German Schuetzen Style Rifle - 8.15x46 Norm

Norman,

I also have a German/Austrian 8.15x46R Rifle but its a tip up.  Mine is odd in that bullet it seems to be larger 321 at the chamber than at the 316 exit.  I found some reworked 8,15 x 45r brass and loaded one brass with a bit of trail boss and a 32-20 lead bullet removed from a factory load which the neck of the 8.15 brass held firm.

Test shot it into the sand twice and each time the neck of the 8.15 opened up some more. It finally got to the point where a .32-40 meister 321 would fit AND chamber w/out being pushed back into the brass. 

So  I loaded the 321 with a light load of T.B. and shot it.  Seemed to do just fine but I still cant quite figure why the muzzle seems to be 3.16 and the chamber is .321. Oh well, no bulge or stuck bullet so I guesss I'm okay.

Perhaps it is by design and meant for a bullet of similar dimensions?  Then I read that the Germans used a stop ring bullet. AND they tweaked each bore and chambering a bit so there was no standard bullet. In fact the old time suppliers used to sell small packets of this and that variation so you could see what worked best in your rifle but all were stop ring.

So, we are skrewed. Time to buy tools like an OAL Chamber gauge so we can get it jussst right which according to my readings would leave one's chambered bullet tip just inside of the bore a smidge barely touching the rifling. Supposedly that will give the bullet a nice square takeoff down the pipe.

Anyway Congratulations ! Your rifle is chambered in "8.15 x 46r the father of modern German schuetzen" caliber...this is the badly translated title of a book that just arrived jn my box from Germany.  I'm hoping to find much more information in it. 

Hope this helps.