Bought an 8x56 Mannlicher Schoenauer. Of course ordered tons of Prvi 8x56R Mannlicher ammo/dies/bullets before realizing it's a different unrimmed caliber. Anyway, cast the chamber and bore. Got .314 bore and .327 groove. Pushed a slug through and measured .314 bore and .3265 to .327 groove. .329/.330 Prvi jacketed bullets are too big.

1) Does anybody have one? Are your bore and groove measurements the same?
2) Would .329 sized lead bullets work? Too big?
3) Do you guys shoot .323 bullets without any issue?

Appreciate any info.

Steve

I do not have one, but .329 cast and 323 jacketed will work fine.

All of the 8x56 M-S rifles I have slugged, say half a dozen, have very similar bore and groove dimensions to what you measured. Seems to be an Austrian (and maybe French ie 8x50R Lebel) thing. I shot mine with .323" Hawk bullets which worked OK; not stellar, but OK. Hawks are pretty soft and I suppose they may 'slug up' a bit in oversize bores. I use .375" Hawks in my .38-72 which has a .379" groove diameter and they work very well.

I wouldn't hesitate to use .329" cast bullets if they chamber easily, and I'd probably use the Prvi jacketed bullets provided they are a slip fit in a fired case.

Quality Cartridge makes good 8x56 M-S brass, and I've found that Winchester 8x57 brass is small enough at the head to form/trim down to use as well, though the QC brass fits the extractor better.

Thanks for the replies!

The Lee .329 bullet swaging die works on jacketed bullets. I might buy (or make) a .327 die and swage down the .330 bullets. I'd have to get a bigger expander ball.

If I do, I'll make sure they're a slip fit into the fired shells.

.329 is the correct bore size for this caliber,not .323.
I've shot thousands of rounds over the years out of the long rifle and short rifle (carbine)
both shoot very well at long distance.
You can buy a LEE bullet sizer to resize .338 bullets down to .330 as long as the bullets has a bonded core. Easy to do. These resized bullets shoot OK but not as good as a factory made .329.
I have shot the long rifle out as far as 800 yards and the heavy bullet really bucks the wind well.

Steve, pm sent.

Rapidrob - Bad advice. The man has a 1908 MS 8x56 MS, not the rimmed 8x56R for the 1895 straight pull.....
As far as I know, the 8x56 MS used only the common .323 bullets. The only problem you may have is that the nominal specs call for a base diameter of .460" rather than the more common 30-06 or 8x57 base diameter of .469".
I have owned 2 8x56 MS's that took 8x57 brass simply sized down and trimmed. The 3rd, which was marked "8mm NORM" on the receiver ring, would only accept .460" base brass. I bought some 8x56 MS rounds from Old Western Scrounger. Fortunately, these had the small base.
Or I could have used readily available 7x64 brass formed and trimmed. The 7x64's I have by Norma, Remington, PRVI, S&B, and Hornady mike .460" at the base, which is the nominal spec.
For loads, please accept these fine beautiful rifles are getting old and were never meant to be 8x68S's or 325 WSM's and load accordingly.
Find 8x57 Mauser loading data that starts with pressures in the 36000 range and start from there but don't try to hot rod your old treasure. Thousands of deer and black bear have been slain with .32 Specials and .35 Remingtons so there is nothing wrong with 170 grain loads at 2250 fps or 200 grain loads at 2000 fps. Enjoy your rifle and, if you run into any reloading problems, send me a private PM and I will try to help you on this project. Good luck.