Yesterday's Weapons Forums

Well I was in picking up a mosin from aguy I buy from and the owner was there. I asked if he had anything interesting. He pulls this out. now I have the Bayonet for this rifle and I have been looking to try to get the rifle for some time, however they seem to always be selling in the $500 range. Now I am not going to spend that much and then have to spend another $300 for cases ,dies, and bullets. The price on this one was right and it had the cleaning rod. Here is some history.

GENERALLY: The Kropatschek tubular magazine system, developed for use in this rifle designed by Alfred von Kropatschek was patterned in many respects after the German Mauser M71/84. The rifle was built for Portugal by Styer in lieu of the short-lived M1885 Portuguese Guedes-Castro, an elegant, well made single shot rifle (never actually adopted by Portugal but used in combat extensively by the Boers in South Africa against the British) competing in the age of repeaters. The Portuguese Kroptchek however did retain basically the same cartridge as the Guedes, a sharply bottle-necked 8mm black-power round. The black powder loading was phased out when smokeless powder bacame available to Portugal in 1896. The sights on the modified rifles are altered to give a maximum range of 2,200 meters. This magazine system is utilized in the M1878 French Kropatschek Marine rifles, the M1884 French Kropatschek Infantry rifles, and was utilized as the magazine system for the well known M1886 Lebel (the first military rifle specifically built for smokeless powder

DISTINGUISHING CHARECTERISTICS: The trigger guard pistol grip spur, magazine spring cap extention, side mounted cleaning rod, lack of stacking rod and its 8mm bore readily differentiate the Portuguese Kropatschek from it's most similar cousin, the German M71/84 Mauser. The receiver is well marked OE.W.F.G. STEYR.

MISC NOTES: The Portuguese Mauser-Kropatschek is the smoothest, silkiest operating bolt action rifle I have ever used. The rifle is well balanced despite its tubular magazine, accurate and a joy to shoot!

I paid 400 for an all-matching one - rare - and 225 + freight for a nice colonial model. I loaded ammo last night & am taking it to the range later on today.

The load I have listed in the handloading forum isn't too bad, but I'm trying the Lee bullet with 20.0 grains of AA 5744 this time.

I'd like a carbine or short rifle but like you say, they seem to be going in the 500 range. SW

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I would have liked a carbine too , I had to take all my pistols out of the safe and move the shelf up so I could fit it in there.

I just posted a viable load for this caliber in the BPCR forum. SW

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Where is a good place to get brass and bullets for it?

www.buffaloarms.com for brass & bullets. Dies are not cheep, but you can use them to convert 348 Win to 8x60R.

If your bore is .329 or .330, you can use the Hornady 205 grain jacketed bullets meant for the Austrian calibers. I use the 205 grain .329 cast bullet by Lee. All available from Grafs.com SW

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do you want to sell a few rounds???

Hogger, can the brass be just fireformed to the chamber or does the shoulder need to be set back first?

You might be able to get by with another (cheaper) die for neck sizing & seating bullets after they are formed to your chamber.

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I haven't completed any yet as I have not cut the bevel on the rim. I have a plan for that & will take a bolt to the drill press to help the cut-n-try.

If it works, I won't be selling any of my brass but will alter other people's at no charge if they send me their 348 brass. ( same for 43 Dutch brass as soon as I get my 43 Dutch dies)

A big IF is involved here. I'll try to make a few this afternoon. SW

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Just found this one Gun Broker, I can't belive how much they are going for. I'm glad I bought the one I have.

That one's a little rough for the money. True, it's a genuine combat vet, but still... I've noticed the Kropatschek bayonets are WAY cheeper on the Euro gun auctions. Like under 50 USD for a nice one with scabbard.

Something to look for with these is an all-matching example. Few match entirely.

There's a lot of history with these - some were in use in Portugal's diminishing empire as late as the early 60s. SW

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Success!!!!! I made some 8x60R from 348 just now. They chamber & extract just fine!

Piece of cake, it was. I simply chucked up a 348 case - neck first - into my cheep chink drill press & applied a new Nicholson 8" mill bastard. Cut & try & I had my Kropatschek bolt on the bench for the try part. I only used moderate hand pressure to tighten the chuck - no chuck wrench at all so I wouldn't deform cases. They were barely marked when finished.

It really didn't take much to make them feed. I approximated the bevel angle of the bolt face & took off a few thousandths from the rim.

Then back to the loading bench - greased up the cases with imperial sizing wax & simply FL sized. I then tried all in my 'colonial model'. All chambered & extracted just fine. The only question on my part is why are the Buffalo Arms cases a little longer? I mean, they use 348 Win brass, too.

So while I will do the same operation for your brass at no cost other than postage both ways, I feel this is within anyone's capabilities. The only required equipment: a medium size drill press & a good mill bastard of about any size.

Will the cases need to be inside reamed? I don't know yet as it will be a few days before I can shoot the new cases.

I love it when a plan comes together!!! SW

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wow , i know nothing of these but they are indeed a beautiful rifle , im very impressed

Ok who wants one? H have not seen one this low priced

Even the BIN is a decent price! I just bought an Astra 400 or I'd be all over that one. SW

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