Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 30-06 or 8x57

When I buy a new gun and cartridge I usually buy a heap of different bullets and see how they shoot. The exception was my Sako 8x57. I bought some 180gn Ballistic Tips and loaded them up for a quick trip out west after pigs. They went so well I loaded up a heap more and never bothered to try any others. I've stacked up on more Ballistic Tips when they are on special. They group well (as a Sako should) and perform excellently on pigs so I just haven't tried anything else so far.

I load 180gn bullets in my .30-06 and between it and the 8x57 I can't see any difference in on game performance between them. The .30-06 would probably be the more logical choice but in a custom rifle the 8x57 just seems more better. And sometimes it's just more fun to throw logic out the window and get something different.

The fact is that for a 30/06 or an 8x57, all you need is one bullet make/model and about 1,000 cases to load 5 times. At the end of that, you'll probably be ready for a new barrel and maybe a new cartridge.

Why bother worrying about how popular a cartridge is?

I would just buy a Howa 30-06, load it up with 150 TTSX's and go shoot critters. Save the build money for glass.

I think that there are at least a few comparable component bullets, I particularly like the 0.323" 200 grain AB.

The data on the Hodgdon site shows comparable velocities with 200 grain bullets, but with a small advantage to the 30-06 with a longer test barrel.

I know that there are many more component bullet options in 0.308" than in 0.323" and that component cases are easier to find in 30-06 than in 8x57, as is factory ammo. There is European-made factory ammo that is equal in quality to any 30-06 ammo that I've seen, but it is unlikely to be found on many dealers shelves.

I suspect that some European firearms manufacturers still chamber the 8x57, Zastava cataloged their Model 70 the last time that I looked.

I have a few rifles chambered in 30-06 and 8x57, some of which I load for, and think that they are pretty close performance wise if all of the variables are close to being equal.

That said, I agree that the 30-06 is an easier and more practical choice for North American.

YEP.

A. I use the Speer 200 'spritzer' in my 8 mm RM. It has virtually the same BC as a Speer, 270 cal, 130 spitzer.
I used it for load development and practice. The Nosler 200 P is so close, the trajectory is virtually the same.

B. I said this in my earlier post on P 7:
" For myself there is NO dilema; the 30-06 (30 cal) has SO MANY options that the 8 mauser can't compete."

That is in reference to bullets sizes and availability as well as brass.

Jerry

Same goes a 223.

Hint..............(grin)

Haha, no doubt!

Your gunsmith is an old timer, are you?

Do you want classic, more modern, or gee whizz plastic and stainless?

Do you have a action, or one in mind?

Look at Simpson's Husqvarna's.

They will have guns in both chamberings. A lot of 8mm that need stocks, or even barrels.

Good place to start a classic custom.

Dealinsuck,

Leave it to you...to botch the obvious. Congratulations?!?

Hint....................

I think it was in the first Nosler reloading manual ( green with a Moose on the cover) a writer suggested loading the 8x57 "like the Germans in WW2 did". He suggested this was done with the 200gr Partition seated out with only .25" bullet in the neck. I forget the powder he suggested, and I wore out that old manual years ago, but I thought his suggestion held merit. Of course, now there are all kinds of great 8mm bullets available. For myself, it would have to be in one of the Mod 700 Classic runs or an Old World Stalking Rifle of some sort.

I have that manual still and i'll take a look.

Only downside of this with hand loaders is watch the neck tension after the brass is fired a couple of times and DON'T turn the necks! If you can get any movement of the bullet in the case after seating with your fingers, dump that load and brass. (Ask me how I know. OK, I'll tell you )

What you don't want to happen is to have one seated out as described and have it in the magazine and have the recoil of the one preceding it drive the bullet deeper and changing your point of impact. Also, it is very inconvenient to extract an unfired round only to have the bullet come losse and the extractor pulls back dumping powder all down your magazine.

Don't you just love it when you're in the mood to eat steak, but someone keeps telling you that you should order salmon?

Yup! Lay out some clear parameters, and you wonder if people read what you said!!

Quak,

I just reread your comment & the .375 Whelen OR the .400 Brown-Whelen Improved are NOT "obscure" either AMONG handloaders, cast bullet fans & dedicated BIG-game hunters, who want a POWERFUL rifle for BIG/TOUGH game w/o hauling a BIG/heavy magnum rifle around in the hunting fields. = Those two calibers are VERY EFFICIENT & the most powerful calibers, without going to a BIG/hard-kicking, belted magnum AND that can be easily made from .30-06 brass.
I use ONLY Lake City, once fired, M2 ball cases (that I get from a Garand match-shooter for FREE) for reloading any caliber that can be made from .30-06 cases.
(Chuck Hawks has popularized both calibers, even among many casual hunters.- I will grant your point that you will find neither caliber at Wal-Mart or the local 7-11 store.)

I've about decided that my "hundred buck", garage sale & circa 1992 Model 760, which has a badly pitted bore, will be reformatted by Jessie at JES into the .400 B-WI. = Might as well go "whole hog", since I already have the Remington Model 760 in 9.3x62mm.
(The 400 grain JHP/solid at 2200FPS would "take down" a T Rex, if one was still around.)

Btw, the .400 B-WI doesn't really "kick"; instead it "pushes" against the shoulder & NOT hard either.

yours, tex

Wiley Clapp?

I 'suppose' ( not assume ) you know many just jump in the middle of the thread w/o starting at the START.
Makes for some ' interesting' comments or discussion.

BTW, I started at the start.


Jerry

RE: The original question

Deer/Pig rifle:

A huge variety of chamberings from .223 and up with the proper bullet will kill this size critter efficiently, so pick a chambering you like. Personally the very common chamberings like 30.06, .270, .308 etc. are just boring. Why waste the opportunity to build a memorable project with a friend in a caliber that inspires yawns. The 8x57 you mentioned is just enough out of the mainstream to make it interesting. Unless you intend to hunt something bigger than African Plains game, the 8x57 will make it very dead. I'm sure some new high BC, super high velocity bullet spinning at the speed of light will make things deader, but deader tastes the same as dead.

Gunsmith Friend helping with project:

To me this means it needs to be an old school hunting rifle: Commercial mauser, maybe re-barrel a shot out pre 64 winchester model 70 or a model 54. I'm a fan of the small ring 98 actions and 8x57 fits well in the intermediate length Mexican actions. Again, I wouldn't build it on an action that makes me yawn, like a rem 700, savage, howa etc. Those are wonderful actions from a performance standpoint, but boring from a custom build perspective. There are tons of Commercial mausers out there: FN, Zastava, Husqvarna, etc. that could be the basis for a very cool project rifle.

Reloader:

8x57 is as easy to reload as the 30.06 and there are plenty of bullets that can cover any game. Components are widely available and no more expensive than .30cal.

Already own .260 and .358:

You already have 2 chamberings that will kill anything in NA, so again I would be focusing on the uniqueness of building the project with your friend, rather than making it a quest for the most efficient wiz-bang ballistic wonder of the world. Remember deader tastes the same as dead.

Good luck.

For me the choice between the two would be falling-off-a-log easy -- .30-06. With bullets from 79g to at least 240g bullets, you wont find a caliber with a wider variety available.

Thanks for the well thought out response, but you are killing me! I had pretty much decided the 06 but i could almost persuade myself to go 8x57 again! I was looking at Husqvarna actions and was leaning that way. I did ask the gunsmith friend which he prefers and he said 06, but that alone does not need to be the deciding factor.