Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good 8x57 loads?

Looked around for a thread of 8x57 loads but didn't find one. Rifle is an old sporterized Mauser with the original military barrel so not expecting just the greatest accuracy. I currently have 150gr and 170gr bullets. Leaning towards the 170s, but feel free to list any loads you like. Who knows, might get this thread added to the Campfire Pets Loads Sticky.

I used to load for the 8x57 a lot. 180 Hornady RN and somewhere in the neighborhood of 42-43 grains of imr 4064 was the best I could get with a military barrel. Never could get the 150's to shoot well in military barrels. Also, never could get hotter loadings to group well.

Your 170's and 4064, and a reliable book load for 170's should get
you close to where you want to be and then you can dial it in.

mine are looked as a bolt action equivalent of a 30/30, which fits my needs just fine... I know you can load it much hotter, but I really don't need to.

My 3 or 4 Mausers are WW2 era vintage...

I always load 30 grains of 4198, with a 170 grain Speer SMP. If you need to push it more, it will digest 40 grains of 4198., sending that 170 gr Speer out the Muzzle at like 3100 fps, out of a 29 inch barrel...

that bullet performs even with loads as light as 15 to 20 grains of 4198...even to 150 yds with NO Kentucky windage needed. It does so well in about any situation, that is pretty much the ONLY bullet I shoot in an 8mm Mauser.

I have had quite a herd of 8x57's, some commercial, some mil surp bubba's, of course any powder that performs well in the .308 will be a good choice. According to my loading logbook best accuracy seems to occur with 4320 (damn them for discontinuing it)...with book loads using 150's, 170's, 175's and the old corelokt 185. Velocity leaders without pushing pressure limits is CFE 223 and BLC-2. Many old books swear by 4064..but I never thought much of it...perfect burn rate, but never got the groups I'd hoped for. In these times of shortages, you need to consider many options outside the box...and good old 3031 is kind of a do it all in the 8mm IMO.

53 grains Varget behind a 175 grain Sierra, 3.000", gets 2750 FPS at a measured 53.8 KPSI in a Mauser I used to have. Your rifle will be different of course.

I love the 8x57. My rifle is a modern action Sauer so I try to load it to its potential.

H4895, AA 2520, and Win748 have all proven to be excellent for 150gr bullets. When I load 150s I seat the bullets to the reccomended seating depth due to not being able to chase the lands with a short bullet

For the 170gr class bullets, I had the best accuracy with Win748 (170 SST) Ramshot BigGame (170 Speer) and IMR4064 (Horn 170 rnd nse)

CFE has been great with the 175gr Sierra, and the 180gr Nos BT. Varget and IMR 4350 both were excellent with the 200gr Nos Partitions and Accubonds.

I like the 180 Barnes and H-380

My mil surp liked 4320 and 160TTSX.

I load the 8x57 for a Remington 700 and three mil surps. I've had best accuracy and velocity from W748, but also good results with IMR4064. I components become more available I'll be trying more loads with Varget and CFE223.

I pulled the 198 grain ball from the Portuguese machine gun ammo, seated a 200 speer and it shot very well and smacked down big NY deer with authority. Those loads had 45 grains of a military flake poweder, I also loaded the 185 Coreloct and did that with H414, TAC, and I have a bunch of AA 2460 that I plan to use to load behind a bunch of the 170 grainers.
Love my old Mauser to swing along a happy trail with. 20" barrel and Peep sight. Light, handy and gets it done.
F01

Anyone experienced bullet fragmentation with 175 grains sierra being pushed about 2800 fps. Had one implode on impact on deer's rib bone, curious anyone had this before with the 8mm mauser and this bullet

Last year deer season of 2021 I chose that bullet with CFE223 going 2737fps from my 8x57 as the load I wanted to use that year. I killed the biggest buck of my life opening day. The buck walked by me at 25yds but when I took my rifle off safety, he got spooky and trotted out to about 50yds. I hit him far back in the liver then worked the bolt and caught up with him around 80yds with a well placed shot in the spine (i was in a tree stand) traveling through the chest cavity, which put him down in a hurry. I found my second bullet and the front half of the bullet was gone leaving the 2nd rear half under the hide. That Sierra 175gr ProHunter is a stout bullet and I wouldn't hesitate to use one on a bear or elk and will no doubt use them again for deer in upcoming seasons.

I was under the impression that sierra 175's were designed for 8 RM velocities. That makes me think you may have mistaken identity?

No mistaken ID. That bullet is only 1 of 2 bullets weighing 175gr in 8mm Dia currently being produced and for my rifle and hunting it is a winner in terms of both accuracy and lethality. The other 175gr 8mm bullet I refer to is the Privi Partisan 175gr which I have not used. The Sierra 175 might be good for the 8mmRemMag but it is perfectly suitable for the 8x57 so long as adequate velocity is attained.

180gn Ballistic Tip over 49gn H4895 for 2640fps. Rifle is a Sako Grizzly with a 21.5 inch barrel.

^^^^Yes, +1, a damn good accurate, reliably performing bullet at real world ranges in the 8x57^^^^

Hi guys I'm new to this site. I'm a big 8x57 fan and have been hunting Canada with it for a while. I can add some of many loads that proved to be accurate in many rifles of mine. 22-24" barrels.

195gr Hornady interlock 46.5gr imr 3031 @ 2570 fps-sub moa load.

200gr Speer Hot-cor 48.5 gr imr 4064 @ 2550 fps-1 inch load

170gr Speer Hot-cor 49.5gr imr 4064-sub moa load.

220gr Sierra Gameking 48gr imr 4064 @ 2450 fps-1 inch load-

200gr NPT 54.5gr RE 17@ 2645 fps-1 inch load

220gr Sierra Game king 52.5gr RE 17 @ 2560fps-sub moa load

About time you got here . Velkommen

Nice username too

Mine is a No. 1 AB with a Lilja barrel in 8x57 JRS completed last year. So far, it seems to like 52.0 grains of CFE 223 and the Nosler 180 BT, but has also shown promise with the Hornady 170 RN and the Hawk 180 RT and that powder. I haven't chronographed any loads yet. I plan to hunt with it if I draw a mulie tag this year.

I only tried one load in my 700 classic. H4350 and 175 sierras shot under MOA so I stopped right there. I’ll probably take it to africa one day…180TSXor 200partitions. Probably start right back with 4350 and see what she does.