8mm milsurp ammo?
- Thread starter Caleb314
- Start date
You can chop down .30-'06, .30-'03 (don't you dare!!!), .270 Win, .280 Rem, 7mm Rem Express to make the 8x57, also open up 7mm Mauser or 6mm Remington.
RCBS makes a TRIM DIE to do this. Lube the case, run it into the Trim Die, hacksaw off the part that sticks out, finish with file, chamfer and load her up.
FIRST thing I did in reloading was make 300 old military '06 cases into 8x57. No cheap brass back then that you could reload and factory stuff was $5.25 a box: half a day's pay!
Have at her!
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RCBS makes a TRIM DIE to do this. Lube the case, run it into the Trim Die, hacksaw off the part that sticks out, finish with file, chamfer and load her up.
FIRST thing I did in reloading was make 300 old military '06 cases into 8x57. No cheap brass back then that you could reload and factory stuff was $5.25 a box: half a day's pay!
Have at her!
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Thanks for the help but From what I saw that yugo 50's is about .65-.70$ a shot shipped. How much would it be to hand load it aprox? I've never handloaded so I'm not sure if I want to but then again i might do it if it's easy for a beginner also I hear it's more accurate to but then again almost everything is more accurate then surplus ammo.
I load the 8x57 and I find that it runs me about 60 cents a pop to turn it out.
That's just about the same price as surplus ammo.
The difference is that 60-year-old corrosive surplus ammo is corrosive; it rusts your barrel. And it is 60 years old. And mine is fresh. And NON-corosive. And you can hunt with it legally. And it shoots well UNDER 1 MOA: if you get a 6-inch group at 100 yards, brother, it AIN'T the ammunition!
If nickels really MATTER and you want to do a LOT of shooting, really cheap, get some wheelweights and a Lee furnace and a Lee bullet mould and run yourself 500 slugs. Lube them up and load them into nice modern brass with fresh primers and the C.E. Harris UNIVERSAL LOAD: 13 grains of Red Dot. MV will be about 1850 ft/sec, the stuff is accurate enough for Gophers out to about 250 yards and it costs a DIME a shot. You're NOT gonna beat that!
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That's just about the same price as surplus ammo.
The difference is that 60-year-old corrosive surplus ammo is corrosive; it rusts your barrel. And it is 60 years old. And mine is fresh. And NON-corosive. And you can hunt with it legally. And it shoots well UNDER 1 MOA: if you get a 6-inch group at 100 yards, brother, it AIN'T the ammunition!
If nickels really MATTER and you want to do a LOT of shooting, really cheap, get some wheelweights and a Lee furnace and a Lee bullet mould and run yourself 500 slugs. Lube them up and load them into nice modern brass with fresh primers and the C.E. Harris UNIVERSAL LOAD: 13 grains of Red Dot. MV will be about 1850 ft/sec, the stuff is accurate enough for Gophers out to about 250 yards and it costs a DIME a shot. You're NOT gonna beat that!
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If you get a Lee Loader (about $35), a rubber mallet and a reloading maunal, your equipment start up cost is very low. Then you need to buy a pound of powder ($30-$50), a few hunder primers ($6/100), a couple of boxes of bullets (usually about $35/100) and cases (about $60/100).
Added up it looks like a lot. The cases are the most expensive part, but they are reusable, and depending on the load you use I've heard of people using brass up and past 10 times (not that I recommend that, always make sure your brass is in good order).
As smellie says, it works out to about $0.60 but it will be WAY better then the surplus. There is some good surplus ammo out there IE 7.5x55 Swiss, however, most surplus ammo is meant to be general issue ammo; adequate for rifles, better in machine guns. When used in MG's, variations in the ammo help create a better 'beaten zone'.
'42 is WORSE, if you can believe that.
Solution is to go to a lighter load. You're not shooting at Tanks, you're shooting at tin cans. Big difference.
Start-up prices vary greatly (according to this thread). I get primers at $30 to $35 per thousand, powder from $26 to $39. Last tin of Red Dot was $29.95 and it gives me 538 rounds and a dribble left over. Brass costs money: $60 a hundred from Trade-Ex. Keep your loads on the mild side and I don't know how long it will last. I still have some brass here I converted in 1966; the new stuff, if looked after and shot mild, can give you up to 20 firings if you anneal the case-mouths every 7 firings. Maybe more.
I bought RCBS dies in 1966 and they still work fine; likely you won't live long enough to wear out a set, but I'm trying. I have 3 presses, including an ALUMINUM C-H I got in 1966 and an RCBS Junior which has loaded tens of thousands of rounds since 1977; it is still fine. Head for a gun show; often lots of used equipment there and quite reasonable.
Bullets ARE on the expensive side, but a Lee mould from Factory Sales is $18 and will outlast YOU with minimal care. They have the SIZER/Gas Check Seater also at $14. Hornady Gas checks are $33 a thousand but, at 1800 ft/sec, you don't really need them. I just use them to keep my bore clean in case I get the lead too soft. Works.
Lee makes a little hand tool for putting in Primers. It works just fine and I have been using the same one for 15 years. Not bad for a $30 (Canadian price) investment..... and I can watch a movie while I'm priming brass! Bonus, hey?
You will NEED, sooner or later, a good dial caliper and/or micrometer. I have so many calipers (some of them 120 years old) that it ain't even funny. My Moore & Wright 1-inch mike has worked perfectly for 35 years and my $12 Princess Auto Vernier caliper does the job fine...... IF you can read a Vernier scale. Otherwise, spend the extra $10 and get a dial caliper. Jut be sure to ZERO it.
My next purchase in handloading equipment will be one of those big Lee Classic Cast presses, mostly for the big hole in the top. I will be loading for Martini-Henrys and Sniders both, next Summer, so I need that big hole for the oversize dies.
But you don't have to spend a fortune. Couple hundred bucks can get you set up very nicely, and you can pare that by buying second-hand.
Forget the little hand tool with the hammer for regular reloading. But remember that one CAN be helpful on a hunting trip if your buddy runs out of ammo. You WON'T run out of ammo because you are only after 1 Moose and you brought 100 rounds of fresh stuff!
And you did it for the price of 2 boxes of factory rounds...... and it's better ammo.
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Solution is to go to a lighter load. You're not shooting at Tanks, you're shooting at tin cans. Big difference.
Start-up prices vary greatly (according to this thread). I get primers at $30 to $35 per thousand, powder from $26 to $39. Last tin of Red Dot was $29.95 and it gives me 538 rounds and a dribble left over. Brass costs money: $60 a hundred from Trade-Ex. Keep your loads on the mild side and I don't know how long it will last. I still have some brass here I converted in 1966; the new stuff, if looked after and shot mild, can give you up to 20 firings if you anneal the case-mouths every 7 firings. Maybe more.
I bought RCBS dies in 1966 and they still work fine; likely you won't live long enough to wear out a set, but I'm trying. I have 3 presses, including an ALUMINUM C-H I got in 1966 and an RCBS Junior which has loaded tens of thousands of rounds since 1977; it is still fine. Head for a gun show; often lots of used equipment there and quite reasonable.
Bullets ARE on the expensive side, but a Lee mould from Factory Sales is $18 and will outlast YOU with minimal care. They have the SIZER/Gas Check Seater also at $14. Hornady Gas checks are $33 a thousand but, at 1800 ft/sec, you don't really need them. I just use them to keep my bore clean in case I get the lead too soft. Works.
Lee makes a little hand tool for putting in Primers. It works just fine and I have been using the same one for 15 years. Not bad for a $30 (Canadian price) investment..... and I can watch a movie while I'm priming brass! Bonus, hey?
You will NEED, sooner or later, a good dial caliper and/or micrometer. I have so many calipers (some of them 120 years old) that it ain't even funny. My Moore & Wright 1-inch mike has worked perfectly for 35 years and my $12 Princess Auto Vernier caliper does the job fine...... IF you can read a Vernier scale. Otherwise, spend the extra $10 and get a dial caliper. Jut be sure to ZERO it.
My next purchase in handloading equipment will be one of those big Lee Classic Cast presses, mostly for the big hole in the top. I will be loading for Martini-Henrys and Sniders both, next Summer, so I need that big hole for the oversize dies.
But you don't have to spend a fortune. Couple hundred bucks can get you set up very nicely, and you can pare that by buying second-hand.
Forget the little hand tool with the hammer for regular reloading. But remember that one CAN be helpful on a hunting trip if your buddy runs out of ammo. You WON'T run out of ammo because you are only after 1 Moose and you brought 100 rounds of fresh stuff!
And you did it for the price of 2 boxes of factory rounds...... and it's better ammo.
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