M95 purchase opportunity

[wallenba]

I have the opportunity to buy an M95 from a friend of a friend. It slugs (supposedly) at .330. He wants $125.00, sounds reasonable, but exploring my reloading books I found virtually NO data. I have a Lee C329-205R mold I bought for an unsuccessful downsizing experiment for an 8mm Mauser. And I did find this article http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/reforming8x56/index.asp on resizing 7.62x54R to 7.92x56r. Is anyone doing this, and what are the problems you have encountered. I kinda like challenges too, but not things doomed to failure. Thanks

Dutch

[Doc_Stihl]

There's lots of good info on this site about loading and casting for the 8x56R. SEARCH CB military loads.

[dualsport]

You have chosen a difficult path, grasshopper. I have that mold, too small to use in my M95, but you might be able to beagle it up. Brass is available if you look around. Good luck.

[Bret4207]

Get brass from Graf, a Lee 338 mould and some clips. Fun guns. Great hunting rifles.

[Beekeeper]

I have 5 of them and bought the same mold.
They would keyhole no mater what the yardage was.
I bought the .338 old feller mold from babore(a vendor here) and they all shoot excellant.Better than my eyes can see or control.

Welcome to the M95 Madness.
They are almost as bad as mosinitis.


Jim

[swheeler]

Wallenba; like Bret I use the Lee 338 mold, their .329 sizer lapped to .334 and a 270 gr 338 plain base sized the same. I made my first brass from 7.62x54R, necks were real short, then I bought correct brass for it. They are fun to shoot, light and handy carbines. 125$ seems a little high, but everything seems high to me anymore. Go for it

[DanM]

I copied my comments from an earlier thread:http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=92073

Out of a whole slew of military bolt guns that I own, the M95 Steyr is near the top of my list for the most 'fun to shoot' rifle. Reloading and casting for it does require some extra effort and cost. 8x56r requires a custom .333-4" sizer for cast, mine is honed out form a Lee .329, but now I would just order a custom sizer from Buckshot. Cases from Graf's are a bit pricy, but are fine and durable. It will be necessary to hone out the Lee seater to accept the larger cast bullets, and the lee .338RN mold is a good one to start with. Mine has a basic trigger job, and a shortened FP spring which gives me a smooth trigger that breaks at 3lbs. This is an early target shot with the Oldfeller 'Frankenstein' 230gr FN bullet. The Lee .338RN is very nearly as accurate. I have since increased my loads to around 1900fps.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n24/DanM2000/M95%20Styer/M95232435036.jpg




__________________

[Wayne Smith]

Bruce (BABore) is now listing the Oldfeller Frankenstein mold. It's available. Best start if you can find some .338 gc's. As mentioned, Graf's has brass and loaded ammo. It's Privi Partisan so it's good brass, too. Buckshot will make a sizer, he shoots this boolit too. You are set, it's a fun gun to shoot, and quick, too if you can manhandle the bolt.

Oh, BTW, use 8x57 data, start low and keep records.

[WILCO]

Offer him $100.00................

[wallenba]

Well...I got the rifle for $100. It did slug .330 like the man said, so...now the fun begins. the other forums I found info on agree with what you guys say. So I'll order the .338 and the Lee
.329 sizer. It's gonna be a real job opening it up .002, more so sizing the .338 down to .331-2.
Midway has reloadable PRVI live ammo @ $26 box of 20. My Pro- melt pot is dripping like crazy at the moment, and I gotta get that fixed before the cold sets in here so I can get some cast to tinker with. Thanks guys.

[DanM]

Even with a .330" bore, you will likely need .333-.334" boolits for best accuracy at medium velocity. A lot of our guys have gone through the M95 process, and found this to be true.

[budman46]

wallenba,

congrats on getting a neat little rifle and a bargain.

i use lee's 8x56 mould and their .329" sizer. i beagled the mould and opened the sizer to .331"...not at all hard, btw; hack sawed a slit in a piece of brass rod, slid in a piece of emery cloth, chucked it up in a drill and honed the opening to .331", checking periodically.

others size down .338" dia designs and i think they'd work well, but .338" gas checks are spotty while 8mm's are common...i like sustainability. just my 2 cents.

budman

ignorance if fixable, stupidity is forever...

[dbldblu]

My M95 shoots just fine with the Lee .329 205 gr. The sights are the limiting factor, not the way it shoots cast. I have not slugged the barrel; I shot it first, it was fine, so there was no reason to slug it. This board can sometimes lead people in the direction of extra work, custom dies and sometimes it is not necessary.

Try 10 grains of Unique with the Lee bullet, I bet it will shoot well.

[Bret4207]

Sometimes it's not necessary, that's true. But often it is.

[DanM]

I think results will depend on the velocity you are happy with. If you want to push your loads into the 'medium velocity' range, say 1900fps or higher, fatter boolits will show better accuracy. I picked up this info from several of our members, and found it to be true. BTW, .338" checks are not that hard to find. I got my Hornady .338" checks from BAC, and if they are out, then Gator Checks (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=86706&highlight=blammer) are good too.

[82nd airborne]

Blammer can deliver quality .338 GC's in no time.

[keyhole]

I bought a M95 rifle (not the carbine length) ~ 15 years ago. Shot several hundred rds. of military ammo but found the recoil a bit much the last few years. Bought the Lee mold specifically made for the 8 X 56 R. Cast the bullets from linotype and tumble lubed in Lee Alox. Sized in the Lee .329 sizer. Using 5744 powder, groups are very satisfactory for me. Will hold the 9 ring on SR-1 200 yd. highpower target offhand, if I can do my part. With AA 5744 in the mid 20's gr. range, recoil is much less than military loads. I never slugged the bore so I guess I got lucky. Boxer primed brass is saved from Hornady factory ammo. Whole experience is very satisfying, since the rifle is now enjoyable to shoot, instead of punishing.

[frkelly74]

I am interested in trading for some of those bullets or for a mold to cast them. Why did the experiment fail with the bullets sized down for 8X57?

[Buckshot]

I am interested in trading for some of those bullets or for a mold to cast them. Why did the experiment fail with the bullets sized down for 8X57?

.............The land diameter of both the 8x56R and the 8x57 are similar. I have 8 M98 'type' Mausers of various make. The lands run from .3128, but more commonly .314" & .315". I have (had) 4 M95, M95/31's with one having a worthless barrel having been converted to 30-40 Krag. Of the 3 remainders the lands are .315" and 2 @ .316". What I've heard of the M95 Straight pulls the lands all seem to run about that. Pretty consistent lands. Lands are also the first thing to wear.

Grooves for both the 8x56R and 8x57 can vary greatly but the majority of the latter seem to run from the .323" spec to as large as .327" for one M24/47 I have. However other then that one anomoly the other 7 rifles are all .323" to .325". The M95's seem to have a bit more of a spread, but a 'tight' one will be .329" and I've only heard of a couple, and then I don't really know if they were slugged or the person was just saying ".329" because that's what they were SUPPOSED to be so they assumed?

The majority of M95's I've heard of, including mine run from .330" to .334", and one of mine is .334" with a .315" land. The problem with a say, .325" cast boolit intended for the 8x57 in the 8x56R M95 is gas blow by. And that (gas erosion) is pure death to a cast boolit. That .325" slug in a .332" groove has .0035" windage in each groove before engraving. Since the Steyr has equal width lands and grooves, when it engraves there is some lead being pushed around, but even if engraving seals the grooves the damage has most likely already occured.

The high pressure gas jetting past the cast lead boolit has the same effect as an oxy-acetylene torch on a stick of butter. A recovered cast boolti that has been severly gas cut is a sight to see. I've recovered several Minie' bullets that had been gas cut, and the gas DOESN'T have to pass in a straight line! These Minie' bullets were the first time I'd ever seen it. The gas will search for a way past, and I've seen where the gas past the bottom band, and made a turn along a lube groove to the next crease, crack, or sunken spot that allowed it passage. In effect it zig zagged back and forth until it exited to the atmosphere ahead of the slug. All it takes is the very tiniest passage.

By having a boolit sitting there with 4 ready made places (as the .325" x .332" example above) for the gas to pass by the slug is failure in the making, and a few thousandths is a huge area for high pressure gas. Picture a rush of water across a mudflat, with it branching off in any direction that allows passage and you'll have an idea of what a gas cut lead boolit can look like :-)

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