.318 mauser

[harley1212]

hello im new here and this is my first post on here there seems to be great group of ppl here with alot of knowledge anyway i got a 8mm mauser in .318 bore and im having a hard time finding moulds and other loading tools for it just wondering if there is other sources for this stuff other then the big suppleirs
thanks harley

[Ricochet]

Harley, if your rifle is truly a Mauser it's not likely to have a .318" bore. If it's a Gewehr 88 "Commission Rifle" (which Mauser had nothing to do with) made in the first couple of years (seems like one of the collector sites says up to January 1890) it would have been made with a .318" groove diameter bore. Then they switched to barrels made with .321" groove diameters, still using .318" bullets. But later replacement barrels made by the Czechs after WWI were made with .318" or reportedly even smaller grooves, so they should be slugged.

More important is the chamber. Starting around 1903 that Germans developed a lighter pointed bullet that for some reason they decided to make .323" in diameter. Oh yeah, I remember: It was because it had a much shorter bearing surface for the rifling to grip than the old straight sided round nose bullet. They thought it would work better to have deeper grooves to spin the bullet more positively. They kept the same bore diameter and cut deeper grooves, so the groove diameter got bigger and the bullet had to get bigger to fill them. Then they decided they needed to modify the older rifles to safely shoot the fatter bullets. They did that by simply reaming out the chamber necks to accommodate cartridges loaded with the fatter bullets, the throats of the barrels to give them room to start moving freely, and tapering throats to squeeze them gently down into the rifling. Rifles so modified, both G88 and G98, were stamped "S" on the receiver ring for the "Spitzgeschoss" or "needle bullet" that they could now use. If you have one of these and it will freely chamber and extract rounds loaded with cast bullets of .323" diameter, they will safely shoot with reasonable loads even if the barrel is a .318" or .321" one. The Germans did this with full power military loads using steel jacketed bullets of .323" diameter. So did the Turks later. Not that I would do this now with my 1891 Ludwig Loewe built M88/05 marked "S." I certainly do shoot fairly stout cast bullet loads sized .323" through it, though.

[JeffinNZ]

Jim at CBE is developing a mould at the moment for the likes of my .303 Pygmy that would suit .318 Mauser too. The Pygmy barrel is .317 in the groove and .303 in the bore. He is flat out though so it maybe some time before he completes it. Should be .319-.320 I am guessing.

[Ricochet]

One more thing: Run right down now to the Group Buy section. Look at the thread that I think may be about to close for an "Even Fatter Thirty" or something like that. That isn't a "Fatter Thirty." It's a skinny 8mm. A .318" boolit, if I recall correctly.

[PAT303]

Hey Jeff, I'm getting a Mk111 sporter made into a pygmy at the moment.Should make a good cast boolit cartridge. Pat

[Buckshot]

................harley1212, welcome to the board. You 'Might' be able to use .321" boolits. You should slug the throat along with the chamber neck area. .

The throat because there is no use trying to stuff a .321" slug through it if it mikes .319, say. And if the throat WILL take a .321" slug, there's no use trying one if the caseneck doesn't have room to release it.

You can also use the Lyman 323470 slug. This is an 8mm (mine drop @ .325") loverin design that you can size down. I would lube-size it to .323" first,a nd then run it up through a simple nose first push through die to reduce it to .318" IF you HAVE to have .318" slugs.

I've reduced it to .314" for use in an Argentine 7.65x53 and they shot just fine.

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

[SwedeNelson]

harley

Welcome!
Have a GEW 88 that has a .318 bore
Shoot a Saeco #081 189 Gr. Sized to.321
with 16 to 18 Gr. of A2400.



Shot this group at 50 yards yesterday.
Was windy and had bad light but it did OK

Swede Nelson

[Larry Gibson]

Take a look at Lyman's 323470 (160 gr Lovern) sized to .321, bet it would shoot real well.

Larry Gibson

[jonk]

For my two .318 rifles, I have shot lead bullets sized from .318 to .323 through them; no ill effects, I get best accuracy at .319. Your mileage may vary. I have tried 3 molds but the off the shelf Lee 175 gr honestly does as well as anything, properly sized.

I have also used jacketed bullets sized to .319 with no ill effects, with mild loads. I worked them up myself using Remington 185 gr bullets and a chronograph with IMR 4064 to reach about 2100 fps, figuring around 38 to 40 grains. Again, your mileage may vary.

[JeffinNZ]

Hey Jeff, I'm getting a Mk111 sporter made into a pygmy at the moment.Should make a good cast boolit cartridge. Pat

NO WAY! How cool.

We will have to keep in touch and compare notes.

What are you doing for dies?

[PAT303]

Sorry for hijacking the thread,Jeff there's a retired fitter who shoots at our club who tops up his pension doing odd jobs on the side.He is making the reamer and dies from scratch.I think he's enjoying the challange. Pat

[harley1212]

thanks for all of the replies they are helpful
thanks again harley

[uscra112]

And lastly, is your bore really .318" ? I have a lovely pre WW1 stalking rifle (single-shot) that slugs .319+. It's a piece that I'm not willing to shoot much - it being pretty valuable, but slugs meant for .32 Winchester do just fine when sized .321"

[harley1212]

yes it sluggs exactly .318 it was also built around the turn of the century it has set triggers on it and also nice metal work done to iit there is no military marking of any kind on it and the thumb cut on the receiver has not been cut out which im told that rifle was taken off the line for a custom build
thanks harley

[mto7464]

Pics???