I started by taking brand new Winchester 38-55 brass and running it into a full length sizer to get everything normalized. It turns out that this gives a loose slip fit to my 175 and 200 grain bullets for my 9.3x57R (360) rifles which just happen to be sized to just over .367 which is the groove diameter of this Maynard. Next I primed the brass with some Remington LP primers. I tested one by firing the primer by itself. Oh, I forgot to add a critical thing. Being a 73, I had to have a way to chamber a 38-55 case and bring it out to the proper length to seal the chamber. Just so happens that along with the rifle I receiver some very nice turned brass washer like adapters designed for that purpose which support and surround the rim of the case at the proper headspace distance and give something for the extractor to grab onto. Worked like a champ. Next added some 4227 powder in the reasonable 14 grain range. Using the old drop the bullet down the chamber method and measuring from the base of the bullet to the face of the cartridge adapter gave me a maximum OAL. With the 175 grain bullet this allowed the bullet's generous base and one grease groove in the neck and with the 200 it was 2 bands and grease grooves. Now we are back to the problem of a .367 bullet loosely slip fit in a 38-55 case neck. I needed a crimp and with much trial and thought pulled out a 9.3x57 Mauser FL sizer and removed the guts. This sizer really squishes down the neck before it is pulled back over the ball. Without the guts it can be adjusted to a length where the 38-55 case neck just, just, enters the neck squishing portion off the die giving a beautiful light roll crimp to the case which adds tension and keeps the bullet from going any deeper into the the case. Now to the range.

Here's a loaded round in its adapter. Did I mention that the bullets are courtesy of Accurate moulds? There is just a hint of the rolled crimp showing the keeps the bullet from slipping any more into the case.

Finally got out to the range this morning to try out some of my test loads. Learned a few things. The slip on 73 rings worked great except for one little problem. They really want a thicker rim on the case. The Q and D work around for this was to thumb press the firing pin to fully seat the case so the firing pin wouldn't have to do it. Another thing was that the 4227 wanted to be at or near the back of the case. A few taps of a vertical case on the side of the action and careful loading into the chamber took care of this. Perhaps 4759 would be less sensitive to this or I might have to resort to a carefully added tuft of kapok (just above but not on the powder) to keep the powder in the vicinity of the primer without extra effort. Anyway, the tap down/careful loading with firing pin pressure gave good results with the 200 grain 9.3x57R bullet and 18 grains of 4227 with just over 1650 fps and ES of 20. Still need a little lateral adjustment of that odd tang sight and refinement of the vertical and a little tightening of that as it tends to slide up and down a bit. The pointy little ivory bit on the front sight will show up best on a large black bull for next time. I'm thinking that a little loop of thin wire in the recess for the rim in the slip on rings or around the base of the case just above the rim would eliminate the firing pin push down. Another thing to work on.

Yes, I suspect the rings were intended for a slightly larger case with a slightly thicker rim. Unfortunately, I don't have a lathe.

I had those brass rings made up several times. The last batch was made too thin, at .110" thick instead of .135". I found out after I had shipped some out and didn't ship any others. I never got any satisfaction from the manufacturer and I'm stuck with several hundred bad rings. What I came up with is this: I bought a roll of .025" diameter brass wire and place a ring of this around the case before assembling with the ring. If any of you bought the thin rings, let me know and I'll ship you some brass wire. Most of the rings are for the Krag case to make up 40/40 and 40/60 cases. I don't have any for the 30/30 size cases.