8mm-06AI least expensive die set?

[shawnba67]

I am looking hard at buying a good deal on a rechambered Mauser in above caliber. I see midway has dies for $150. And the Lee website says the will make em for $80. I have gone to just neck sizing most of my other calibers and would love it if someone knew of a cheaper way to just neck size this caliber? Any experience or ideas?

[troyboy]

There will be a point when a fl sizer will be needed. Id buy the Lee dies.

[r1kk1]

CH4D

take care

r1kk1

[dh2]

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/15702
$145 shipped is not much better, but when you get in to wild cats the price goes up and gets harder to find.
is it cheap enough to rebarrel? or do you want to mess with some thing out of the normal?

[shawnba67]

I did a quick look on 8mm06 but didn't expect the Ackley part to nearly triple the cost. Could I hone the neck out on a set of 30-06ai dies maybe? My father is a machinist, we can't use the shop equipment but he years of experience are his to use.
Second question if I decide to get the lee dies can I fireform brass to send them by sending a regular 30-06 down the tube ? I have a buddy that would give me 5-10 factory new rounds

[troyboy]

You would fire a standard cartridge in an improved chamber it then becomes improved. That is what you send to the die maker.

[shawnba67]

You would fire a standard cartridge in an improved chamber it then becomes improved. That is what you send to the die maker.
Yes but standard 8mm06 doesn't exist and I don't have dies yet to make 30 cal 8mm. But a rev 30-06 would headspace correctly but would it fireform correctly ?? I'm assuming the slightly undersized bullet would reduce pressure at least some

[dh2]

How close would be to being able to use a set of 8mm Mauser dies and neck size, any thing that is AI you are going to fire form any way.
I would think about trying it , I know many that load 30-06 with .308 Win. dies why would this be any different ?

[starmac]

I have never been bitten by the wildcat bug, but it seems to me that like someone already mentioned, you will eventually need to full length size. The proper dies would I think be the better long term solution. That is just my opinion yet as I have zero experience with your choice of caliber.

[flounderman]

You can take a die grinder to a regular 8mm die and open it up to the neck and make a neck sizer by opening it up as far as the neck. You should, fireform with an 06 case that has had the neck expanded to take an 8 mm bullet and don't necksize all the way to the shoulder. I also would seat the bullets to engrave from the rifling. I never necksize fireformed cases all the way to the shoulder. You just have to look at the case and adjust the die. As long as the bolt closes and the case extracts, I wouldn't full length anything that is being loaded for the rifle it was fired in. Another option is a Lyman 310 necksizer and expander, with an adapter bushing. I don't know that a fireformed 8-06 would fit the 310 neck sizer but they are more open than a full length sizer. You might see what Brassmagnet has for dies. He was running a die swap for the 310s and he did have a large amount of dies, some for odd calibers.

[Wayne Smith]

Talk to Dave Davidson at CH4D. He will set you up if he doesn't have it on the shelf. By this I mean, when I sent him a chamber cast from my 10.5x47R he told me it was different than his other 23 10.5x47R chambers! I'm sure an AI will be easy for him.

[kywoodwrkr]

Do you or your father have access to one of the old tool grinders-like a K. O. Lee?
I'm going to try and grind my own reamers, starting with a proper size taper reamer, and grinding case profile onto it.
Currently researching grinding wheels. Manual for the grinder is available on line. Small print but easily read when enlarged to 8.5x11 pages. Now understanding on my part needs some more improvement!
Sharpening of all sorts of tools is possible on one of these.
We regrind on a regular basis some of the end mills the students use .
You'd be surprised how close the taper on a taper reamer is to cartridge case tapers in many cases.
YMMV

[Char-Gar]

If you just want to neck size a 8mm Lyman 310 MR (Muzzle Resizer) die should to the trick. If you don't have a 310 tool, it can be used in any standard reloading press with the thread adapter. The 8mm 310 tool expander will also work fine.

You can pick these up on Ebay for no more than $10.00 per die.

[littlejack]

Hey Shawn:
I bought an Egyptian mauser a few years back. It is the M48 bo, which stands for "bez oznake" which
translates to "without markings" in Yugoslavian. These rifles were original manufactured for Egypt, but
never made the trip, and wound up in storage for quite a few years.
With that being said, the ONLY markings/numbers on the rifle is in fact the serial numbers. All are
matching, and the rifle had never been issued. I probably made a mistake by having it sporterized, but
-----------too late. Sorry for the history lesson, got carried away.
Anyway, the gunsmith that did the work, re-chambered it to 8mm-06 AI, and DID use factory 30-06
ammunition to make his fire formed brass.
I bought a set of RCBS dies, and IIRC they were 129.?? + shipping for the set.
As for fire forming, you probably know that the AI cases headspaces on the shoulder at the same
datum line as its parent case, so there will be no problem using the 30-06 ammunition.
I use standard 30-06 cases to make my AI cases. They run through the AI die so smooth you don't
even realize you are necking the cases up to a larger diameter bullet.
I use odds and ends of 8mm bullets to fire form my new cases. I use the same powder charge for doing
so, as I use with my jacketed hunting loads.
As stated earlier, I would bite the bullet, (pardon the pun) and buy a set of dies. You will need them in
the future.
Hope this helps.
Regards Jack
P.S.
This is one of my favorites rifles. Recoil is very tolerable. I consider it my "magnum" cartridge.

[dragonrider]

I don't think you will need any special dies to size the neck of the 8-06 AI. Being curious about this I went to my reloading room and dug out my 8x57 Lee neck sizing die and placed it in my RC. Installed the proper shell holder and put an 06 case in it. I then placed two 1/2" washers around the case onto the shell holder and ran the case into the die. It sized the neck quite nicely and did not move the shoulder back, in fact it missed the shoulder by a small amount. Lee neck sizing dies are quite a bit cheaper than RCBS custom dies. Might be worth trying.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I may have some. If I do they are in a box. I just recently moved. Gimme some time to check.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Dang, went through a little over 100 dies sets and not a single 8mm-06 Imp set. I must have sold it. Sorry!

[shawnba67]

Sorry guys got busy for a day, illinoiscoyotehunter you had me excited there for a moment. Thanks for checking. I found an old set of 30-06AI dies for $35. Me and Pa are thinking we can bore the neck for the 8mm part and a new expander is only $8. Hoping that the .30 cal bullet seater will work as is, or at least buy me time to shoot and access the rifle before going all in. I wonder if the expander on my Lyman m die for 32-20 will expand the necks enough to stuff a bully in?

[smkummer]

I have a barrel for a large ring 98 that has a little frost in it. It should shoot and if it doesn't I'll refund the $50. Its still chambered in 8X57. If interested, PM for more details.

[bdicki]

Is it possible to use a rented chamber reamer to modify a set of dies?
http://www.reamerrentals.com/searchresults.asp?cat=394

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I would think that a chamber reamer would make the die too big. I am pretty sure the die dimensions are a tad smaller than actually chamber size. For one it must chamber easily and also you have to account for a little brass spring back. I am not an expert though and have been wrong before, several, several times LOL!

[MT Chambers]

I wouldn't fart around with this, you need a full length set of dies, call CH4D.

[shawnba67]

I've got the 30-06 AI dies coming $36 shipped. Just gotta figure out how big to bore out the neck portion. Gonna start at loaded round diameter minus an amount I'm still unsure of and hone it till I'm happy. Unless someone is kind enough to pin gauge an 8mm die for me then I'll bore to that dimension as a start.