My son & I have been seeing this guy's calling cards all over my place since the end of October. I finally met up with him at about 3:30 PM on 11-29.

He walked right towards me as he rounded a bend in a horse trail. He looked like he was strutting with his head held high. I got the drop on him for about 3 seconds. As I raised the rifle & spun 30° on the seat, he looked in my direction, but not directly at me. I was in a 15' tri-pod.

The shot took him straight on just above the heart. He was somewhat downwind & I didn't want to take the chance waiting on a better angle. He spun around & ran about 50 yards back up the trail & dropped where the picture was taken. Even after a month of rut, he dressed 190#. In early November he probably weighed closer to 220#.

Very nice animal and rifle! Can you tell us anything about your rifle? Thanks
Matt

Nice deer, junkie and I too am interested in the rifle.

Ain't no flys on the 8 X 57. Of all the German cartridges I've worked with so far the 8 X 57 is one that has not come home to roost. One of these days I am going to remedy that. As I don't have one I think a Meffert O/U combination gun in 16 bore over 8 X 57 would be just the ticket!

I put the rifle together over several years.

I started with an intermediate length VZ500 Yugoslavian M98 action, (commercial version of the M48 Yugo)


a semi inletted stock from Great American Gun Stocks,


a very very good 98K take-off barrel from Numrich,


and a Neidner buttplate & grip cap.


I had Dennis Olsen turn down the barrell contour to my specifications.


Then I fit & soldered a barrel band swivel stud to the barrel.


It loves 200gr bullets, either Nosler Partitions or Speer Hot Cores leaving the muzzle at 2700 fps. I can achieve those MVs at 30-06 pressure levels with either Vv N550 or Alliant RL-17

Sub 1/2" 3 shot groups @ 100yds are routine if I do my part.


I finished the stock with Birchwood Casey "Rusty Walnut" water based stain & Minwax "Antique Oil Finish" wet sanded with 320 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper & turpentine to fill the grain.

I reshaped the trigger guard, the metal is rust blued using Pilkington's Classic Rust Blue solution,



the screws & various small parts were "Niter blued" in the oven W/O salts.

I used the old tempering color chart trick & varied the temperature of the oven to achieve either blue or gold coloring.








So far, it's 3 for 3 on Whitetail bucks.

I'd sure like to have a crack at an Adirondack Black Bear with it.

Wow!

Very nice job !
Congrats on the deer and that rifle !

I don't have that much in it considering.

$135 for the action
$45 for the barrel
$60 for Dennis Olsen's work
$200 for the stock.
$135 for the 3-position M-70 type safety

Probably less than $100 for the rest of the sundry items.

Less than $700 & lots of work. The only thing I "farmed out" was the barrel contour & crown.

The Barrel was exceptional. No tool marks in the grooves & a polished chamber. It makes me wonder just where it came from. It torqued right up to minimal headspace & the throat is short. Seating the bullets for 3.032" OAL puts the ogive about .010"-.015" off the lands.

I think its a "keeper". As you see it, it weighs about 7 1/2# including the 3-9X42 Kahles scope, Leupold rings & sling.

Been looking for a nice 8mm for a long time. Most I see of this vintage are not well executed. I like the way yours turned out. And nice buck. Congrats.

nice rifle !
And a nice buck ! Its all the cooler that you built yourself !
tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by ColoradoMatt:
Very nice animal and rifle! Can you tell us anything about your rifle? Thanks
Matt

quote:

Originally posted by 9.3 X 75R:
Nice deer, junkie and I too am interested in the rifle.

Ain't no flys on the 8 X 57. Of all the German cartridges I've worked with so far the 8 X 57 is one that has not come home to roost. One of these days I am going to remedy that. As I don't have one I think a Meffert O/U combination gun in 16 bore over 8 X 57 would be just the ticket!

quote:

Originally posted by Bear Cat:
Very nice job !
Congrats on the deer and that rifle !

quote:

Originally posted by BigBullet:
Been looking for a nice 8mm for a long time. Most I see of this vintage are not well executed. I like the way yours turned out. And nice buck. Congrats.

quote:

Originally posted by tjroberts:
nice rifle !
And a nice buck ! Its all the cooler that you built yourself !
tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by tjroberts:
nice rifle !
And a nice buck ! Its all the cooler that you built yourself !
tj3006

Thanks everyone for the compliments.

It's also very satifying that the buck came from my own property & we have been trying to get a look at him for over a month. My place is only 74 acres, about 1/2 of it wooded. It is a natural funnel with swamps, a large field & a river squeezing deer movement through the area.

Due to finacial constrants, we don't have trail cams. It was all old fashined rub, scrape & tracks detective work with lots of patience.

The spot where he was standing when I shot him was about midway between 2 scrapes right on the edges of the horse trail that he had been working off & on. My son was probably standing within 10 feet of one of the scrapes when he snapped the picture. He still had some lichen on his antlers bases like what we had found hanging from the licking branch above that scrape. We also found a "rage rub" near my son's stand where he had totally trashed a small maple sapling. We think that indicates another buck in the area. Maybe my son will get a crack at that one with my Dad's old sporterized 30/40 Krag that I am working on.

He was heading upwind when I shot him & it's a wonder that he didn't wind me before I could squeeze the trigger, twice. He apeared so suddenly out in the open that when I tried to squeeze of the shot the 1st time, I found that I hadn't switched off the safety. I think his following the trail allowed just enough angle to prevent him winding me. If he had come directly down wind from the scrape near my tri-pod, he would have smelled me long before I could have spotted him. We don't go to elaborate scent control measures. We just try to play the wind as much as possible, switching stand location to stay downwind of the shooting lanes.

We did have a few days of good snow cover & I was finding his tracks. He was dragging his feet through the 2" of snow from one print to the next. There was no doubt that it was a mature buck.

BTW: On another note. I had to sell all but 2 of my CF rifles to make ends meet before my SS kicked in at 62. I am now left with the 8X57 & my Dad's "old Lucky" 1898 30/40 Krag.

I started to restore it to the condition it was in when my Dad bought it for $12 back in 1958. I think it was one of the cut down versioins that the CMP/NRA sold back in the late '20s for $2.75 each.

My 25 year old son has gotten bitten pretty hard by the deer hunting bug & wants to kill a buck with "Poppy's" Krag. Especially after I shot the big 8-point bruizer while he was just a short distance away.

I used the now discontinued Birchwood Casey Dark Walnut water based stain to replicate the color of the original stock. I used a Bishop monte carlo semi inletted stock from the '70s that was complete with white outline spacers & all the garish lines of the "Weatherby" style of that era. I was able to get a straight grip stock profile out of it to match the originial shape of the "sporterized" military stock. I found the stock in the back room af a local gun shop & bought it for $15 several years ago.

So right now I have invested $15 for the stock, about $110 for the sight & the original purchase price of $12. Add in about $10 for sand paper & the left over stock finishing supplies & I have less tha $150 in this one.


All that remains now is the rust blue & a few niter blue accents. That can wait until after deer season.



In a variance from the original condition, the horrible 1902 GI sights were replaced with a Pacific K-2 receiver sight that utilizes the magazine cut-off hole eliminating any permanent alterations. I picked it from an e-bay auction recently.



If I concentrate, it will shoot some pretty respectable groups at 50yds with moderate handloads. The Hornady FTX 160gr 308 bullets for 30/30 allow the ogive to seat just off the lands. I can't wait to see what terminal performance will be like since the Mv is right near the top of the envelope of 1800-2600fps.


I made the butt trap functional to hold various sized aperatures & an allan wrench for removal of the sight. It can be removed & re-installed with repeatable POI.


Sometimes it's funny how thing come "full circle" as when my dad bought that Krag, his only other CF rifle was a spoterized 98 Mauser in 8X57.

A slick handling 30/40 with receiver sight for the woods & a modern 8X57 for elevated stand hunting. I could think of worse options for big game hunting in Adirondack foothils & the St Lawrence valley..

The 8x57 has always held a special place in my heart since I killed my first deer at age 13 with a borrowed K98 Mauser. These days I have a houseful of modern, sophisticated scoped sporters to hunt with, but I'm tempted to take an old Turkish 98 I own in original military configuration out for a deer hunt.

The "non-military" 8x60S, which was created to avoid post WW-I restrictions on German military material, kind of fascinates me. I stumbled into a box of brand new Norma cases for it, so I'm considering building one of those when the right platform comes along.

For a number of reasons the 8x57 is always underloaded. It will match the velocity of the .30-06 in 150-200 grain bullets when loaded to similar pressures. I would guess the 8x60S would do just a hair better.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

For a number of reasons the 8x57 is always underloaded. It will match the velocity of the .30-06 in 150-200 grain bullets when loaded to similar pressures. I would guess the 8x60S would do just a hair better.

I helped a friend do a quick sight in at 25yds with his M70 Featherweight Classic 30-06 that had a 22" tube. His actual Mv with 180gr WW PowerPoints was in the 2680 range. My 8X57 with a 23 1/2" barrel spits out 200gr partitions or Hot Cores at 2700fps albiet only with selected hig energy powders like RL-17 or Vv N550.

I think that once the bullet weight gets to 200gr or more, the 8X57 has a slight advantage due to the shorter relative bullet length & 13% larger base area for the pressure to act upon..

It is a marvel of effeciency. IMO

I've been using the 8x57 Mauser for hunting since 1964. There is no game in the USA it wont drop.
My club and I shoot our 8mm Mauser's out to 600 yards every weekend for practice. All do very well indeed.
With all of the millions and millions of 8x57mm rifles out there, nothing more really needs to be said about the cartridge.

quote:

Originally posted by Rapidrob:
I've been using the 8x57 Mauser for hunting since 1964. There is no game in the USA it wont drop.
My club and I shoot our 8mm Mauser's out to 600 yards every weekend for practice. All do very well indeed.
With all of the millions and millions of 8x57mm rifles out there, nothing more really needs to be said about the cartridge.

It sometimes puzzles me as to why guys will take off an 8X57 barrel with out even trying some good handloads in them. If the throat isn't severely eroded, the military barrel twist works very well with 200gr bullets which are about the most effecient weight in .323.

Even if the throat has some erosion, the (standard length) magazine can easily be opened up to '06 length with nothing more than a file & the chamber reamed to 8mm-06 to clean up the throat.

Getting the ogive just off the lands seems to be the most critical factor in pin point accuracy in my experience. This has proved to be true in all of the CF cartridges I load right down to my 5mm Remingtom Magnum centerfire conversion.

Nice deer and nice rifle! Good to see someone using a classic like the 8x57. I have it's baby brother the 257R.

Inspiring thread. Just have to feel good about hunting with an 8X57 -- or a .30-40 Krag. Wish I had your skills, Wildcat.

The time proven 8x57 and the 8mm/06 are both overlooked calibers by American hunters..I don't see how you could come up with a much better deer rifle than a 8x57 or a better deer and elk rifle than the 8mm-06 ( I would hunt Alaskan Brown bear with this one ) One of the best deer loads I have ever used was the 160 gr. GS Custom bullet in the 8x57, That combo wil lkill anything and it doesn't blood shoot the animal much.

The only reason I can come up with the lack of popularity is the 30-06 and 338/06 are very close to their equal..

Ray- do you remember your load with the GS 160's? IMR 4350 is my powder with the 200 Nosler.
Thank you!

quote:

Originally posted by wildcat junkie:


My 8X57 with a 23 1/2" barrel spits out 200gr partitions or Hot Cores at 2700fps albiet only with selected hig energy powders like RL-17 or Vv N550.

I use 51grain Vithavouri N150 to a 200grain bullet. That gives me 800m/sek in a 23" barrel.
I haven´t shot my 8x57 in ages maybe I ought to..

Thanks for reviving the 8x57

The 8x57 military rifles I have had over the past 40 years have always shot the heavy bullets best.
The 200 grain from various makers shot well too, I found the heavy bullets were more accurate than say a 150 grain.
The 170 grain is the lightest I shoot in the 8x57 with the Hornady 195 being the best for me as far as accuracy.

Beautiful rifle Wildcat Junkie. Nice buck too.
The 8x57 is one of my favorite chamberings. I use 200 nos/par and Speer hot cores and also woodleigh 250 rn. All in all a great cartridge and rifle.

Nice job on the rifle and the venison WJ!

That looks a lot like my idea of the perfect Elk rig/load. A great balance between not too heavy, not too much recoil and plenty potent. I like it!

quote:

Originally posted by 303carbine:
The 8x57 military rifles I have had over the past 40 years have always shot the heavy bullets best.
The 200 grain from various makers shot well too, I found the heavy bullets were more accurate than say a 150 grain.
The 170 grain is the lightest I shoot in the 8x57 with the Hornady 195 being the best for me as far as accuracy.

Mine does well with 180gr BTs, about 1" at 100yds, but 200gr Partitions or Hot Cores really tighten it up. Even when I get a little sloppy, the 200s will print 1" group so often it gets boring.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
The time proven 8x57 and the 8mm/06 are both overlooked calibers by American hunters..I don't see how you could come up with a much better deer rifle than a 8x57 or a better deer and elk rifle than the 8mm-06 ( I would hunt Alaskan Brown bear with this one ) One of the best deer loads I have ever used was the 160 gr. GS Custom bullet in the 8x57, That combo wil lkill anything and it doesn't blood shoot the animal much.

The only reason I can come up with the lack of popularity is the 30-06 and 338/06 are very close to their equal..

I have dies for 8mm-06 A.I. & hinged floorplate bottom metal from a 1904 Peruviian that is milled out to stack the A.I. cartridges properly via the Paul Mauser formula. I have a 29" 98/29 barrel that I want to send to Dennis Olsen for a chamber & contour job with a heavier profile at 24" length (.645" muzzle diameter)

All that could be matched up to the J.P.Sauer K98 action that my original 8mm-06 A.I. was built on. It originally had a straight tapered countour that turned out the steps, but the barrel was so thin it was unstable & walked the shots. I even have a nice Black Walnut sporter stock with ebony forend tip & grip cap..

I'm hoping to get the Krag wrapped up this winter so maybe I can get the 8mm-06 A.I. ready for next season. It ouught to push a 200gr pill close to 2900fps.

It still won't be a sweet as my 8X57 though. Way to much power for deer but what the heck.

Here are some post mortum shots of the heart & liver. Shot was straight on from 90-100yds.


I had to pull the lungs out in chunks. After all that damage it took out a good portion of the liver.


Their wasn't any blood trail, just a few splotches. Probably due to pump siezure, but he didn't go far & took a short time to find him. He never left the horse trail & only ran about 50yds through the "S" curve.

I think this is what might be known as "cleaning his clock". I would bet that it would have plenty of "ooomph" for bigger ungulates.

Great deer with a wonderful rifle!

You might try some 200gr Accubonds in that rifle. They shoot lights out in my wife's 8x57 and are easily as good as the partitions.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick R:
Great deer with a wonderful rifle!

You might try some 200gr Accubonds in that rifle. They shoot lights out in my wife's 8x57 and are easily as good as the partitions.

My most accurate load of all has been the 140gr Accubond @ 3150 out of my .280.

I don't think the Hot Cores are lacking & they're relatively inexpensive. My action is the 3.235" magazine version. Shorter stubby bullets work best to get just off the lands.

The 30-40 is next on my list as well. I have my father's Krag sporter that he bought in the early 1930s for $4.75. I'm going to refinish it and take it out for deer next year.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
The 30-40 is next on my list as well. I have my father's Krag sporter that he bought in the early 1930s for $4.75. I'm going to refinish it and take it out for deer next year.

Do you have any PIX?

8X57JR in 80 year old Sauer & Sohn drilling.

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Excellent report, nice rifle & trophy. The 8x57 does it all. As someone else said, centerfire cartridge development could have stopped with the 8x57.

Nice deer & awesome rifle!

BTW the 8X57 has downed many lions & tigers in its day. On large game it is said to be as effective if not more so compared to the 30'06!

I loaded my first cartridge in 1957. It was an 8x57. The rifle was not a Mod 98 ,however, it was a G43. Since than many Mod. 98s have gone thru my hands. I only,however, have one left. The 8x57 is my all time sentimental favorite. Sadly I never used it in the field. When hunting I guess I always had something else I was playing with at the time.
As great a performer as th8x57 is, it has never gotten the market respect it deserves in the US no matter what the reason. roger

The 06 simply suffocated it....

quote:

Originally posted by JonP:
The 06 simply suffocated it....

That & the pathetic power level of US ammo.