Went looking for a Mosin, but came home with a Model 8

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texassako
Posts: 139
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 7:27 pm

Went looking for a Mosin, but came home with a Model 8

Post by texassako »

I was casually looking for the Mosin Nagants at Cabelas, needing one with a good bore to shoot some .311 bullets my Finnish M28/76 will not digest. No luck on a good bore so started browsing, and anything that looks different or shoots an obsolete cartridge seems to be my weakness. Started with other milsurp, but Cabelas is high in that department. Belgian antique revolvers drew me to that case, but I try to only buy shooters and nothing locked up tight except for a tiny Velodog that did not fit with my current collection of constabulary styled ones. Head over to used long guns, checking for lefty bolts first. On the bottom rack I spot this interesting little rifle. Semi auto so being a southpaw is not so bad, chambered in something called .32 Rem, a "interestingly" repaired stock, and Browning patents on the top. A quick check on that wonderful invention the smartphone showed a good price, even with the cracked stock. It should be easier to reload than my latest adventures in 9.4 Dutch Revolver and .38 Short Colts with heeled bullets, but I do get to mix my other hobby of woodworking with this one. Already have some ammo ordered from Buffalo Arms to spend some quality time waiting for dies. Here she is, a 1930 Model 8 in .32 Remington with a highly figured stock:
Rem model 8 right side (600 x 450).jpg
Rem model 8 right side (600 x 450).jpg (56.79 KiB) Viewed 4369 times
I hope no one is offended that I am going to be cleaning up and repairing this correctly, since it is such a great piece of walnut.
Rem model 8 right rear stock (600 x 450).jpg
Rem model 8 right rear stock (600 x 450).jpg (61.96 KiB) Viewed 4369 times
Lots of blueing left, looks very well cared for other than being dropped or something on the stock. Bore is bright and shiny with no pits.
Rem model 8 right action (600 x 450).jpg
Rem model 8 right action (600 x 450).jpg (53.83 KiB) Viewed 4369 times
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81police
Posts: 2613
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:12 pm
Location: TEXAS

Re: Went looking for a Mosin, but came home with a Model 8

Post by 81police »

texassako,

Welcome to the Great 8! We're glad you found your way here and joined. Thanks for the pictures of your new "springpole". I really like the figure in your stock, keep us posted on your repair as we'd love to see the "after" pictures. You're going to love your Model 8.
Cam Woodall
Site Co-Administrator
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jack1653
Posts: 984
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:52 pm

Re: Went looking for a Mosin, but came home with a Model 8

Post by jack1653 »

Hey texassako,

Welcome to the forum. I love it when someone who has never had a Remington model 8 or 81 gets their first one. You will learn very quickly that one isn't enough. You may become a victim of "jackitis". :lol: These rifles are amazing and are fun to shoot. You sound very knowledgeable about firearms, but if you have any questions about the Remington, there is a wealth of information on this site. We are willing to help in any way we can. Thanks for posting the pictures. :)

Regards,

jack1653
DWalt
Posts: 513
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 1:18 pm
Location: San Antonio & Brackettville TX

Re: Went looking for a Mosin, but came home with a Model 8

Post by DWalt »

Regarding your comment about the Finnish M28 not digesting .311 bullets. I also have one, and have never had a problem shooting either military 7.62X54mm ammo or reloads having .311-.312" bullets in it. For that matter, .308 bullets will work fine for casual shooting. Most of the M28s have Hammerli (Swiss) barrels, and are so marked.

.38 Short Colt is not a problem for brass, as you can trim back .38 Special cases, or alternatively Starline sells new .38 Short Colt brass. Hollow-base wadcutters (seated out) work well, and you don't need heeled bullets, as the bullet skirt expands to fill the bore under pressure.

The recommendation for making 9.4 Dutch is to start with .303 Savage brass, but as that is sort of hard to come by, you might try cutting back .220 Swift brass, which has the same base diameter as the .303 Savage, and also has enough of a rim to hold in place in each chamber. .30-30 brass might also work, but the base diameter is about 0.02" smaller than .303 Savage brass. I do make .303 Savage cases from .30-30, and they expand to fill the chamber at first firing. But I use fairly light loads. A little strip of masking tape around the .30-30 base makes case expansion more uniform at first firing.

You will probably have to handload .32 Rem if you are going to shoot much. Factory .32 ammo is pricey, but cases can be had without much problem, and you can neck up .30 Rem cases (easier to find) if needed. Bullets of the proper diameter (.320-.321) are available. .32 Rem reloading dies will be expensive, as it's an obsolete caliber, but .32 Win Special dies should work OK and would be more reasonably priced. Look on the gun auction sites for dies.
texassako
Posts: 139
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 7:27 pm

Re: Went looking for a Mosin, but came home with a Model 8

Post by texassako »

DWalt wrote:Regarding your comment about the Finnish M28 not digesting .311 bullets. I also have one, and have never had a problem shooting either military 7.62X54mm ammo or reloads having .311-.312" bullets in it. For that matter, .308 bullets will work fine for casual shooting. Most of the M28s have Hammerli (Swiss) barrels.
It slugged at .2995/.308, it is a bit different than the average Mosin:
M2876 right side (600 x 450).jpg
M2876 right side (600 x 450).jpg (57.71 KiB) Viewed 4332 times
DWalt wrote:.38 Short Colt is not a problem for brass, as you can trim back .38 Special cases, or alternatively Starline sells new .38 Short Colt brass. Hollow-base wadcutters work well, and you don't need heeled bullets, as the bullet skirt expands to fill the bore under pressure.
I found a batch of cheapish .38 Short and Long Colts on the GB site. A good portion were reloaded shorts with heeled bullets that I think were loaded for running through a .38 Special; so I dumped the powder and reloaded with a known charge. The gun slugged at .368 and I will try those HB wadcutters if I keep shooting this one.
DWalt wrote:The recommendation for making 9.4 Dutch is to start with .303 Savage brass, but as that is sort of hard to come by, you might try cutting back .220 Swift brass, which has the same base diameter as the .303 Savage, and also has enough of a rim to hold in place in each chamber. .30-30 brass might also work, but the base diameter is about 0.02" smaller than .303 Savage brass. I do make .303 Savage cases from .30-30, and they expand to fill the chamber at first firing. But I use fairly light loads. A little strip of masking tape around the .30-30 base makes case expansion more uniform at first firing.
I used cheaper .41 Magnum brass, turned the rim down a bit and thinned it. Only needed to full length size after that. It was harder finding a bullet that might work since it slugged at .390 and I don't cast.
DWalt wrote:You will probably have to handload .32 Rem if you are going to shoot much. Factory .32 ammo is pricey, but cases can be had without much problem, and you can neck up .30 Rem cases (easier to find) if needed. Bullets of the proper diameter (.320-.321) are available. .32 Rem reloading dies will be expensive, as it's an obsolete caliber, but .32 Win Special dies should work OK and would be more reasonably priced. Look on the gun auction sites for dies.
I usually like to shoot a gun before investing in dies and materials for it; so unless I like it a bunch I will checking the auction sites for a deal.
DWalt
Posts: 513
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 1:18 pm
Location: San Antonio & Brackettville TX

Re: Went looking for a Mosin, but came home with a Model 8

Post by DWalt »

Re the 9.4mm - Check on the internet, you might be able to find someone selling .390 round balls. Try Dixie Gun Works. Or you can always shoot wax (parrafin) bullets using primers only, which does have its advantages, as you can shoot indoors or in your back yard.

Shooting a .311 bullet in a .308 bore is really not a problem, unless your chamber neck is too small to allow proper case neck expansion for bullet release. That will raise chamber pressure. But if I were reloading for it, I'd just use a .308 bullet. You might want to cast your chamber and measure the chamber neck diameter to be sure there is a few thousandths (about 0.001"-0.002") slack vs. the case neck diameter of a loaded cartridge. There were many thousands of German M88 Commission rifles originally bored for .318 bullets that were converted during WWI to the newer 8mm S-caliber (.323) by simply enlarging the chamber neck diameter and nothing else.
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