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I originally posted this on the gunboards French firearms board, but am posting it on other forums now to help get more people on board as we need to get to 25. The text below is reproduced from the French firearms board.
Hey all, I recently acquired my ninth French firearm (a beautiful M80 Gras rifle).
I am no stranger to the sometimes tenuous nature of reloading French cartridges, but the 11mm is the first cartridge I've dealt with where the dies that exist are towards $300!
I briefly read over the rules to check if this was okay to ask here, since I'm not advertising to sell any of this stuff I figure it's not prohibited. Sorry if I misunderstood that. But in any event, I was hoping some of us could get together on getting Lee to do a run of dies for our cartridges. The set-up costs are prohibitive for a single buyer, but are waived if 25 or more are ordered at a single time. Their current lead time, according to the website, is 8~12 weeks.
Anyway, here is what I am thinking...
11x59mmR Gras
The dies for this one are almost nonexistant, it would be great to have a set of Lee dies made. Since Lee makes dies for the 11mm Mauser, I don't anticipate a problem making them for the gras. The dimensions are just within what can be done in a standard 7/8 x 14 die, so that's great. Here is what would be needed from the group:
11x59mmR Gras Full Length 2 die set:
Set-up charge: $150 (Will be waived if 25 or more are ordered).
Each set: $46,98 + S/H
So here, each person would have to pay $46,98 plus postage. The next cheapest die set is $250+, so I think it's a winning proposition for those of us who want to fire their 11mm's occasionally.
After speaking on the phone with Lee, the set up charge is PER DIE unless we get 25 sets ordered, so we pretty much need to get to 25 for it to be worth it. I will order several sets if necessary.
7.65 Longue
This is just an afterthought for me, but I have often thought how nice it would be to have a dedicated die set for the 7.65 Longue, not fiddling with 32ACP Dies, getting better neck tension when loading for tighter bores, etc.
Carbide 3-die Set for 7.65 Longue:
Set-up charge: $250 (waived if we order 25+)
Each set: $42 + S/H
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED: E-mail me at customfrenchdies @ gmail.com, I will be keeping a list of who is interested. For this to make sense, we need to order 25 sets of either cartridge. It wouldn't be a bad idea to order more than one, as the resale would probably be quite lucrative after a while.
Just email me what you are interested in, and how many. No need for payment, just a commitment. Because the sets must be ordered all at once, when we have reached 25, I will ask for your part of the order. I will then make the order, and distribute the die sets when the batch comes in.
I will keep a running total of who has committed on the French board, but as 1/25/2017 of this posting there are 7 commitments for 11mm, and 9 for 7.65mm.
Hey all, I recently acquired my ninth French firearm (a beautiful M80 Gras rifle).
I am no stranger to the sometimes tenuous nature of reloading French cartridges, but the 11mm is the first cartridge I've dealt with where the dies that exist are towards $300!
I briefly read over the rules to check if this was okay to ask here, since I'm not advertising to sell any of this stuff I figure it's not prohibited. Sorry if I misunderstood that. But in any event, I was hoping some of us could get together on getting Lee to do a run of dies for our cartridges. The set-up costs are prohibitive for a single buyer, but are waived if 25 or more are ordered at a single time. Their current lead time, according to the website, is 8~12 weeks.
Anyway, here is what I am thinking...
11x59mmR Gras
The dies for this one are almost nonexistant, it would be great to have a set of Lee dies made. Since Lee makes dies for the 11mm Mauser, I don't anticipate a problem making them for the gras. The dimensions are just within what can be done in a standard 7/8 x 14 die, so that's great. Here is what would be needed from the group:
11x59mmR Gras Full Length 2 die set:
Set-up charge: $150 (Will be waived if 25 or more are ordered).
Each set: $46,98 + S/H
So here, each person would have to pay $46,98 plus postage. The next cheapest die set is $250+, so I think it's a winning proposition for those of us who want to fire their 11mm's occasionally.
After speaking on the phone with Lee, the set up charge is PER DIE unless we get 25 sets ordered, so we pretty much need to get to 25 for it to be worth it. I will order several sets if necessary.
7.65 Longue
This is just an afterthought for me, but I have often thought how nice it would be to have a dedicated die set for the 7.65 Longue, not fiddling with 32ACP Dies, getting better neck tension when loading for tighter bores, etc.
Carbide 3-die Set for 7.65 Longue:
Set-up charge: $250 (waived if we order 25+)
Each set: $42 + S/H
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED: E-mail me at customfrenchdies @ gmail.com, I will be keeping a list of who is interested. For this to make sense, we need to order 25 sets of either cartridge. It wouldn't be a bad idea to order more than one, as the resale would probably be quite lucrative after a while.
Just email me what you are interested in, and how many. No need for payment, just a commitment. Because the sets must be ordered all at once, when we have reached 25, I will ask for your part of the order. I will then make the order, and distribute the die sets when the batch comes in.
I will keep a running total of who has committed on the French board, but as 1/25/2017 of this posting there are 7 commitments for 11mm, and 9 for 7.65mm.
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