can anyone suggest a safe starting load for the 175 Hornady SST in 8 mm mauser.

Take your pick.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle

Safe in what rifle? There are dozens of different rifles chambered for this classic round which vary not only in strength of design, but in metallurgy and even bore size.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Safe in what rifle? There are dozens of different rifles chambered for this classic round which vary not only in strength of design, but in metallurgy and even bore size.

+1

Actually, there are not that many rifle models chambered for 8mm but it is important that he does not have an 88 or, God forbid, a Carcano (yes, they converted some to 8x57). So, if you have any version of a 98 with a .323 groove, (S) except a Chinese made one, go for whatever load you want. There are hundreds of them in your loading manuals; many are light loads just for the weaker Commission 88s.

Lots of single-barrel, double-barrel, and even Drillings chambered in the 8x57, many with J-bores and with very thin barrels. Some of them are ancient and have rather weak locking mechanisms coupled with unknown metallurgy.

I have a Turkish Mauser 98, the one with the large ring action but which uses a small ring barrel threads. It might be impossible to blow up -- but not knowing which pit the ore came out of, how much crystal might be imbedded in the receiver, or what temperature the 25-cent per day peasant who heat treated it considered appropriate -- I keep my loads for it very conservative.

On the other hand, a Remington 700 Classic 8x57 just laughs at the maximum loads found in the manuals.

Once again, safe in what rifle?

True; I was thinking about bolt actions only; not the 8x57 JR or JRS in a thin barreled break open gun.

dpcd:

There is a lot of new and old 8x57JS bolt action rifles here in Europe and some semi-autos. Every European gun maker make rifles in this caliber.

For example:
CZ
Blaser
Sauer
Tikka
Merkel
Sako
Steyr Mannlicher
Mauser
Benelli
...


Jiri

Those are mostly all modern rifles, and we have virtually (I think none) no new 8mms in the US. What I and others were trying to do is warn against hot loads in Pre-98 Mausers; there are still plenty of Commission (they aren't Mausers) 88s here. None of the bolt rifles made after 1898 are weak, in my opinion, and I did assume that the OP is in the US. If he isn't, then yes, he has a choice of many makes of 8mm bolt guns. Here in the US, they are mostly all surplus militaries.
No demand for a new 8mm bolt rifle in the US.

Back to the beginning: Assuming you have a bolt action that is in .323, there are a lot of loads that will be very accurate out to 150-200 yards. Where I hunt the foliage is so dense that you can hear hogs or deer but not see them more than 25-50 yards away. I have a Persian Mauser that I customized and shoot 180 grain original Barnes bullets at 2500 ft/sec. The load I use is 48 grains IMR 4064 with CCI primers and Remington brass. I do not know of any lower USA animals that require more than this to be taken down. The original Barnes was a great bullet and I was lucky to find 6 boxes at a gun show for $5.00/box.

Some of the worst might be the converted Turk 1893s. At least they look like an 1893 with a cutoff that has been blocked. These rifles have a huge horseshoe notch cut in the top rear of the reciever ring.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Those are mostly all modern rifles, and we have virtually (I think none) no new 8mms in the US. What I and others were trying to do is warn against hot loads in Pre-98 Mausers; there are still plenty of Commission (they aren't Mausers) 88s here. None of the bolt rifles made after 1898 are weak, in my opinion, and I did assume that the OP is in the US. If he isn't, then yes, he has a choice of many makes of 8mm bolt guns. Here in the US, they are mostly all surplus militaries.
No demand for a new 8mm bolt rifle in the US.

Yes, those are the Turk 93s converted to 8mm; I have one. I would rather shoot an 88 than this one, with heavy loads. Which I have done, with Ss ball ammo; no problems. These were originally 7.65 caliber and were unique in having a mag cutoff; rare for a Mauser. Turkey was always in the front of the small arms race back then; they had an exclusive contract with Mauser to provide them the latest model available. In 1979, 88s were selling at Century arms for $30.

to clarify, I have found a lovely small ring mauser (98) and plan on having a douglas barrel in 8mm mauser installed on it.

Just use hand book data for powders with a burning rate between 4895 and 4350. or the ball powder equivalents.

The loading books are all over the place on 8mm, due to all the junkers we are talking about, but now at least we know you are using a 98; albeit a small ring one. Is it German or Polish or Mex 36? Anyway, you will be safe; just don't try to hot rod it too much.

its a g.33/40. I think they were german.