Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles mannlicher schoenauer 8X56 issue

I have a 1908 MS in 8X56MS. I've owned it for years but never shot it. I finally took some 8X57 brass and sized it and trimmed it to MS length. I loaded up 170gr Hornady Interlock bullets atop a 40g / IMR 4065 load. This is 4 grains less than the load I've seen referenced many time on the internet.

Rifle shoots this load very accurately, zero signs of pressure. But after firing, the bolt handle is very hard to lift. The fired cases slip right back into the chamber and bolt lift is fine on the empty case.

Any ideas?

Roy,
It may be because you are fire forming the brass. When you reload the brass, do not full length resize, but only neck size. I'll bet on the second firing, you won't have the bolt lift problem.

hclark,

I'm thinking you may be correct. We'll see......Thanks

The case of the 8x56 MS is a little bit slimmer than the 8x57. Difference at rim: 0,1 mm, at base: 0,15 mm. A little bit academic but...

So.........Last night I completely disassembled the bolt. With no cartridge in the chamber the bolt will easily open. No resistance what so ever.
Using the bolt without the firing pin or the cocking piece I inserted a piece of fired brass. I experienced extreme hard bolt loft once the bolt handle was raised to 1/2 its upward movement.
I full length sized this brass and although the resistance was lessened, it was still very difficult to move the bolt handle past the half way mark.
I measured this piece of brass and confirmed that all dimensions are under the spec I found on the internet for 8X56MS cartridge.
But to be sure I ground a few thou off the rim.....no improvement.
I then ground a few thou off the base of the cartridge....no improvement.
I them took the resized case and cut it 1/2" above the base and using this stub I inserted it into the bolt and pushed the bolt home. I wanted to be sure the resistance was not due to the extractor or the ejector......Bolt opened easily. So the issue is somewhere north of the first 1/2" of the brass.
I then took a piece of once fired brass and in the lathe removed one thou from the middle third of the case. Voila! The bolt handle moved easily!
I then smoked a piece of once fired brass to see if I could observe where it was hitting. The smoked case showed contact with the brass over it's whole length.
My conclusion is that I have a "banana" shaped chamber or an "oval" shaped chamber. Although I can't confirm either of these theroies with the measuring equipment I have at my disposal.
I've had this happen with a few rifles in the past. Usually egg shaped chamber resulting from poor chambering jobs with short cartridges (6BR and 6PPC).
My solution has always been a Cerrosafe cast of the chamber and using the casting attached to a long brass rod with grinding compound and an electric drill to polish the chamber round.
Unless anyone has something else they think I'm missing, I'm moving forward with this process.
Thanks


This photo shows the test brass. As you can see on the "smoked" piece, there is extra contact on the middle portion.


The machining on this 1908 bolt is nothing short of amazing!


The bolt without the firing pin or cocking piece

I'm forming my cases from 8X57 Mauser, resized and trimmed to length. The Winchester brass I'm using is slightly smaller in all dimensions to the print here.