8mm Nambu - the cheap way!
Recently finding myself in need of some 8mm Nambu ammo and everything I've read thus far pretty much says "Hang on THIS ain't gonna be cheap!" And searching for molds --- $200 and up, searching for dies $200 and up...well that just doesn't work for me.
So what's a cheap bastage do? Well, here's what I did:
First I needed a mold. I took a 30-115 (30 carbine I think) mold and opened it up to make .323" 100 gr. bullets. I did a separate post on that.
Next I read a bunch about using 30-30 dies to swage a 40 s&w case, made sense, but the info was somewhat conflicting. In the end I went with a 32 Spl die and swaged/reformed the entire case shoulder and all. In retrospect I think I may modify this die just slightly to get the extra base diameter...maybe not I guess we'll see how they shoot with the smaller base Dia.
Then I took a 38spl expander die and modified it to IIRC .318" At that size I machined pretty much completely thru the case hardened exterior but it will suffice for several hundred rounds until I have to worry about it. This is a learning exercise so for now that was acceptable to me.
Next I took a 9mm seater die and tried just readjusting the seater not realizing I left a mark near the base of the case. I think I can readjust this die to prevent any case marks on my next attempts. If not I will consider modifying the die (I will search out an extra first).
The only thing left is to figure out how I want to crimp these. The method I used was rather unconventional and I'd really like to not have to do that.
So total cost this far? I spent 35 bucks on the bullet mold and another 10 to ship. I had the other dies laying around except I'd like to buy another 9mm seater - so I'll be on the hunt for one I can modify. I also bought a Nambu shell holder for another 12 bucks. $57 bucks so far. Leaves me quite a bit to come up with a crimp solution.
I did have to open up the primer pockets as the swaging did affect them and I also narrowed up the rim to the original nambu rim thickness. After swaging I did ream the necks using a .312" reamer.
Will these work? Well so far all I can tell you is that they do chamber. The rest?
To Be Continued
I hope this helps a fellow cheap bastage save a buck or two. If not well I hope it was entertaining just the same.
Jacin