reloading 8mm on a progressive press

[tsellati]

I am relatively new to reloading and have had great success with my handloads for a 9mm and .45 ACP pistol using a Hornady Pro-jector progressive press. Now I would like to start reloading for an 8mm Mauser rifle.

As I understand, a single stage press is preferred for rifle reloading, but, my question is can one reload this rifle caliber on a progressive press?

If so, are there any particular issues or tricks I should be aware of to make the process as smooth as possible?

Thanks for the education.

Tim

 

[TEDDY]

progress

how many cart.you expect to load.is the agravation worth it.a turret press will give chance to check you loads as you go along.I load 8.mm on Lee turret with the advance removed.one stage at a time.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I've loaded 8mm Mauser on my Pro-Jector with no problems at all. Your .45 shell plate will even work for the 8mm rounds. There's nothing special about loading rifle rounds on a progressive (that's how the factories load them, only their progressives are really big!). Just check to make sure your dies are set properly and the powder measure doesn't bridge with the powder if you use stick powder. Other than that, it's loading as normal.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[tsellati]

Fred,

Yes, your post helps a whole lot . If I might ask, what die set are you using for reloading the 8mm? I am looking at a Lee three die set on eBay that I may try to win (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260101051210). Do you think that this is a reasonable set to work with or do you prefer another brand?

Tim

 

[baker1425]

I use a lot if lee stuff for reloading. I am going to start loading lead gas checks bullets in 8mm and 06 and bought the lee case expander to keep from messing up cases with flat base bullets

You can get lee dies at a deal off of ebay or even better, somewhere else that aint anti gun

 

[ReloaderFred]

The majority of my loading dies for 27 different calibers are RCBS, Redding and Lyman, with a sprinkling of Dillon and Lee for different applications. My 8mm Mauser (7.92x57) dies are RCBS and have served me very well over the years. I think any dies from a reputable company will work for you.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Tim,

While i haven't loaded 8MM on my Hornady Lock N Load (The son of your Projector.) I have loaded a very similar round, the 30-06. Here's a couple tips:

1. First resizing: Use a standard full length resizing dieif the brass you're using wasn't fired in your rifle or if your rifle is a self loader/automatic. (Note: If your rifle is a bolt action and you're using brass you fired in it, skip to step 4 below.)

Use your progressive to speed this process up. I lube the cases using Imperial Sizing die wax (goes a long way and is a great resizing lube) and tumble to remove the lube when I'm done.

2. Trim the brass to 20 thousandths under maximum length and perform any operations such as beveling the case mouth, cleaning primer pockets, swaging military brass, etc. at this step.

Why 20 thousandths? If I'm shooting the rounds in an automatic/self loader, I will be using an RCBS X-die on subsequent reloadings and it requires I trim to that length after the first resizing.

3. Reload the brass on your progressive. You'll install a primer, dump powder and seat a bullet.

4. Once you've fired the brass reloaded in steps 1-3 above, you are ready to reload again. This is where things may change, depending on wether you have a self loading/automatic or a bolt action.

If you have a bolt action, do not lube, resize with a neck sizer, then prime, dump powder and seat bullet on your progressive. This makes things quick and easy as well as extending the life of your brass a good bit.

If you have a self loader/automatic, you'll need to lube, resize using the RCBS X-die (folow instructions for using this die carefully), tumble to clean the lube, then return to the progressive to seat primers, dump powder and seat bullets.

BTW, you may, after seeing this operation, think it's a good bit more involved than pistol reloading. You will be right. But it is much, much faster reloading using this method than it is to reload rifle using a single stage. Another positive is because you have a Hornady progressive, your reloaded rounds will have about the same amount of runout as a single stage, so your 600 yard line cartridges will shoot as accurately as most all single stages.

I hope this helps,

Dave