A. Francotte Mauser 10.75x68

[rgsiii]

I believe you can get 400 grain bullets to 2150 so exactly the same ballistics as a 404 Jeffery loaded to said fps so definitely ok for DG

Both Woodleigh's and two German reloading manuals have 400 gr bullet loadings that will reach 640 MPS--2100 FPS.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

 

[rgsiii]

Woodleigh and two other German reloading manual information

 

[Huvius]

Brass can be made from 458 Lott (and probably some of the other belted magnums) by turning off the belt and quite a lot of reworking from there.
I have a Mauser in 10.75 and make my own projectiles from 40S&W brass. That keeps me in bullets but I haven't used them on game - I do think they would be fine for any NA game though.
Since I have only one 10.75X68, I use my 404 Jeffery dies to neck size the brass which holds the bullet securely enough.
I wouldn't rechamber this rifle to 404 for the reasons mentioned, but also because the wrist gets quite thin between the action and the comb - many Francottes are styled this way which to my eye, looks a little weird and forms an unusually thin wrist.
You think a modified rifle loses it's value? - try a modified rifle with a broken stock!!

Gather the components and enjoy this rifle as it was intended - there are better options to getting into a 404 than this.

 

[rigbymauser]

I believe it’s possible to get the 400 grain bullets up to 2150 fps?

Yes. With a bit of reloaders magic. However, one does not buy a .30-30 thinking:" I can get it up to a .30-06" or one buys a .375Win thinking: "I can get it up to a .375H&H"..
The 10,75x68 Mauser is made for boars, stags and bears or similar size animals on other continents. If one wants a .404Jeffery on a 8Ibs platform its a test of manhood..:LOL. It can be done, but not very pleasant.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Yes. With a bit of reloaders magic. However, one does not buy a .30-30 thinking:" I can get it up to a .30-06" or one buys a .375Win thinking: "I can get it up to a .375H&H"..
The 10,75x68 Mauser is made for boars, stags and bears or similar size animals on other continents. If one wants a .404Jeffery on a 8Ibs platform its a test of manhood..:LOL. It can be done, but not very pleasant.

Very true and well reasoned!

 

[Clodo Ferreira]

Hi GoldGhost,

Another vote to leave your beautiful Francotte rifle untouched!!

 

[Clodo Ferreira]

In the "African Dangerous Game Cartridges", I have a copy, there is a very compleate review and load data for the 10,75x68...

 

[Clodo Ferreira]

By the way, Pierre Van der Walt is the author.

 

[steve white]

What would be the sectional density of a 400 gr monometal bullet likely be in this caliber--since mono metal will be longer for weight, might it be a better DG proposition than has been discussed after all? And it is a low pressure cartridge, how much could performance be safely boosted as well?

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

What would be the sectional density of a 400 gr monometal bullet likely be in this caliber--since mono metal will be longer for weight, might it be a better DG proposition than has been discussed after all? And it is a low pressure cartridge, how much could performance be safely boosted as well?

Sectional density of a .423 400 grain bullet is well over the conventional wisdom benchmark SD of .300 for DG but I think the monometal may encroach on powder space too much and would probably hinder velocity.

If I were trying to boost it’s performance I would probably go light for caliber with the 380 grain North Forks or the 350 grain CEB bullets

 

[Clodo Ferreira]

Hi GoldGhost,

PM sent.

CF

 

[Lance Hopper]

Forget the phrase ‘sectional density’. It has no bearing on modern mono metal bullets. I’ll say it again, none. Cutting edge bullets much lighter will shoot through an elephants skull. Go to **NOT**PERMITTED**’s big bore forum and read the extensive r and d done by michael458 in the development and real world testing done with these bullets.
I loaded 295gr. Raptors and 320gr. CEB solids for a buddies 450 nitro to 2140fps and he very decisively killed 3 Cape buffalo in Mozambique last year. To say that his PH was impressed with the results is an understatement. Good luck and let us hear about your results.

 

[Lance Hopper]

By the way, I have 3 10.75’s and plan to hunt Cape buffalo with them and have zero concerns about how effective they will be.

 

[grand veneur]

By the way, I have 3 10.75’s and plan to hunt Cape buffalo with them and have zero concerns about how effective they will be.

Sure, you can shoot buffaloes with the cartridge 10,75x68.

I have shot three myself, two of them with original ammo from RWS and the classic 22,5g thin jacketed FMJ bullet. There were no problems, but don't make a mistake, the cartridge 10,75x68 is marginal for the purpose, no matter the bullet, and has no reserves. Everyone can read why in papers or on Forums.

I have also shot buffaloes with variant cartridges, some with smaller calibers like the 9,3x74R and 375 H&H Magnum, but other with much bigger calibers, including cartridges like the 416 Rem Mag, 11,2x72 Schüler or 12,7x70 Schüler, and especially about fifteen buffaloes with the cartridge 460 WBY-Magnum. That's why I have the feeling that some cartridges work better than the others. The cartridge 10,75x68 would therefore not be my first choice for hunting buffaloes, especially at a time when we have so many good Big Game cartridges available.

In the old days not every hunter in Africa had the opportunity or the money to get a suitable weapon and therefore had to make compromises. That is no longer the case for us nowadays, and we also have experiences after more than a hundred years of Big Game hunting in Africa and Asia that we can fall back, something that our predecessors could not do yet.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Sure, you can shoot buffaloes with the cartridge 10,75x68.

I have shot three myself, two of them with original ammo from RWS and the classic 22,5g thin jacketed FMJ bullet. There were no problems, but don't make a mistake, the cartridge 10,75x68 is marginal for the purpose, no matter the bullet, and has no reserves. Everyone can read why in papers or on Forums.

I have also shot buffaloes with variant cartridges, some with smaller calibers like the 9,3x74R and 375 H&H Magnum, but other with much bigger calibers, including cartridges like the 416 Rem Mag, 11,2x72 Schüler or 12,7x70 Schüler, and especially about fifteen buffaloes with the cartridge 460 WBY-Magnum. That's why I have the feeling that some cartridges work better than the others. The cartridge 10,75x68 would therefore not be my first choice for hunting buffaloes, especially at a time when we have so many good Big Game cartridges available.

In the old days not every hunter in Africa had the opportunity or the money to get a suitable weapon and therefore had to make compromises. That is no longer the case for us nowadays, and we also have experiences after more than a hundred years of Big Game hunting in Africa and Asia that we can fall back, something that our predecessors could not do yet.

Those 347Gr RWS Steel Jacketed FMJ solids (last made in 1989) were so prone to breaking apart on Cape buffalo & water buffalo shoulder bones. I remember them well.

 

[grand veneur]

I was lucky with this bullet. Both buffaloes were one shot kill, by one the bullet went between two ribs just deep enough to reach the heart, the other one was a shot on the neck spine. In both cases only bullet fragments were left. I shot the third buffalo with the 347gr FMJ bullet from Woodleigh. The bullet also penetrated just deep enough to injure deadly the buffalo. As I write before, you cannot make a mistake. I would not have wanted to shot more buffaloes with the cartridge 10,75x68. At some point, despite a good shot placement, something would have gone wrong.

 

[Clodo Ferreira]

Hi,

I never used the 10,75x68 on anything, much less on african buffalo or big wild bovines I hunted for, having used the 7x57 (head shots with steel jacket solids saved from 1913 DWM military surplus, the same as WDM Bell) and 375 H&H on them.
But after reading some articles, specially the African Dangerous Game Cartridges (Pierre Van der Walt) article on it, full of actual field experiences, I cannot understand why a load with good bullet of 350 or 400 gr at 2300 / 2100 fps respectively muzzle velocity could not be more than good enough for those bovines.

CF

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I was lucky with this bullet. Both buffaloes were one shot kill, by one the bullet went between two ribs just deep enough to reach the heart, the other one was a shot on the neck spine. In both cases only bullet fragments were left. I shot the third buffalo with the 347gr FMJ bullet from Woodleigh. The bullet also penetrated just deep enough to injure deadly the buffalo. As I write before, you cannot make a mistake. I would not have wanted to shot more buffaloes with the cartridge 10,75x68. At some point, despite a good shot placement, something would have gone wrong.

I had the exact same thing happen to me when I used RWS 400Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids in a Cogswell & Harrison Pattern-14 Enfield action .404 Jeffery to hunt a bull hippo on land. Hollow point bullets couldn’t have disintegrated any worse than those RWS “Solids”. It’s a miracle that I got him at all.

For this reason, starting from 1993 onwards… RWS stopped manufacturing their own solid bullets and began to source properly reinforced steel jacketed FMJ solids from Woodleigh. They kept doing this until 1996 when RWS stopped offering ammunition loaded with solid bullets altogether.

 

[Lance Hopper]

If I load Cutting edge 325gr. Raptors and 350gr. solids to 2150-2200 fps., I dare any animal shot with them to tell me if the bullets were launched from a .404 or a 10.75x68 case. The performance of the bullet can not be affected by the case it was launched from, only the construction of the bullet and the speed it impacted at has any bearing on that. I'll refer back to my buddy that killed 3 cape buffalo last year. He shot 295gr. Raptors and 325gr. solids at 2140. He was using a 450 N.E. double. Those bullets could just as easily been fired from a 45/70 at the same speeds. I am certain the buffs would not have known the difference.