Favorite 8mm Mauser Powder

[zubrato]

Hi all,
I'm looking to load the lee 175gr 8mm mauser boolit, and I'm looking to find a solid powder to stock up, since availability of powders can be spotty. Wondering which powders you all recommend so I know to keep an eye out and scoop 'em up! Looking to load medium power loads, around 2k FPS

I have access to:

IMR3031
IMR4227
H4895
H1000
Rl22
RL15

IMR3031 is the most available and I have a half pound of it to try out.
I have half a pound of 5744, but I know if I work up a load I'll be out of powder entirely and I know 5744 is good stuff, definitely on the lookout.

Any favorite loads for 3031 with a 175gr boolit?
Lyman 44th for 168gr cast states min 33 with a max of 39

Thanks!

[Lead Fred]

IMR4350 would work well, 4895 is my go to, but that heavy of a boolit, may or may not group well

[zubrato]

I've read IMR4895 works well, but I don't know about Hodgdon 4895, I know they're similar but not interchangable as the Hodgdon seems to be a little bit faster on the burn rate chart..

I'll add 4350 to my list to look out for! Finding powder these days is getting a little better, but still kind of sucks.

[LAGS]

I like the H4895, and a friend is getting good results with H335.
I just had him pick me up some 3031 to try again.
Years ago, the 3031 was all I used in my Mausers and the only reason I switched was I sold my 30/30 and threw in all the 3031 I had at the time to Boot the deal.
Had plenty of other powders at the time, so I just got sidetracked using other powders.

[Scharfschuetze]

Deleted. Misread the OP's selection of boolits compared to mine.

[fast ronnie]

I've been shooting imr 4831 with federal magnum primers and works well, but am switching to imr 4895 as I just traded for a fair amount

[fast ronnie]

I forgot about two things in my previous post. #1 is that load was for jacketed bullets. #2 4831, both imr and h do not like to be loaded with less than published starting loads. The problem seems to be with not enough powder in the case with slow burning powders can cause detonation. In some cases this has caused damaged (blown-up) guns, so probably would not be a good choice for shooting cast. I apologize if I have caused any inconvenience or confusion. I use that powder in one of my other rifles for shooting heavy magnum loads, and works well in both rifles with JACKETED BULLETS. 4895 would probably be a good choice as it is a pretty universal powder. You still need to find which powder works best IN YOUR RIFLE.

[Scharfschuetze]

Well in that case, by first post didn't need to be deleted!

I've had good results with H4895 and the 175 Sierra spitzer soft point bullet. While the velocity was only 2,400 fps on average, its extreme spread over 10 shots was only 16 fps using WLR primers. Accuracy in three different Mausers, a 98a from WWI and two 98k rifles from WWII averaged just slightly over 2 MOA through 200 yards with the load. One 10 shot group from a BYF 1944 Mauser 98k was just over an inch at 100 yards.

With the Remington "bulk" 185 grain 8mm bullet, IMR 4064 proved to be about right with results similar to the Sierra bullet.

[Blammer]

30gr of Imr3031 is what I'd look at first.

[bruce drake]

I'll echo Scharf's comments on 4064. Best powder for jacketed loads in my four 8mm Mausers.

For cast loads, IMR or Hodgdon 4895 for commercial powder are excellent for that 175gr boolit. I have nearly 6lbs of Russian pulldown 7.62x54R powder that is been doing great for me with cast loads so I haven't shot commercial powder in cast loads for a while :)

Bruce

[Maven]

"I'll echo Scharf's comments on 4064. Best powder for jacketed loads in my four 8mm Mausers." ...bruce drake

Another vote for what bruce & Scharf said!

[zubrato]

Sorry if I was unclear earlier, but yes this is for a cast boolit.
Is imr3031 good for cast at velocities of 2k fps with wheelweight alloy?

Right now I'm stuck between h4895 and imr3031 for my cast boolit decision. I don't have 2400 and haven't seen it around anywhere.

Where is a good place for load data? I have the older Lyman manuals and they're set up for 168 gr and 200+

[bruce drake]

Dual use powder for cast/jacketed...go with the 4895. If its a dedicated lead shooter than 3031 will work for you from 150-200gr boolits although I lean towards the 4064/4895 powders.

Lyman has a book dedicated to shooting cast lead and has lots of great data. The newest edition (3rd) was edited by one of our members, gunwriter Mike Venturino. I own the 2nd and 3rd editions of The Cast Bullet Handbook and both editions are great resources for the cast bullet shooter.

Bruce

[Adam Helmer]

For my many 8mm arms with 175-215 grain cast boolits, I found the best powder was IMR4198. My favorite boolit is the 215 grain semi-spitzer.

Adam

[frnkeore]

My M48 isn't quite stock. The barrel and action are like new but, the forearm is shortened and the barrel floated, it also has a 14X scope. My best accuracy has been with cast, 2" at 100 with 46.0 gr WC852 and the Lyman 323471, you might be able to substitute IMR or H4831 and with the Rem 185 gr, bulk bullets I got a just under 1" group using 4895 but, it didn't come in until I was 3 gr over the common max charge (mine was51.0 gr), please don't try that load unless you work up very carefully and set the OAL to not quite touch the rifling. I didn't have any pressure signs with the primer or loose primer pockets. I loaded at the range and didn't realize that I was that much over max but, the groups shrinking as I went up.

Frank

[Moonie]

I use H4895 in mine, I do use a heavier mold than that (Lee Karabiner) but H4895 is very versatile.

[AviatorTroy]

For cast I'd look at 3031 or 4895.

When I was about ten years old my uncle taught me to fill the case to the bottom of the neck with 4831 and use and mid weight bullet, and that's what I've been doing since then.

[JWFilips]

It is really interesting reading this. When I started with 8mm Mauser & cast I had a lot of H4895 & that is what I used. I got it to shoot many weights of boolits well. I went as slow as IMR 4064 and as fast as IMR 3031 I got all to shoot very well. I always shyed away from those articles about universal loads of Alliant 2400. Just didn't buy the fast whack pricipal.
Then I tried 18 grains 2400 & I found it can shoot as well if not better then all the above in all my mausers....so go figure!
I still ose the slower powders because I have them but don't forget that Alliant 2400 It works!