So I have been planning to start converting .30-06 brass to 8mm mauser. I thought that I understood how the process works, but I think I'm more confused than ever. 

 

I had initially thought the process was as simple as running .30-06 brass through an 8mm resizing die, and trimming off some excess.

 

So, my girlfriend got me a Lee Ziptrim  for my birthday. Not sure what else I need with it, what sort of cutters, or shell holder. I already have a chamfer/deburring tool.

 

Then I saw there were shape/trim dies  made by RCBS that can be used before using them in the resizing die. Some people then say to use a hacksaw to shorten the elongated case-neck, then run it through the resizing die. But then some claim you need to anneal the brass. Others say you don't have to. I don't have a setup for annealing, and know nothing about how you do it, or the money or space for an annealer. 

 

So what I want to know is this, what do I actually need for my ziptrim, and what do I need to do in order to effectively convert .30-06 brass to 8mm mauser in a way where I won't have a pipe-bomb in my hands?

Why would you want to? 8mm is not hard ammo to get.

I anneal with a drill and a 9/16 socket and torch, run up in the trim die, neck turn, and then resize. I average about 150 an hour once I get rockin and rollin

Why would you want to? 8mm is not hard ammo to get.

It is hard to get cheaply my friend lol. I know a lot of people who shoot .30-06, but don't load it. I'm also looking to get a K98k around May-June as a "Graduation gift" for myself, and do not want to shoot corrosive ammo out of it.

 

I anneal with a drill and a 9/16 socket and torch, run up in the trim die, neck turn, and then resize. I average about 150 an hour once I get rockin and rollin

 

Wait, now I'm more confused. I thought that annealing was heating up the case with controlled temperatures to allow for easier working of the  brass.

 

But since you load 8mm mauser, could you help me know what exactly is necessary. And if you have any knowledge of what I can use for the ziptrim I'd appreciate it.

It is hard to get cheaply my friend lol. I know a lot of people who shoot .30-06, but don't load it. I'm also looking to get a K98k around May-June as a "Graduation gift" for myself, and do not want to shoot corrosive ammo out of it.

 

 

Wait, now I'm more confused. I thought that annealing was heating up the case with controlled temperatures to allow for easier working of the  brass.

 

But since you load 8mm mauser, could you help me know what exactly is necessary. And if you have any knowledge of what I can use for the ziptrim I'd appreciate it.

 

Annealing is heating up the case NECK to allow for easier working or mostly to reduce the work hardening that has occurred in the neck area of the brass (the area that experiences the most work).  If you google annealing brass you will find a ton of info.  Some guys stand the cases up in a pan of water to keep the area below the neck cold, others use a block of metal to keep the area below the neck cold...

 

Lee makes a "Case Length Gauge & Cutter and Lock Stud" for nearly every caliber that exists.  However, this should be used for final trimming of your brass once it's sized CLOSE to a real 8mm case.

Also, at 70 cents a round for brass case non corrosive ammo - I'd buy a bunch before I start reloading.  You'll have much less $$ and time into it that way.  It's not like this is an obscure caliber that you HAVE to make.

Also, at 70 cents a round for brass case non corrosive ammo - I'd buy a bunch before I start reloading.  You'll have much less $$ and time into it that way.  It's not like this is an obscure caliber that you HAVE to make.

 

 

I haven't seen any for $0.70/rd. I've only seen it for $20/20rds.

 

Though it may be $0.70/rd if you don't factor shipping. Maybe I'll look again. I haven't ordered ammo in a really long time. Maybe it's come down a bit--last time I was pricing 8mm was when the whole threat of the AWB was going on.

I have a spreadsheet that tracks my cost per round of various reloads (.30-06, 9mm and .45 Auto). I laugh every time I remember that at one time I thought I'd save money reloading... on a marginal per round cost I can save over 50%, but it will take me over 5,000 rounds to break even on the initial cost of presses, dies, scales, trimmers, gauges, calipers, etc...

 

Don't' get me wrong, I love reloading and have learned a TON about firearms, have a ball reloading, reading my books, working up loads, improve accuracy (especially with my M1 Garand) etc. but save money, that will probably never happen :-)

 

I shoot half my annual round count in .22LR and I shoot less than a 800 rounds of .30-06 a year, so break even is years off....  handguns more, but i save less per round....

 

BTW, thanks to this forum, and some pointer, I really have gotten the cost of 9mm down, but it still takes a long time to payback the setup.

 

My next round to learn to reload is 7.62x54R, but i will probably never save money on that versus cheap Russian surplus since the surplus brass is not reloadable (berdan/steel) and the bullets will cost more than the initial cost of the surplus rounds.

Don't bother reloading and get the spam cans of the MATCH x54 at grafs. The stuff is amazing and I can't hand load like that quality for that price.

Also, at 70 cents a round for brass case non corrosive ammo - I'd buy a bunch before I start reloading.  You'll have much less $$ and time into it that way.  It's not like this is an obscure caliber that you HAVE to make.

^^^^THIS ^^^^^^ was my point.........Buy some PPU 8mm and reload it, it's not worth the time in my opinion to convert 30-06 unless you have nothing to do all day.

 

Also, why not consider corrosive if you can find it cheap enough? You're running it through a bolt gun, as long as you clean it after shooting it you'll be fine. I could understand if you had a G43 or some other expensive semi auto, but bolt guns are easy to clean.

Don't bother reloading and get the spam cans of the MATCH x54 at grafs. The stuff is amazing and I can't hand load like that quality for that price.

I have bought a couple spam cans already (not the MATCH grade stuff) though and they are keeping me happy. I actually like to learn the loads, so i will eventually give it a try. It sure is hard to beat the surplus

The match is on a page of its own, nothing including commercial comes close. kaiser, gimme a shout next time I am home and you can come up and we'll make a bunch.

^^^^THIS ^^^^^^ was my point.........Buy some PPU 8mm and reload it, it's not worth the time in my opinion to convert 30-06 unless you have nothing to do all day.

 

Also, why not consider corrosive if you can find it cheap enough? You're running it through a bolt gun, as long as you clean it after shooting it you'll be fine. I could understand if you had a G43 or some other expensive semi auto, but bolt guns are easy to clean.

 

Truth be told, it's because I think my VZ24's barrel is starting to rust. I've always cleaned it immediately after shooting corrosive, rinsing a little water through the barrel (at least) while at the range (If not a quick clean), followed by a more thorough clean when I get home. But the past few times, every single time I run a patch through there, it comes out a little reddish-brown.

 

After seeing this, I tried to really clean it out, must have run fifteen solvent patches, and it still kept coming out with rust. Basically I was quite upset that this had happened, and decided I didn't really want to shoot corrosive ammo anymore. I know keeping it properly cleaned should prevent any negative effects, but I've been having problems with this (Maybe because I've learned cleaning by myself, and from watching youtube videos?) I guess it's one of those things where  I'd probably be better if I came from a gun-owning family. 

 

I'm actually rather embarassed with this admission, as I know cleaning a bolt action should be quite easy. I just don't want to risk any further rusting.

Speaking of loading '54r, I found this youtube vid. Seems fun. Dangerous because you could probably pop a primer and get hot gas in your face or something along those lines, but fun.

 

Speaking of loading '54r, I found this youtube vid. Seems fun. Dangerous because you could probably pop a primer and get hot gas in your face or something along those lines, but fun.

 

 

I watched that.  The idea of converting Berdan to boxer always appealed to me, though I'm not sure if it's safe to do. But the idea of both converting berdan to boxer AND reloading steel like this guy did it, that just seems like he's doing just about every bad thing you can do with respect to reloading.