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Gentlest 8mm for older automatic.

pitfighter

pitfighter

Senior Member
I will preface by making this admission by stating that I am not a reloader.

What is the "gentlest" 8mm folks are feeding their older, "shoot-rarely", expensive to replace parts, semi-auto's?

Thanks,


JVJ
 
Not to ask the obvious, but why do you want to shoot a rare gun that has expensive and hard to replace parts? Your gun your choice, of course, but if you are just itching to put lead downrange, I'd probably go a different route...
 
nirvana said:
Not to ask the obvious, but why do you want to shoot a rare gun that has expensive and hard to replace parts? Your gun your choice, of course, but if you are just itching to put lead downrange, I'd probably go a different route...
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Nirvana - Because someone is paying to photograph it, and they have insurance, and my business and permits are based on my guns working on film. I don't itch to shoot anything, anymore - lol.

Tor - I have some Privi Partisan - I'll go with those, if those are what you use in yours.
 
I've used many types including both flavors of Prvi, the 196gr SP and the 198gr FMJ and the 170gr Remington Express is by far 'softer'. "Lawyer loads" and should be available just about anywhere.
 
Just a question although I have shot a few rounds of it in a K43 yrs ago mostly in k98 the Winchester, Remington Federal commercial stuff seems light most of it though is hunting stuff with soft points so I don't know how well it functions in semi rifles been too long ago. timothy
 
timothy said:
Just a question although I have shot a few rounds of it in a K43 yrs ago mostly in k98 the Winchester, Remington Federal commercial stuff seems light most of it though is hunting stuff with soft points so I don't know how well it functions in semi rifles been too long ago. timothy
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Cannot use soft points in this firearm.
 
pitfighter said:
Cannot use soft points in this firearm.
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Ok good to know. I don't own one so can't comment on that. Just chiming in that IMO the commercially available 8mm is much more lightly loaded than some the the Milspec stuff. Is it the SP and the feed ramp itself that kills these? Or just not enough powder snot to cycle it?
 
heavy_mech said:
Ok good to know. I don't own one so can't comment on that. Just chiming in that IMO the commercially available 8mm is much more lightly loaded than some the the Milspec stuff. Is it the SP and the feed ramp itself that kills these? Or just not enough powder snot to cycle it?
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I'll let Dingo give more specific details.

I will add that inspection after cycling drill rounds, showed criss cross pattern indentations on the rounded tip of the aluminum snap-caps.
 
if it were me and your not cause you do not reload

I would use commercial Remington/winchester hunting loads and replace the projectiles with surplus FMJ
 
sprat said:
if it were me and your not cause you do not reload

I would use commercial Remington/winchester hunting loads and replace the projectiles with surplus FMJ
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Yes, the cheapest bullets with copper or nickel clad tips will probably be pulls from that really dirty Egyptian ammo sold in bandoleers.
 
sprat said:
if it were me and your not cause you do not reload

I would use commercial Remington/winchester hunting loads and replace the projectiles with surplus FMJ
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All good - reloading is not for me - but plenty others here do - so helpful info.
 
I would go with American made 8mm ammo. It is loaded to a lower pressure and the projectile is .321 not .323. This is a compromise projectile, based on early rifles chambered for the old .318 projectile being stressed to the point of failure when the .323 round was fired through it.
 
DaveDavis said:
I would go with American made 8mm ammo. It is loaded to a lower pressure and the projectile is .321 not .323. This is a compromise projectile, based on early rifles chambered for the old .318 projectile being stressed to the point of failure when the .323 round was fired through it.
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This. My experience with Romanian 70s-80s 7.92 is that it seems lower loaded than German, Yugo, etc., but I wouldn't trust the QC of it over US made as Dave said. Also, a significant problem with surplus is how it was stored. Steel case may look fine on the outside, and may be rusting and sloughing off scale on the inside, which is bad news for case ruptures, separations, uneven burn, etc. Same with brass case with clumped and degraded propellant due to poor storage (temperature swings and humidity).
 
Hambone said:
This. My experience with Romanian 70s-80s 7.92 is that it seems lower loaded than German, Yugo, etc., but I wouldn't trust the QC of it over US made as Dave said. Also, a significant problem with surplus is how it was stored. Steel case may look fine on the outside, and may be rusting and sloughing off scale on the inside, which is bad news for case ruptures, separations, uneven burn, etc. Same with brass case with clumped and degraded propellant due to poor storage (temperature swings and humidity).
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Thanks Hambone,

Surplus ammo (of any vintage) is not an option for this firearm.
I have been collecting military ammo for some time, but as with my Kurz collection, that stuff satisfies the stamp collecting element of my nature, and is not for use on the range.

But - as always, good information to share for others.
 
Not to change gears here, but has anyone shot any of the PWA 8mm Mauser lacquered steel cased ammo through their FG42 - be it an SMG or original model ? I have few options for ammo where I live and have tried some lacquered ammo in the past that did not feed well in my SMG FG42 unless I ran it wet.

Tnx

D Day
 
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