this is the one that is also listed as the 7,9mm x 57, but is actually 56,8mm long. I think with the 1888 Gewehr Commission rifles...?

Anybody loading for one of these? I found the dies at CH4D, but this variation uses the .318 (?) bullets vs the newer .323".

thanks,

Rich

Norma made(makes?) some pretty good 0.318" bullets, I've used them successfully in the past in several 8x57JR drillings with 0.319" grooves. The US bullets made in 0.321" diameter are apparently made for the 32 Special and tended to blow up when pushed past modest velocities.

IMO you should slug your bore, many of these 1888s have grooves of up to 0.328" diameter.

BTW here's a cute little Lyman swinging peep sight for an 1888. The sight is very similar to the model for the Mann-Scho and actually may possibly be usable for other Mannlicher applications as well.

Regards, Joe

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
this is the one that is also listed as the 7,9mm x 57, but is actually 56,8mm long. I think with the 1888 Gewehr Commission rifles...?

Anybody loading for one of these? I found the dies at CH4D, but this variation uses the .318 (?) bullets vs the newer .323".

thanks,

Rich

I load for one using standard 8X57 RCBS dies with a spare expander button polished down to .320.
The groove dias. actually measure .320 and larger on the original barrels. My bore measures .3205.
For me there is no good reason to push an 1890s rifle to top velocities so I use the .321 Special bullets at about 2300 for fun.

You might consider that the metric designations are in many cases nomenclature- Just a general identification and not an actual specification.
We rarely see the real specification meaning the real drawings. You can search the web for the CIP site and find the actual specifications.
However your have to be careful.
There is a drawing for the chamber and one for the cartridge. Don't get the specification for one confused with the other.

There are only 3 drawings that I have of 8 X 57mm cartridges that use a .318 diameter bullet. Hope it helps.

Huntingtons offert 3 bullets in .318 dia. for this caliber: http://www.huntingtons.com/bullets_custom.html
Regards