All~ I recently acquired a Swiss Martini-Hammerli 3-position rifle dated around 1920.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) The rifle is proofed for the GP11 ammunition, with a groove diameter of .307" and finally a full set of sights (bought Schützen sights because a base was added to the rifle, although I'll use the barrel-mounted rear sight assembly as they did in the original 300m competitions).
I have never engaged in this discipline, and I confess my ignorance about how to handload for this type of rifle. I would appreciate it if someone were to walk me through what I should do. For instance:
1 - Should I paper patch, and if so, at what diameter and why?
2 - Can I get away with a bit of trial and error without doing a chamber casting?
3 - What would be the drawback of using cast lead gas-check bullets?
4 - Anything else I should know, or a good resource (even in French, Italian or German) anyone could point me to?
Thanks a lot in advance--I want to make sure I get this right without messing up the rifle, which has an absolutely perfect bore.
Tom