8mm Mauser or 8mm AI?

[grsjax]

I have been thinking of reaming out my 8mm Mauser to 8mm AI. Have read all I can find on this and am just getting more confused. Some writers think this is a great upgrade, some think it is a waste of effort. From what I can see it gives you 3 or 4 grains of increased case capacity and longer case life. Anyone actually have any experiance with the 8mm AI? Would like to hear about actually performance.

 

[NCsmitty]

The standard 8MM mauser is pretty potent when loaded to it's full potential. The usual upgrade is to the 8MM-06 which adds about 8 grains of powder but not a big increase in performance.
I would leave it as-is.
Here's a link to the Realguns site with stout but safe loads for the standard 8MM Mauser.

http://www.realguns.com/loads/8x57mmjs.htm

NCsmitty

 

[rcmodel]

+1

The Ackley Improved stuff doesn't add all that much when equal pressures are used.

Back in the day, before pressure transducers & cheap chronographs became commonplace, all the wildcats did give much higher performance then the parent cartridge.

But that was before they found out they were over-loading them by a very wide margin while flying seat-of-the-pants on pressure & velocity measurements.

rcmodel

 

[280shooter]

I shoot 8mm,,I wouldn't touch or mess with the AI idea. if u need more power..try a different Cal.like 30-06
but dont mess a piece of history up,

just my 2 cents

 

[rcmodel]

From Speer #13 Manual

8mm Mauser
150 gr @ 2,915 FPS
170gr @ 2,723 FPS
200 gr @ 2,469 FPS

30-06
150 gr @ 2,847 FPS
168 gr @ 2,825 FPS
200 gr @ 2,554 FPS

Somehow, rebarreling to a 30-06 doesn't seem worth the effort & expense.
You can get more performance differance then that by changing from one powder to another.

rcmodel

 

[Jimfern]

Shooting Times

I remember reading an article where they took a Model 70 30-06 that was going to be rebarreled and tested it with the same loads in straight 30-06, 30-06 AI, and 30 Gibs. The overall results were about 50 fps more for the AI and about 80 or 90 fps more for the Gibs.

Didn't seem worth the effort to me, but to each his own.

 

[Gewehr98]

Don't let domestic 8x57 ammo fool you.

It's purposely underloaded, closer to .30-30 Winchester, in deference to potential problems shooting in 1888 Commission Rifles, etc.

Full-power 8x57 Mauser will do anything the .30-06 will do, and handle heavier bullets better, too.

I run 200-220gr .323" bullets in my 8mm Mauser sporter for Wyoming elk, and it's a wonderful thing.

The Ackley Improved version really doesn't buy you that much extra over European-spec 8x57 loads.

Handload the 8x57 to proper specs, and you'll have an incredibly versatile rifle and ammo combination.