Help ID My FN 8mm Mauser

[tharkey]

I inherited an 8mm Belgian Mauser from my father. I am attaching a copy of the markings found on receiver and/or barrel. The rifle has a sporting stock, not military. Can anyone provide details from the markings?

 

[AethelstanAegen]

Those are just Belgian proof marks. I'm not an expert on Belgian proof marks so I can't tell you much about dates but that should help you figure some of it out.

 

[Jim K]

The 8x51mm Mauser is so close to the 7.62x51 NATO that they are almost twins except for caliber. I have little doubt that the 7.62 or .308 Winchester would fireform nicely in an 8x51 chamber. I would not fire either round at full power, though, until I had the rifle checked out.

I found dies on a Czech site but not cheap at €159. There might be some other way if you want to shoot the rifle.

Jim

 

[303tom]

They are special order, but you need to check out Midway.................
http://www.midwayusa.com/find?dimensionids=12409

 

[tharkey]

Thanks for the symbol chart, AethelstanAegen. Definitely Belgian. Now I know where it was made and who made it. Any advice on finding when it was made, perhaps by the serial number?

 

[AethelstanAegen]

I'm afraid I don't know that much about Belgian rifles...it's possible that you can find an FN Mauser action list somewhere of the serials. I don't know of anything off the top of my head. It's possible if you contact FNH, they may be able to help you (much like you can do for a Winchester or S&W). It's also possible that your rifle didn't start out with a sporting stock and could be a re-purposed military action (FNH started with a contract to build 150,000 Model 89 Mausers). I'd recommend trying to contact FN and see what they say; I suspect that any lists may have been lost in either WW1 or WW2 but it's possible them might still be around.

I think the original Model 1889s were in 7.65x53 and I'm guessinf the 7.9m mark on your rifle might be the caliber (so probably 7.92x57), so it's probably a later military model or a commercial action. Either was, send FNH a message and see if they respond and then just do some googling and see if you can turn up a serial number range list.

 

[tharkey]

Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal (FN) is pretty big - They own the FN, Browning and Winchester brands - and they're pretty old - 1889. I've tried contacting FN-Herstal and FN-USA several times and have yet to receive a response.

 

[Jim Watson]

It would help if you showed pictures of the rifle.
It might be an actual FN sporting rifle, they have sold guns not under the Browning brand.
It might be a sporterized FN military rifle, there are many versions to work with.