The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

Got out to the range to chronograph my 150 and 175 grain bullet loads. The powder is IMR 4895 and the 150 grain bullet load was the starting load that Lee lists on the information provided with their dies. The starting load for the 175 grain bullet had to be calculated as they do not provide data for a 175 grain bullet. They did provide data for IMR 4895 with a 170 grain bullet, so with those data points, calculating the data was possible.

Starting load for the 150 grain bullet was 32.3 grains and the average speed was 1,550 fps with a high of 1,667 and low of 1,363. The 175 grain bullet had an average of 1,357 fps with a low of 819 and a high of 1,542. Fourth shot of that string was also low-922 fps. I suspect the low speeds were erroneous as it was very windy and that may have had some effect on the chronograph. The device was set a sufficient distance from the shooting position that muzzle blast should not have been an issue-approximately 15 feet from the muzzle.

As a control, I shot two strings of ten shots with factory loads from Privi Partizan. First string averaged 2,324 fps with a high of 2,349 and low of 2,298. Second string had an average of 2,346 with a high of 2,363 and a low of 2,323. The bullet weights were 200 grain. I'll be doing more testing next weekend with maximum charge loads to see what results I can get. Max charge for the 150 grain bullets is listed at 36.0 grains and the calculated max load for the 175 grains bullets is 33.0 grains.

For some reason these things have really light load data. Some digging online provides correct reloading data that will give you the performance you desire. I went by the information in the little lee booklet that comes with their dies as well for my first 5 and got a cute little poomph. I figured it was horribly wrong. Do some google-fu for some 8mm lebel loads and you will be surprised by how much you're actually supposed to load these to when it comes to IMR 4895.

These are my handloads after I ditched the Lee reloading information and found some proper loads. Still a bit lighter than the information I've found but considerably heavier than the wrong information Lee provides.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDjsoOJseGc

The reloads were definitely waay too slow. The factory ammo has the correct velocity. I suspect that Lee was very conservative based on the fact that there were a variety of rifles chambered for 8mm Lebel and that a good many of them were not modified for Balle M. Anything above what I've already loaded will be done in increments-data I've found so far puts a proper charge in the 40 grain range.

I load in the 40 Grn range for my non "N" marked rifle and I use .323 bullets which are slightly undersized for the 8mm Lebel. From what I have read loads in this range in N marked rifles will smoke the neck of the case a bit since the chamber is a little more open.

Doesn't hurt to start low in a rifle like this and work your way into a load that you like. With my loads my M1916 my rifle shot pretty well. Better than I thought the rifle was going to shoot actually.

.323 bullets are what I'm loading. I've got three different loads to test tomorrow. First one's 150 grain bullet with 36.0 grains of IMR 4895. Second's a 175 grain bullet with 33.0 grains of IMR 4895. I expect those will be pretty low on the chronograph. Third load should be close to the factory load-200 grain bullet with 45.0 grains of IMR 4895. Load data that came from was actually for a 220 grain bullet load, so it should be all right. This gun has the "Balle N" proof stamps on the barrel and receiver, so I'm not worried about it coming apart or anything like that. The gun is in very good mechanical condition. The barrel is marked 1920 and shows no discernible wear. Shooting from the bench, this thing's a tack driver. If you don't nail the bulls eye at 100 or two hundred yards every time, it's you or the ammo and not the gun that has the issue.

That being the case, I reckon I'll take a couple of Mosins with me so that I have something to shoot while letting the Lebel cool down.

Got out to the range and ran three strings through the chronograph. Powder was IMR 4895. Results were:

String: 1 Bullet: 150 grain Charge: 36.0 grain
Low: 1816 High: 2023 Avg: 1891 ES: 206.7 SD: 65.62

String: 2 Bullet: 175 grain Charge: 33.0 grain
Low: 1446 High: 1643 Avg: 1592 ES: 197.5 SD: 58.42

String: 3 Bullet: 200 grain Charge: 45.0 grain
Low: 2382 High: 2430 Avg: 2407 ES: 48.31 SD 14.03

String 3 is on par with the Privi Partisan factory load I tested. It had a low of 2323, high of 2383 and average of 2346 with an estimated spread of 39.48 and standard deviation of 11.87. Bullet weight was 200 grain. I'm happy with this data. The 45 grain charge does smoke the necks of the cases as a result of the machining of the chamber for the Balle N cartridge.

Lee's Modern Reloading Second Edition has the 8mm Lebel listed and has quite a few loads.
Burrhead

I'll have to get a hold of a copy and take a look. Might have different information than what they include in the print out that goes with the dies. Thing about reloading for the Lebel is that some loads might be safe in one gun and unsafe in another-all depends on whether or not the gun is proofed for Balle N.