8mm Mauser / Cast

I would be curious too!

Just in case you haven't seen this article about reloading cast bullets in mil-surp cartridges.

http://home.comcast.net/~gavinsw/guns/castbulletmilitaryrifle.pdf

Cast bullet loads usually give a more useful zero at
practical field ranges with military battle sights
than do full power loads. Nothing is more frustrati
ng than a military rifle that shoots a foot high at
100 yards with surplus ammo when the sight is as lo
w as it will go! Do not use inert fillers (Dacron o
r
kapok) to take up excess empty space in the case. T
his was once common practice, but it raises
chamber pressure and under certain conditions contr
ibutes to chamber ringing. If a particular load
will not work well without a filler, the powder is
not suitable for those conditions of loading. Four
load classifications from Mattern (1932) cover all u
ses for the cast bullet military rifle. I worked up
equivalent charges to obtain the desired velocity ran
ges with modern powders, which provide a
sound basis for loading cast bullets in any post-18
98 military rifle from 7mm to 8mm:

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Interesting read.

That is one beautiful gun, but I've never cast bullets for the old club I have.

I've had good results with a Lee # C329-205-1R, 205 grain round nose bullet, cast from wheel-weights + 1% tin added , gas checked and sized .325 over 13 grains of Red Dot.
Gary

I have only limited experience loading cast for 8X57. The rifle is a M48 Yugo Mauser. The rifle is as issued. The bullet is a Saeco Bullet Mold #081 323 Caliber, 8mm 190 Grain Round Nose Gas Check. The alloy is Lyman #2 (5% Sn, 5% Sb, 90% Pb). The bullet is sized to .325. Cases are Winchester 8X57 Mauser. Primers are Winchester large rifle primers. Powder is Alliant Red Dot.

Since my eyes don’t do well with military style Mauser sights, I’ve limited the range to 50 yards. Without much load development I can easily get 1.5 to 2 inch groups at 50 yards. Nothing spectacular, but with better sights (or better eyes) and some load development I’m sure the rifle could do better. I have other cast bullet rifles with sights better suited to my eyes, so the Mauser is seldom used.

Red Dot powder works well with mild cast bullet loads in cartridges in the class of the 8X57 Mauser. However, care must be exercised when using it. The typical powder charge usually only takes up 30% to 40% of the case volume. This means that a double charge could easily fit into a case. With a fast powder like Red Dot the results would be disastrous. If you use a powder like Red Dot review your reloading procedures and use proper care to make sure that you don’t double charge.

I hope this helps in providing a starting point.

gwpercle said:

I've had good results with a Lee # C329-205-1R, 205 grain round nose bullet, cast from wheel-weights + 1% tin added , gas checked and sized .325 over 13 grains of Red Dot.
Gary

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I have had equally good results with the other Lee bullet (175 grain) as well. I use anywhere between 10-13 grains of Unique or Red Dot and get groups equal to my iron sight ability with no leading.

Well I was just about to post this on your other thread but saw this one.

Going with either cast or jacketed you should look into the powder coating thing if your needing to bump the size up only that little bit. Cast would probably be easier, but hey, they are powder coating anything that resembles a bullet now, some have even done some of the steel cases.

I can't speak but of only what I have done personally, but a couple of weekend back I ran some 175 and 180gr PC'ed cast out of my .308 loaded over 38grs of H-4895. I didn't have the chrono set up so can't give velocities but they shot VERY well and didn't seem even close to reduced loads I have shot in the past.

For testing purposes, I would lean hard on the Lee 2C 329-205

If that works out through your initial testing I would go with a good mold form Accurate Molds listed here.

There are a couple of lighter ones listed on the previous page as well. Tom makes an awesome mold and will have it to you in only a week or two, which isn't bad for a custom mold.

I would even give some of the closer diameter jacketed a dose or two of powder and see how they work. Using one of the Lee push through sizers in .323" it would only take a little bit to polish it out to your exact needs using a wooden dowel and some fine wet dry. You could then size either cast or powder coated jacketed to the proper diameter. Either way, it's not like your going to have to spend a couple hundred for something exotic just to see. Going Lee will get you there under $75, and I bet if you asked, there is probably someone here (hint,hint, see above^^) or over on Castboolits who would send you a few to try out before hand.

I have to say that is a VERY nice rifle and if it were mine I would be itching to get it out somehow some way and make it go bang if for no other reason because it deserves it.

I use .325 in all my 8MM rifles

Pretty. I wouldn't use cast bullet in that, but my old Lyman book shows .323" bullets for cast or jacketed.