I thought about posting this in the reloading subforum but decided it was specialized enough to get better response here.

Does anyone have a favorite cast bullet for the 8mm Kar 98 series Mauser. I have pulled out my G33/40 Mountain Carbine to try in the doughboy and have been having trouble finding a cast bullet that feeds smoothly. The bullets available all seem to be truncated cone profiles, and it seems like I am trying to force them into the rifling when they chamber, if I can close the bolt at all.  I have tried loading the bullets to a very short OAL, so short that the often hang up coming out of the magazine before the extractor engages, particularly those loading from the right. I Have tried the bullets in other rifles (Kar98K, Kar98AZ, Gew98) and all have the same issues on one degree or another.  Is this just an inherent problem with trying to chamber blunt bullets in a rifle that was specifically designed around spitzers. I have not had these issues shooting .30-06, .30-40, or .303, al of which I have loaded with more tapered, spitzer-like, bullets.   

I have read that the G33/40 Mountain Carbine barrels were made tighter than the regular infantry short-rifle barrels of WW2 (Kar98k), so the two rifles would achieve the same muzzle velocity with the same ammo.  That might explain why "bore rider"-type lead bullets get stuck in the G33/40...

Quote from: Cap'n Redneck on September 11, 2024, 03:52:33 PMI have read that the G33/40 Mountain Carbine barrels were made tighter than the regular infantry short-rifle barrels of WW2 (Kar98k), so the two rifles would achieve the same muzzle velocity with the same ammo.  That might explain why "bore rider"-type lead bullets get stuck in the G33/40...

So  that makes me wonder if bullets for .303 Enfield (.312) might work, perhaps paper patched.  Or maybe I just need to give up on the idea of using the G33/40 (and 8mm in general) for Doughboy.

If you cast bullets, Lee has this mould. https://leeprecision.com/8mm-molds
If you don't cast look for a round nose in .323"-.324" range.

Slim