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armoredman
02-27-2014, 04:34 PM
A buddy is giving me a custom 8x57JS rifle he put together some years ago. Yes, he IS a good gunsmith, not worried. ;) Why it's coming to me is because I cast and load, and the action on this rifle is over 100 years old, which is why he stamped the barrel, "reduced loads only". So I went to MidwayUSA...no molds. Lee is out, (I have to go cheap, low paying job right now), no brass, nada. He's giving me 19 converted 30-06 brass, (no problem of misidentification, since I don't own a 30-06), and some cast bullets, so as soon as I get some dies from Midway, (Lee), I can do something. So, here are the questions;
Given a powder supply that includes H-335, a little H-4895 and Accurate Arms 1680, do I have anything I can work with? I really don't know much about 8mm Mauser, but I am willing to learn.

Any pet cast boolits loads for this caliber here?

Favorite powders that someone, somewhere might have in stock?

Large rifle primers or large magnum?

Why is the sky blue?

Sorry, ;) threw that one in to see if anyone was listneing. :D Thanks for any replies.8-)

osteodoc08
02-27-2014, 04:43 PM
A rifle from a friend is a treasure.

I have no experience with the caliber. Good luck and best wishes with the new toy.





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On a clear sunny day, the sky above us looks bright blue. In the evening, the sunset puts on a brilliant show of reds, pinks and oranges. Why is the sky blue? What makes the sunset red?
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Dust particles and water droplets are much larger than the wavelength of visible light. When light hits these large particles, it gets reflected, or bounced off, in different directions. The different colors of light are all reflected by the particle in the same way. The reflected light appears white because it still contains all of the same colors.

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Why is the Sky Blue?
The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air.

However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.

As you look closer to the horizon, the sky appears much paler in color. To reach you, the scattered blue light must pass through more air. Some of it gets scattered away again in other directions. Less blue light reaches your eyes. The color of the sky near the horizon appears paler or white.

armoredman
02-27-2014, 06:32 PM
...one in every crowd... ;) Thanks for the detailed explanation, actually kind of informative. :D

Back to 8mmx57JS/8mm Mauser...

ShooterAZ
02-27-2014, 06:44 PM
Here is an excellent article on casting for Military Rifles. I have not cast for 8mm, but the loads are somewhat universal for 30-06 and similar sized cases. This article has been VERY useful to me...hope it helps you as well. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?13425-Cast-Bullet-Loads-for-Military-Rifles-Article

JWFilips
02-27-2014, 07:49 PM
...one in every crowd... ;) Thanks for the detailed explanation, actually kind of informative. :D



When you ask a question here it usually gets answered and in this case very well!

armoredman
02-27-2014, 10:53 PM
So I have noticed. ;)

dondiego
02-28-2014, 02:50 PM
You mentioned 8 MM JS. Is that the one with the smaller 0.318 bore?

paul edward
02-28-2014, 04:15 PM
It is easy to make brass for the 8x57 JS. You can use 30/06 and 270 range pickup cases. After cleaning the cases, the first step is to anneal the necks. This will help reduce loss when resizing. As you need to reduce length 1/4", consider a tubing cutter to remove the bulk of the excess before trimming to length.

No pet loads, as I do not have an 8mm mold.

Any medium powder will work. Since you already have H335, start with that .

Standard light load in almost any old military caliber is 12 grains Unique with almost any cast boolit.

The Lee C324-175-1R woul be a good one to start with. If none of the distributors have one, you might contact the factory to see if they have one in stock.

Be sure to slug the bore before ordering a sizing die. Get a die that is .001 or .002 larger than your bore.

Use standard primers.

Sky is blue because we live in Colorado and Arizona.

Paul
Denver

Shiloh
02-28-2014, 05:19 PM
I have the dies, the brass, the gaschecks, but no mold for the 8x57 Mauser.

Shiloh

Wolfer
02-28-2014, 06:46 PM
I have the lee 175 gr. started out with AC WW and 4895. Shot ok but nothing to write home about.
Now I shoot a soft cast about 10 bhn and 17 gr of 2400. Started at universal load of 16 gr and worked up until accuracy started falling off. 17 gr gets me 1700 + and is very accurate.

JRR
02-28-2014, 07:34 PM
I have three 8mm rifles of different manufacturers. All three like a gas checked projectile between 170 and 230 gr. . 18 gr. 2400. 20 gr. 4227. 22 gr. 5744. 12 gr. Universal. OAL as long as will chamber.

I size to .325" for all three rifles.

Lead hardness doesn't seem to matter much.

Jeff

armoredman
03-01-2014, 03:28 PM
I'll be getting projos from the 175gr Lee mold to start with, along with some brass. A guy told me he sent me some more 30-06 brass to convert, (makes sense because the 30-06 Springfield WAS a Mauser, for all intents and purposes), and my buddy will loan me a Dremel to make it easier. I have LRP for my 7.62x39mm rifles, so that's covered. I looked at my Accurate Arms data, and everything is for 55,000 CUP loads and up, and I was told I need to keep it down to 35,000 CUP with this action, so cast only looks like it. This will probably be a fun range plinker.
I am interested in trying to find powders close by, but the ONLY place that carries powder within driving distance is CAL Ranch Store...aka ripoff central. 100 primers goes for $5-$6 there.
We were supposed to meet up today, but Mother Nature got involved, and dumped large quantities of rain on us, so we'll try next week.

FredBuddy
03-01-2014, 03:53 PM
I'm pretty happy with Hunters Supply .324 RNFP 170 gr and IMR4227. Mine is a Mitchells Mauser deal, so I move the military sight to the 400 meter mark and its good at 100.

Yours ought to be fun with an even lighter cast boolit, say 120 gr.

Have fun !

nekshot
03-01-2014, 04:01 PM
hummmm, I wonder why the limitation on a js. That is the latter size and not the 318. It is no problem as the gun will be a blast to shoot I simply wonder why?

armoredman
03-01-2014, 11:15 PM
Actually I am limited by the action - the action, I'm told is an older Spanish Mauser action which has been re-barreled, and won't tolerate high pressure loads. For safety, he was talking about 35,000 CUP or lower, which is why cast. Now, I actually FOUND some powder locally...if it will stay on the shelf until payday. IMR 3031. Found same data for it, with a starting load of 39 grains for a 175 Sierra J word bullet, at 39,00 CUP. ZWild **** Guess, start at 34/35 grains or so, and max it at 37 for safety's sake?
That is, of course, if that powder is still there 5 days from now. :(