The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Medium Bore Rifles 8x57 as a hunting roundGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| 8x57 as a hunting round | Login/Join |
| One of Us |
I have a few 8x57 rifles - all military bolts. I bought a 8x57 barrel for my blaser r8. I think it might be a good plains game and deer round. Any thoughts ? Mike | ||
|
| One of Us |
It's a heck of a round. Look no further than a good 200gr. bullet at 2600-2700 fps. as an all around load. I have 3 right now but don't shoot them much. It doesn't fill a niche for me but if its what you have it's about as good as any. | |||
|
One of Us |
I have a 20" 8x57 Mannlicher with 200 gr Accubonds at 2,450 fps. An elk, 2 red deer, a waterbuck, and numerous other animals. Great round, keep under max 250 yards on the big stuff. "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" -- Ronald Reagan "Ignorance of The People gives strength to totalitarians." Want to make just about anything work better? Keep the government as far away from it as possible, then step back and behold the wonderment and goodness. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Just to prove a point that safari rifles need not be excessively expensive, I took a $300 used Husqvarna M98 Mauser with an inexpensive Minox BDC Scope to Namibia in 2015. Took 16 plains game animals ranging from springbok to eland with the 160-grain Barnes tipped triple shock in 8x57. All were one shot kills at ranges up to 300 meters. Very accurate and reliable combo. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I'm starting to like the 8mm X 68. I do wish wish we had a wider variety of bullets to choose from, but that is improving. Go for it. AT | |||
|
| One of Us |
A friend hunts exclusively with an 8mm Mauser and loves it. Quite an effective medium-range round, similar to a 338-06, 35 Whelen, 338 Federal, etc.. | |||
|
One of Us |
Have an older member of out group with a 20" MS in 8x54 maybe and he loves it. The x57 is just more better. The 8x64 seems to be more of the same along with the 8x60 magnum bombe. | |||
|
| one of us |
My wife has killed her last few deer and couple of bears with one she thinks it works just fine. But so did her Ruger 06 or any thing else I put in her hands. I give her a rifle and ammo for it and then she goes on to kill things with it. She is a very good shot and a very safe hunter but knows diddley about guns. Other then to handle them safely and hit what she is shooting at. | |||
|
One of Us |
Great round! and in the Blaser you can load to more modern pressures... Look at the Nosler loading data, in their older manual #4 I believe it was they had some great data. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I have military bolt rifles in 303, 8x57, 7.5x55, 30/06, 308. I just don’t trust myself hunting with them as they are not scoped. I would like to have modern scoped rifles in those calibers to hunt with. Adding blaser barrels is easy for me as I have scope mounts etc and it all modular. No 303 in blaser but I do have a scoped 303 I could use for morning hunts. Would love a blaser 7.5x55 barrel but they have never imported one to the us and don’t even have a import license for that caliber. 8x57 will be perfect for the deer stand. Mike | |||
|
One of Us |
Lots of locals in Montana used to use them for elk hunting. Surplus Mausers, open sights, they typically got their elk every year. Regards, Chuck "There's a saying in prize fighting, everyone's got a plan until they get hit" Michael Douglas "The Ghost And The Darkness" | |||
|
| One of Us |
If looked at realistically, it is the basis for most popular cartridges today. It's also a heck of a hunting cartridge. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me". John 14:6 | |||
|
| One of Us |
my 30-06 throws a 150gr bullet at 2800 fps. my 8mauser throws a 150gr bullet at 2800 fps. if something on 4 legs can tell the difference between 150grs at 2800 fps, and 150grs. at 2800 fps,, I would guess the extra dead would go to the larger diameter 323 bullet. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Perfect cartridge. Easy on the ears. IHMSA BC Provincial Champion and Perfect 40 Score, Unlimited Category, AAA Class. | |||
|
One of Us |
I love the 8X57. But personally I think it is at its best for deer sized game. YMMV. AK-47 The only Communist Idea that Liberals don't like. | |||
|
one of us |
  GOOGLE HOTLINK FIX FOR BLOCKED PHOTOBUCKET IMAGES https://chrome.google.com/webs...inkfix=1516144253810 | |||
|
| one of us |
I love my old 8x57 Manlicher Brno mod 22F..It shoots great, light and handy as any gun Ive owned or shot..my favorite load is the 160 gr. TTSX Pt. at near 2600 or more FPS Its great on elk,deer, PG including eland and although I wouldn't recommend it for cape buffalo, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot buff or Lion with it, under ideal circumstances if I had to...It kills very well on everything Ive shot with it. I like the caliber, and its terribly underloaded in reloading manuals due to the number of weak action available out there, same for the 7x57..but loaded properly in a proper gun its the full equal of the 30-06 and perhaps even a tad better, at least on paper..I also have a Brno mod 21 8x60 and its even a little better I suppose.. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
|
| One of Us |
I hunt with a Sauer Drilling and a E. Kettner combination gun both in 16 GA X 8X57JR. (The .318 not the .323 caliber) They have accounted for a lot Texas Whitetail and Turkey. 200 Grain Woodleigh bullet at around 2500FPS very effective.The .323 Round 8X57JRS is higher velocity I don't think it makes much difference in Whitetail sized game. I would not feel handicapped on an elk at 200 yards. "Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." Mark Twain | |||
|
| One of Us |
I like the 8 mm. It treated me rite. The round got me just a few deer and elk. I never lost an animal I took with the 8mm mauser. It just work's. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I have two 8x57s. I had them both assembled by gunsmiths. One is on a CZ 550 action with a 20 inch barrel and a McMillan stock. It wears a leupold 30mm scope with the variable intensity red dot at the junction of the reticles. The other is built on a Mark X action with custom trigger ant three position safety. They are both accurate and I use them about as much as any other rifles I have - the CZ a bit more - mostly for hogs. I consider the cartridge overkill for deer and hogs, but what the heck. My favorite cartridge is the 6.5 Grendel. Several years ago I bought a bunch of 8x57 ammo off Gunbroker. It's Lapua with the 200 gr RN bullets and are not reduced loads. Fortunately both my rifles like them - thus so do I. ************* Real conservatives aren't radicalized. Thus "radicalized conservative" is an oxymoron. Yet there are many radicalized republicans. "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis Per my far-right friend: "reality sucks" D.J. Trump aka Trumpism's Founding Farter, aka Farter Martyr. Qualifications: flatulence - mental, oral and anal. | |||
|
| One of Us |
That load exceeds the recently discontinued federal premium load using the same bullet. Certainly not just for deer. This is an “anything except buff, ele, rhino load”. There may be better rounds in the same class, but none that “outclass”. Matt FISH!! Heed the words of Winston Smith in Orwell's 1984: "Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right." | |||
|
| One of Us |
I am really looking forward to this rifle barrel. Will either put a vx6 or vxr scope on it. Mike | |||
|
| Administrator |
I was given a lot of old military ammo in 8x57, made in Egypt 113 years ago!! And as I have no rifles in this caliber, I opened some of the ammo. It has flake powder, and in very good condition! I use it to load all sorts of calibers, and works absolutely great!  | |||
|
One of Us |
It has proved itself effective in the hunting fields for over a century + also in 2 world wars.That's a pretty good recommendation. Never mistake motion for action. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I am surprised you don’t have a gun in that caliber. Was expecting a old Persian Mauser. Mike | |||
|
| Administrator |
I do have some old military rifles, but I never shoot these. | |||
|
| one of us |
Im told by those in the know who were raised in Africa that untold number of Cape buffalo, Lion, Rhino and elephant have given the knee to the 8x57 and in a heavy Africaner country that has to be right.. I culled Cape Buffalo on an occasion with a 7x57 mod. 95 Mauser and a paper bag of green gooey bullets that fired about 60% of the time is my best guess. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
|
| One of Us |
Love that M-S but that scope mount looks like a lot of stress on the single mounting point. But if it works I guess looks don't matter. I've never seen that done on an M-S. Just the claw mounts, side mounts and the Redfield. | |||
|
| one of us |
Cantilever mounts are routinely used on shotguns. They withstand recoil well. As long as one doesn't step on the scope or otherwise subject the mount to lateral abuse, they work just fine. GOOGLE HOTLINK FIX FOR BLOCKED PHOTOBUCKET IMAGES https://chrome.google.com/webs...inkfix=1516144253810 | |||
|
one of us |
ALF, beautiful rifle! I think you are thinking of Red Buttons who played "Pockets" in "Hatari. There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t. – John Green, author | |||
|
| One of Us |
8x57 is a great hunting round. My current favorite hunting rifle in that caliber is a Brno 22F with a 1.5-6x scope in claw mounts. You can't go wrong with this round but you need to handload for it in the U.S. as SAAMI-spec factory ammo is ludicrously under-loaded. | |||
|
one of us |
Great hunting round, a lot of users around here. We load it with Alliant RL-17 for 2590 fps with Norma Oryx bonded bullet out of CZ 557 rifle. Clean kills and accurate. Jiri | |||
|
| One of Us |
Absolutely NOTHING WRONG with the 8x57 OR the 8mm cal in general...I think it just depends on the part of the world you live in and/or what you were raised with. Americans for some reason never "GOT" the 8mm in ANY cartridge configuration...in some ways just like the 35 cal(other than the Whelen, 350 RM or 358 Win maybe), I never could understand why the flap except we need to defend our positions...ask anyone that took a military 8x57 out to 8mm-06 and see what they say...no matter what continent it's being used in. Basically the same velo but with a bigger bullet dia. Whether that counts for something is, again, opinion and bias. It's a "tweener"...half way between the 308 and 338, it will do everything those cals will do and, argumentatively, just as well. I turned one 8x57 M98 into a 9.3x62 and kept one as is...now I have the best of BOTH worlds...or the worst depending on your opinion. It don't matter, they BOTH do excellent jobs and I haven't lost any N.A. game with either. Hey...it's YOUR toy, YOU decide...then enjoy your decision.  Good Hunting   | |||
|
| One of Us |
I never seemed to care for the 8MM. Had one of the first Rem 700's in 8 Mag. Used it a bit, neither fish nor fowl to me. Used an 8x68 in Namibia, worked great, just like everything else I've used. I do have an 8x57, yawn, nothing but a shooter.. I do have a buddy with a singleshot, break open rifle. No markings, but has a round bottomed receiver, and a side hammer. Certainly appears German made. The interesting thing is, it's an 8x57 on the old A-base case head. Anyone have a box of those laying around! | |||
|
| one of us |
I worked up a load for the 200 gr. Accubond for elk in both my 8x57 and my 8x60, both Brnos mod 21 and 22..I got an easy 2700 FPS in the 8x57 with CFE223 powder and rather mild pressure it seems...The 8X60 is a real sleeper, brass and bullets are easy to find in the USA, PPU makes brass, Midway and Grafs have plenty and its the full equal in the field of a 338-06 or 35 Whelen.. I have a 8x60 Brno mod 21 for sale btw. I like the 8x60 but since I inured my right hand and they rebuilt it, I can't reach the front trigger on the double triggers on the Brno and if I do the trigger guard wacks my middle finger and I hit the dirt cussing or crying depending on the load!  Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
|
| One of Us |
Got my blaser barrels but I have misplaced my 8x57 ammo. Cleaned my ammo stockpile and boxed everything and the result is I can’t find anything. Damn idiot that I am - I should have just stayed to my old cluttered style. No 8x57 ammo at academy, bass pro or any of the local gun shops. I am surprised as the gun shops sell used 8x57 rifles just no ammo. May need to Order and stockpile some 8x57 online. Mike | |||
|
| One of Us |
Managed to located 2 boxes of ppu 196 grain - $20 a box. Slapped a Swiss 3-10 conquest on 8x57 barrel. .48 inche 3 shot group. Soft shooting rifle. Need to located some good ammo and I may hunt with it his year. I like the 8mm. Mike | |||
|
One of Us |
Can't beat a half inch group, with cheapo PPU's no less. Could you enlighten me on your [Swiss?] Conquest Mike? Life itself is a gift. Live it up if you can. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Blaser has not imported a 7.5 Swiss in r8 into the us. There is a k95 7.5 Swiss barrel at mad dog. I like k11 and k31 - but I think for modern stuff 6.5 creedmoor is the way to go. There is a ton of ammo available. Mike | |||
|
| One of Us |
I haven’t hunted much with an 8mm. One animal. That being said, my experience and from guys I know well enough to trust is that it essentially serves the same role as the .30-06, but with a bit poorer bullet selection. That’s saying a lot, as the -06 is probably the most versatile hunting cartridge ever made. Sounds like you got a good one. I’d hunt anything in North America with it. Africa, pretty much everything short of Eland and dangerous game. The trajectory isn’t the best, but it will kill pretty much anything. | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata | Page 1 2 |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Medium Bore Rifles 8x57 as a hunting round
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia