Mauser Coyote Gun?

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Thanks to the folks on here, I found out my war relic sporterized Mauser is a 98a carbine made in 1916. Instead of trying to restore it due to lack of money to track down all the hardware, I'm going to try to get an aftermarket stock.

My question is, what is the range for the 8MM and will it make a good coyote gun? It will have to shoot across corn and soybean fields, so the ranges may be 100 to 200 yards. I know i'd need to scope it, but is it up to snuff as far as the accuracy of the gun being a battle rifle?
 
will it make a good coyote gun?
No.

Skipping heavy 8mm deer hunting bullets across a mile of farm country will make you very unwelcome almost everywhere.

But only if you don't kill a cow, or horse, or somebody's grandkid on the porch swing!!
That will make you in jail.

Varmint rifles in populated country are best had in high velocity calibers, with very light bullets that will break apart when they hit the ground and not ricochet across two farms.

rc
 
It's on my farm, so I know the direction to shoot. I've taken deer over these same fields, bordered with dense woods, with everything from .35 Remington to .308. I just thought the 8mm might shoot flatter and I wouldn't have a wallhanger with 100 rounds setting in the drawer.
 
I would say that it would probably be fine. it's kindof a heavy bullet so bullet drop and wind drift are major obstacles but otherwise there is nothing wrong with using one for coyotes. interesting that someone should bring up bullets bouncing for great distances and hitting houses, livestock, and people... rule number 4 of hunting
be sure of your target and it's surroundings. if there is a herd of cows and a farm behind what you are shooting at, common sense should urge you not to take that shot. all bullets bounce and a 8mm is no more likely to do so as a 223(the most prolific coyote round of all), 22-250(a close runner up), 22lr, or 308.
 
and a 8mm is no more likely to do so as a 223(the most prolific coyote round of all), 22-250(a close runner up), or 22lr
Oh, yes it is!

Heavy deer hunting or FMJ bullets typically shot in an 8mm Mauser, or .22 RF are WAY more likely to ricochet across country then a lightly constructed high velocity varmint rifle bullet out of a .223 or 22-250.

They don't richocette..
They turn to grey lead dust vaper when they hit a varmint, or few blades of grass, or the ground.

rc
 
I have to agree with RC on this, 8mm ?? why not just use a 300 Win mag (LOL).

I hope you were not planning on selling those pelts.

Jim
 
I wuz just looking for a reason to use the gun for somthing constructive.

I've been to Kansas many Times, so I know there ain't no trees to stop anything. (Just kidding.) I understand the long range concern.

Here in the east, where there are trees.. (Just kidding again) when deer season starts, it sounds like a war zone 'cause there are about one hunter in a tree stand or pop up blind for every 2 acres it seems. But on my place, which is fields, woods and rolling hills, if their hunting, their poaching cause it's only me and my nephew.

I have killed coyotes from a deer stand with a .50 cal hawkin during BP season. They are deer killers, rabbit killers and vermin to us, but I can't afford or need a new rifle just for coyotes. I just didn't know the ballistics. Didn't mean to start an argument.
 
I hope you were not planning on selling those pelts.
Actually a high velocity varmint rifle bullet tears up more pelt and kills the varmint way deader right where he hits the ground then an 8mm Mauser ever thought about doing.

The 8mm deer load will shoot an 8mm hole through a coyote or woodchuck, and continue on its merry way like nothing happened.

A hardy coyote will often run 1/4 to 1/2 a mile or so before bleeding out and laying down to die where you won't find it.
BTDT, and got the T-Shirts to prove it 50 years ago!

A 22-250 will blow up inside the animal, or blow the back side out in a pink mist cloud. And the coyote or other varmint will be DRT laying in his own pink mist stained grass.

But regardless of that, that HV lightly constructed varmint bullet is lead vapor now, and ain't going anywhere to damage anything else.

BTW: I DID see a tree in Kansas once! I think?

FACTOID: Eastern Kansas has more trees then any state west of the Mississippi I have ever been too.

rc
 
No.

Skipping heavy 8mm deer hunting bullets across a mile of farm country will make you very unwelcome almost everywhere.

But only if you don't kill a cow, or horse, or somebody's grandkid on the porch swing!!
That will make you in jail.

Varmint rifles in populated country are best had in high velocity calibers, with very light bullets that will break apart when they hit the ground and not ricochet across two farms.

This.

I use a .17 Rem for coyotes. One, those 20 & 25 grain bullets at over 4,000 FPS simply do not ricochet. Secondly, they make a pinprick entrance and almost never exit, so the hides are pristine. The destruction inside the animal, however, is nothing short of astounding; Those tiny bullets at those extreme velocities make a 30 pound pasture poodle DRT.
 
My question is, what is the range for the 8MM and will it make a good coyote gun? It will have to shoot across corn and soybean fields, so the ranges may be 100 to 200 yards. I know i'd need to scope it, but is it up to snuff as far as the accuracy of the gun being a battle rifle?
Think back to 1916 for a minute... trench warfare, no mans land, pop your head above the trench line to see what's up and you had a good chance of getting drilled in the head by someone over there using an 8mm Mauser... so will it shoot across your fields? Yeah. Will it shoot accurately? In the past they did. But that was almost a century ago with newly issued rifles and now?... Maybe. Maybe not. Only you can tell, based on the barrel & muzzle crown condition and ammunition used.

You know it will kill Wile E. Coyote, no ifs, ands or buts. What is behind Wiley in way of backstop? I dunno, but that 8mm is going to pass right thru his sorry little yippin' carcass I'd bet. so you gotta ask yourself, "Is this a wise use of my ammo?" Well, you know your land, soil and surrounding environment, I do not. I do know that the rocky land out here in the south NV desert where I shoot and I hear richochets from lowly .22 lr and .223 all the time. But there are very few others out there who might get zinged by an errant rikyshay (it has happened tho)

Deer rifle? Same issues. You are the hunter. You know your land and neighbors. But as a deer rifle you get to take how many shots a year to harvest venison? A few, hopefully only 1 per ungulate once a year. 'Yotes, any time of year X any possible number of times, so it's your call.

But an 8mm is kinda overkill for a small 30 pound songdog IMO.
 
Although I haven't spent a lot of time in the attempt, I found that the 8MM's I've tried aren't accurate enough with lighter bullets to be considered a coyote gun. I loaded and shot a couple of 125 grain bullet loads in two rifles getting 2-3" 100 yard groups. The bullets that provided adequate accuracy for small targets were not appropriate for use on coyotes. The Remington 185 PSP was most accurate with the Nosler180(?) BT close second.
Either would be as good as a 30-30 or 35 Rem but none of the loads I tried would be optimum due to the likelyhood of ricochet. Unlike the result of shooting through a deer where the bullet is more likely deformed, the tough constructed 8mm bullets will sail right through a coyote and continue for several hundred yards.
American factory loaded 8x57 ammo is barely more powerful than top end 30-30 loads due to the concern that stupid shooters might injure themselves shooting .323 ammo in .318 bores.
 
Out to around 200 yards or so, it's as flat-shooting as one would need for a coyote. Further? Learn the trajectory. :) No big deal.

From a coyote's viewpoint, it's likely as ruinacious as any other cartridge...
 
I can hold 1-1/2" @ 100yds and 3"-4"@ 200 with my M24/47 Yugo in 8mm mauser with my handloads(175grn Sierra's & 180 Nosler BT's) at around 2600fps.
I believe 150grns can be pushed to 2700-2800fps in the 8x57, that's in the same class as many other cartridges, I however have never shot bullets that light in mine.
the four upper holes are the sight in shots, the group in the lower right of center bull is @ 100yards and those are 4" dots.
168185168187
 

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a 98a (aka Kar98az) is not the most common of mausers, especially if the maker is not erfurt.... but the hardware can be tracked down on ebay, springfield sporters, etc. It might be worth restoring, even though you mentioned you wouldnt want to. Think about it, unless the barrel has been cut or the action drilled. I have had many 98a's over the years & the one I currently am hanging onto is fairly accurate; sierra 150's shoot 1.5" groups with imr4895 powder; In 1916 the germans were still using the lighter bullets; a 98k will most likely prefer a 200+/- gr projectile (sS or heavy spitzer). So this actually works in your benefit for the ranges mentioned. Just remember though, if somebody talks you into rebarreling it, the 98a is a small ring action not large ring.
 
The barrel is not cut, but the stock was "sporterized". I had asked on another thread with pictures about what I had and the story behind it. It is marked Erfurt 1916. My wife's dad was shot down over Germany during WW2 and made his way back to the allies lines. It was "captured", but no one is alive now that can tell us if he took it, or he was given it, but he did return from Germany with it. He used it in Michigan for deer hunting, but we understand his brother borrowed it back in the early 1960's and cut down the stock. I understand when her dad got it back, he was pretty upset. All the hardware is missing. I've shot it, and like it, but many have said it wouldn't improve the value since the parts won't be original to the gun. It even has a removable nosecap, but there has been different opinions what it is for, other than for muzzel protection.

The other pictures and story is in this forum under "Another Mauser Question" I posted. For some reason, it won't let me put those same pictures here.
 

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but there has been different opinions what it is for,
What opinions??

It's a hinged muzzle cover to keep dirt & mud out of the barrel during day to day living in combat.

rc
 
the cap performs several functions: protects the crown in transit, keeps water & debris out of the bore, and acts as a cleaning rod guide (again, mainly to protect the crown) those are rare - my rifle has a matching numbered cap on it as well. Is it stamped 1920 on the action or left side of the buttstock? if so, its a reichswehr reissue. these were commonly issued to police departments after versailles, some ended up being used by the freikorps, some later by the SA and SS. As far as I know, none were officially reissued in WW2 (nor the polish copy, although various large ring 98's were captured and used by the wehrmacht), although rear-eschelon troops might have ended up with them on occasion. GI's brought them back because they were available when the police liquidated their stockpiles after the war, and they were often in good shape. the replacement parts are obtainable (just get german parts and not polish 98a parts) although the numbers will mismatch that isnt a huge deal, and repro stocks & handguards are available....I know a guy who makes forends for 'sporterized' military rifles, and a good carpenter might be able to splice your half-stock to a replacement forend. Or....like you said, leave it the way it is and kill coyotes with it! I end up restoring everything I buy, so my opinion might be biased.
 
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