K98 Mauser boolits

[2shot]

I'm looking to shoot a K98 Mauser that my Dad caputred in 1944 while fighting for the 102 Infantry "Ozark's" back in WWII. This gun has been silent for the last 66 years, is in great condition with all matching numbers and a shiny bore, even got the bayonet to go with it. The last time I looked for boolit moulds I noticed that there wasn't much of an offering for the 8mm shooters out here. Can you 8mm shooters recommend a mould for this old war horse?

Thanks in advance.

2shot

[frkelly74]

I have not tried my K98 yugo with cast bullets yet. It is on my TODOO list. I ahve shot the 324 185 lee bullet in my BRNO *mm and it was a lot of fun. I used the bullet as cast from wheel weight and scrap dropped into water and with a gas check "snapped" on and then tumble lubed . They shot well at 50 yd and were very pleasant. By shot well I mean I could hit a clay pigeon at 50 yd and the bullet shot to point of aim instead of a foot high.

[northmn]

I have not visited the site yet but NEI Handtools offers an excellent selection of molds. They will run total about $100 but you do have a selction for an 8mm. Otherwise I agree that none of the well known manufactureres offer much. I tried sizing down my Lee 330 mold for my Steyr for an 8mm but the nose was too large to fit in the bore and had to be sized down. Accuracy was not acceptable for me.

DP

[madsenshooter]

I'm looking to shoot a K98 Mauser that my Dad caputred in 1944 while fighting for the 102 Infantry "Ozark's" back in WWII. This gun has been silent for the last 66 years, is in great condition with all matching numbers and a shiny bore, even got the bayonet to go with it. The last time I looked for boolit moulds I noticed that there wasn't much of an offering for the 8mm shooters out here. Can you 8mm shooters recommend a mould for this old war horse?

Thanks in advance.

2shot

Hello! I had an old friend who passed away about 5 years ago. He was a member of the 102nd Inf Div, Cannon Company, 407th INf. Reg. After 4 years of searching I found a WWII era picture of him to put on the WWII memorial His name was TSgt John R. Simon.

Wouldn't you know, shortly after he passed away, I found a few surviving members of his Company. Sure would've been neat to have gotten them together.

[old turtle]

Look around for Lyman 323471 which is 215 gr. gas check. Shoots great in a friends ( I have a couple left) 98 Mauser. I think he uses 14.5 gr. of Unique. Your rifle sounds like real sweet heart. NEI has many molds but reputation not so good since the founder passed away.

[Larry Gibson]

+1 on the 323471 as I think it is the best cast bullet of all for the milsurp 8x57s. The Lyman 32470 (cast of WWs + 2% tin mine run 168 gr fully dressed) is a lighter weight Lovern design that is also optimal for the milsurp 8x57 throats and is my recommendation for currently available moulds. There was a GB Lee 6 cavity mould of a 190 gr 8mm bullet that perhaps someone would sell, it is an excellent one also.

Larry Gibson

[koehn,jim]

Midsouth has 2 lee molds for the 8mm a 215gr and a 225 grain if interested.

[Hardcast416taylor]

If you want to "jump the river" and use jacketed bullets, I would recommend the Nosler 180 gr. ballistic tip. For a decent cast start with the LEE.Robert

[mroliver77]

Or contact Bullshop on this forum and buy some from them. He/they have many options for size, lube etc and can fix you up. Jay

[Bullshop]

The two custom jobs from Lee were designed with milsurps in mind. They are or at least were supposed to be generously proportioned to be a good fit to large milsurp chambers.
If I am remembering correctly they are heavier than stated at like 220 and 250gn.
We have those and an LBT LFN at 200gn and a couple NEI's.
My favorites for 8mm milsurps are the heavier of the two Lee's and the LBT.

[rtracy2001]

As luck would have it, there is an active group buy going on right now for an 8mm boolit that should work well in you K98 (I intend to use it in my both of my K98s one is original 8x57, the other was sporterized to 8mm-06) the thread is located here: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=88897 and was still open as of 11/26/10. looks like it is scheduled to run in March, so there is still time.

[turbo1889]

The Lee mold # C329-205-1R has shot very well for me. The only problem with it is that it is that it is a Lee mold cut in their smaller blocks which are inferior to their 6-cavity blocks and inferior to almost everyone else. The boolit itself is a great design, just needs to be offered in a decent set of mold blocks.

[madsenshooter]

I'd surely get that NOE mold on my list of things to have, but if you're like me, you're wanting to do something about getting that warhorse shooting soon. The solution, of course, is to buy an el cheapo that works good now and get in on the group buy mold too. My old pal from the 102nd helped me work on my Garand a time or two, in fact he became an unlicensed pawnshop at one point!

[old turtle]

Defiantly check out the thread that rtracy2001 posted. That is the same boolit I was talking about in my reply. Be much easier than finding an old Lyman mold. The 323471 I have does cast a bit oversize and works great in his Mauser 98. This would be an excellent mold to have.

[rtracy2001]

but if you're like me, you're wanting to do something about getting that warhorse shooting soon. The solution, of course, is to buy an el cheapo that works good now and get in on the group buy mold too.

I bought a Lee C324-175-1R off emay for that very reason. I haven't had a chance to cast with it since it came out of the diswasher.

[koehn,jim]

If Bullshop has different designs I would buy some of each to try them, not every design works in every rifle and buying some bullets is cheaoer than buying a mold that might not work, just a thought.

[Larry Gibson]

As luck would have it, there is an active group buy going on right now for an 8mm boolit that should work well in you K98 (I intend to use it in my both of my K98s one is original 8x57, the other was sporterized to 8mm-06) the thread is located here: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=88897 and was still open as of 11/26/10. looks like it is scheduled to run in March, so there is still time.

Had I not had a very good 323471HP mould and the GB 190 gr mould I would definately be in on this GB for a 4 or 5 cavity mould. This seems to be a duplicate of the 323471 and should be a very good bullet for the long throated 8x57 milsurps. Much to be recommended here.

Larry Gibson

[Four Fingers of Death]

I am in on the group buy for this mould, it looks like a brilliant mould and I can't wait to get it going in my old Ankara Turk! I have ordered a double cavity, one cavity GC/FP, one GC/HP I'm looking for a Bubber'ed 8mm to make into an 8mm/06! That will be one fine huning rifle (mind you it won't do anything my 308s, 270, 3006s, etc won't do, but I've always fancied one since buying my Speer Manual at the same time I bought my Rockchucker Press and graduated from the Lee Loader and read about them. I have the picture from that page emblazoned on my mind (along with all of the other pictures as read the manual over and over and over again!

[2shot]

Thanks for all the replys guys! I'll have to look into some of these moulds. I got to shoot the 98 this last weekend. Shot the 196 grain"J" bullet from Sellier and Bellot because I got antsy about shooting the gun. At 100 yards I can't say that I shot great groups, about 8" groups but I know that I can do better and so can the gun. At the range I was at I was looking directly into the sun (facing south) and was having some trouble with glare off the sights. I didn't bring my sight black with me so I had to wing it.

The bore of my Mauser 98 measures .2325 and seems somewhat tighter at the muzzle. I'll have to check this muzzle restriction out before I start shooting lead, it may be the reason for my large groups with jacketed bullets and surely wouldn't help with something softer.

Thanks again.
2shot

Madsenshooter, I would have to look at my Dad's dicharge papers to see exactly what unit he was in with the102 Ozarks. I do know that he was wounded twice and was awarded two Silver Stars and 1 Bronze Star. He sadly passed way back in the late 70's and never talked about what he did to earn these awards, I found out about these awards after his death looking through his papers. I do know that he was front line infantry and was an interpreter speaking and writing fluent German and some Dutch also (very similar language). He wrote his father who had imagrated from Germany in 1923 letters about the atrocities that the Nazi's had commited in Holland and also when his company had liberated a Nazi death camp. This is truley sad reading but I'm glad that I have some of these pieces that were a part of my fathers life. All of those that served during WWII were my childhood hero's and still are to this day! God bless them for what they endured.

[northmn]

Some of the old milsrups suffer from a bit of copper fouling due to the ammo sued at the time. There are some remedies for that. I have used ammonia that I let soak in a plugged barrel over night. Some claim it can harm the barrel but I have had good luck with it. this is for very foulded barrels. Others have remedies also, but ideally that should to be done for cast bullets. I have had good results in my 303 doing that. Also rmember that military rifles are not target rifles.

DP

[leadman]

That S&B ammo is some hot stuff. I chronographed some over 2,650 fps.
I would just use Hoppe's #9. Clean the bore then swab it with Hoppe's and let it set a few days and clean it again. A couple times of that and it should be pretty clean. A little JB Bore Paste to polish it up wouldn't hurt anything.
I cast a 170gr. Loverin bullet from an old Lyman mold that does surprising well in the military 8mm.
Good advice to buy some M die.

[AZ-Stew]

Here you go. This is the link to Midsouth Shooter's Supply and their Special Order Lee moulds. The last two are the ones you want to look at. 215 and 225 grains. I've bought both of them to shoot in a couple of 24/47s I have in the safe. Sorry to say, I haven't tried either in either. I'm kind of saving the really nice one I have for my grand son, and the other one is sticky with cosmoline and I haven't gotten around to cleaning it up yet. Anyway, here's the link:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/department.asp?dept=%52%45%4C%4F%41%44%49%4E%47&dept2=%4C%45%41%44%20%42%55%4C%4C%45%54%20%43%41%5 3%54%49%4E%47&dept3=%53%50%45%43%49%41%4C%20%4F%52%44%45%52%20%4 D%4F%55%4C%44%53

Regards,

Stew

[2shot]

Those Lee from Mid South sure look good for the price. $18 and some change + shipping. I'll give those a try although I wish that they were 6 cavity instead of 2. Thanks for all the help!

2shot

[adrians]

.323470=165grn and323471 =215grn (there is a gruop buy on the later mold going on now ) both shoot real good out of my dou 44 k 98( 14 grns unique ).:twisted::-?:evil:

[northmn]

Stew, looked at the Midsouth 8mm bullets molds and ordered one. Liked the heavy 220+ grain flat nose. Like the caliber and have an old Turk Mauser that I ahve taken a couple of deer with but with shinny boolits. Prefer the performance of cast and have used them in my 30-30 with very good results.

DP