Making 8x57 from 30-06

[Texas by God]

Can someone walk me through this? Do I need any special dies or just the standard RCBS 8mm dies that I have? I have lots of 30-06 brass; a new 8mm Rifle; and all my new brass sources are dry of 8mm currently.
Best, Thomas

[EDG]

The process depends on how cheap you are and how hard you want to work.

The best process requires the use of a trim die which costs $25 to $30.
Best process
You may need to clean the die and the cases in mid process to avoid metal particles in the die from scratching the cases.
Form the case with the trim die and cut to rough length.
I use a 48 tooth hacksaw blade that is broken off and fitted to a saber saw.. An air powered saber saw would work well too.
FL size which will expand the neck.
Trim to finished length.

You might get 2 reloads before the necks crack if you do not anneal.
If you lightly anneal the necks every 3 or 4 reloads the cases will probably last 6 to 10 reloads if you know how to set your FL die for best case life.


Process without trim die.
Figure out how you are going to to cut off and trim the cases. Some use a saw. Some use a tubing cutter. A lathe is the best way if you have one and know how to use it.
Expand the case neck with the 8X57 expander but do not FL size your brass yet. (Some dies are closed topped so you cannot FL size a full length 30-06 case with the expander in place.)
Cut the cases off to rough length.
FL size
Trim to finished length.
I recommend annealing necks as described above.

WARNING
If you use .30-06 commercial brass marked with the caliber you will be running some risk of chambering an 8X57 round in a 30-06.
I prefer to use unmarked .30-06 military cases.
I do not have a .270 Win so those cases work just as well for me.

If you have any berdan 30-06 cases they are good to practice on. Just remove your decapping pin first.

I have personally used both methods to form brass. I really prefer the trim die method. If I had a lathe I would probably part off the cases and FL size skipping the trim die.

[kungfustyle]

Buy two or three boxes of Prvi Partizan Ammunition 8x57mm JS Mauser ammo, then get more when you can afford it. At cast pressure levels these will last a long long time.
Otherwise you will need the form and trim die and a neck turning set up $$$. Anneal the brass, lube it and run it into the form and trim die. Knock off about 1/2 inch with a hack saw. Run it through the FL size die. Turn the outside of the neck of the brass (case wall is thicker than the neck).

[EDG]

There is no need to turn case necks. I have used both commercial and heavy wall US GI CASES. (SL-54) to make hundreds of 8X57 and 7.65 Mauser cases for about 10 different rifles including an a autoloader. The military chamber necks are way larger than loaded ammo.

[sharps4590]

You can do it but why? 8 X 57 brass is pretty readily available on line. I've re-formed -06 cases into 8 X 56 Mannlicher/Schoenauer and 9.3 X 57 and some others I've forgotten but when I got my 8 X 57 Strover sporter I just bought the brass.

[Texas by God]

I've always just bought brass before but everywhere I've checked is out of stock. I like Privi brass; I'm using it in full tilt 22-250 and .243 loads with no problems. Thanks everyone.
Well, I just found some at Midway- but I need to try the forming process as well so I'll know what I'm into. I have lots of donor brass; 25-06,.270,&30-06!

[DocSavage]

Hard to believe 8x57 brass is hard to come by. You can make the brass from 7x57,6mm Remington or 257 Roberts brass. Might need a tapered expander to form but that should be cheap.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Powder Valley and Graf's say 8X57 is in stock

[Texas by God]

I know, Doc. The trouble with the 57s is they aren't exactly stacked deep on the shelves either!
About 15 years ago there was a period of time that I couldn't find any 8mm brass. I finally found some Remington but the headstamp was strange- like it was etched or something. I'll endeavor to persevere.

[Texas by God]

Powder Valley and Graf's say 8X57 is in stock

Thank you. I see that Graf does have it- I don't know how I missed it earlier. I'll get the Privi- it's much better than the Winchester I've seen and read about lately.

[mac60]

EDG has it right. I do this all the time with an old Pacific file/trim die. .30-06 brass is frequently available for a lot less than 8x57 brass. If you have the file/trim die, you can make it for a lot less than you can buy new 8x57 brass for.

[OS OK]

Ohhh...If only there was a way to permanently re-mark the head stamps, I'd be all over making my own 8's from 06's...I suppose that being OCD is sometimes a hangup. But, through diligence, eventually you'll come up with enough original brass to make you happy. That's half the fun of this BrassStuffing thing...only, it seems as though you can never catch up, there's always something you need 'more of'.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have a Garand to feed so one time I fell into a fantastic deal for a 5 gallon bucket full of 30-06 once fired brass for $100. There were only two kinds, Winchester or R-P. This was pretty clean brass but primed and had been fired once. I had no need for 5 gallons of brass so I split it with my shooting buddy.

Now I had 2 1/2 gallons of 30-06 brass. I used some for my Garand and along the way I aquired a BRNO 98/22 Mauser in 7.62x57. I needed brass for this new (to me) rifle. I made a jig to hold the 30-06 case and hacksawed (powered by sabre saw) offa a mite. Then I annealed these cases with a propane torch and shallow pan of water and then ran thru the lubed and clean cases into a FL sizer (8x57) and finally trimmed the case mouth and cleaned up with deburring and chamfering to proper length.

When completed I had a supply of 30-06 marked brass that were sized and annealed to run thru my BRNO Mauser 98/22. Later on I took off that 8MM barrel and had Ray Lynn install a Douglas Match barrel, rechamber in 6.5 x 55 MM Sweede, work over the bolt, add a buhler safety, put a turn into the bolt, install a timney trigger and put it all in a laminated thumbhole stock. He of course reblued everything beautifully in a royal blue that would make Colt owner jealous.

[mac60]

Ohhh...If only there was a way to permanently re-mark the head stamps, I'd be all over making my own 8's from 06's...I suppose that being OCD is sometimes a hangup. But, through diligence, eventually you'll come up with enough original brass to make you happy. That's half the fun of this BrassStuffing thing...only, it seems as though you can never catch up, there's always something you need 'more of'.

Has anyone ever experimented with Birchwood Casey "brass black"?

[OS OK]

don't know mac...what I was referring to is having the ability to engrave them with the new caliber and permanently erase the old marking...either in part or all of it. Only problem there would be thinning of the bases.

[Moonie]

I used to use 270 brass I'd scrounged to make 8x57 as I had a 30-06 at the time. Now I don't have the 30-06 but do have an Encore pistol in 270 Winchester... Wouldn't you know it lol. Haven't shot my '98 in years though.

[fast ronnie]

trim die and powered trimmer to length. Then run through standard 8 x 57 die.

[gpidaho]

This is what works well for me. Trim an appropriate amount off the neck of the 30-06 neck with my Harbor Freight 2" chop saw, Make sure the cases are clean, and lube with Imperial case wax. Then, I run the cases into my Redding Form & Trim die. Then strait to my Lee full length size die. Finish trim and fire form. There are other ways you can get it done but this is the easy way for me. Gp

[EDG]

You can do it but why? 8 X 57 brass is pretty readily available on line.

One of my 8X57s is an Egyptian Hakim autoloader well known for mangling brass with 2 or 3 dents while throwing it 30 feet. I would never use new brass for the Hakim. It is just too expensive to mangle new brass.

[Texas by God]

One of my 8X57s is an Egyptian Hakim autoloader well known for mangling brass with 2 or 3 dents while throwing it 30 feet. I would never use new brass for the Hakim. It is just too expensive to mangle new brass.

The ejected brass from a Hakim is a weapon itself!

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