Shooting the 8mms by Joe Wiest Dubuque, IA, appeared in the Mar/Apr 2006, #180 issue of the Fouling Shot.
The Yugo Model 43
I never intended to get an 8MM but found a good deal on the web for a NEI324210 mold. I looked back in the old issues of the The Fouling Shot and saw some members had shot groups of under 2 inches with old 8mm military rifles, and one person used the Saeco mold and won the postal match.
Before I used my C&R license I stopped in at a friend’s house and looked at a Yugo Model 43. It was 90% new and he wanted $150.00 for it. That is what I wanted to order. I drove out of town and knew I would never get one that nice from a surplus house so back I went, laid down the cash and took it home.
The groove is .322”, bore .316” and the leade is .324”. I didn’t have any 8mm brass so made some from .30-06. The NEI bullet was too long and seated too deeply in the case. I made a die for my Lyman 450 and bored it .322” and opened up the top to .327” and pol-ished a taper in it. I now size the first two bands to fit the leade and the bullet seats without the check being past the end of the neck.
I made a neck bushing for my bushing die with a .350 I.D. to neck size and decap the cases. I also use the Lee case neck expander to flare the necks. It is fast to load for this way.
I couldn’t see the sights too well so CBA member John Wagner made a peep sight and mounted it on the rear ladder sight. He took a piece of 3/8” rod stock, drilled a .100” hole through it and turned it down to fit in the ladder sight after rounding it out. This makes it look like looking through the Jap rifle sights - nice and clear. Well this is one rifle that I never had to do any work on the bedding. At the range with this big 240 grain bullet, 22 grains of 2200 gave a 2.00” group, 20 grains of 4227 gave a 1-1/2” group and 20 grains of REL-7 gave a 1.00” group.
The next mold I got was the Lee 8X56 mold. I had to size down the front band to .322” on this one too (.327” on the remainder) but it turned out to be the best shoot-ing bullet I tried. With 22 grains of REL-7 I got a 7/8” group, 50 grains of WC872 gave a 1-5/8” group and 22 grains of 4198 gave a 1-1/2” group.
The K98s
After I got done with the Yugo Mauser Southern Ohio Gun had a price reduction on the K98s that are refurbished for $150.00. With two molds on hand I figured one more rifle wouldn’t hurt. It came in nice condition with groove size of .323”, bore .316” and the leade of .325”. The bore shows some wear. I ordered a 190 grain Saeco #081 mold from a supply house since I read in Precision Shooting that one fellow did well with it. I cast up some bullets but when I went to put the gas checks on the shank was so short the check buckled. I called Redding and within a week they cut me a new mold. The gas check now just almost touches the last band which I think is still too close, but it works. I lapped this mold out to .327”. This bullet is shorter and didn’t require tapering to fit properly.
I shot it on four different trips to the range and it would shoot 4 to 7 inch patterns with any and everything. I took the rifle apart and found the bedding around the action was very sloppy. I bedded it and ran a crowning ball around the muzzle. Back at the range with 24 grains of REL-7 and the Saeco #081 bullet I got groups of 1-1/8” and 1-1/2”. With the Lee bullet which had the noses bumped the same load shot a 1-1/8” group. Mustafa Curtess’s load of 13.5 grains of AA#2 I got a 1-1/2” group.
The Turkish Model 38
Then came a better deal from Southern Ohio Gun: Buy two Turkish M-38s at $49.00 each (plus $10.00 if hand picked). My brother ordered them and took the choice of one of the boxes, rifle unseen. His pick had a black looking stock and looked about the same inside. In my box was a rifle with a nice light colored stock and a bright bore. Who ever owned this one I bet took very good care of his camel also!
This rifle has a long barrel and the sights are nice. I used a “V” file and opened up the rear sight and can now see well with it. I put in a new firing pin spring from Brownell’s as the original was slow and sluggish. The action is nice and smooth and I never had to do anything with the bedding. I guess this one in the dry climate didn’t get all oil soaked. The groove diameter is .323”, the bore is .316” and the leade is .325”. This rifle shoots better with a clean bore than a fouled one. It also shoots best with the bullet tapered down on the first band to .322”, using either the Lee or NEI bullet. The Saeco bul-let shoots well as-is.
With 22 grains of Rel-7 and either the Lee or the Saeco bullet I got groups of 1-3/8”. I had a lot bigger groups with other loads. For the price of this rifle it did very well. I loaded some up for my brother but his “bench rest” is sand bags on his Jeep. Still, he claims it was no trouble to keep them in 6 inches at 100 yards.
The ‘88 Commission Rifle
Last winter I bought an ‘88 at a gun show I guess just because I wanted to buy something. This spring I planned on seeing if it would shoot and sell it if it didn’t as I didn’t think too much of it. I checked the bore size as they were originally made with the “J” bore of .318” (groove diameter). Mine was bored for the larger (“S” -.323”) bullet and had light rifling. Since I was going to sell it I didn’t keep any notes, but I took some of my 8mm loads and just shot it off the 50 yard bench without any bags and got 2 inch groups. I sold it to a friend and always wondered just how good it might have shot. Then this summer my brother picked one up at an auction and gave it to me to try. It also had the “S” bore and light rifling again. With the loads I used in my other 8mms it gave between 2 and 3 inch groups.
At the last gun show here this fall there was an ‘88 laying on the table that just jumped right at me (with a Swiss Vetterli .41 R.F. following me home for another story later). This one has a bore of 315” and groove of .323” and a leade .327”. The stock has a blacker finish like black shoe polish was rubbed in the pores but looks okay. The bolt works very smooth and it is a nice gun.
With 23 grains of Rel-7 with the Lee bullet I got a group of 1-3/8”. The NEI gave a .90” group and the Redding bullet gave a 2-3/8” group. I haven’t played with this one much. But for a cast bullet rifle it shoots them very well. These are a slick working gun. The bad news is that I am moving to a bigger house and have to pack all this stuff up!
The Yugo Model 43
I never intended to get an 8MM but found a good deal on the web for a NEI324210 mold. I looked back in the old issues of the The Fouling Shot and saw some members had shot groups of under 2 inches with old 8mm military rifles, and one person used the Saeco mold and won the postal match.
Before I used my C&R license I stopped in at a friend’s house and looked at a Yugo Model 43. It was 90% new and he wanted $150.00 for it. That is what I wanted to order. I drove out of town and knew I would never get one that nice from a surplus house so back I went, laid down the cash and took it home.
The groove is .322”, bore .316” and the leade is .324”. I didn’t have any 8mm brass so made some from .30-06. The NEI bullet was too long and seated too deeply in the case. I made a die for my Lyman 450 and bored it .322” and opened up the top to .327” and pol-ished a taper in it. I now size the first two bands to fit the leade and the bullet seats without the check being past the end of the neck.
I made a neck bushing for my bushing die with a .350 I.D. to neck size and decap the cases. I also use the Lee case neck expander to flare the necks. It is fast to load for this way.
I couldn’t see the sights too well so CBA member John Wagner made a peep sight and mounted it on the rear ladder sight. He took a piece of 3/8” rod stock, drilled a .100” hole through it and turned it down to fit in the ladder sight after rounding it out. This makes it look like looking through the Jap rifle sights - nice and clear. Well this is one rifle that I never had to do any work on the bedding. At the range with this big 240 grain bullet, 22 grains of 2200 gave a 2.00” group, 20 grains of 4227 gave a 1-1/2” group and 20 grains of REL-7 gave a 1.00” group.
The next mold I got was the Lee 8X56 mold. I had to size down the front band to .322” on this one too (.327” on the remainder) but it turned out to be the best shoot-ing bullet I tried. With 22 grains of REL-7 I got a 7/8” group, 50 grains of WC872 gave a 1-5/8” group and 22 grains of 4198 gave a 1-1/2” group.
The K98s
After I got done with the Yugo Mauser Southern Ohio Gun had a price reduction on the K98s that are refurbished for $150.00. With two molds on hand I figured one more rifle wouldn’t hurt. It came in nice condition with groove size of .323”, bore .316” and the leade of .325”. The bore shows some wear. I ordered a 190 grain Saeco #081 mold from a supply house since I read in Precision Shooting that one fellow did well with it. I cast up some bullets but when I went to put the gas checks on the shank was so short the check buckled. I called Redding and within a week they cut me a new mold. The gas check now just almost touches the last band which I think is still too close, but it works. I lapped this mold out to .327”. This bullet is shorter and didn’t require tapering to fit properly.
I shot it on four different trips to the range and it would shoot 4 to 7 inch patterns with any and everything. I took the rifle apart and found the bedding around the action was very sloppy. I bedded it and ran a crowning ball around the muzzle. Back at the range with 24 grains of REL-7 and the Saeco #081 bullet I got groups of 1-1/8” and 1-1/2”. With the Lee bullet which had the noses bumped the same load shot a 1-1/8” group. Mustafa Curtess’s load of 13.5 grains of AA#2 I got a 1-1/2” group.
The Turkish Model 38
Then came a better deal from Southern Ohio Gun: Buy two Turkish M-38s at $49.00 each (plus $10.00 if hand picked). My brother ordered them and took the choice of one of the boxes, rifle unseen. His pick had a black looking stock and looked about the same inside. In my box was a rifle with a nice light colored stock and a bright bore. Who ever owned this one I bet took very good care of his camel also!
This rifle has a long barrel and the sights are nice. I used a “V” file and opened up the rear sight and can now see well with it. I put in a new firing pin spring from Brownell’s as the original was slow and sluggish. The action is nice and smooth and I never had to do anything with the bedding. I guess this one in the dry climate didn’t get all oil soaked. The groove diameter is .323”, the bore is .316” and the leade is .325”. This rifle shoots better with a clean bore than a fouled one. It also shoots best with the bullet tapered down on the first band to .322”, using either the Lee or NEI bullet. The Saeco bul-let shoots well as-is.
With 22 grains of Rel-7 and either the Lee or the Saeco bullet I got groups of 1-3/8”. I had a lot bigger groups with other loads. For the price of this rifle it did very well. I loaded some up for my brother but his “bench rest” is sand bags on his Jeep. Still, he claims it was no trouble to keep them in 6 inches at 100 yards.
The ‘88 Commission Rifle
Last winter I bought an ‘88 at a gun show I guess just because I wanted to buy something. This spring I planned on seeing if it would shoot and sell it if it didn’t as I didn’t think too much of it. I checked the bore size as they were originally made with the “J” bore of .318” (groove diameter). Mine was bored for the larger (“S” -.323”) bullet and had light rifling. Since I was going to sell it I didn’t keep any notes, but I took some of my 8mm loads and just shot it off the 50 yard bench without any bags and got 2 inch groups. I sold it to a friend and always wondered just how good it might have shot. Then this summer my brother picked one up at an auction and gave it to me to try. It also had the “S” bore and light rifling again. With the loads I used in my other 8mms it gave between 2 and 3 inch groups.
At the last gun show here this fall there was an ‘88 laying on the table that just jumped right at me (with a Swiss Vetterli .41 R.F. following me home for another story later). This one has a bore of 315” and groove of .323” and a leade .327”. The stock has a blacker finish like black shoe polish was rubbed in the pores but looks okay. The bolt works very smooth and it is a nice gun.
With 23 grains of Rel-7 with the Lee bullet I got a group of 1-3/8”. The NEI gave a .90” group and the Redding bullet gave a 2-3/8” group. I haven’t played with this one much. But for a cast bullet rifle it shoots them very well. These are a slick working gun. The bad news is that I am moving to a bigger house and have to pack all this stuff up!