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Posted: 4/12/2013 5:38:13 PM EDT
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I have been having problems finding a functioning load for 8x50mm Lebel. So far the only thing I have found that works right is by pulling down Turkish 8mm Mauser and reusing the bullets and powder. That works great. I later tried loads with the Turkish bullets and BL-C2 with CCI and Winchester large rifle primers. I get sever hang fires and misfires where the powder is only partially burned and the bullet is barely pushed out the case.
I am thinking that because this is a relatively fat case that it needs a magnum primer and a stick powder that is easier to ignite than a ball powder. I just don’t know where to start. I have some IMR 4850 and IMR 3031. I cant remember if either of those are suggested powders with out looking it up but I know that the BL-C2 was a suggested powder and in this load it sucks. Any suggestions? |
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So just clarify a couple things for me. What components do you have? Press? Dies? What are you using for cases? I am a little skeptical of using pulled down OLD components from a different caliber to make safe ammunition. The Lebel was not designed to be able to handle the same pressures as a Mauser. I would NOT recommend using the powder from one. I really think the best way to go it is to buy a manual with 8mm Lebel data and buy the right tools for the job!!
Hang fires are usually the result of some combination of hard primers/weak firing pin spring, blocked primer pocket (tumbling media or something), or using a powder charge that doesn't fill enough of the case volume to expose much of the powder to the primer flame. I bet the latter is your problem. They specifically warn about downloading magnum rounds like the too far for exactly that reason (not that this is one, just an example of the principle). If you have load data, choose one that requires more powder mass to achieve the same pressure (it probably won't be the one that gives you the fastest possible velocity). That will fill the case more and should give you more reliable ignition. |
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Quoted:
So just clarify a couple things for me. What components do you have? Press? Dies? What are you using for cases? I am a little skeptical of using pulled down OLD components from a different caliber to make safe ammunition. The Lebel was not designed to be able to handle the same pressures as a Mauser. I would NOT recommend using the powder from one. I really think the best way to go it is to buy a manual with 8mm Lebel data and buy the right tools for the job!! Hang fires are usually the result of some combination of hard primers/weak firing pin spring, blocked primer pocket (tumbling media or something), or using a powder charge that doesn't fill enough of the case volume to expose much of the powder to the primer flame. I bet the latter is your problem. They specifically warn about downloading magnum rounds like the too far for exactly that reason (not that this is one, just an example of the principle). If you have load data, choose one that requires more powder mass to achieve the same pressure (it probably won't be the one that gives you the fastest possible velocity). That will fill the case more and should give you more reliable ignition. Well other than the primers which I mentioned before, with my sucessfull loads the brass was from Graffs, and the bullets were pulled ~ 152gr turkish cupro nickle jacketed bullets. The powder charge was a proportionately reduced charge of Turkish 8mm mauser powder. Basically what I was doing (and I have done this for other cartridges like 7.62x54 pull down to 303 brit and 7.7x57 arisaka) was to find a load for the host cartridge that uses the same powder and bullet weight as the load I am working up and then I would figure out the ratio for the powder charge and reduce it by 10%. I have fired a few thousand rounds combined of 8mm lebel, 303 brit and 7.7 arisaka loaded this way so I have come to trust the logic of this simple math. The Turk powder is a diamond shape flake typical of many 8mm mauser loads and it ignights reliably with the same primers that seem to have difficulty with the ball powder. As far as my other equippment goes I use Lee dies and Lee press. |
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