and or 8x57J ammo and dies.

Keith

Last time I checked up on Huntington, they had both bullets and dies.

In a pinch, you can get away with using .321 170 grainers intended for the .32-40 and the .32 Win Special. Those bullets are lightly constructed and swage down just fine in the bore. Might slug your barrel to be sure just what your groove diameter is. If it runs a little oversized, you're golden.

If your need is small and Huntington's is out, PM me. I'm sitting on a small stash of .318 228 grain RN cup base that I believe to be repackaged Norma.

Thanks guys, I will pass this on to a friend of mine who has the J bore 8x57.

Keith

I've got a couple plain-base and gas-check moulds around this size if you want cast...
Jeff P

Whatcha got, Jeff? I'm looking for a GC design about 200 grains at .320. The usual 8mm moulds won't take that much sizing.

0.318 bullets are available through any outfit that stocks Woodleigh bullets, it's a 200 grain round nose, shoots good in my 8x60mm. (Think Midway, Natchez, Grafs & Son) You can also find leftover 0.318 196 grain Norma bullets on the web auction sites and at gun shows. RWS and S&B both make 0.318 196 grain round nose which are available in Europe. I've tried all four examples and find them to be about equal in paper performance. You might be able to get the S&B into the USA thru a good distributer.

LLS

quote:

Originally posted by Leftoverdj:
Whatcha got, Jeff? I'm looking for a GC design about 200 grains at .320. The usual 8mm moulds won't take that much sizing.

LBT 32-160 FNGC .322
Eagan? 317-167 HPGC .317
Ideal 316275 207 grn RNPB .3175
Ideal 319289 185 gr FNPB .3185
...and several other schuetzen style moulds... but nothing 200 grn AND gas-checked however. I've got one of the Lee DC 245(?) grn 8mm Maximum moulds... what a beauty! Wondering when Mid-South will get the 215 gr 8mm Karabiner moulds from Lee? Both are for S bores though.
Jeff P

What sort of rifle is it?

If it's a Gewehr 88 "Commission Rifle," most of them were made with .321" grooves or thereabouts. Changed to that from .318" grooves around January 1890. And most of them were converted circa 1905 to use the .323" "S" bullets by enlarging the chamber neck and throat regions with a gentle taper to swage down the bullet into the rifling. Some Czech-made replacement barrels that got put on in the post WWI era are reportedly tight even for .318" bullets. Best to slug the bore, and preferably to slug or cast the throat area as well to make sure what you've got and what will fit. But the American ammo companies for many decades have loaded all their 8mm ammo with .321" .32 Winchester Special 170 grain bullets at a moderate pressure.

In my "S" throated G88/05 with .321" bore, what I shoot are cast bullets of .323" diameter, loaded up as fast as 2200 FPS, but the pressures are quite low by rifle standards.

Dunno what Keith is shooting, but I'm shooting a Franz Sodia hammer combination gun with an 8x72 JR Sauer rifle barrel. Barrel slugs .318, and is pencil thin. Got my load from CotW, and the higher of the two leaves shoots where I want it with 196 grain bullets, but I'm looking for something a little gentler on the old dear.

Got most of what I need if I ever get around to lapping an old .318 sizer out a bit. .318 is both a little smaller than I would like, and too much to size either the Lee 8mm or the Lyman 323470. I do have a Lee C316-220-RF that beagleing brought up to just over .318.

If you first fill the grooves with lube, you can size 'em down a lot without losing the grooves. .005" certainly is no problem.

For normally constructed bullets (not monometal or a-frames), you can use the Lee sizers to size to bullets down slightly. I would get a .320 and a .318. You'd never have to worry about bullets after that.

Don't forget to lube the bullets before sizing them if you don't want to get them stuck in the die.

If you don't want to use a sticky or greasy lube, try dipping them in a liquid soap like Murphy's Oil Soap. Works great and rinses off easily.