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Thread: 8mm Mauser

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    Default 8mm Mauser

    I went to the Valley Sportsman Show in Carp on Sunday and decided to buy a used Husqvarna commercial Mauser in 8mm Mauser. It's a nice bolt action in a walnut stock, blued steel with an included side-mount scope mount that is quick-detachable. The scope mount is a high mount which allows me to also use the open sights as well. I normally like my scopes mounted as low as possible for proper cheek weld, but in this case the difference between using the two different sight positions is not too bad. I feel that I got a good deal on the rifle with some included ammunition (PPU with 196g bullets (I believe)).

    I know nothing about the calibre though. I started reading a bit about it, but the nomenclature for this calibre is pretty confusing. So far I've assumed that 8mm Mauser = 7.92x57mm = 8x57mm = 8x57 IS = 8x57 JS. I'll obviously do some additional research before firing this rifle, but I'm curious if anyone on this forum is familiar with the calibre, especially in a similar rifle. What should I expect in terms of recoil and accuracy? What factory ammunition has worked well for you or what reloading components and recipes have worked for you? Which game animals do you use your rifle for?

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    Hey Rob, I have a Erfurt 1917 Mauser 8mm. No scope.

    It’s a good enough shooter I beded on a sniper stock but still haven’t work out the kinks of having to use the open sights with my aging eyes

    For ammo I’ve got some;

    RWS; 196 gr
    Winchester; 176 gr
    Sellier & Bellot; 196 gr

    AND…a couple hundred rounds of mil surp FMJ….not sure of the weight.

    I planned on using this as a ‘plinking’ gun so I stocked up on the Mil Surp stuff…
    If you want some of it to get the feel of the rifle I’ll be more than happy to get it to you.

    I missed out on a scoped Husq 8mm at an auction a few years back. I stopped bidding at $250….guy who outbid me showed up at a gun show a few weeks later selling it for $750. trying to make a living I guess

    You should like the caliber...be great for large game.
    Last edited by MikePal; September 4th, 2018 at 10:04 AM.

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    The original guns took a 0.318" bullet, then later this became the 0.323" bullet that we use today. The problem with the factory ammo is that it is normally really weak due to the 0.318" bore on the old guns, shooting the larger bullet with a reduced load is safe so they default to it.

    Slug the bore so you know what you have, it is a Swedish Mauser, probably a 96 action? That was commercially barrelled to 8x57, it is most likely 0.323".

    Do a little digging, lots of hotter loads that are perfectly safe or just stick with the factory velocities, the gun can be used on the same things as the 30-06.

    I always wanted one, there are tons of different versions, speaks to the time it was developed in Germany.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    T

    Slug the bore so you know what you have, it is a Swedish Mauser, probably a 96 action? That was commercially barrelled to 8x57, it is most likely 0.323".
    I was told that it is not a military action re-barrelled. I was told it is a commercial Mauser. There is no thumb cut-out on the left side of the action, and the individual parts are not serial numbered - apparently this shows that it is a commercial Mauser rather than a re-barrelled military gun. Anyway, maybe it's not a bad idea to have the bore measured.

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    Quote Originally Posted by rf2 View Post
    I was told that it is not a military action re-barrelled. I was told it is a commercial Mauser. There is no thumb cut-out on the left side of the action, and the individual parts are not serial numbered - apparently this shows that it is a commercial Mauser rather than a re-barrelled military gun. Anyway, maybe it's not a bad idea to have the bore measured.
    Not saying it is a military gun but Husqvarna used a lot of 96 actions (small ring) rather than 98 actions (large ring). Not that there is a lot of difference, lots of people claim that the 98 is a stronger action but yet Husqvarna chambered 96 actions in 308 Win, 30/06, 9.3x62, etc.

    Is this your gun?

    https://www.tradeexcanada.com/conten...ial-m96-8x57-1

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    Not saying it is a military gun but Husqvarna used a lot of 96 actions (small ring) rather than 98 actions (large ring). Not that there is a lot of difference, lots of people claim that the 98 is a stronger action but yet Husqvarna chambered 96 actions in 308 Win, 30/06, 9.3x62, etc.

    Is this your gun?

    https://www.tradeexcanada.com/conten...ial-m96-8x57-1
    It's similar to that. I believe it's based on a M96 action. I own a few M96's and they look very similar to this new rifle, but I don't own any M98's to compare to.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MikePal View Post
    Hey Rob, I have a Erfurt 1917 Mauser 8mm. No scope.

    It’s a good enough shooter I beded on a sniper stock but still haven’t work out the kinks of having to use the open sights with my aging eyes

    For ammo I’ve got some;

    RWS; 196 gr
    Winchester; 176 gr
    Sellier & Bellot; 196 gr

    AND…a couple hundred rounds of mil surp FMJ….not sure of the weight.

    I planned on using this as a ‘plinking’ gun so I stocked up on the Mil Surp stuff…
    If you want some of it to get the feel of the rifle I’ll be more than happy to get it to you.
    If I'm able to make it out to the breakfast, maybe I will buy some of that military surplus ammo from you. I haven't cleaned up the rifle or scoped it yet, and I doubt I will do so before the deer season, but it wouldn't hurt to get some extra ammo for a range session in the fall or winter.

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    Thanks Fox, like I didn’t have anything else to do this aft…but curiosity got the better of me and there's A/C in here.

    I pulled out all my 8mm x 57 JS ammo and took a look at what they were measuring across the cannelure at the mouth of the casing. It’s not highly scientific but using the same gauge at the same location it shows a good comparison

    Sako 127 gr .318
    Selleir Bellot 196gr .318
    RWS 196gr .317
    Norma 165gr .32
    Winchester 170 gr .318
    Federal 170 gr .328
    Mil Surp..random pick; .318, .316, 313, 319

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    Mike I am surprised they are all coming in at .318, in 1903 is when they converted to 0.323in bullets for the military, not that every barrel after that had the right bore but it should really be the very old but always worth checking with these guns.

    You may not actually be measuring at the widest point, seems really odd dimensions between the 6 commercial and the military.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    Mike I am surprised they are all coming in at .318, in 1903 is when they converted to 0.323in bullets for the military, not that every barrel after that had the right bore but it should really be the very old but always worth checking with these guns.

    You may not actually be measuring at the widest point, seems really odd dimensions between the 6 commercial and the military.
    Very odd indeed!

    You will like it, my late Uncle brought home one after WW2 and it should have been nick named deer bane since it was apparently uncommon for him to not come home with one using that rifle.

    Trade Exchange has alot of 8mm, some double rifles in the Rimmed 8mm and some came with scopes.

    Here is a 98 with a scope.
    https://www.tradeexcanada.com/conten...l-fn98-8x57-21

    Mil sup ammo is OK to shoot if you are careful but it WILL go though 18" or more of maple logs so make sure of a good dirt pile and direction etc. Occasionally you run across 8mm with wooden bullets but Norma is what my Dad always bought and if I ever fall to temptation (see link above) would be what I would probably use as my first choice.
    https://www.norma.cc/en/Products/Hunting/8x57-JS/

    "The “J” in the name stands for “Infanterie”. The “J” designation is due to a mistake deriving from the previous use of Gothic letters in Germany and has no significance regarding bullet size. But in 1905 the German army switched from round a nosed 226 grain bullets to a 154 grain pointed boattail bullet, and at the same time the diameter of the bullet was altered from .318” to the present standard of .323”. Accordingly the “S” - short for “Spitzer” - means that the barrel is made for .323” bullets.

    Actually it is quite rare nowadays to find a bolt action rifle in the old “J”-caliber (.318”), but old combination guns are still around and a good many of them were made for the 8mm JR. To further complicate the problem many combination guns have only the bullet diameter (8,2 mm) stamped on the barrels regardless of the fact that a large number of 8mm cartridges have been made with very different sizes and shapes of cases. If the least in doubt do ask a qualified gunsmith before trying to fire any cartridge in an old weapon - even from the package that came with it.

    The 8x57 JS and the rimmed version 8x57 JRS are both very flexible cartridge that duplicate the performance of the .30-06 and similar cartridges. Today not many bolt action rifles are made in 8x57 JS, but a good many double rifles and combination guns are still being chambered in 8x57JRS. However as the latter type of guns has a weaker action the loads should be reduced in order not to exceed the pressure limits."


    There is alot more you can do if you reload including reduced charge loads and we actually talked about it some and the variety and the 8mm even came up here.
    https://www.oodmag.com/community/sho...ctual-accuracy

    If it measures out to a JS (.323) then these are a few of the options and even lead free.
    https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...-point-323-dia

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