Not sure where to go from here

[charlie brown]

Well, I have been sitting on this for about a month now. I worked up and shot some loads for my 8mm Mauser. The rifle is a Yugo 24/47 picked up last year in as-issued condition. I loaded some 150 grain Hornady's with IMR 3031 (will see in pic). There have been no modifications to the rifle, what so-ever. The groups I shot were at 25 yards. At 100 yards, with any given load, the rifle will shoot 6" high or so, so I didn't even go there yet. I plan to have a smith put on a set of peep sights and bend the bolt after hunting season (October sometime). The primary use of the rifle will be for a deer "truck gun."

So, where do I go? Do I do up a second batch the same way with 4 each from 45-49 grains, and shoot again at 25 yds to confirm, or pick one or two loads, and then do more testing at a little longer range (not necessarily before I get the peeps put on)? Any thoughts on the groups and what should be my next course of action would be good. Thanks.

Edit - The first group is only 3 rounds because I used one for a fowling shot. The others were shot each group, and then I shot a couple of magazines out of my 45, and checked both targets, and then picked up the mauser again. And, yes, the wind DOES blow at 5-15 MPH on a consistent basis! Thank God I had the wind at my back!

[HighDesertWolf]

looks to me like its liking 48 grains, and not caring at all for 49 grains id would stick with the 48 grains and maybe try a different primer but i dont know........... for 25 yards its really hard to tell where to go with it from the results. Im gonna say go with the 48 grains and work with it but overall for 25 yards even with open sights the groups should be a little tighter to determine what to do. try the 48 grains and make a 100 yard target i know you said it shoots 6 inches high, hold the front sight about midway in the V notch that should take care of the excess elevation, just have to take into consideration those mausers were developed with the use of heavy ball ammo I run into the same problems with Mosin nagants. good luck

[DM]

Are you sold on that weight of bullet???? My 8x57 never shot as well with lighter bullets, so i shoot 200 grain bullets on everything.

Something to think about,

Drilling Man

[charlie brown]

I guess you wouldn't say I am "sold" on this peticular bullet. I just saw the box there, it was cheap, so I figured, what the heck, can't hurt anything. I tried some 170 grain Sierras a while back, but not with this powder, however, and couldn't get really decent groups. There are two that Iam considering trying. I want to try either the 180 grain or 200 grain Noslers (BT, and Part., respectively).

I think I will wait until I get the peep sights put on this thing, then load up some 150's again with 48 grains, and find the most accurate load, then get some heavier bullets, and work up a load, and then decide from there. It is really hard for me to see with these sights also, so I think that will be my course of action. Its tough to just let something set there, but I think if I start pushing the distances out further with these sights, I will be wasting more money that I care to, and gaining very little.

And thanks for the responses.

[gorse]

If you are "sold" on the bullets you are using...and the powder, why change ? Your rifle seems to like 48.0 grains, so this is a good load for you. Why not just use it ? There can often be diminishing returns when one experiments, just for the sake of experimentation. Your 48.0 grain load is about as good as I've ever seen for an un-modified military Mauser. This load is certainly good enough for any application (hunting, normal target shooting, etc.) So, why fix it, if it isn't broken ???

[vangunsmith]

Most of your loads look not bad at all with this older gun,and with open sights.Ive seen some scope guys not do that good. Right now for a back up truck gun,it will work,and work up loads later when you get your other sights on it. vangunsmith