Well my first bullets have been cast, sized & lubed, loaded, then shot in my 357mag. This is fun and a darn good way to keep an old retired guy off the streets

Now I want to branch out into casting a good shooting bullet for my 8MM Mauser. This rifle is a decent shooter, but nothing to write home about. It mostly sits in the corner gathering dust & I figure it's a good rifle start with using lead boolits.

Will you please give me an opinion as to which mould I should get for this rifle. It will be used for paper punching only & I probably won't put more than 200 rounds or so through each season.

Thanks to all,

Rick

Sanman, The first thing to do is to remove all Cu fouling from the bore and then slug it (breech & muzzle; 6" in ea. direction) with an appropriate sized oval fishing sinker. Once you've determined the dia., look for a mold that will cast at least .001", preferably .002" larger. Unfortunately, that leaves only a few choices: Lyman #323470 & -471 and Lee C324-175-R. The problem with Lyman is they may cast a bit small (.323") if of recent production. You can also go to the Aimoo cast bullet site and ask "Buckshot" whether he has any more custom (but not expensive)Lee 8mm molds left. You'll also need a sizing die to fit the CB's to your bore. The Lee is the best deal since you can easily lap it out by hand to suit. Btw, I've been there, done that re molds & sizing dies. ...Maven

Check MidSouth's Special Order Moulds. MidSouth has the custom moulds to which Paul referred produced on an as needed basis. You may have to wait a while until MidSouth gets the orders they need, but they seem to be doing several runs a year.

If your groove diameter is over .325, consider the Lee .329 mould and have Lee make you one of their $25 custom sizers. I'd order the sizer .002 over groove since the Lee customs often run a bit tight.

Midsouth did a big crap on me; ordered the moulds they milked my Visa immediately of the funds and 6 months later no moulds and no refund!

Still can't believe $US53.75 for surface postage of two aluminium moulds to Aussie when UPS quotes $9.50 for a 3lb package!!!!

Bad Ass - that doesn't sound like Midsouth. I've ordered the 8mm moulds, and the 22 mould and they didn't charge my CC until they shipped. In the case of the 22 it must have been close to a year between the time I ordered and it shipped. Did you email them and ask what was up?

Ordered 6.5x170gn and 8mm Maximum in Sept 03. Visa stripped in Dec 03 ($US81.15 - 2x$13.70 + $53.75 postage). Got email August 04 that the moulds were ready for shipping "Did I still want them?"
Replied that I still want them. November 04 still no mould so I rang and was told that my order had been cancelled. I stated that I want those moulds so here we are January 05 with no moulds and no refund?

Thanks for the tips guys. Both of those 8MM moulds at Midsouth show to be on order. Maybe they had someone to cancel out and now they don't have enought orders to have Lee to make them. I'll soon be ordering 1 so maybe they will sooon be geared up to have Lee to make them.

Thanks again,

Rick

Dang Bad Ass, that's a lot of money. I just got a mould from CBE and shipping to the US via air mail was right about $10 US. I'm surprised Midsouth charged your card right away - they say they don't until they ship. I'd be unhappy also, especially to find out they canceled the order after charging you.

hmmm... isn't that sort of like STEALING your money??? That doesn't sound like Midsouth to me, either.... I will be very interested to hear their explanation for what is happening...

I queried the $53.75 and was told that is correct. Suggested I could might my moulds next day via the bloody space shuttle!

I think you will find the 8MM to be a good cast shooter if it has a decent bore. The rifle bullets usually are cast of a little harder alloy than pistol bullets. If all you have is Wheel weight alloy, try about 12 grains of 2400 or Red Dot. Very pleasnt to shoot offhand and extremly accurate. Work up from there about a half grain at a time until accuracy node is met for your rifle and then start fine tuning the other componts. Good Luck.

Bad Ass,
I can't speak for Midsouth but I ship to Europe a lot and UPS is usually $60 or more for small packages. Air mail is the only way to go, about $11 - $20. However, some people don't like air mail because is no tracking.

I have no experience with Australia but in most countries It is not unusual for customs inspection to delay delivery for 6 weeks. Inspections are done at random to a percentage of packages, so most packages skip inspection and are delivered quickly while the unlucky few that are chosen to be inspected will see a considerable delay. You can bet that anything firearms related doesn't get VIP treatment from customs.