Hello Again

However late your posting this, I thought that I'd share with you all some of my initial attempts with cast bullets in two Mauser 98k's with the Lee 205gr mould sized from .329 to .323 and 31 grains of IMR3031. Someone at the Surplusrifle.com forums recommended this load as a favourite of his that cronygraphed at 1750fps, which allowed me to prep some cartridges while waiting for some 8x57mm moulds to arrive. I had a chance to try out a Brno Mauser 98k that I purchased about a decade ago for about $120 at the now defunct King Sol's in Toronto, and a more recently purchased RC Mauser 98k from SIR. This was my first time shooting either rifle, and took place over three weeks ago, before heading out to Wainright on a Army Reserve exercise.

At 50 yards, my Brno Mauser benched these loads into a group of 1.3 inches, while from the sitting position I still managed a 1.8 inch group. In some ways this was not too surprising since the the bore showed little if any use when purchased and the rifle was in unusually good condition. My RC Mauser managed 2.3 inches benched and 3.3 inches sitting, with four out of five shots in the latter at 1.3 inches. It's bore showed more signs of use but has strong rifling, and I have not taken it apart to check the wood to metal fit or slugged the bore for its diameter. My attempts at 100m sitting were awfull with both rifles, but it would appear from these groups that my results had more to do with my having yet to pick up my new eyeglasses prescription and the fact that my shooting was hampered by feeling ill for most of the afternoon. Over the long term I might get a no-gunsmithing scout mount, though that will have to wait for now.

While I've since picked up a Lee 175gr mold for 8mm Mauser, I will certainly continue to use the 205gr loading in these rifles again. In the Brno, I would not hesitate to try these loads on small game, and have gotten sufficient accuracy in the older RC Mauser to think that it's worth working up a load sometime in the future. Time in the fall will be at a premium, considering the hunting season (mainly waterfowl and grouse), militia weekends, the salmon/trout run in the Humber/Credit and working up loads for my 9.3x57 mausers. With luck though I'll try some more controlled testing with cast bullets, including both the Lee 175 gr in 8mm and perhaps comparing both sized and unsized cast bullets in my various Enfields.

With Regards,

Frank
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