7.62 X 57

[jplonghunter]

Just what we need! Another caliber to play with. I have already purchased barrel blank and finish reamer and will start this week.
Any thoughts on loads will be appreciated.
Ray

[Rocky Raab]

Ray, you may not get any answers to an all-caps post. Most consider it rude to post in all caps.

[jplonghunter]

Rocky
Thanks for the advice ,I was not aware of this,so I'll try again.
Ray

[Rocky Raab]

Any idea what the case capacity of water will be? It sounds like it would be just a few grains larger than the .308, so standard .308 loads would be a good place to start.

Alternatively, you could go play with the trial version of Load From a Disk at www.loadammo.com and see if you can input the data to get loads.

Lacking that, if you supply some basic data, I'll run it though my own copy of LFD. I'd need case water capacity, barrel length muzzle to breech. case length, bullet length and weight, and an approximate seating depth.

[Catfish]

If your speaking of the 7.62 x 57 R the is alot of surplus ammo on the market for less than you can reload ammo. The Full Metal jacketed stuff is just blasting ammo for the range or other positive back stops, but the is also some soft point ammo that may shoot good in your rifle if your useing a .310 barrel , if it`s .308 then you`ll have to load your own. The 130 gr. Speer is the litest bullet I`ve ever got to shoot well in any .30 cal. rifle, great varmint bullet if your not saveing hides.

[Rocky Raab]

Don't think so, Catfish. I think you're thinking of the 7.62 x 54 R (for the Mosin-Nagant rifle). The "R" stands for Rimmed, not Russian.

I believe he's got a wildcat 8x57 necked down to .30-cal. But I may be wrong, also.

In metric, a .308 would be a 7.62x51, and a .30-06 would be a 7.62x61 (I think) so his would fall spang twixt 'em.

[Jack]

To be my normal annoying self, one minor correction: the 30-06 is known in metric as the 7.62x63.
'06 case length converts to 63mm, I believe the very slightly longer 270 case converts to 64mm (I'd have to get the calipers out to be sure of that one).
One important question I would have: is the wildcat in question an 8x57 necked down? Or a 7x57 necked up? Both the 7 and 8 use a 57mm case, but the shoulder location isn't the same......
Either way, I agree that 308 data would give a safe starting point.

[Rocky Raab]

Thanks Jack. I wasn't sure about the emms for the -06.

Also a good observation about which case it's based on - it COULD be either one.

[jplonghunter]

Jack
It is an 8mm case necked down to .308 bullet ( probably will start
with 150gr). Also,you are right on 30-06 case ,it is 63mm in length.

[Jack]

OK, if it's an 8x57 necked down, you can find loading data for the 8x57 using 150 grain bullets. Also data for 170/175 grain bullets, for which I'd substitute a 165 grain 30 caliber.
A lot of 8x57 data is pretty mild, but some data is available with pressures matching the 30-06. One good source of full power data is Accurate Arms.
Accurate Arms 2520 is a ball powder that gives excellent results in 308 and 30-06 with 150's and 165's, so I'd start with that if it were my rifle. 2520 is somewhere in the burning rate range of 4895, 4064, Reloder 15, and Varget (roughly), so that should give you a starting point as to powder selection.
I would start by cutting 8x57 data about 5%, and working up.
(BTW, I'm no metric system genius- the cheap Korean surplus ball ammo I buy to run thru my M-1 Garand is marked 7.62x63)

[jplonghunter]

Jack

Thanks for the info. I had thought I would start with 308 data but what you suggest seems better point of reference. I get this beast put together I'll let you know results.

Ray

[Rapier]

I am at the office right now, but as I recall (don't bet the farm on this), the 30-8x57 cat and it's data is in the PO Ackley Handbook.
Ed