8mm Lebel Revolver Recipes?

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NorthWoods22

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Does anyone have good 8mm Lebel Revolver Recipes?

So far I've tried Unique (ladder from 3-4 gr) with the 100gr .330" bullets, but they are terribly inconsistent, no matter the loading I get extreme spreads of ~100 fps
here's my data:
Grains Chargevelocitysdspread
3.046056124
3.242089235
3.4420183492
3.6650127345
3.87403379
4.079564166


Anyone tried with bullseye? I'm thinking of working a ladder from 2.6-3.4 gr
 
From testing tonight

Cases: Fiocchi 8mm Lebel
Bullet: 105 gr cast lead sized to 0.329"
OAL: 1.380" (seated to 1.440" may work better for 115gr or 120 gr projectiles)

Unique (not recommended due to high SD and extreme spread)
3.8 gr - 763 fps (58 sd)
4.0 gr - 789 fps (89 sd)

Bullseye
2.6 gr - 672 fps (34 sd)
2.8 gr - 724 fps (13 sd) - Recommended "safe" load
3.0 gr - 754 fps (15 sd)
3.2 gr - 787 fps (8 sd) - A little hot would not run this regularly
 
View attachment 784421
backpacker336 said:
Just been shooting my fiocchi factory ammo in my 1894... no issues.
Click to expand...
Until you get a squib and bulge your barrel...

I don't trust that fiocchi anymore and check my barrel after every shot that feels too "light" after getting a squib once. Seen someone else bulge a barrel too, thankfully the fiocchi stuff was crappy (light) enough he stacked 3-4 bullets in the barrel without it exploding. (and before someone says it was an old batch, this was a newly imported box from last year)

If you don't believe me, read all of these threads:
https://www.gunboards.com/threads/1892-ordinance-revolver-squib-loads.1186289/
https://www.gunboards.com/threads/defective-8m-lebel-revolver-ammo.388985/
https://www.gunboards.com/threads/8mm-french-ordinance-revolver-ammo-reloading.645826/
https://www.tircollection.com/t46996-questions-revolver-mle-1892#632923

Better yet, chronograph it for yourself and see how inconsistent it is (and dangerously low, 300-500 fps is squib territory especially with jacketed bullets and generous revolver cylinder gap).

Here's video proof in case you haven't bought a chronograph yet (if you're going to shoot antiques you 100% should drop the $100 on a chronograph to make sure you don't accidentally blow up your $3000 guns...)

 
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fat tony said:
Is it possible to shim the cylinders forward on these old soldats? Just curious, I've no experience with them.

Are the bullets supposed to be crimped in the case heavily or not at all?
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I can't really see how you would shim the cylinder forward. Probably possible somehow.

I find that using trimmed 32-20 cases the headspace is very tight some cases won't work at all. It does keep the cylinder as far forward as it will go though.

Being a revolver the loaded rounds not under the hammer are subjected to recoil so you want some crimp to keep the bullets in place. Recoil is minimal and the bullets aren't very heavy so a fairly light crimp is plenty. It can also help produce better combustion with some powders.
 
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