doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com 88 Sporter Variation w/ rare scope mt - need help

Hello Der Ami,

Thanks for the reply.

I have about 20 Corbin swage dies and 2 presses. I know his tools are expensive, but they work very well. I will be ordering a "bump-up" die for .318 dia. After you squeeze down the bullet with a ring die, a bump-up die insures a uniform bullet with a tight jacket.

Having said that, today I was surprized to find that all the 8mm bullets I have from Speer, Hornady, and Sierra, were all undersized at .319 - .320 diameter. These might be "close enough" - so I intend to "test" them before attempting to size them down to .318 diameter.

buckstix,
My late friend Gene made .318" bullets by "bumping up" .308" bullets in corbin dies(he had a Hydroswage(?)press). He had problems with the last batch he tried. I found it more convenient to size them from .320-.321" 32Win. Sp. bullets. Loose jackets are the reason for the .005" limit "rule of thumb". I bought the .318 Corbin die from Genes family, but couldn't afford the hydraulic press or .358" dies. I did buy a broken Corbin "H" press from them and repaired it.
Mike

Hello Der Ami

Thanks for the reply.

Here is the results from the range today.

1 & 2 are old 220g Speer RN bullets .320 dia
3 & 4 are new 220g Speer RN bullets .321 dia
5 & 6 are new 220g Hawk RN bullets .318 dia

All velocities were 1900 fps ave

I don't think I'll do any swaging down - the .321 bullets seem to work just fine and I have hundreds more than I'll ever shoot with this rifle.

I consider this composite group of under 2" to be very acceptable hunting accuracy given the 2x scope and the age of the scope and rifle and the little-bit of wiggle in the scope mounting system.

buckstix,
I agree the composite group is acceptable, and I would expect an improvement if only one bullet were used. If it were mine, I would load some with the bullet I had the most of, and go hunting.
Mike

Hello Der Ami,

Thanks for the reply.

That is exactly what I intend to do. I will load the Speer bullets because I have plenty of those. I intend to test these at 200 yards in the next few days to see how they group.

buckstix,
Great, good luck, I hope you take a deer with it.
Mike

Hello Der Ami,

Thanks for the reply.

I have acquired a "clock-key" that fits the windage adjustment peg on the sight base. You can see this square peg near the front of the base below the scope.

I have corrected the group to be centered on the target. The rifle is now zeroed at 200 yards and ready for hunting.

I settled on "new" Speer 8mm bullets weighing 225g (.320 dia) using 39g of IMR4320. Velocity = 1900fps and 5-shot groups measure about 3" at 200 yards.

buckstix,
That is a great result, you have every reason to be very happy. I hope you have a chance to bag a deer with it.
Mike