Mauser 1871/84 Black powder rifles -my two of a pair

[Gert Odendaal]

Good day to all members. Here are a few photos ( courtesy of Tony Byrd) of the Mausers 1871/84 I purchased by another good friend and forum member Flatwater Bill ( Bill it is much appreciated ) I asked Bill some time back to see if he could find me a Mauser 1871/84..Bill respond by finding me two of these beautiful rifles..

 

[HWL]

Good day to all members. Here are a few photos ( courtesy of Tony Byrd) of the Mausers 1871/84 I purchased by another good friend and forum member Flatwater Bill ( Bill it is much appreciated ) I asked Bill some time back to see if he could find me a Mauser 1871/84..Bill respond by finding me two of these beautiful rifles..

The boers are upgrading their armament with imperial German black powder fire power....!!!

Hard times for the Brits... the Martini Henrys will be outguned.



HWL

 

[Gert Odendaal]

The boers are upgrading their armament with imperial German black powder fire power....!!!

Hard times for the Brits... the Martini Henrys will be outguned.



HWL

Yes, yes, we are using home made ZAR black powder , extremely high grade powder, we will put the Brits in a tight spot Herr Georg...ha, keep in mind the ZAR black powder , made by a Boer and not sold to the British.. ZAR means Zuider Africaanse Republieke

 

[Gert Odendaal]

The boers are upgrading their armament with imperial German black powder fire power....!!!

Hard times for the Brits... the Martini Henrys will be outguned.



HWL

Members, here is a photo of the canister of ZAR Black powder that is made by Johan Greyling. This is high quality Black powder, we used it on our last black powder hunt, Johan Greyling supplied all the black powder needed by the hunters to shoot and hunt with. Johan Greyling is the only black powder manufacturer in South Africa that makes traditional black powder that will not cause erosion or damage to the old vintage rifles ..this ZAR black powder was/still is tested by Dr. Wallace Vosloo, Johan van Wyk, current holder of world record for shooting long distance target shooting with the Martini Henry rifles..

And shooting the front loading canons Johan build himself;

 

[Nyati]

Congrats Gert, those are beautiful rifles !

And then you guys also shoot cannons

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Thank you Nyati, yes , I really am fortunate to have friends/ members who assisted me to get hold of these great rifles..Flatwater Bill got these two beautiful rifles for me when I post a thread asking all members to please look around for the Mauser 1871/84 rifle, to me this is the best Black powder hunting rifle for the 1885 era black powder hunt I am participating ..then there is Tony Byrd who shipped the two rifles from Bill to his own residence ..without these two members this would have not possible ..so all credit to these two great members who stepped forward when I was in need of finding these scarce rifles..my appreciation is great ...
When completing the 8x68S rifle build I will build my first front loading black powder canon....will upload photos of the build , post a thread in this regards...

 

[bruce moulds]

gert,
here is some information from a guy that pulled some bullets from 1887 military ammo used in 71/84 mauser.
the bullets were swaged, with a dimple in the base to take the folded tail of the patch.
bullet wt 363 gns.
bullet diameter 0.439", patched to 0.443".
between the bullet and powder was a grease wad about 1/8" thick with a thin card wad over and under it.
no mention of powder charge, or compression if any.
the grease wad would be to assist with continued shooting when dirty.
experimenting with grease composition for different temps and humidities would be worthwhile.
grease in this context means either a firm animal fat, beeswax, a mixture of the above, or that plus an animal or plant based oil.
strictly NO petroleum products other than Vaseline or a few other obscure things..
bruce.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Thank you Bruce, it is much appreciated. I am extremely fortunate in regards to re-loading the vintage calibers, with us this side of the pond we have people who shoot black powder competition globally..the person I am speaking about is currently the world black powder champion in winning the longest shot with a Martini Henry ...we have a great resourceful pool of knowledge this side of the pond

 

[bruce moulds]

gert,
please share how you load this ammo.
I find seeking out original methods interesting, but also modern methods.
part of it is working out not only the how, but the why as well.
hopefully you are not cheating and using white powder!
bruce.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Bruce I will do so when I am re-loading again..here is a video of how Georg Poppel the German hunter does it in our hunting camp..

 

[bruce moulds]

gert,
technical details?
bullet diameter? bullwt? bore and groove diameter? powder charge? powder compression? alloy?
lube? throat dimensions? how many repeat shots can you get?
an inquiring mind needs to know.
do you have to use a blowtube?
bruce.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Bruce, I will get back to you on this subject. Will provide as much info as possible when re-loading this caliber again..