Gentlemen:

What are your thoughts for selecting an 8x57 JS as a chambering for a rifle project? Do you view this as a classic cartridge? Is it an accurate cartridge? How is the felt recoil?

Thanks in advance.

Buliwyf

I view it as a great idea. I will be building one on a surplus Mauser to match my 7x57 carbine length, open sighted rifle, and my 9.3x62. A 'German Trio' of sorts. Actually I will have two 7x57s and about 8 8x57s.

Lothar Walther makes threaded, long-chambered barrels in this caliber for Mauser 98s, about $160.

Good luck building,
Todd

Great idea. I love the cartridge, but then again I love mausers so I guess I'm a bit biased. Its an accurate round and recoil is nearly identical to that of a 30-06. What sort of rifle are you planning on making? Good luck
Andy

Andy,

I'm talking with a pal of mine about that right now. The current thought would be to use an older Czech action and build the rifle in classic lines. Its purpose would mainly be for pride of ownership and an ocassional trip to the range.

Bob

bul:
i think it's a great idea. i've had many a mauser and killed several whitetail with the 8x57. i'd say it recoils less than the '06 with equivalent bullet weights. something scientific about the bigger bore and the pressure proves this. so does my shoulder. i have thought long and hard about rebarreling my remington adl in .270 winchester to 8x57 in a lighter sporter contour. and come to think of it, if i had a spare $200 i'd send it off to er shaw right now. the idea of all that cheap mil-surp ammo out there waiting to be shot with a modern, lightweight, balanced rig like my adl ... my, oh my, why did you have to bring up this topic?

An excellent choice. And, I hear that the 8X57 Improved is even better....

I have really been shooting the 8mm a lot the last couple of years. I've found it very accurate and deadly on everything from ground hogs to 450lb.+ boars.

With projectiles in the 180-200grn. range it should hang right with the '06, for larger game.

If you are sticking with the 57mm length, don't overlook the Yugo m24,m24/47 or m48's. There are some very nice actions available at very reasonable prices. My best shooter is a restocked m24/47, that was rebarreled at the time of rearsenal work. All I did was turn down the steps,recrown, restock, refinish, add a "scout type" scope mount and a trigger job.

I enjoy mine enough that Ive been contemplating having a wildcat bbl made based on the 8X57. It is always getting compared to an 06 but I find that there are some very distint differences;

1- I agree that the 8X57 has less recoil than an 06.

2- even though it doesnt really have as much velocity with 200 grn bullets as the 06 (darn close but not quite) I do think that it shoots them better (more accuratley) because of the slightly larger bore. That being said, it seems like the bullets around 170 grains are about the optimum weight for it. Ive tried a couple different bullets, not too many, but I think Ill try the 175 grn sierras next.

Well, Im off to load up some 8X57 loads now. Im going coyote hunting tomorrow with some 196 grn fmj loads (at $2.00 a box why not!) and want to test some handloads for accuracy in the meanwhile.

If the 8X57 doesnt qualify as a classic cartridge than what does?

Forget that previous post, I guess maybe it will do everything an 06 will! I clocked those 197 grn fmj loads @ 2500+ fs and they were shooting real good at an estimated 400 yds. If there is less recoil from the 8X57 then it is just due to anemic loads. Does anyone know what kind of powder was used in those old 8X57 loads?

[ 02-10-2003, 07:04: Message edited by: Wstrnhuntr ]

I love my M-21 Brno (circa 1948)....I shoot the 185 gr. Corelokt, 200 gr. Sierra, and 250 gr. Woodlieghs in it...It seem about like a .308 to me...I have shot some reall big stuff with this caliber, and it works pretty well.

I don't know but, all the Old Turk ammo I chrono'd shot over 2875 fps. I've bought a case of Yugo of 1980's vintage that clocks out at 2790 fps. avg.
The new Indep ammo runs about 2750 fps. avg. and is non corrosive. My favorite rifle shoots it into >1.5".

Terry,

Is the Indep ammo boxer or berdan primer?

I shoot a Brno 21-H in 8x57 a fair amount. Very accurate and powerful.

Newly made Indep is boxer primed.

Carcano

Sorry,
I mis-typed my post, it is the Igman ammo I was referring to. It is Yugo manufacture ,not Portugese Indep.
It's reloadable however, the flash holes are very small, a standard decapper wouldn't fit. If I decide to reload any I'll just ream the holes to normal size.

[ 02-13-2003, 08:17: Message edited by: TERRY8mm ]

02-00, on my original test boxes, I only resized a couple and the hole was tight.
The new boxes are marked 05-01 and the holes are normal.

I went back and looked at a bunch of the old brass and several had what appeared to be a "burr" around the inside of the flash hole.

Great round, killed very well with no problems

Great cartridge!

I have used mine for one shot kills on zebra (@200 metres), kudu, fast moving warthog and driven red deer.

I have decapped three different Igman 8x57 IS lots (198 grains from 01-01, 170 grains from 01-02, 150 grains from 01-02), and all those had fine brass and very copious-sized flashholes.

So I think they have their act together now. Good value for little money, IMHO.

Regards,
Carcano

Regarding german brass:

"02-00, on my original test boxes, I only resized a couple and the hole was tight.
The new boxes are marked 05-01 and the holes are normal.

I went back and looked at a bunch of the old brass and several had what appeared to be a "burr" around the inside of the flash hole."

Sounds like the merkels made in germany now: Just not the same as the old ones. I have had to send the last two back to the factory for rework. What is happening over there? the legendary quality is just legend now? Maybe the workers are too soft with too much time off.

Jameister:
nobody here was speaking of German ammo except of you. Why ?

Carcano

Where are we buying this boxer primed, non corrosive, cheap ammo??? I just got my M48 yesterday.

www.aimsurplus.com www.centuryarms.com www.gunsnstuff.net www.ammoman.com

If there is a downside to the 8x57 it would be good money after bad...It will have little resale value today, its just not that popular today and never has been even though it is a very nice round...

Since you are spending big bucks on a custom gun I would go with the creme de creme of European calibers, the great 9.3x62 and if you ever wanted to sell it, it would sell fast and bring hi dollar....

The 8mm is my favorite woods caliber for deer. Out to 200 yards the 170grain Rem factory load is just about perfect. Mine has been in service for 40 years in my household and someone uses it just about every year. Ray is no doubt correct about the resale value though. Not many folks want one anymore.

You could just wait until next year. Supposidly, Remington is making their classic in 8x57 next year. It may be cheaper than to have one made.

Bob257

I have a 98 Mauser I purchased used. It had a cut down military stock, someone had it drilled and tapped, bolt forged, original barrel, uncut. I glass bedded it, put a water proof finish on the wood, and mounted an old Weaver 2.5X post reticle scope. I call it my loaner/rainy day rifle. It, just on loans, has killed more deer and elk, then all my other rifles combined.

I built an 8x57 ona 700 action a few years back. 21" #3 Douglas with sights and Leupold QR bases. This rifle is way more accurate than I was expecting - an honest 5-shot MOA (or better) rifle with decent handloads with a 1.5-4.5x scope. Perfect for boar, black bear, and elk at close to medium range.

The factory loads from Rem, Win, and Fed are perfect for whitetails out to 200 yds or so.

I'm very likely to buy one of the 2004 Classic Rem 700's in this caliber. I'm not real fond of hot-rodding surplus rifles (like my G98/40), so a factory new rifle loaded to European pressures should do good things downrange.

I have one of the Yugo M48 rifles chambered in 8mm Mauser. I just love the rifle and the caliber. Two years ago I used the rifle to take a very nice buck here in PA. Got a lot of strange looks going into the woods with a battle rifle on my shoulder. Most guys had Rem, Win or Weatherby's and here I was with a 50 yr old war rifle. I use the expensive, but worth the money, Norma 196gr Vulkans for deer hunting. I use the surplus stuff for range work. Every time I go to the range, guys will come over to see what kind of gun I am shooting. I let those that want to shoot it do so, and most guys just love it. With the surplus ammo, I get 2.5 in or better groups at 100 yds. Using the Norma stuff, I get 1-1.5 in groups at 100 yds. I find the recoil easy to control, but there have been a couple times when the butt sliped onto my shoulder joint, and that metal buttplate can cause quite a bruise!

I really do hope that Rem does come out with the Classic in 8mm Mauser. I will be one of the first standing in line to get one! Hopefully they do a nice job on it!

Buliwyf
I finished my 8 x 57 just a few days ago.....Interarms MKX action, # 4 Lilja at 21 inches, NECG sights, Timney trigger, Brown Precision stock, Talley's, Leupold 1.75 x 6 scope. Jeweled the bolt and cocking piece just for grins. ...plan to pressure test some loads next week....
Charlie

Charlie S:

Hope you post some of your pressure testing results. Been playing with a CZ 8mm that was sporterized very nicely back in the 1960s or so.

If you get around to it, suggesting a load of RL 7 ( 49 grains) Remington Brass and a 170 grain Speer with the bullet seated only about a 1/4 of an inch.

50 grains proved to be max. I have not had a good day to chronograph it yet. The load was accurate as all get out.

Welcome to the Forum also. Heard a lot about the high quality of your work.

Seafire/b17G
Thanks for the welcome.
I recently purchased a pressure testing system using strain gages coupled to my computer. I plan to start testing all the rifles I build using my 100 yard indoor range. If things go well, Monday or Tuesday I'll get it going. I have always felt that without some way to measure pressure, it was really just guessing. I guess I'll find out soon enough.
I have used Reloder 7 in 8 x 57 with 180 grain Ballistic Tips and gotten good accuracy at about 2800 fps. H-322, H4895, Varget, Tac, all seem to work well. I'll keep you posted.
Charlie

8x57JS is a wonderful cartridge. It has one of the best impact vs recoil ratio I've ever seen.

Norma, the Swedish bullet maker, collected some statistics about how far a moose walked after first hit, and how many shots were used. A copule of thousand moose participated, albeit not willingly , in this study.

Of the cartridges used often enough to provide publishable statistics, 9,3x62 turned out to be the "best" cartridge for moose. It was closely followed by 8,57JS, followed by .375HH if my memory serves me right.