I hope somebody can help me with information on this rifle.

My ex bought this rifle from a friend who's husband passed a couple of years ago, she gave the rifle to our son and now I must sort out the finer details.

There are very limited information on Stiga, all I could find out was that it was made in Sweden on K96 actions and it was only manufactured in a few calibres. Does anybody have more information on this make please.

There are many 8mm variations, the mauser, S JS and IS, am I right that the 8 x 57S is a .318 calibre? Who will manufacture reloading dies for it, I only find a 8 x 57 mauser die set which looks as if it is 7.92 mm which is .312 calibre (don't know if this is without the rifling) if the rifling is .003 then it is a .318 calibre and the 8 x 57 mauser reloading dies will work, am I correct with this.

I am sure I will get better info from the members of this forum as most searches for a 8 x 57S does not give a lot of information.

Thanks in advance for your information

Gunboards "Swedish Civilian & Sporting Firearms" forum has several threads for Stiga rifles. If you decide to join the forum, search for Stiga.

Here are a couple of threads:
http://forums.gunboards.com/sh...guns&highlight=Stiga
http://forums.gunboards.com/sh...fles&highlight=Stiga

There are several threads right here on Accuratereloading.

Here's one: http://forums.accuratereloadin...541098701#7541098701

The 8mm Mauser, and all European 8 mm's, may be encountered in 2 versions :

- old caliber, pre WWII (no longer made but may still be encountered in old rifles): 8x57, 8x57R bullet diameter .318 ;

- post WWII : 8x57IS, 8x57JS (I or J are the same. They mean "Jäger or Iäger", which means "Infantry").

All 8 mm calibers followed by " S " mean .323 bullets (i.e. 8x57S, 8x57RS, 8x60S, 8x60RS, 8x64S, 8x68S, etc.). NB : in German made ammo, the "S" bullet goes along with a black coloured primer.

You better pay attention, if shooting a .318 bullet through a .323 bore only results in lousy accuracy, the opposite may very well result in interesting fireworks

Your best bet is to make up a lead slug and tap it down the barrel and measure it. Most any gunsmith should be able to do it if you don't want to tackle it.

Actually the .318 bore remained popular and rifles were chambered in this diameter up through, at least, the early 1960's. Some of the old timers thought the .318 was more accurate than the .323.
A few months ago I looked at a beautiful Sako on a Mauser action. This model was made from the mid-1950's up through the early 1960's. The caliber was 8x57 I no "S". It was near new and priced right but I passed after I slugged the bore and found it was .318.
Kind of kick myself now as I have a box or two of Norma 196 grain .318's. The boxes are the woodgrain style.

Thanks for all the replies, I got valuable information. I will definitely cast a slug to check for the correct calibre, I definitely don't want explosions in my face

I never herd of a stiga who wasnt in S 0,323.
Yes stiga rifles were made in .270w with m96 action i never herd of any blow ups anyway. They were a low cost rifle in the 60s with bech stock and not much checkering still often seen in swedish forests.

Nice post Andre. The military changeover from .318 ball to .323 spitzer occurred around 1905 or pre-WW1. Here's a nice clip that looks accurate.

http://www.mausershooters.org/k98k/8_8mm.html

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
The 8mm Mauser, and all European 8 mm's, may be encountered in 2 versions :

- old caliber, pre WWII (no longer made but may still be encountered in old rifles): 8x57, 8x57R bullet diameter .318 ;

- post WWII : 8x57IS, 8x57JS (I or J are the same. They mean "Jäger or Iäger", which means "Infantry").

All 8 mm calibers followed by " S " mean .323 bullets (i.e. 8x57S, 8x57RS, 8x60S, 8x60RS, 8x64S, 8x68S, etc.). NB : in German made ammo, the "S" bullet goes along with a black coloured primer.

You better pay attention, if shooting a .318 bullet through a .323 bore only results in lousy accuracy, the opposite may very well result in interesting fireworks

I stand corrected. Having checked around, it appears indeed that the switch from .318 to .323 took place in 1905.
Thanks to Custombolt for straightening the record.

I have a Stiga in 9.3 x 62. Has a tear drop grip cap and pronounced Schnabel. Very art deco. Very minor action mods for the longer case including extending the front of the magazine. Jorgen does not think much of them but mine has been a dandy.

quote:

You better pay attention, if shooting a .318 bullet through a .323 bore only results in lousy accuracy, the opposite may very well result in interesting fireworks

Actually, if the neck of the chamber is large enough to take .323" bullets without binding, then a conventional cup & core (copper jacketed lead) bullet will easily swage down the .005" without raising pressures to problematic levels. In fact, you'd be surprised at how little difference in pressure a moderately oversized bullet makes. However, this may not be true when using monometal bullets or steel-jacketed bullets.

Depending on the condition of the bore, oversized bullets may actually help accuracy, although some accuracy degradation is normally expected with oversized bullets.

I think when it comes to the various 8mm's, it is very important that we speak "english" or if you wish "gunspeak"

People keep on referring to the 8mm as either a "318 bore" or a " 232 bore" when in fact it is neither!

The German 8mm is a 311 bore ( 311 to 312 ) Some were cut even cut to 315 bore especially in drillings.

That is if we understand that in English "bore" refers to the diameter of the drilled hole in the barrel before the grooves are cut , ie land to land diameter.

The original M88 was a 311-312 bore
( 7.9-7.92mm) with a groove diameter of .319 to .320 inches

The bullet therefore was a 319 caliber bullet. it is not a 319 bore !

in 1892 they increase the groove dimension to between 321 to 323 inches to improve barrel life but they retain the 319 caliber bullet.

By 1903 they increase the bullet to a 323 caliber so as to better fit the 323 groove.

The bore of the rifle remained the same ie 311 to 312 but the bullet and the groove diameter increased.