8x56R, whatta ya got?

[OTThomas]

I know this subject has been beat to death on here, but I think this will help a lot of people including myself. What is your best load out of the steyr m95.

Thanks, Thomas

[budman46]

lee's 8x56r 205 gr cast, tumble-lubed, gas-checked and sized to .332" over 17 gr of alliant 2400 gives me 1800 fps and "minute of gallon milk-jug" offhand accuracy at 100 yds. i expect 13.5 gr of red dot ("the load") would be pretty much the same.

this load is easy on the pocketbook and shoulder while giving acceptable accuracy.

budman

ignorance is fixable, stupidity is forever...

[Dschuttig]

Your lee mold casts at .332? The two that I have barley cast at .330 which is to small for most 8x56r rifles. I posted a thing on the group buy suggestion to see if there is a ny interest in the oldfeller bullet that is made specifically for this rifle. I snoozed on the last one, but have gotten samples from other shooters and it shoots the best out of both my long rifle and carbine./ Dan

[Me not you]

I'm not using cast yet in my modified (from a long rifle) Stutzen.
- The groove diameter is 0.334
- The throat is 0.342
- The neck area in the chamber is 0.362
I should probably look at 0.338 bullets, but the neck area in the chamber is probably too tight.

Using the PPU 208gr FMJBT I get excellent accuracy with 52.5 gr (LEE 3.7cc dipper) H4350 and Wolf magnum primers and PPU brass. With it I can reliably shoot 2-3 inch groups at 100 yards kneeling, I'm really happy. Of course proper handloading procedures apply, start low and work up. This load may not be safe in another rifle, I cannot be responsible for anyone else's use of this or any other load data.
I may buy some 0.338 cast bullets and try them before I get a mould and sizing die.
It seems no one offers a bullet sizing die in the 0.335 to 0.337 range.

[Buckshot]

..............I can supply you with a custom Lee or Lyman size die. I'd suggest the Lee C338 - 220 - R mould. Lube-size to .338" and then send it up through the Lee die for final sizing.

I have an all matching M95 that's in beautiful condition. Sadly it has a .333" groove, and the throat & chamber will easily accept a cartridge sporting a .338" diameter boolit.

..............Buckshot

[Me not you]

Buckshot,
I was looking at the LEE .338 bullet mould. I have an RCBS sizer/lubricator. Can a die set be made up for a 0.336 final size boolit?

[Old Iron Sights]

Just started working on mine. I have the Lee 338 mold which I run through the 329 sizer which has been lapped out to 332. Best group I got so far was 2.5" at 50 yds but I hope I can do better. This was with 12 grains Trail boss. I started at 9.5 grains and shot 5-shot groups at 1/2 grain intervals up to 12 grains and honestly there wasn't a big difference in them. I was seeing better groups as the load increased so I need to keep going up. I want to try Unique or Red Dot and try "the load" when my supply of Trail Boss runs out. I started out with the 329 mold and sizer but found it inconsistent. 9.5 grains trail boss was as high as I could go and would sometimes give a good group and sometimes not. Too many fliers.

[drklynoon]

I haven't started developing a cast load yet for mine. I am shooting a 205 gr spitzer with 45.5 gr of H4350.( Normal load building procedures recommended) I am extremely lucky to have found one that is practically brand new. She shoots like a dream, about 1.5 at 100.

[Old Iron Sights]

Had a bad weekend shooting the M95. Did 5-shot groups each 9.5 grains through 13.5 grains trail boss. Wasn't that much difference between any of them. Groups were slightly better 12 - 13 grains at 2.5" on 50 yards.

338-205 sized to 332, Lee liq alox. Groves slugged out to 331. Grooves appear very sharp. I'll go over the gun to check the actioin screws and float. Probably move on to Red Dot next as my can of tiny cheerios is just about gone.

[JeffinNZ]

So far I have only the charger clips....

[Buckshot]

So far I have only the charger clips....

............The longer you hang onto them the more they'll be worth. No one is making new ones like Garand clips, and probably won't ever (I'm guessing) although I'd suspect there's a TON of those firearms here in the States.

.............Without a doubt the BEST way to size a boolit is in a 'Nose first push through die'. The Lee type has one negative and that is that it doesn't apply any lube. Speaking in terms of reducing a boolit several thousandths of an inch, the Lyman and RCBS lube presses and dies have a glaring fault. Their tapered leade is ~0.250" long. In a Lee type die it's much more gradual at 4 times that length. Speaking of sizing a GC'd boolit of .339"/.340" (as cast OD) you first have to swage that copper GC down on it's shank before the lead boolit itself enters the die.

That can require considerable pressure on the press handle, hense on the boolit's nose. A 2nd possible issue is ram and die alignment. In a Lee die with the nose entering first, it will center itself and the base is free to move across the flat face of the pushrod, plus the pushrod also has a bit of lateral movement but the base is in no way captured. The Lyman/RCBS presses have the base captured in the die AND the nose is captured in a 'Machined to Shape' nose punch. The boolit is going to get sized however the press's ram and die dictate. I have personally bent the noses of Lyman 311284's and the Saeco #301 (RG4 clone) most probably due to ram/die alignment, the pressure to force the GC into the die, AND the fact that both have an old time design feature called a "Dirt Scraper" groove, immediately above the top drive band.

...............Buckshot

[dualsport]

My M95 cb project went on hold due to failure. Too many other guns to work with to deal with such a oddity. This post gets me thinking it's time to try again. I seem to remember having a problem with the Lee FL sizer die reducing the neck too much to seat fatter cast boolits and the expander is .328" What do you do to get around that? Custom dies? Getting a proper sized boolit is half the battle, but then there's the brass.

[WineMan]

I like the M dies for opening things back up. Larry Gibson has suggested a shortened Redding 284 Win bushing neck die that could do just about anything from 54 mm or longer cases size. Someday...

Wineman

[Buckshot]

My M95 cb project went on hold due to failure. Too many other guns to work with to deal with such a oddity. This post gets me thinking it's time to try again. I seem to remember having a problem with the Lee FL sizer die reducing the neck too much to seat fatter cast boolits and the expander is .328" What do you do to get around that? Custom dies? Getting a proper sized boolit is half the battle, but then there's the brass.

................ALL the die manufacturers KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT that everyone out there is reloading with jacketed bullets. Even those die companies making moulds assume that. Of course RCBS has their 'Cowboy' dies aimed specificaly at cast lead, and they are nice dies for that. IIRC my Lee dies for the 7.62x54R sizes the neck (FL die) down to something like .306". I suppose they're thinking you're loading .310/.311" jacketed stuff? Of course you can expand the neck back out, but the shame is in sizing it down that much in the first place.

That idea of using the Redding insert type neck only die is a great idea. I'm not knocking all the die makers, bless their hearts Of course they can't make everything and anything for the myriad possible combinations that might be out there. The 2 simplist possible answers that come to my feeble brain is a custom Lee collet die mandrel, or the insert type caseneck sizer.

..................Buckshot

[Donor8x56r]

..............I can supply you with a custom Lee or Lyman size die. I'd suggest the Lee C338 - 220 - R mould. Lube-size to .338" and then send it up through the Lee die for final sizing.

I have an all matching M95 that's in beautiful condition. Sadly it has a .333" groove, and the throat & chamber will easily accept a cartridge sporting a .338" diameter boolit.

..............Buckshot

My question is ,will Lee boolit seating die allow me to seat .335 boolit without modifications?Is it large enough?

[adrians]

i have no load info for ya but you have jogged my memory and i have one of those M95's in the case which i haven't shot in eons .
when the weather gets a little warmer i need to refer back to this discussion and start to play with it a little,, funny how you forget about something when your having so much fun playing with other rifles.
thanks for the reminder guy's..

[DanM]

My question is ,will Lee boolit seating die allow me to seat .335 boolit without modifications?Is it large enough?

The short answer is no, mods will be needed. I consider the honing out of a seater die to be a normal step in getting set up for loading a new cartridge. As Buckshot mentioned, nearly all seating dies are made for SAMMI spec JBs, and often will not pass a boolit sized .003-4" over that standard diameter. I have honed out a lot of seater dies to fit my cast boolits. Not all need honing, but many do.

My method involves gluing a little strip of emory cloth to a 3/16 dowel rod and spinning that strip in the 'narrow neck' area of the seater. Have a sized boolit ready for a try fit. Gradually hone out your die until it will just pass your boolit and you are set.

PS....Buckshot makes a fine custom sizing die. IMHO better than factory. I am pretty sure that he would hone out your seating die for you if you sent it with a couple of sample boolits.

[nanuk]

I just picked up a set of 8x56R Hun dies...

don't know why really.

thought I might need them if my 8x57 needed a real fat boolit, but I now doubt the shoulder would let it seat anyways... seems like the Hun has a narrower shoulder???

If you guys say it won't work, then I'll just sell them

[Donor8x56r]

Thank you Dan.I will contact Buckshot as soon as I figure out what exactly do I need.

[eniku40]

So far I have only the charger clips....

and I have 2 Stutzens and NO charger clips