new project in 2025: handloading

I haven’t blogged much lately because I’ve been trying to get up to speed on a new topic.

I’m trying handloading because:

1. I have an old service rifle in an uncommon cartridge (8mm Mauser). Commercial loadings do exist to some extent but loadings tend to be hobbled because Americans can’t be trusted to pay attention but can be trusted to blame/sue others. The round was loaded roughly equivalent to .30-06 levels in WWI but isn’t now due to historical factors¹ and idiocracy².
2. I like to know how things work, how they are constructed, and how to make them (to some degree) by hand.
3. I have not practiced much with my defensive sidearms (9mm, .380ACP) because of the cost of defensive ammo. I want to shoot as close to my carry ammo as possible. Handloading lets me do that.

progress

first depriming

Depriming (or decapping) presses the spent[^unspent] primer out of the case so a new one can be pressed into place.

This was my first deprimed case. It was from PPU FMJ 8mm Mauser that I used when initially firing the Turkish Mauser.

first case cleaning

[forgive the spotlight effect; I was wearing a headlamp and it through off the phone’s flash calibration]

My initial batch of range brass was done in a large salad spinner. I rotated the basket by hand for about 10mins and was pleased with the result. I wanted a way to automate it, though.

The second batch was in a $10 thrift store ice cream churn. I epoxied some leftover rubberized shelf liner material inside to

1. provide friction to ensure active tumbling
2. keep the brass off the aluminum container
3. and dampen some of the sound

It’s rated 50w and works well. Although brass comes out shiny that’s not really the point; it cleans the brass to protect the dies, and makes case inspection easier.

forming 8mm Mauser brass

](https://img.mousetrap.net/2025/IMG_20250113_134820.jpg)

8x57mm brass is rare in the wild, but I find a few .30-06 cases when picking up brass on BLM land. 8mm Mauser can be formed from .30-06 brass without too much drama.

In the last pick the native 8mm Mauser rounds are on the left, the reformed 30.06 donor cases on the right, and the sole .270 case in the center. I split the neck on the .270 by excessive eagerness, inexperience, or luck of the draw. It goes in the recycled brass pile. Next time I get one of those cases I’ll try annealing the neck before forming.

annealing

Annealing is easy to do, but probably difficult to do accurately for a beginning reloader. reloading

I annealed the reformed cases. Can’t tell in this pic but the color change is maybe 1/2” below the next. Some of them I accidentally went further, although nowhere close to the case web.

further research

Most info on annealing info appears to be a mix between because I said so and because [insert authority here] said so. The most reasonable source I have found so far is Ballistic Creations. Based on my reading there and elsewhere it appears there may be a few myths ripe for busting:

• annealing is not about hardness in the Mohr scale sense
• water quenching doesn’t do what it does with steel; with brass it’s there to stop further heat creep down toward the case head
• the gospel 750deg F number appears to be low. 900F (dull red) looks to be the right ballpark.

The takeaway on the last point:

Annealing at the 750°F (399°C) number so often cited in brass annealing discussions is within a range that significantly lowers that susceptibility, however cracking remains a distinct possibility unless the case is annealed at (~932°F) 500°C or more, at which point cracking drops to zero. [results graph]

disassembling cartridges

I found a few live rounds on the last brass pickup and wanted to test out the hammer puller. IIRC it was a .30 super and .32 S&W Long.

throwing powder (9mm)

My first throws were at minimum (starting) weight of Win 231 for 124gr FMJ. I hand-threw and weighed each one. I used an almost-full Lee 9mm scoop then finished with a trickler.

seating and crimping (9mm)

This was the most nerve-wracking part. Setting up the seating/crimping die is probably the hardest step for a first-timer, but armed with videos, the printed instructions and a set of calipers I seemed to have made bullet-looking objects. :-)

for range testing

Since this is the first step in “working up a load” (from the bottom) I made six; three for my IWB carry sidearm and three for the PCC. If all is well the next test batch will be +0.2gr powder until we hit max load or signs of overpressure. I’d sure like to find something that works well in both.

reloading page

I’ve added a subsection to the website to hold details on my progress and findings.

1. the first iteration of the round was 0.318. When the cartridge moved to the newfangled spitzer type in ~1903 the bullet caliber was increased to 0.323. So if one had a <1903 rifle that had not been converted to “modern” 8mm Mauser things could go off he rails. ↩

2. it would be possible to chamber an 8mm Mauser cartridge in a .30-06 rifle. Once. This makes more sense when we realize the “ought-six” was based (indirectly) on the 8mm Mauser and has the same case head dimensions. 8mm Mauser -> 7mm Mauser - .30-03 -> .30-06. ↩