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Has anybody formed cases successfully for an 8mm Nambu? If you have can you give me some ideas? A friend of mine showed me a very nice Nambu pistol his grandfather got overseas before world war two. It is in very nice unworn condition. He said that his grandfather had ammo for it also and they fired it a few times back around 1960. After receiving it, he hasn't seen any ammo for sale for it, and now reloads for a hobby.
Just looked and PPU makes ammo for the Nambu. Graf's has it
.357 Sig or .40 S&W brass. Length is almost correct, will need made very slightly smaller with a push through die which would be much easier than this method:
https://youtu.be/oi5s6xHrojk
Contemplating doing an 8mm Nambu single shot rifle myself.
Decades ago, before Midway and FC 8mm Nambu brass, GONRA made it from .41 LONG COLT.
When you do stuff like this, brass selection is based on HEAD DIAMETER.
Perfect match in this case....
I just checked the cost of dies for the 8mm Nambu and found the cheapest set for about $190. It looks like this one is a non-shooter due to the extremely high cost of reloading for it. I guess the pistol is just a wall-hanger then. Too bad since it is in very good shooting condition with all of its bluing still on the gun.
Looks like $125.52 at CH4D. Still more than I'd want to pay, but I'd hate to have a wall hanger pistol just due to a lack of ammo.
When I was shooting 8mm Nambu I would use 357 Sig cases. I would first run then up into a 30-30 sizing die far enough to size the rim and head to the proper diameter and then knock them out with a hammer and punch. Run those through the Nambu sizer and then trim.
Use an old 30/30 rifle sizing die with the the top of the die cut off, and get a lee bullet sizing ram that is close to the .357 sig case base size (I forgot what size I used) and use plenty of sizing die wax to size 357 sig cases by pushing them completely through the die with no need to hammer the cases out, as they pop out the top of the modified 30/30 sizing die with cases sized to the proper outside rim and body dimensions ready to form the neck by running through the 8mm nambu die. Then trim and chamfer deburr necks, anneal, and load as normal. Sometimes the original Nambu pistol extractor won't grab the rim of the thicker 357 sig case, and rather modifying your irreplaceable original go get another extractor from Don, (address below) you send him the top end of your Nambu and he will fit another extractor that is tailored to the .357 sig cases and not ruin your original for 40 bucks (he does not charge for the fitting). Veral Smith of LBT years ago made me a custom 4 cavity cast bullet mold that is the bee's knees for the 8mm nambu,I gun powdercoat them, and they shoot really nice and makes cleaning the pistol a breeze. I'd give him a call. Let me know if I can be of any other help. https://www.nambuworld.com/donspartslist.htm http://lbtmolds.com/OurMolds/tabid/5807/Default.aspx
Aloha No
Another hawaii guy.
I thought I was the only one here.
Now I don't feel so alone.
For what it may be worth, Graf's has brass.
https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/77583
GONRA suggests (warm up yer cheque book!) just purchase Grafs 8mm Nambu brass! Should be WAY BETTER than anything you can womp up.....
(Decades ago, made 8mm Nambu brass from all sorts of host brass. Verked Just Fine. BUT - its LOTTSA verk.
As tyme went on, purchased pyles of Midway and FC factory brass and jacketed boolits.)
Once you acquire the equipment, you can make thousands of brass cases and bullets for pennies, and be able to shoot your nambus to your heart's content. As well as sharing with your friends, and even selling some of your made components to not only recoup you equipment cost and labor all while being able to pass down your stuff to children, but should you choose, to make a profit! If and when commercial stuff available today dries up (who knows what the future holds) or sell it, you won't be stuck paying 15 bucks a round, sucking mud, and resigning a fun gun to being a permanent safe queen. I, personally would not trust the way things are headed, and have lived a long time in a very restrictive state where components are not sometimes available for years with almost no way to ship and buy them as a private citizen since the severe restrictions on being an FFl dealer have been put into effect. but then again it is all just a matter of personal choice as in most things.
Best Wishes