Evans Magazine Capacity

[Herbert]

i am fiear forming cases fore new modle evans 1.5 inch case 2 inches over all lenth i have found i can only get 26 in magizine before one chambers all information i can find says 28 is this rong any one else have same result 26 is plenty magizine seems like it is never going to run out

[Forty Rod]

Early ones ("Old Model" and "Transition Model") took 34 rounds with a 1" case, later ones with the longer cartride took 28 rounds of 1.4" or 1.5" cases.  "New Model" and "Evans Sporting Rifle" (so marked) won't take any more than 28.

[Trailrider]

i am fiear forming cases fore new modle evans 1.5 inch case 2 inches over all lenth i have found i can only get 26 in magizine before one chambers all information i can find says 28 is this rong any one else have same result 26 is plenty magizine seems like it is never going to run out

Howdy, Pard,
New Model Evans took 28 rounds in the magazine.  The fact your cartridges will only take 26 is probably due to the overall length of the cartridges due to bullet length protruding out of the cases.  No big deal unless you are preparing to repel invaders! 

[Herbert]

i think 28 magizine capicity must have counted one in chamber then you can put another in magizine bullet lenth dosent mater because magizine is a helix bullets dont touch bullet lenth is inportant for feeding though mine feeds good

[Bead Swinger]

Herbert -
Where'd you pick up your Evans?  What'd you build your cases from?

[Herbert]

i picked up my evans at a gun show in Brisbane Australia about 15 years ago I am forming my casses from 30-40 krage brass there is instuctions on how to do it on evans frequlently asked questions and you can get dies from C-H but i havent figerd out the right bullet yet i think a heel based hollow based would work overall lenth is inportant as is nose shape i got it working using 255 gr round nose .230 puer lead bullets lubed with lee liquid alox whith 1.36 cc of trail boss powder it may be a bit hot but the rifle is in very good condition and the bullet has to bump up to o.34 to work properly I dont know how they got them to work with black pouder lube would be a problem any how i have been tring to work it out for 15 years i will get ther in the end any help would be apriciated

[Two Flints]

Herbert,

The following comments were posted some time ago by our resident Evans expert Happy Trails.  The links in his post no longer work, but maybe you'll find some of the information of value.  You can also Email Happy Trails, who is located in Rhode Island, USA.  His Email address is at the end of his comments. 

As for ammo we could have a 2-day discussion I am afraid.  I will try to be brief.  The Transitional Model takes the .44 Evans Short. 
A great mystery abounds with the Evans.  Although all the books (Cartridges of the World) say the round is .419 all my Evans rifles measure .429/.430.  I have contacted other Evans shooters and they agree.  I have about 75 original Evans New Model rounds and the bullets are .419. 
When I first started making cartridges for the Evans I lathe turned some .430 diameter .44 Cal bullets to .419".  I thought I better slug the barrel with one to see how tight the fit was.  The .419 dia. bullet fell right through the bore. 
So how and why did they shoot .419 diam. bullets out of a .430 diam. bore?  The speculation is the Evans brothers were of course interested in military sales of their rifle and with the gun loaded to the maximum it would hold 28 rounds of NM ammo.  Of course everything was Black Powder and we know that has a tendency to cake and build up in a bore.  So if the gun were used in battle and it was fired continuously they were "allowing for the buildup without raising the pressure."  Possible?  Now one knows. 
Anyway we need to fire a .429 diam bullets down a .429 diam bore that is chambered for brass that holds a .419 diam bullet. 
The neck diam on a Evans cartridge is only .439/.440 so my solution was to use Heeled bullets of .429 diam stepped down to .418.  These were made by turning the heels down in a lathe.  A little time consuming yes, but less than buying a heeled mold and casting my own.  These then were loaded into .41 Magnum cases that were fire formed in a .44 Magnum gun.  This worked quite well and was very accurate.  I eventually switched to .44 Hollow based pointed bullet available from Buffalo Arms. (http://www.buffaloarms.com/).
They still have to be heeled.
Making the brass looked something like this.  http://members.cox.net/automag/evans/44x41.JPG
Top - .41 Magnums cases sized in a .44 die and loaded with a .44 bullet.
Bottom – after firing in a .44 Magnum gun the .41 Mag cases become .44 Evans Short.
Note that even though the Evans is a "tubular" fed rifle it is unlike the Winchester and others where the cartridges line up nose to primer so you need to use a flat point bullet.  In the Evans rifle the cartridges are separated by the "helix" and no cartridge pushes on the one in front of it.  It can use a pointed type bullet and proper feeding almost requires it.  Round nose bullets are a bit balky trying to feed into the chamber.
Here's my loading chart.
http://members.cox.net/automag/evans/44EvansShort.jpg
Lastly I discovered that to ease feeding problems the bottom of the Evans cases were chamfered or rounded. 
http://members.cox.net/automag/evans/006.jpg
http://members.cox.net/automag/evans/009.jpg

I hope this helps somewhat.  If you have any particular questions you can send me an e-mail at HappyTrails@thesmithshop.com and I will try to answer them.


Also check this link to a thread on SSS, if you haven't already:

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,7131.0.html

Two Flints

[Herbert]

Two Flints thank you for the help i sent a email i will ceep you posted how i am progresing ps i youse 30-40 cases because they are alredey shanferd