Bought a wierd caliber gun 8x56R. I've found brass and I've found dies. BUT where do I find the wierd .329" bullet it shoots.

How does a lee bullet sizing die work??

Does it work with jacketed bullets??

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Was hoping to use a jacket bullet deer hunting but this might not be possible. thanks

From COTW:

"This cartridge is often confused with the 8x56 Mannlicher-Schoenauer, which is a rimless sporting cartridge, whereas the Hungarian military round is rimmed. The two are not interchangeable as there is considerable difference in the case dimensions as well as bullet diameter.

Rifles in this caliber are rare on the American market and ammunition is extremely dificult to find. The .329-inch diameter bullet makes reloading a problem because bullets of this size are not normally available. It is possible to use .323-inch bullets, but accuracy is poor. Military rifles in this caliber should be considered primarily collector's items because of the ammunition problem. In power, the 8x56R Hungarian and the 8x50R Austrian cartidge are in the 30-40 Krag class."

Hawk and Woodleigh make bullets in .330-inch diameter (180 and 250 grain) for the .318 Westley Richards. Maybe someone on this board has tried that combination?

It seems there are two 8 x 56R calibers. One is a M30S and has land/groove diameters of 7.95mm/8.35mm (.313"/.329") and the other is a M89 with dimensions 7.85mm/8.2mm (.309"/.323"). The latter is so close to 8x57, 8x68S and 8mm RM dimensions that it would be no problem to shoot those bullets in it, providing you keep the loads on the mild side.

The former is a problem and the closest seems to be the 318 Westley Richards bullet which is 8.07mm/8.38mm (.318"/.330").

We could do an undersize run on a 318WR 170gr bullet. If you are stuck, let me know.

I know someone with one of those steyers 8 x 56R and it WILL NOT feed round nose or flat point bullets.

You can size down some Speer 200 grain 338's if you want.

A lee bullet sizing die is for cast bullets, not jacketed. All you will achieving trying to run a 338 bullet through the lee die is a bullet stuck in the sizer, or a broken press.

What you need is a bullet swadging die, available from Corbin. You would take a .323" bullet, and bump it up to .329". They do also make a drawing die, to reduce the dia of a bullet, but you are limited to .006" reduction in dia. One of the posters uses a draw die to turn .366" bullets into .358", works ok on speer cup/cores, but he broke the arm on his press trying to draw down a partition bullet.

Corbin dies are exspensive, so you might be best off sticking with cast bullets.

Schroeder Bullets (no website)
Jacketed bullets

(619) 423-3523 (San Diego, CA). He lists the following weights in .329; 150, 175, 200, 220gr. (all spire points). Cost in the flyer is $27/100.

If you don't find anyone who is still making .329" bullets, you can get a swaging die from Corbin. If you do, keep in mind that it is better to swage a bullet UP than to swage it down. When you swage it down, the jacket often is more elastic that the lead core. This means that the jacket will "spring back" to a larger diameter than what you swage it down to. When this happens, it creates a gap between the core and the jacket wall, resulting in a loose core. Not good for accuracy!! Start with a .323" bullet, and swage it UP to .329"!!

I have the Corbin swaging dies and make a .329 jacketed softpoint. E-mail me your mailing address, and I will send you a dozen to try, no charge.
Bill in the Medford in Oregon ....

Well, by kraky, yo' problem seems solved!!