RTI Mannlicher 1888/90 - Shooting 

Standard 8mm mauser bullets (projectile) work in the 8x50 mannlicher. Also, IMR 3031 works best. If youre using 7.62 Russian brass, you can use that load data for the 8x50 Mannlicher. PPU makes projectiles in .323" and i have found that PPU males a bullet that is .330" and it works very well. Those bullets are FMJ, but sometimes you can find jacketed soft points for hunting. One last thing. The 8x50 Mannlicher was originally a black powder cartridge so, you can use a case full of pyrodex and have an accurate cartridge. You can buy the reloading die set from R&D tool and die.

Thanks for posting this, was very curious how it would do at the range.

Man! It would be so nice if someone made a new barrel liner for these nice firearms! A fine way to preserve the look of the rifle while improving its accuracy.

I'm looking at getting one from RTI as a project, and looking at the patent diagrams, I think it'd be fairly easy to rebarrel. Since the locking is done at the rear of the action, it looks like it's just a slightly coned breech. If I end up rebarreling one, I'll make a video. I don't think I'd be able to find/make an 8x50 chamber reamer, so I'll have to figure out a similar cartridge.

Great video . Glad to see it in action. You will definitely have to shoot it again with the clips. Can’t wait to see your M95 B grade video. I bought one as well.

I watched this series when you posted it earlier this year and I remember how bummed I was to learn that the barrel didn't work out for you. Can't think of why it didn't occur to me earlier but, if you still own it, perhaps you could convert it to a smoothbore musket/shotgun? Similar to what India did with their old Lee-Enfields. Either way hope you're having a good one buddy😊

Have you tried Jacketed bullets? I have heard that rough bores generally do not shoot well with cast bullets because the rough edges may tear up the bullet.

I've been using 25-30gr 4350.

I finally got a decent 1888/90 but there is a dent in the barrel. About 1mm deep and 4-5mm in diameter. Is that toast? I can't tell whether the inside of the bore is bulged inwards or not.

Please please please use a clip. Single feeding can cause the extractor to break not meant to lip over like that.

If you do end up getting one of these or a 8x56 that has rifling left (won't help this one of course), and it's not shooting up to your expectations, you might polish a couple thousandths out of your Lee sizer. Lee should have made the sizer for these at .330 or more in my opinion. I have 4 M95 carbines in 8x56r and they all have great bores, having said that the tightest one slugs at .330 so .329 for a cast bullet is really small even for one of these (diameter) rifles with a nice bore (based on the several I have owned and friends/family have owned, maybe 8x50 rifles were a bit tighter or I just happen to only have experience with ones on the larger end). I used a dowel rod with a strip of sandpaper curled around it and chucked that in a drill, of course a mill or lathe would be more ideal but I don't have either (yet!). Or you can check NOE, I think they make push through sizers over .329. I bought the Lee ,338 Lapua mold and size them down to shoot in my 8x56r rifles. Works well. The Lee mold for this caliber doesn't drop them quite fat enough for my rifles. Have you tried any shotgun or pistol powders for cast rifle bullets? I've used Unique with good results, but 2400 is my favorite. Starting with about 16gr of 2400 for this caliber would be about right, and if the case doesn't seal you can bump up to about 20 in increments. If still no seal, I swap to Reloader 7 and try that. If you haven't read it, the article called "cast bullets in military rifles" is a good guide and there's several other powders such as Red Dot that work well. Almost all my milsurp rifles I load cast with 2400 except a few, such as the 8x56r that gives me sooty cases at max 2400 level due to not sealing all the way with 2400 (not dangerous, just annoying) so I use Reloader 7 in those. With the crazy cost of powder, you can shoot more for less with the faster powders and it's perfectly safe. The Lyman cast bullet handbook has published loads for these powders as well. Nice vid, Im not trying to sound like a know-it-all so hope I don't come off that way.

What grade was this one? I bought a standard grade with the $100 hand select and got an ok bore and safety lever. However it does have the same hairline cracks near the tang.

Is your rifling able to be fixed? I don’t know a whole lot abt recrowning and all that

What would you recommend, I’m gonna get an 1888/90 for my ww1 impression and I’m sure it will have a bad bore. Once I fix it up like you did would you recommend black powder and constant cleaning for usage or to follow the amount of grams You used with smokeless?.

Great video, I’ll definitely uses this more my m95. Do you know where to find the dies?

Would it be an option to reline the barrel like we can see in some videos of the channel Midwayusa (by Larry Potterfield) ?

Just as a safety warning. Loading cases with a charge of powder below the minimum from your reloading manual can be very dangerous. If you want a safe soft shooting round then go with trail boss powder and fill your case and use lead bullets. I've used this technique with 6.5 carcano and the vetterli with great success.

this one is best used as a wall decoration