Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .318 bullets

I just picked up an old German single shot rifle in what appears to be 8x57 JR. I need to do a chamber cast just to confirm since it has no actual cartridge markings but does have enough other markings on the barrel to convince me it’s a .318 bore.

Seems that there aren’t a lot of .318 bullets out there. Any suggestions or recommendations on what everyone is using for this type of rifle? Maybe worth it to buy the equipment to draw out .323 bullets to .318?

Thanks for any and all help!

Try here. Good company.

https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloadi...s/jacketed-bullets/300-329-diameter.html

If you load light you probably use .321 bullets designed for the .32 Win. or 32 Rem.

Better yet cast bullets may shoot great and a very viable option for deer and hog hunting!

Hip

Lefty, Slug the barrel, if I had any money I'd bet it will slug .320 ( I have owned several old Haenel style sporters, not one ever was .318).
I shoot .321's as Hipshoot said. I use Speer 170 Hotcores, they hold together better at 8x57 velocity than Hornady.

Thanks for all the advice. I’ll do a chamber cast this week to determine actual bore diameter. The barrel is stamped .310/.319 which I assumed was the land and grove diameter but I’ll know for sure once I get the cast out.

I would trust a pure lead slug pushed through the barrel more than a chamber cast to give you your groove diameter.
Not sure what it would cost but a swagin die to bump down larger diameter bullets by a few thousandths to the correct groove diameter would be a nice trick.

Just out of curiosity why would one show something the other didn’t? I’m definitely not arguing and would like to learn. Any time in the past I have done chamber cast so that they go at least a full inch into the rifling and got all my measurements that way. I guess it wouldn’t show if you have a constriction somewhere over the full length of the bore?

Bullet dies...

https://chtoolanddie.com/products/bullet/bsd

Well that looks like just the ticket and not terribly expensive.

Have you ever used one? They work pretty well?

Never had the need for one. Just a happy customer for their rifle dies & thought the option might help.

It says more than .004" may not be optimal. .323 to 318 is .005.

Helpful folks at CH. Send them an email.

So it slugs .319. I’m guessing that .318 bullets would still be best?

UNDER bore size is usually not your friend.....