January 8, 2018, 11:04 AM | #1 |
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8mm-06
First, I have exactly one data point on this round. A couple years ago, I bought a "sporterized" Mauser that had the chamber reamed to take the '06 case. Since I was already loading 8x57 and 30-06, I had bullets and brass. There's data in the load manuals. Just needed dies, which were readily available. For 175-180 grain bullets, I was getting just a little more velocity than I could get with the other rounds. However, this barrel was pretty worn, wouldn't group well. I had been wanting to try one of Brownell's short-chambered Mauser barrels, so it's now a 6.5x55.
Now, I have read that this was a common conversion for surplus Mausers after the war, but I wonder how common it really was. Supposedly, US hunters could get Mausers, but neither ammo nor brass was available. But...bullets, '06 reamers with 8mm leads, and dies were?? It's also been called the "poor man's magnum", and it does have some case capacity over the 8x57. But if you search Gunbroker, it's unusual to find a rifle in 8mm-06 offered, whereas Mauser conversions in almost any other caliber are ubiquitous. So, any thoughts or true facts or experience with 8mm-06? I have a couple rebarrel "opportunities", and I wonder if I shouldn't dust off the dies and try again. |
January 8, 2018, 11:36 AM | #2 |
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No personal experience. I wondered right off if you need to cut a notch in the top of the receiver like the Columbian Mausers that were adapted to .30-06 had in order for a .30-06 length cartridge to be stripper clip fed. Or do you just seat these shorter than .30-06 or avoid stripper clips?
I think maybe this thread really belongs in the gunsmithing forum.
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January 8, 2018, 11:47 AM | #3 | |
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In the old days I made an effort to get away from corrosive primers. I never found a down side to going with the 8MM06 chamber. DATA: I do not have a reloading manual that does not list loads for the 8MM06. F. Guffey |
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January 8, 2018, 11:53 AM | #4 |
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Other than just to have an 8mmx06, why would anyone want one? My understanding was that it was developed because guy's with 8x57's after the war had a real hard time finding ammo, enter the 8mmx06! But other than that, what does it have for bullet's that would make it better than a reg 30-06? Come to think of it, I don't recall ever seeing a box of 8x57 anywhere. Lot of guy's sure seem to like it though!
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January 8, 2018, 12:01 PM | #5 |
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8mm-06
Is longer than 8x57. Won't fit in mag without deep seating bullets....
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January 8, 2018, 12:43 PM | #6 | |
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The difference in length between the 8MM57 case and the 30/06/8MM06 case is the difference between 2.494" and 2.240. And I have said I have fired cases in one of my rifles with over .225" clearance between the shoulder of the case and shoulder of the chamber without experiencing case head separation; and the shoulder did not move. F. Guffey |
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January 8, 2018, 03:33 PM | #7 |
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So much for fire forming.
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January 8, 2018, 03:45 PM | #8 |
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Don,
It's not necessarily that the 8mm-06 was "better". It's that it was cheaper to get your smith to ream it vs buying a new barrel, or a new rifle. |
January 8, 2018, 04:18 PM | #9 | |
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January 8, 2018, 04:59 PM | #10 | ||
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Quote:
F. Guffey |
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January 8, 2018, 05:01 PM | #11 |
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And then there were those that chambered 308 W rounds in a 30/06 chamber, same thing, the 308 w case was ejected as a 30/06 cases with almost no neck.
F. Guffey |
January 8, 2018, 08:42 PM | #12 |
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When I first started smithing in the mid 1980s, we would see a few 8mm-06s now and then. It was called the poor man's magnum, but you really didn't gain much over the 8X57 other than brass availability, and even that is questionable because you can make 8X57 brass from 30-06 brass. Never saw a 8mm-06 in a new barrel until about 10 years ago, it was always the military barrel with the chamber opened up. Personal opinion is that the 8mm-06 was someone's idea to improve the 8X57 without reading the specs on the cartridge.
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January 8, 2018, 09:33 PM | #13 |
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Now, yeah, on the brass availability side.
Post WWII not so much. Hence the rechambering to 06 cases. Now if for some unknown reason i couldn't find 8X57 cases, i'd just neck up 7X57 casings. Like i neck down 7X57 casings to make 257 Roberts. |
January 9, 2018, 09:07 AM | #14 | |
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Reloaders spend a lot of time talking about loose necks and accuracy, Again, I have forming dies, I can form 8mm57 cases from 30/06 cases, a benefit? Tighter necks. The 8/06 is better than the 8mm57, the 8mm06 is better than the 30/06. F. Guffey |
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January 9, 2018, 09:22 AM | #15 |
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"The 8/06 is better than the 8mm57, the 8mm06 is better than the 30/06."
Mr. Guffey: It appears there are just two of us shooting this round. Given that the 8x57, 30-06 and 8mm-06 are pretty close when properly loaded, what advantages do you believe the 8mm-06 has? I will be getting a new barrel on my '35 Brazilian, and I am seriously considering It. |
January 9, 2018, 11:58 AM | #16 |
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January 21, 2018, 11:06 AM | #17 |
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F.Guffey has it right I have reloaded my friends 8-06 for years, it is no big deal I have never owned one but there are a lot of them around !!!
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January 21, 2018, 01:56 PM | #18 | |
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Nowadays there's no reason to chamber a rifle for it. If you want a larger than 30-06 rifle you can go 338 Federal, 338-06 or 35 Whelen.
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January 21, 2018, 05:07 PM | #19 |
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I had one done wrong. The "smith" ran a 30-06 reamer in a surplus 8 x 57 barrel and marked the the barrel 30-06. It came from a well know source and I was much younger and more gullible so it didn't occur to me that I ought not to trust it.
Needless to say the first five rounds wouldn't hit a 4x8 sheet of plywood 30 yards away. I was mystified until I looked at the ejected brass. That barrel now serves as a heavy duty stake, it does a good job of keeping one corner of a deer blind steady. I suppose I could have had it re-reamed correctly to 8mm06, but I really didn't want to make the investment. |
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