Sauer Double Rifle caliber

[dherr]

Recently purchased a 1911 Sauer double rifle with dies and brass and boxes of Dominion 43 Mauser ammo. Was told the owner has had the gun since the late 50's and never fired it and the dies and accessories came with it when he got it. Here is my dilemma. Seial number places gun as 1911. In Cates book the next serial number is listed and it is an identical description as mine, 43 Mauser double. I have cast and miked both ends of both barrels and on this type rifling I have to slighly turn the casting to get the widest measurement of .444. If I measure from flat to flat, it is only about .433. The markings for guage/caliber 0n the barrel flats are 62,78 which according to Cate book, do not jive with the bore measurements and the 43 mauser bullet diameter of .446. Any ideas? Questions?
Thanks,
Dave Herr

[ellenbr]

I'd guess a chamber cast is in order along with sluggin' the bore.

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

[mike ford]

dherr,
As Raimey stated, a chambercast will be necessary to ID the cartridge. It seems the rifle has a barrel with an odd(uneven) number of grooves, which I suspect accounts for the .433 measurement.I further suspect the .444" is close to the precise dimension that would have been obtained with special equipment.The .444 could well be actually .445 or .446, but even if it is actually .444, it fits well with my preferred practice of using cast bullets .002" over groove diameter.The 62.78 equates to a bore(not groove) diameter of 10.67 mm, but it could be the next size plug gauge(10.92mm) would almost have fit. My "gut" feeling is that the rifle is indeed 43 Mauser(AKA 11.15x60R, or 11mm Mauser), but the "school solution" is to make a chamber cast. You didn't say that the ammo you have will chamber, if so it supports my "gut" feeling. Since the bullet is a pretty soft swaged bullet, if it were mine, I would try firing one of the cartridges. The fired case could then be compared to an unfired cartridge. It would be natural to have a moderate amount of expansion in the fired case. BTW, when you reload the cases, you should set the sizing die to just "kiss" the shoulder and not set it back. The Dominion cases are "balloon head" cases and setting the shoulders back will likely lead to case stretching and ultimately head separation. By so setting the dies, I have reasonable case life with my own rifle.
Mike

[dherr]

Thanks Mike I have in fact done all of that and the Dominion ammo drops right in. It is a 11.15x60r. At this point I am working on regulation of the load at fifty yards.