The 8×56mmR or 8×56mmR M30S (C.I.P. civil designation) cartridge was adopted in the year 1930 by First Austrian Republic, in 1931 by the Kingdom of Hungary, and in 1934 by the Kingdom of Bulgaria as a replacement for the 8×50mmR Mannlicher cartridge.
It was originally created for the Steyr-Solothurn light machine gun as the M30.[citation needed] Later the cartridge was adopted for use in rifles in 1931 as the M31 to replace the 8×50mmR Mannlicher cartridge. The updated cartridge coincided with an update to the Steyr-Mannlicher M1895 rifle in which the barrel length was reduced and the chamber re-cut to accept the new cartridge, and was the cartridge chosen by Hungary for the 35M rifle as a replacement for the Mannlicher M1895. The 8×56mmR was also used in updated versions of Austrian and Hungarian machine guns such as the Solothurn 31M and Schwarzlose 07/31M. From 1934 on it was the standard military cartridge of Kingdom of Bulgaria.
This ammunition was made at a variety of plants as well as countries, including Austria, Germany, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.
Suitable Powders
Bullet Weight (gr) -> | 0-50 | 50-75 | 75-100 | 100-150 | 150-200 | 200-300 | >300 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
👍 ... suitable powder
👍👍 ... suitable AND popular powder among our reloading community (clasification might evolve as more community members share their loads )
8 x 56 R M30S load data is available with the following bullets:
(most popular first)



