A couple years back I took a Yugo Mauser and sporterized it. New stock, turned down bolt handle, re-blued, scoped, etc. I left it in 8mm mauser and it shoots pretty well - about 1.5" at 100 yards. This round only produces about 2350 fps or a little better so it is not what you would call a flat shooter.

A friend has a reamer to convert this to 8mm-06. I'm leaning towards taking advantage of this as according to the books it should get north of 3000 fps. Anyone have any experience with such a conversion? I understand it was pretty popular right after WWII.

The conversion will work, but the problem may be with the overall length of the 8mm-06 cartridge. Unless the magazine box is lengthened, you may be required to seat the bullets a bit deep to feed through the magazine. Hope this helps. All the best...
Gil

guncollector= I have 2 8mm06's and gil martin is right. If you load 150's or less you're ok but with 180 and up to get maiximum advantage you'll have to open the box and redo the ramp. I only insert my bullets 1/4" in the neck giving me a shorter freebore. works real nice. Dave

I'm loading 54.9 grains of ww760 behind a Hornady 150 grain spitzer in standard 8mm Mauser. My friend this puppy brings pee!

guncollector= Is your yugo an m98 or an m48. The m48 has a slightly shorter action than the m98. the m98 would work the best for your conversion. I have been using the k.kale w/ 29" barrel . It's definitely a screemer. Dave

I wonder if what you need is rechanbering, or just new loading data.
Finding data for the 8x57 that is at pressure similar to a 30-06 or other cartridge changes the picture considerably.
For example, take a look at Accurate Arm's data for the 8x57 at modern pressures- assuming your rifle is in good condition, etc. (the normal warnings)
The 8x57 cartridge is quite capable of getting 2900 FPS with 150 grain bullets, and about 2700 with bullets in the 170-180 grain range.
My recommendation is to leave the rifle an 8x57- no case reforming, can use factory ammo if need be, etc.

jack's right. I took a look at my load book, 200gr noslers at 2600 fps. not bad for a 8x57. rem factorys are loaded really light. around 2400 for 150gr. 8x57s I load using loadbook usa are excellent. Dave

Thanks for the ideas! My Yugo is an M48 in good condition. I think I will try some more agressive loading before anything else. I can always re-chamber later.