I was reading the balistic table on the 8mm Mauser and remarked to a friend that it seemed similar to the 30-30. He told me that commercial 8mm is not as hot as military surplus, and that a more apt comparison would be to the 7.62 x 54.

Can anyone shed light on this?

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Never teach a pig to sing.
It wastes your time and annoys the pig

The 8x57 has always been loaded on the light side in this country because of unknown strenght of surplus rifles that it may be fired in and because the 8x57 came in two different bore dia. The 8x57J was chambered in the 88 and 98 Mausers until before the first world war and it had a .318 bore. The 8x57JS was chambered since then and had a .323 bore. Factory ammo has always been loaded light so that if a JS was fired in a J rifle it wouldnt blow it up.All 8x57 loaded in this country is light loaded,I understand that Norma 8x57 is loaded up to full pressure. And you are right that the US loads are along the same as a 30/30. Final note on this is that many sporting Mausers made even after WW-II have the .318 bore so any Mauser you are going to shoot should be checked.::::MV

EL VIEJO,
The reason for this is common in European country cartridges and not uncommon even in our cartridges. The .30-06 is not factory loaded to the same pressure levels as the .270 Winchester or the .308 Winchester due to older rifles made for it at the time of its creation, such as the lever action Winchester M-95.

In case of the 8mm, near the end of WW II some of the mauser 98 rifles made in Germany were lacking in several places. The factories load ammo for the weakest rifle ever made for that cartridge. This is necessary to stay out of the courts. This is also the same reason why these rifles should be inspected by a GOOD gunsmith to be sure they're safe to use. If your rifle was made in the late 1930s it may well be safe. These rifles were amongst the best made. Around 1942 they started to get iffy. I hope that this is of some help.

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BigBob

8mm Mauser is comparable to the 30-06 to the point that you can neck trim 30-06 brass and size in an 8mm Mauser die to produce brass for the Mauser.

The older Turk Mausers had a poorly tempered receiver. These are the 1896 and the 1903 Turk. Some of these were re-chambered to 8mm and the receivers re-tempered. Some were not.

Most of the 8mm Mausers available today are safe for the std military loads IF the bore diameter is correct AND the bolt headspaces correctly in the receiver.

These surplus guns (and a lot of the Mosin-Nagants too) are shipped to the USA with the bolts remove. The bolts are replaced in the USA. But they're not matched to the rifle.

Surplus Turk military 8mm Mauser ammo runs 150 gr bullets (147 gr ???) and some serious velocity. Ecadoran 8mm military ammo runs similar loads.

I don't hesitate to shoot this mil-surp ammo in decent Czech, or Brno (Yugo) Mausers. The M-1938 Turk Mausers are seemingly safe for this ammo too.

I have some reservations about shooting the older 1896 and 1903 Turks -- which look pretty much like the M-1938 Turk to the untutored eye.

30-06 . . . that's what the 8mm Mauser ammo compares to. In fact Springfield paid Mauser a patent royalty for the 1903 Springfield bolt action rifle.

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.223 Ackley Improved Wildcat Forum:
http://www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=223ackleyimproved

Here is a comparison in factory ammo:

US made: Federal 170 grain = 1950 fps.

Euro made: Norma 196 grain = 2550 fps.

Both out of my 22 inch modern Heym sporter.

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Regards

Richard

Nosler shows a load with the 200gr going 2700fps!

Thanks for the replys. I was thinking of buying one of the Yugo M48 Mausers I see advertised for $99 in Shotgun News. Also, I see a lot of surplus ammo for about .05-.06 per round. Anybody got an comment?

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Never teach a pig to sing.
It wastes your time and annoys the pig

I own three Yugos. They are great deals if you get the better ones. I would not skimp on the rifle and just pay the extra 50-70$ for one in real good condition. all three of mine seem to prefer hevier (180-200gr.)bullets when reloading but the surplus also shoots great. turk ammo uses 154gr bullets as does most of the south american. yugo ammo and some S.A. ammo use 196gr bullets. almost all are corrosive so make shure you clean the gun right after shooting.

I have been loading 1903 and 1938 Turkish Mauser and VZ24 Mauser to the point of the primer falling out. I have done this again and again, and I cannot measure any head space change.

When I re barrel the Masuers into 243, .308 or 45acp, I am not getting any more power or accuracy from the original 8x57mm cartridge. This is reguradless of how carefully I dial in both ends of the bore and cut the thread at 55 degrees. I headspace with the ammo I will use and the no go gauge is the ammo with a .001" shim.

I have found that in the 1903 Turkish Mauser that if I put 52 gr of IMR4895 behind 200 gr FMJ, the bolt sticks bad. If I back off to 50 gr, the bolt opens smoothly. When I look in the new IMR load data, it says I should be around 35 gr, but if I look in Ackley or an old Lyman reload manual from the 50s, I am right on.

I can run my 8x57 right up there with the 338-06 with suitable pressures..I have a very long throat and magazine that actually equates to an 8mm Ackley or an 8mm-06....

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

What is the difference between a 48M and a 48A?

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Never teach a pig to sing.
It wastes your time and annoys the pig

The M48 makes use of milled parts, the M48a uses stamped parts (mainly the trigger guard, floorplate and barrel bands).

CAL9