Vic,
I'm just curious about the fit of 8x56 and 8x57 cartridges in mod 1908 MSs. Reports over the years have caused a lot of confusion, especially with owners that have little or no experience with handloading/wildcatting, etc., so its difficult to explain what is needed to understand their problems. Now, it seems, we have two members with mod 1908s, that do have handloading experience; moreover, it seems one of the rifles will chamber 8x57 cartridges, and the other won't. This seems to have the potential for interesting discussions. By it's very nature, a rifle's chamber must be a certain size, or larger, otherwise it may not allow a proper cartridge to chamber. On the other hand, a cartridge must be a certain size, or smaller, otherwise it might not fit into a proper chamber. Each manufacturer has to set it's own acceptable tolerances to allow economical operation of it's respective factory. This creates the potential for a maximum chamber to accept a cartridge of a different nominal caliber, made to the minimum size acceptable by it's manufacturer. Furthermore, problematical variances may occur in either lengths and/or diameters. I believe the 8x56 always had .323" bullets, whereas we all are aware of the two different diameters( plus some manufacturer's compromise diameters) of bullets in 8x57 ammunition. Practically then, we need to think about 3 cartridges and some manufacturer's compromises to accommodate the two 8x57s. When you think about it, it's pretty amazing that different manufacturers in different countries, working under different standards, do as fine a job as they do. It may be informative if you could try 8x57I, 8x57IS, and American 8mm Mauser (especially Remington make). Also, if you could "smoke" the neck/shoulder/bullet area; you could pinpoint different areas of interference with different calibers/manufacturers. I was a little bit concerned about the incipient head separation you reported. Buffalo Arms ammo is often loaded using different caliber cases. For making 8x56, appropriate donor cases would likely require setting the shoulder back, which creates less chance of head separation than does moving the neck forward. Of course, it is possible that a case with unknown history could find it's way into the mix. It would be interesting to know the headstamp on the Buffalo Arms 8x56 ammo, and if they are all the same.
Mike
I'm just curious about the fit of 8x56 and 8x57 cartridges in mod 1908 MSs. Reports over the years have caused a lot of confusion, especially with owners that have little or no experience with handloading/wildcatting, etc., so its difficult to explain what is needed to understand their problems. Now, it seems, we have two members with mod 1908s, that do have handloading experience; moreover, it seems one of the rifles will chamber 8x57 cartridges, and the other won't. This seems to have the potential for interesting discussions. By it's very nature, a rifle's chamber must be a certain size, or larger, otherwise it may not allow a proper cartridge to chamber. On the other hand, a cartridge must be a certain size, or smaller, otherwise it might not fit into a proper chamber. Each manufacturer has to set it's own acceptable tolerances to allow economical operation of it's respective factory. This creates the potential for a maximum chamber to accept a cartridge of a different nominal caliber, made to the minimum size acceptable by it's manufacturer. Furthermore, problematical variances may occur in either lengths and/or diameters. I believe the 8x56 always had .323" bullets, whereas we all are aware of the two different diameters( plus some manufacturer's compromise diameters) of bullets in 8x57 ammunition. Practically then, we need to think about 3 cartridges and some manufacturer's compromises to accommodate the two 8x57s. When you think about it, it's pretty amazing that different manufacturers in different countries, working under different standards, do as fine a job as they do. It may be informative if you could try 8x57I, 8x57IS, and American 8mm Mauser (especially Remington make). Also, if you could "smoke" the neck/shoulder/bullet area; you could pinpoint different areas of interference with different calibers/manufacturers. I was a little bit concerned about the incipient head separation you reported. Buffalo Arms ammo is often loaded using different caliber cases. For making 8x56, appropriate donor cases would likely require setting the shoulder back, which creates less chance of head separation than does moving the neck forward. Of course, it is possible that a case with unknown history could find it's way into the mix. It would be interesting to know the headstamp on the Buffalo Arms 8x56 ammo, and if they are all the same.
Mike
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