8x57 handload speed

[kjohn]

The other day, Deaner and I went to our favourite spot and cranked off a few rounds.

One load I had made up:

8x57, new R-P brass, CCI primers, 175 gr GC, WW, 10 gr Unique, 1315 fps average, 3 rounds, deviation average 12.3 fps.

Very nice load to shoot.

Also fired 5 rounds 1950 Yugo/Czech ?? 2697 average, average deviation 26.2 fps. Kicked like a mule.

All fired from a 1936 S/42 with action, bolt and small action, safety parts, barrel matching. Stock from a 7.62 Israeli, bands and butt plate Heinz. Bought it at a gun show. Thankfully, other than a butchered stock, the rifle turned out nice.

I like firing the lighter loads first, then the hot ones. After years and years of shooting, I am still working on controlling a flinch in anticipation of a shot. It shows up big time when shooting "at" clays. I am not a micro maniac and simply enjoy shooting. I used to shoot a lot of handgun both indoors and outdoors, but I tend now to gravitate to my dear old milsurps and a few spotters.

 

[jamesharrison]

 

[jamesharrison]

What accuracy are you getting from the cast load? I have found in a bunch of 8x57 rifles I've had over the years that it's hard to beat the ~196-200 grain bullets, I assume because there is less bullet jump involved.

 

[bearhunter]

Kjohn, flinching can be very difficult to bring under control.

Rifles, such as the K98 Mauser are made on a "one size fits all" basis.

Doesn't matter how long your arms are, or how long your neck is, the rifles are all the same size.

One thing that makes a huge difference to some folks is, they're used to shooting scoped rifles, with the center of the scope appx 3cm above the axis of the bore. Give or take a cm.

When they switch over to rifles with iron sights and lower combs on the stocks, they shift head position, which when combined with stock length, creates uncomfortable positions, or unnatural postures, all of which create issues with absorbing recoil.

This really gets magnified when shooting prone or from a rest, especially on the bench. The body is being held by a chair/stool/bench and can't reduce the shock of recoil by moving with it. It just absorbs most of it.

Some folks can get over it by shooting light recoiling loads, which can be expensive these days, but not in the case of the loads you describe.

You are having similar issues many of us have developed when shooting several different firearms, some of which fit us, and some that don't.

Most folks today find that many milsurps have excessive recoil, which leads to flinching.

People were statistically proven, smaller in stature back when those rifles were built.

Another issue, is the rifles were purpose built to be effectively controllable from different shooting positions. Prone, sitting, off hand, etc.

Our hunting rifles usually fit us better and are built for shooting off hand for the most part.

When I was shooting matches, my bench rest/prone dedicated rifles had shorter butts than my off hand rifles, because in those positions, trigger pull length needed to comfortably reach the trigger and get good eye placement behind the scope is different.

I remember a friend who was extremely recoil shy. He had a talk with another shooter, who had removable inserts between the butt plate and the stock.

He was shooting one rifle for several different positions, which isn't uncommon.

What he ended up with was something I didn't expect. The inserts were expected, but not how many he used while sitting at the bench.

He actually increased his trigger pull length by over an inch, which allowed him to sit straighter and not wrap himself around the rifle as much.

This wasn't as difficult as it sounds, because his rifle was set up with a Jewel trigger, set to break at 1.5 ounce.

This allowed his body to "move" with the recoil and reduce felt recoil.

The only way to get close to this with a K98 in an issue stock, is to wear a recoil reducing pad, such as a PAST, and or add more padding under it.

I use a PAST recoil pad on my shoulder when shooting off the bench and it makes a huge difference when it comes to anticipating the recoil, combined with pulling the trigger.

 

[kjohn]

bearhunter: You have pretty much summed it up. If I remember to not anticipate the recoil, I usually do okay. Another factor is, in another 3 1/2 months, I'll be 39 for the second time. I don't worry much about dumb things any more, so it hasn't got to the point where I'm looking for a tall building to jump off. I shoot a Weatherby auto 12ga now when we shoot clay pigeons. My Dad's old Tobin and my own nice old Ithaca no longer go out. I gave the Tobin to my nephew's son and sold the Ithaca back to the fellow I bought it from.

jh: To be honest, I usually just go out and kill some rocks. I have a hard time seeing the sights on a milsurp, so I save the target shooting for scoped rifles. Years back, I smoked a fair few whitetail with 150 grain Sierras in a Czech refurb in 8x57, and later 8mm/06, same rifle. I did shoot a bit of target with that rifle, and it seemed good enough for shooting deer.