Mauser for elk

[Yoteassasin]

Well my daughter wants to get a cow tag next year. I've got plenty of rifles but my eye keeps going back to an old 24/27 I sporterized in HS . Has an old cut down stock , a fixxed 4x monarch , Tunney trigger and best of all I still have the dies and a pile of brass .

I pulled her out and the stock is horrible hahah. So I ordered a Boyd's laminate .

I'm working on getting a 3x9 with a some type of hashed reticle for shooting up to 300yds.

I had some old 180 NBT still waiting for me . And plenty of powder on the shelf ( 3031, h4350, h4895 , tac , 4320)
I cleaned her up and decided to take her for a test run and see if this hair brained plan was worth it . So I foamed the bore and gave her a good bore douche and put her In The truck

I started by grabbing a box of the old factory corelockts ... which this gun hates but wanting to get her hot I figured what the heck. I also went down an early 2000 rabbit hole looking for euro spec loads for the 180 nbt . And settled on 4320 @48gn with an oal of 2.020 and loaded up 5 to test .

I ended up at an old gravel pit yesterday with the boys after doing some rock hounding for benitoite . And as I remembered the corlokts loaded and shot like dog poo atleast all 20 were under a 6" pie plate at 100
Then came the reloads . Mighty stiffer than the factory loads but easy bolt lift , no primer bulge and no imprinting on the head but all 5 under 1.24" at 100 .

Perfect ! If this is my starting point I might be in for a damn fine 300yd gun . So next steps for the reloading shack ...
- load up to find pressure 48.5 /49/49.5...
- keep oal on NBT
- once NBT is figured scrub the heck out of barrel and ammonia etch
- repeat with 180 tsx
For the gun ----
- decide weather I really need the irons on it because if I want them I will need to inlet this pretty Boyd's stock
- possibly cut barrel down to 21" ( I love short quick handling guns and this powder is on the faster side so not worried about incomplete burn . ( plus side will be new crown )
- mount new 3x9 scope . I think I'm set on the scope from another fine ROK member . But unsure if I want to replace the old 1pc leupold mount and change to a weaver style . (Input appreciated )

Ok so that is big info dump I know but feel free to add any opinions or thought , experiences.

 

[Yoteassasin]

Here is ole Betsy on her test run

 

[Yoteassasin]

Well she got a new stock . I epoxy bedded the front lug . Irons came off . 3x9 Burris went on . Barrel cut to 21"
And new recessed crown . Loaded for pressure signs but nothing held as tight as the 48gr 4320 load . Loaded up 40 and need to chrono . Think I'll stay with the 180NBTs this season
I'm going to try some 180gr tsx's as soon as I can get some cfe223

 

[wildwilderness]

What’s the caliber? I didn’t see it mentioned?

With the load you are talking about you mentioned trying some 180 TSX bullets? Personally I have seen Barnes work way better if you go lighter and faster. It would also help reduce recoil if a smaller shooter is using it.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

My old model 97 got the nickname "The Old Crowbar" many moons before I owned it. Grandpa and dad shot it before me at the deer camp in Northern WI. 107 years old and still shoots well. 8mm Mauser.

 

[Yoteassasin]

What’s the caliber? I didn’t see it mentioned?

With the load you are talking about you mentioned trying some 180 TSX bullets? Personally I have seen Barnes work way better if you go lighter and faster. It would also help reduce recoil if a smaller shooter is using it.

8mm x57 Mauser
The only other bullet available is a 160ttsx and the store had the 180s for 30bucks a box . Not to much to worry about on the recoil my daughter is 6’ and tougher than nails . And I’m loaded with a faster powder so not to rough

 

[NRA4LIFE]

The 180's would make a formidable round on elk.

 

[Yoteassasin]

The 180's would make a formidable round on elk.

That’s the hope . Hell I might use this thing on a moose if I pull the tag in the next few years

 

[HandgunHTR]

My guess is that the 180 NBTs will work better than the TSXs, both in load forgiveness and terminal performance. The 8 Mauser isn't a screamer by any means and the TSXs need speed to work. But, I also get that some prefer to use monos.

 

[Yoteassasin]

Yes I agree the monos love speed but if I’m going to use this gun in my home state I’ll have to use the mono . I had a lot of luck on my 308 when I first switched to monos with a 168gr trophy copper . It was slow but nothing ever got away .

 

[dan33]

Id be interested to see how 180s perform. I ran into some 200 gr partitions for my 8mm and got them pushing 2600 fps. They were howitzers on whitetail but sadly I only have like 6 rounds left.