150 gr. and 175 RNFPGC GB boolits in Zn Spandau 1917/26

[TCLouis]

7.92X57

I started with the 150 grain plain base GB boolit and PROMO (8 -- 10 gr.)and got little joy at 50 yds.

Today I moved to the 175 grain boolit and got some semblance of groups, but nothing to write home about at 1.75"X0.75".
I have to make a sight pusher, because all loads are consistently 2" to the left.

How far should I go using PROMO (grains)?

Crowned the barrel after the last session so the next shooting session will have a second variable added.

Has anyone had any luck with that 150 grain PB GB boolit?
I had hope to avoid the GC step, but that may not be an option.
Also going to try some 10B101 loads next week.

My goal is 100 - 200 yard plinking load and 50-75 yard WT hunting load in mostly stock 98.

[Harter66]

A 2" group is a good start .

I am presuming that this is a 30 cal . I'm not familiar with the rifle , I've heard it mentioned but don't remember. I'd look at sizing and alloy difference between the 2 bullets . This could be a case of the rifle doesn't like the 150 bullet also .

Long ago I worked loads with Red Dot . When that load peaked out I was able to pickup at that velocity with Unique . Unfortunately that particular rifle won't shoot anything over 1800 fps in cast , not 97 gr not 230 gr not anything in between checked or PB .
The next 30 I worked with simply won't shoot a jacket over 175 or 190 cast .
Same thing for powders , 160 would go about 1100 fps on RD , 1400 on Unique and on to 2100 fps on slow full case powders . It will go on to 2400 fps with a 175 paper patched.

I suspect that 1000-1100 fps and 900-1000 are about as fast as Promo will get you .

As a note Nevada has a 1000# @ 100yd energy requirement . The NOE 314-230 FP at 1700 fps makes that number . A 314299 needs 2200 fps . Just an observation for whatever it's worth.

[Larry Gibson]

Many years ago there was a cast bullet outfit in the Portland area called "Liberty Bullets". They cast a 160 gr PB'd bullet and I was able to get the cast bullets in 1K bulk for a very modest price since I was sizing and lubing them myself. I sized them .325 and lubed with Javelina. Loaded over 6.5 gr Bullseye they ran 1150 fps and were very accurate in my M98s. I shot 5 or 6K of them as I recall and killed a lot of ground squirrels, rock, pine cones and cow pies with them. I also liked to plink with them out at 200 - 300 yards.

When I mentioned that load here on this forum a group buy was run (sorry, don't remember by who) based on that bullet design. Here is the Liberty Bullet;

Attachment 192376

Here is what the GB bullet looks like;

Attachment 192377

Depending on alloy the drop 150 - 155 gr. I size .325 and just lube the bottom 3 grooves. Might TL the next batch in LLA and shoot as cast......anyway I use the same 6.5 gr Bullseye load with the GB bullet and it is quite accurate. I also use some cases formed from various odds n ends of range PU '06 brass that also have the flash holes drilled out with a #28 drill. That alleviates any case shoulder set back with the light loads.

Larry Gibson

[Larry Gibson]

For my higher performance 8x57 cast loads I use the 323470, the 323471HP and the GB 190 FNGC. These days for general shooting I mostly use the GB 190 FN. I ran a test to see whether my own home made GCs performed as well as Hornady's. I made no effort at bullet selection, just a cursory inspection for obvious defects. The rifle is a Yugo VZ 24/47 with a 6X scope. One time Scharfschuetze gave me about 500 primed Turk cases. I loaded them with that load and have shot most of them up (got maybe a hundred left). I've made no real effort at developing a more accurate load with that bullet. I save the accuracy quest for the 2 Lyman bullets. Here's the result of that test;

Attachment 192378

Larry Gibson

[TCLouis]

Rain dependent, Larry I will try the BE Load and the 150s on Monday.
Also going to try some 10B101 loads also.
I got it to shoot some decent groups (@50) in the 7.7X58.

I need to get some Ranch Dog 165s cast up for the 30 cals and some more for the 8mm 175 GBs .

This rifle feeds cast better than anything I own.
I need to learn from it and study that ramp and magazine and determine what properties are "important".

[CHeatermk3]

Question(display ignorance here):
TCL, what is a "Zn 1917 Spandau"? a Mauser 98?

[TCLouis]

CHeatermk3
It is a GEW Mauser 98 variant.

One of, gosh only know how many variants of that rifle.

It has been languishing in the safe unfired for 20 or so years so I am getting it out to see if it will perform.
Unfortunate that the stock is cut down, the wood has some pretty grain.

IF it will shoot, I will hunt down a military stock and may use it to plink away in a Military match just for grins.

Does stock have to be 100% correct for the make/model for the gun to be acceptable in a Military match?

[CHeatermk3]

I wonder if that 323471 flies straight; or if it suffers from nose slumping?

That Liberty boolit reminds me of an RCBS 30-180SP only PB and 8mm--

[NYBushBro]

For my higher performance 8x57 cast loads I use the 323470, the 323471HP and the GB 190 FNGC. These days for general shooting I mostly use the GB 190 FN. I ran a test to see whether my own home made GCs performed as well as Hornady's. I made no effort at bullet selection, just a cursory inspection for obvious defects. The rifle is a Yugo VZ 24/47 with a 6X scope. One time Scharfschuetze gave me about 500 primed Turk cases. I loaded them with that load and have shot most of them up (got maybe a hundred left). I've made no real effort at developing a more accurate load with that bullet. I save the accuracy quest for the 2 Lyman bullets. Here's the result of that test;

Attachment 192378

Larry Gibson

Welcome back, Larry.