8X60, old sako rifle

[southernman]

Ive seen a Sako 8x60 for sale, while back in New Zealand, its quite a nice old rifle, but ammo and brass are not aviable down there, I am kinda intrested, and it will likely still be there when I get back,
I have a couple questions, has anyone seen or used the 8x60,
Ive found brass, @ trade ex, but not dies, any one know of a source,
And final question, could the 8x60 chamber, be reamed out to 8mm-06, for easy sourcing of components, and dies, etc.

 

[9.3mauser]

8x60 is just a lengthened 8x57, so you could either ream it out to 8/06, or resize .30/06 brass and trim to length. Six of one, half dozen of the other.

The 8x60 came about as a condition of the treaty of Versaille, stating that civilians weren't allowed to own military calibre rifles. So they lengthened the chamber a bit to get around the regulations.

 

[bjmurata]

I have a Husqvarna 98 actioned rifle that was re-barrelled at some point in time with an 8X60S barrel.I bought this rifle from Tradex about 5-6 years ago and although I haven't shot it very much I do really like the rifle and the round.
The brass is obtainable from outfits like Tradex but I have reformed cases for my rifle exclusively from 270 and 30-06 brass with the help of a file trim die from CH4D and I have been loading my rounds with a full length die set from CH4D as well. You can order them direct from the manufacturer. No need to go through a middleman thereby saving you some coin.
One thing to watch for with the Sako rifles, some of these were actually chambered in 8X60 with the old .318 bore not the more modern .323 bore. At the time I bought mine Tradex had two other rifles for sale, both Sakos that were chambered for the older " J " bore diameter bullets.
Personally, and this is just my own opinion, unless the rifle is the older " J " bore I would leave it alone. In that case you can still use the rifle with .318 dia bullets. Not as many choices for bullets as there would be for .323 dia. but there are some options around out there to get it shooting. Should be a pretty fine rifle.

 

[farshot]

I have an 8x60 Sako as well as a couple in BRNO rifles and Mannlicher Schoenaurs.
I have dies - they are not impossible to find but you can size using 8x57 dies and make do with the same dies for bullet seating. I reformed to make my own brass at one time, but it appears to be prevalent at Tradeex now.
I would leave it alone myself. I do agree with the .318 diameter bullet question though. Please slug the bore and measure carefully.
It is a fine round and loads without much issue.
The one Mannlicher is stamped as 8x60S Magnum. After much research, I have not fully decided what to make of that.

 

[D-Man]

I have a German-made 8x60 that is built on an FN Mauser action, maker's name Smit. Given the action it was likely made 1950-52. I thought I was safe in purchasing it, thinking it would have to be a .323" bore, but it turned out to be a .318" bore like many of the Sako rifles built on the same FN actions in the 50's. Easy enough to find cases at Tradeex but they were out of Woodleigh 200gr. .318" bullets for many months. I do have a couple of boxes now, the rifle is very accurate and the action smooth as butter. A fine cartridge if you can put all the bits and pieces together.