Ahh! the old 8x57

M

Mauser8

Member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
northern Sask
well this year me and the 80+ year old 8x57 showed up the young whipper snappers this year,allowing me to say "7mm mag phhttt! don't kill nothin" . but for the trouble i gave them I supplied the deer meat. haha
 
Good Job! The 8x57 cartridge has been doing its work efficiently for a very long time. I acquired my first one last spring, ( Brno 21H) and am looking forward to a winter refurbishing project and hunting with it next year.
I am a bit frustrated that the cartridge gets so little attention in North America, and that American standard loadings are so weak compared to European standard ammunition. A 198 grain pointed bullet at 2500 fps is a far more potent big game load than a 170gr. round nose at 2200. The limited run of Hornady 195 gr. ammo is the only American loading that I am aware of that was loaded to full CIP specs. But one can use the Remington/Federal/Winchester ammo as "reduced recoil" practise and deer loads and reserve the Hornady/Norma/Prvi/S&B/RWS stuff for the serious work. I hand load and even most North American hand load data is weak, but not all. The round really seems to come into its own with good full power hand loads.
When I hunted in Germany last January several hunters were using 8x57's and considered them slightly better stopping rifles than the 30-06 for driven wild boar.
 
First time i got the 8x57 was 4 years ago in a german k98k sport with monte carlo stock and William peep sights. At first my brothers liked it, but then they got into rifles. They bought 30-06 and 270 Win. They had scopes on theirs and i showed them up all the time since i got the old mauser. Right now its my favorite caliber. I have loaded for it 170Gr hornady round nose at 2475 FPS. I working up a load for 200gr bullet to European power ammo.
 
For a couple of hundred yards, the 8mm kills them just as dead as any other caliber.



But sometimes experience will from some old farts will trump any caliber.
 
My 8x57 was the meat-getter for all the stuff in my freezer this year. 195 grain hornady interlocks hand loaded to 2400 feet per second in a 19 inch barrel. Would you folks consider this to be a "full power" load given the barrel length? By European standards, I mean.
 
Redlich said:
My 8x57 was the meat-getter for all the stuff in my freezer this year. 195 grain hornady interlocks hand loaded to 2400 feet per second in a 19 inch barrel. Would you folks consider this to be a "full power" load given the barrel length? By European standards, I mean.
Click to expand...

Red that has to be fairly close to top end,I've heard of 200 gr bullets doing 2500 fps but with much longer barrels
 
Redlich said:
My 8x57 was the meat-getter for all the stuff in my freezer this year. 195 grain hornady interlocks hand loaded to 2400 feet per second in a 19 inch barrel. Would you folks consider this to be a "full power" load given the barrel length? By European standards, I mean.
Click to expand...


What load do you have?thats fast for a short barrel
 
8x57 is a great all around big game cartridge.

My big game load is a 220gr Gameking at 2475 fps.

Ballistics Table in Yards 8x57 JS 220 gr., .524 B.C. www.hornady.com

Range (yards) Muzzle 50 100 200 300 400 500
Velocity (fps) 2475 2394 2314 2158 2009 1866 1730
Energy (ft.-lb.) 2992 2799 2615 2275 1971 1701 1462
Trajectory (200 yd. zero) -1.5 1.3 2.5 0.0 -10.0 -28.6 -57.2
Come Up in MOA -1.5 -2.4 -2.4 0.0 3.2 6.8 10.9

Compare that to factory 8x57...

Ballistics Table in Yards 170 gr., .205 B.C.
Range (yards) Muzzle 50 100 200 300 400 500
Velocity (fps) 2300 2103 1916 1577 1298 1102 983
Energy (ft.-lb.) 1997 1670 1386 939 636 458 365
Trajectory (200 yd. zero) -1.5 2.3 4.0 0.0 -18.2 -57.3 -124.4
Come Up in MOA -1.5 -4.3 -3.9 0.0 5.8 13.7 23.8

My handloads have a thousand ft/lbs more at the muzzle than crappy factory ammo, and at 400 yards, it has 3X the energy.

If you own an 8x57, handload for it! (Unless you like aiming 125 inches high at 500 yards...)
 
My current load consists of 200gr Accubonds, Rem cases, Fed 210M primers, and 45.5 of H4895. Velocity runs about 2500fps and accuracy hovers right around 1" at 100yds.

The rifle is a Husqvarna with a commercial FN 98 action, commercial bolt shroud, Parker Hale trigger, and full length bedded into an old Bell & Carlson stock. The scope is a Bushnell Elite 3200 2-7x32.
 
jbmauser said:
My current load consists of 200gr Accubonds, Rem cases, Fed 210M primers, and 45.5 of H4895. Velocity runs about 2500fps and accuracy hovers right around 1" at 100yds.

The rifle is a Husqvarna with a commercial FN 98 action, commercial bolt shroud, Parker Hale trigger, and full length bedded into an old Bell & Carlson stock. The scope is a Bushnell Elite 3200 2-7x32.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a nice setup!
 
Mauser8 said:
Red that has to be fairly close to top end,I've heard of 200 gr bullets doing 2500 fps but with much longer barrels
Click to expand...

Nosler No. 4 shows 52.0gr of IMR4350 and the 200gr Partition at 2698fps out of a 24" barrel. That load is maximum, and is also noted as the most load tested.
 
I use H4895 as well, rather than a slower powder due to my shorter barrel length. I was reaching a chrony'd 2400fps with 195 grain bullets without exceeding hornady load data, with no pressure signs. On the advice of a more experienced friend, I worked up the load again from starting using magnum primers. The results were identical velocities and still no pressure signs, but the groups tightened in half at 100m.

Off of sand bags, I tested 3 5-shot groups with this new load and prvi partisan brass. 3 shots under an inch and 5 shots under 1.5 inches at 100m, with a 215 yard zero it's a point blank shot to 250m and about 10 inches low at 300m.

I like it :) very underrated in my opinion and a perfect close to mid range elk/moose gun.
 
Given the similarity in burn rate to IMR 4350, and the fanstastic results with some other cartridges (I'm thinking mainly .308 here), I bet RL17 would give some respectable results with the 200gr Partition. Not that anything in North America would argue with a 200gr 8mm bullet at 2700 fps!
 
Northman999 said:
8x57 is a great all around big game cartridge.

My big game load is a 220gr Gameking at 2475 fps.

Ballistics Table in Yards 8x57 JS 220 gr., .524 B.C. www.hornady.com

Range (yards) Muzzle 50 100 200 300 400 500
Velocity (fps) 2475 2394 2314 2158 2009 1866 1730
Energy (ft.-lb.) 2992 2799 2615 2275 1971 1701 1462
Trajectory (200 yd. zero) -1.5 1.3 2.5 0.0 -10.0 -28.6 -57.2
Come Up in MOA -1.5 -2.4 -2.4 0.0 3.2 6.8 10.9

Compare that to factory 8x57...

Ballistics Table in Yards 170 gr., .205 B.C.
Range (yards) Muzzle 50 100 200 300 400 500
Velocity (fps) 2300 2103 1916 1577 1298 1102 983
Energy (ft.-lb.) 1997 1670 1386 939 636 458 365
Trajectory (200 yd. zero) -1.5 2.3 4.0 0.0 -18.2 -57.3 -124.4
Come Up in MOA -1.5 -4.3 -3.9 0.0 5.8 13.7 23.8

My handloads have a thousand ft/lbs more at the muzzle than crappy factory ammo, and at 400 yards, it has 3X the energy.

If you own an 8x57, handload for it! (Unless you like aiming 125 inches high at 500 yards...)
Click to expand...


Give me that load?

What powder and how much?
 
dgradinaru said:
Give me that load?

What powder and how much?
Click to expand...

IMR 4064, just work up. I tried IMR 4895 as well, but I started to get flat primers around 2300 fps. Even though IMR 4064 is not much slower, there was a world of difference in my rifle.

As was mentioned, RL-17 might very well be worth trying as well. It's fantastic in -06 based cases in my experience, and the 8x57 JS is pretty close to the -06...
 
Given that the case capacity is slightly less in the 8x57 than the 30-06, and the bore diameter is slightly greater, I tend to lean more towards something slightly faster for powder choice in the 8x57 than I would for the 30-06. That's just me though, with a very heavy bullet or a longer barrel than average it may vary.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom