8X57 - Replacing steel projectiles with range friendly bullets

[Kokopelli]

This week, I picked up some Remington 8mm, 185 grain PSPCL projectiles for cheap. $2 for 39 of them. So, I decided to dust off my old Mauser and inventory my 8X57 ammo stash. Thinking I'd just pull some steel bullets and replace them with soft point stuff. It is something I used to do years ago.

Most of my ammo is some Turkish steel jacketed stuff from 1945.



The bullets are crimped in place. I seated them 1/8" deeper to break the crimp, then used my inertia puller to disassemble them. Powder charge weight was all over the place, but averaged 47.2 grains of square flaked powder. Cases are Berdan primed. The steel jacketed projectiles weighed 155 grains.



I won't be able to safely replace the 155 grain bullet with the Remington 185 grain stuff. But I had a full box of Hornady 150 grain, 8mm SP on hand. So, the project took a turn. The Hornady are a shorter bullet but with a slightly longer bearing surface.



Loaded up only 5 rounds with the Hornady 150 grain to test. If it shoots fine, I'll replace projectiles in the other 75 rounds that I have.



That still leaves me with those 40 Remington 185 grain bullets I picked up. The only thing I have left, short of working up a load, is a couple boxes of Sellier & Bellot 8X57 JS with 196 FMJ. They might be a candidate for replacement with the 185 PSP Core Lokt. Update to follow.



The Remington projectiles next to a S&B round.

[Cowboy T]

Ah, the ol' "Mexican Match" trick! I remember doing a bit of that with 7.62x54R for the Mosin-Nagant. You're using a time-honoured method for making range-friendly, and more consistent, ammo. Cool stuff, and neat to see the pics.

[bcrich]

Yeah man cool thread …I always manage to loose powder using the hammer to pull projectiles so I started using the collet pullers , now I can measure the powder charges more precisely.

[fguffey]

I decided to dust off my old Mauser and inventory my 8X57 ammo stash. Thinking I'd just pull some steel bullets and replace them with soft point stuff. It is something I used to do years ago.

Cheaper Than Dirt had a sale, 8mm57 Turkish ammo, cheap. I called to ask if that cheap ammo stuck to a magnet; they said "No". I then drove over to Ft. Worth to purchase some of that cheap ammo.

I found the cheap ammo; I took some of it to the checkout register and ask if they had a magnet. They said yes and then I instructed them to stick the cheap ammo onto the magnet, it was no surprise to me the ammo stuck to the magnet.

the cheap ammo was identical to the ammo you have pictured but older by 5 years. I had shot the bullets before; I call them streakers because the bullets would streak/leave a silver trail down the barrel. The material was cupro nickel. Back in the old days they lubed the bullets, many shooters got careless with the grease; it was then they started to lube the bullets, cases and chambers, some with gobs of grease to prevent streaking.

And then it became one of those, and then moments. The streaks were difficult to get out so they had to improve the formular for barrel cleaning. The last time saw the formular was in a reloading manual that was printed in 1954.

[fguffey]

There was a small group of slide and glide shooters, they used the globed-on grease when they fire formed their cases, they thought they had invented something new.

F. Guffey

[Kokopelli]

Cheaper Than Dirt had a sale, 8mm57 Turkish ammo, cheap. I called to ask if that cheap ammo stuck to a magnet; they said "No". I then drove over to Ft. Worth to purchase some of that cheap ammo.

I found the cheap ammo; I took some of it to the checkout register and ask if they had a magnet. They said yes and then I instructed them to stick the cheap ammo onto the magnet, it was no surprise to me the ammo stuck to the magnet.

the cheap ammo was identical to the ammo you have pictured but older by 5 years. I had shot the bullets before; I call them streakers because the bullets would streak/leave a silver trail down the barrel. The material was cupro nickel. Back in the old days they lubed the bullets, many shooters got careless with the grease; it was then they started to lube the bullets, cases and chambers, some with gobs of grease to prevent streaking.

And then it became one of those, and then moments. The streaks were difficult to get out so they had to improve the formular for barrel cleaning. The last time saw the formular was in a reloading manual that was printed in 1954.

Very informative. I did not know that. Thank you.

I was talking Mausers at my LGS the other day. An employee said he had a Mauser that he wanted to part with. He described it as a 7mm, K98. Sounds off. I go to look at it today.

[fguffey]

Very informative. I did not know that. Thank you.

I was talking Mausers at my LGS the other day. An employee said he had a Mauser that he wanted to part with. He described it as a 7mm, K98. Sounds off. I go to look at it today.

I took a trip and came back with a rifle you described; it was a Belgium rifle the Germans left lying around, I did not pay much for it. I worked on the stock and drilled and tapped the receiver. I took it to the range, I was impressed. I gave the rifle to my son and 2 grandsons. They hunted with the rifle for 8 years and now they all have their own rifles but the 7MM Mauser does not spend a lot of time in the safe.

I started my son off with a Weatherby 300 Win Mag and now he is just as happy with the 7MM as he is with the Weatherby.

F. Guffey

[pacrat]

Very informative. I did not know that. Thank you.

I was talking Mausers at my LGS the other day. An employee said he had a Mauser that he wanted to part with. He described it as a 7mm, K98. Sounds off. I go to look at it today.

K98 is likely a misconception on the part of the employee. That is a German designation for "Karabiner" or short rifle.

IIRC the Germans never used a 7x57 as a military round. But many German factories made Model 98 rifles for export to foreign military contractors chambered in 7x57.

[FLIGHT762]

It's likely that the "98" is a Spanish 93 or 95. Take a good look before buying. It would be good to find in a 98 in 7X57 in good shape.