same name so be sure to search the name along with australia.

A quick search there shows they have it, if I am looking at the right thing:

If you are having dies shipped over, you might as well ask them about brass with Bertram in close proximity, even if they don’t have them in stock they can probably have them in hand faster than anyone.
 
Good afternoon folks!

Relatively new to this site and still figuring my way around. Recently bought a Lancaster .475 in what I thought was the less common NE version. Sent it to George Caswell at Champlin Arms for safety check and cleaning and found out today it is the easier .475 No. 2 flavor (whew). My problem is that I've spent time and energy focused on finding components that won't help me feed this rifle. I was able to quickly find some used Woodleigh bullets and some cases, but drawing a blank on reloading dies. Is anyone aware of where I can find a set of .475 No. 2 (not the Jeffrey version) reloading dies? Thanks in advance for any help provided.


There is a lot of variability between variants of this cartridge. It's why generally, one avoids the off the beaten path cartridges unless the juice is worth the squeeze. As a huge Charles Lancaster fan, I think the juice is worth the squeeze in this case.

You need to make chamber casts of both chambers using Cerrosafe. You need to mail those chamber casts to CH4D and wait quite awhile so they can build you dies for your chambers.

You should also slug the barrels or use pin gauges to find the nominal bore diameters. You may need to swage bullets to get correct size or order custom bullets for the bores.
 
You may have lucked out…
 
CH Tool and Die used to make dies for any cartridge known and unknown, but I've heard their lead time is way out there these days. Worth a try though.
I'll give them a call - thanks for the tip!
 
If you are having dies shipped over, you might as well ask them about brass with Bertram in close proximity, even if they don’t have them in stock they can probably have them in hand faster than anyone.
Thank you for the help here - I will reach out to them tomorrow. I followed your link and they do have both the Jeffrey and the Eley versions of the dies in stock + shellholders - which is great. Appreciate it!
 
There is a lot of variability between variants of this cartridge. It's why generally, one avoids the off the beaten path cartridges unless the juice is worth the squeeze. As a huge Charles Lancaster fan, I think the juice is worth the squeeze in this case.

You need to make chamber casts of both chambers using Cerrosafe. You need to mail those chamber casts to CH4D and wait quite awhile so they can build you dies for your chambers.

You should also slug the barrels or use pin gauges to find the nominal bore diameters. You may need to swage bullets to get correct size or order custom bullets for the bores.
Thanks for the tips - Cerrosafe is ordered! I had sent the gun from the auction house to George Caswell with Champlin Arms and he measured the bores - .483 - and said it is the Eley version. But I like the idea of doing the chamber casts. And could not remember the name of that stuff until your post - thank you.
 
You may have lucked out…
oh man....now that would be perfect. Sent a note and hope they are still available. Thanks!
 
Thank you for the help here - I will reach out to them tomorrow. I followed your link and they do have both the Jeffrey and the Eley versions of the dies in stock + shellholders - which is great. Appreciate it!
Good luck, if you can get the dies and the 40rnds of Kynoch in the classifieds it should be Game, set & match….. if the Kynoch regulates in your gun make sure and chronograph the factory loads.
 
Good luck, if you can get the dies and the 40rnds of Kynoch in the classifieds it should be Game, set & match….. if the Kynoch regulates in your gun make sure and chronograph the factory loads.
Fingers crossed. Cape Buffalo in the Caprivi planned for June....this just may work out - thanks again!
 
As Hannibal on the A-Team used to say:
IMG_0649.jpeg
 
You guys are my new best friends....I've got Kynoch factory rounds headed my way, reloading dies ordered and fingers are crossed that this thing will be up and shooting soon. Will post some pics over the next month as the project unfolds. Thank you all!
 

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