Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Reloading Dies for 8X57 JRS

I was looking for dies for the 8X57 JRS cartridge (rimmed version of the famous 8mm Mauser). There seems to be none made! Further research on internet indicated that one can use the dies for the standard (rimless) 8X57 JS cartridge with a proper shell holder to load 8X57 JRS as well. This makes sense since the two cartridges are identical in most critical dimensions.

I'd like to hear if anyone has actually loaded 8X57 JRS and if there are any other things to consider?

Thank you

Just be sure the gun it goes in is a .323 not a .318 ! Redding makes die for both.

Norma sez :

"The 8mm Mauser was adopted by the German army in 1888 and in the following years by a number of countries like Czechoslovakia. Poland and China. The designation “Mauser” is actually a misnomer as the cartridge was developed by a German military commission at Spandau Arsenal for a forerunner of the famous Mauser rifle which was adopted in 1898.

The “J” in the name stands for “Infanterie”. The “J” designation is due to a mistake deriving from the previous use of Gothic letters in Germany and has no significance regarding bullet size. But in 1905 the German army switched from round a nosed 226 grain bullets to a 154 grain pointed boattail bullet, and at the same time the diameter of the bullet was altered from .318” to the present standard of .323”. Accordingly the “S” - short for “Spitzer” - means that the barrel is made for .323” bullets.

Actually it is quite rare nowadays to find a bolt action rifle in the old “J”-caliber (.318”), but old combination guns are still around and a good many of them were made for the 8mm JR. To further complicate the problem many combination guns have only the bullet diameter (8,2 mm) stamped on the barrels regardless of the fact that a large number of 8mm cartridges have been made with very different sizes and shapes of cases. If the least in doubt do ask a qualified gunsmith before trying to fire any cartridge in an old weapon - even from the package that came with it."

OK, thanks for the comments. Yes, obviously the letter J - standing for 323 caliber bullet- is important. The rifle in question is a modern manufacture over-under so yes, it is JRS for sure. I think the very fact that manufacturers like Redding make a 8X57 die (for the JS cartridge) and not one specifically for the JRS is indicative of the fact that same die can be used for the JRS version too. This cartridge is alive and Norma, RWS and others in Europe make ammo for it so there should be a market for reloading dies.

I've used regular 8X57 JS dies to load for 8X57JRS for more than 30 years. They work fine. The JRS is headspaced at the rim, not necessarily the shoulder.

I have rifles with both I and S bores and use the same set of dies. For the .318 bore rifles I deprime separately and when sizing the brass, remove the expander button and depriming pin. For 323 rifles I leave the dies fully assembled.

That's what we did for years, until J bore dies showed up at decent prices. It still works fine, IMO. I used a .313 expander to hold the decapping pin in place. We shot .321 170gr 32 Spl bullets. Most "J" bore barrels were .319 to .321.

Thank very much everyone for your helpful comments.

Sincerely,
-Omid