I want an 8mm 'cause grandpa had one.

[magnatecman]

So I am thinking I want to get a milsurp type rifle and I am interested in an 8mm Mauser. My Grand dad used one that he brought back from the war, to hunt mule deer with.
The reason I want one is for an Elk hunt that I may some day draw a tag for, 15 years and counting that I have been putting in for this tag !

I am wanting to find something similar to what he had, however I have not seen his rifle since I was just a child. My uncle has it now and will be sending me pics later.
Not having any experience with these old school rifles, what are the options, and what would make a good shooter today?

 

[Sergei Mosin]

The most readily available and affordable, these days, are the Yugoslavian rifles, M24/47 and M48 models.

 

[magnatecman]

How accurate are they and can they have a scope easily installed ?

 

[hipoint]

pay attention to the bore, might be a good idea to get a bullet, not a loaded cartridge, just a bullet. Take that with ya when you go look at one and push it through the more. If it falls straight through like mine did, it's wore out haha...

they're pretty easy to come up with though, and it's a heck of a round. I really like the old mausers that someone put some time into and sporterized them well, but not everyone likes a sporter.

You give up a little speed to the .30-06 but not enough to be noticeable for most of us, it's pretty comparable to a .30-06 just makes a slightly bigger hole.

I love the old 8mm mausers, I eventually got rid of mine due to the cost of hunting ammo for them, but they're some of the best guns ever produced in my opinion.

 

[magnatecman]

Could the bullet falling thru be due to the .318 bore vs. a .323 bore ? I read somewhere about the older 8mm using the smaller bore diameter. So that brings up the question, how can you tell the difference other than the bullet test.

I would be good with a sporterized version since I want to hunt with it, and I think that is what grandpa had anyway.

 

[hipoint]

the "odd" sized bore was only in really really old ones like over 100 years old now, if you stay with the ones built around wwII then you don't have to worry about that.

the bullet falling through was due to the bore just being gone, rusted and shot out.

I have heard about a company making new production 8mm mausers though, if I wanted another one I might seriously consider that route but if you want something historical, they aren't too hard or expensive to come up with.

 

[Sergei Mosin]

Lots and lots of sporterized 8mm Mausers out there. Hunt your local pawn shops until you find one with a good bore and go from there.

 

[dak0ta]

Look for out for a Husqvarna 640 model in 8x57. Check out Simpsons Ltd. Swedish made guns on FN Commercial 98 receivers, Swedish steel barrels. Sleeper deals.

 

[nathan]

FInd a nice K 98 rifle. Make sure its not counterbored . Find one with a tight bore . They are around $400 for an excellent one.

 

[Sprouticus]

I picked up a Yugo captured K98 about a year ago from James River Armory for $350.

It has a really nice bore and shoots tight groups. The Yugoslavs took off the German markings and replaced them with their own. But that is fine for me I wasn’t really looking for a correct K98 anyway (too much $).

I hunted with it this fall and took a really nice doe. I put a Hogue over molded stock on it for comfort, gives you an extra inch in the length of pull, plus it is padded. I also put Bold trigger on, it was a little less expensive than a Timney but I really like it. I then scout scoped it with a 4X fixed Weaver.

After hunting it only took about 15 minutes to put all back to the Military configuration. (I use it for bolt gun night on my military rifle league in the summer, only iron sights are allowed.)

As far as .318 vs. .323 bore, I have read that American made ammo that is marked 8mm Mauser is loaded down so it will be safe if a person happened to shoot it through a .318 bore.
If you want more juice for hunting you need to buy ammo marked 7.92x57JS. I used Sellier & Bellot 196 SP myself.

 

[jason41987]

magna, im planning to pick up a barreled action K98K say.. something specifically with low collector value but still with nazi marked receiver (big fan of WWII stuff, especially on the german side) and restore it back to issued condition and maybe use it as my primary rifle over my AK-74.. and i really like 8mm ballistics..i also have a complete 3D CAD solid model of the K98K stock i can easily print patterns out from for carving and inletting a new stock

 

[morcey2]

Another one to watch for is the Remington 700 Classic in 8x57. It was their selected cartridge for one year, but I don't remember which year.

If you get an M24/47, odds are that it has never been shot since being refurbished (converted from M24 to M24/47) and the vast majority of them have effectively new barrels. I have two primary hunting rifles, one is a Spanish M44 in 8x57 that I got from my dad. It took some work, but it shoots MOA with handloads, Bold trigger, and a new crown.

As Sergei Mosin mentioned, there are lots of sporterized mausers in pawn shops and gun stores. I haven't seen as many lately around here, but they do show up. Keep looking around and you'll be able to find one that has already been modified for a scope for about the same price as a 24/47 or M48.

Matt

 

[Tinpig]

Look for a CZ vz-24 in 8x57. I have a 1937 rifle with a good bore and the smoothest action of any bolt gun I own. Carbine-size, accurate and fun to shoot.



Tinpig

 

[Bwana John]

If I spent 15 years trying to get a certain elk tag, I would NOT be using a rifle that is still in milsurp guise, i.e. mil trigger pull, not so great iron sights, no glass, full lenght stock, cleaning rod... ect.

I would have NO problems with a rebarreled M98 action in a good sporter type properly bedded stock, with good after market trigger, receiver correctly drilled for scope bases, and topped with a good piece of glass.

As Sergei Mosin posted there are LOTs of 50's era sporterized Mausers out there, some better than anything mass produced commercially today, and some real Bubba specials however... "May The Buyer Beware".

 

[T.R.]

Try GunBroker.com to view all the 8mm rifles for sale. One of my best friends hunted for decades with a Czech Mauser in 7.9mm that fired 8mm ammo quite well. The rifle featured a 24 inch barrel and a simple bolt action with the bolt sticking straight out from the stock. It would be spendy for a bolt and safety conversion for scope use so he had the military iron sights replaced with modern receiver sight and new post at the front end. Mostly he shot American ammo which is loaded to lower pressure than European ammo but made no difference. Animals are not armor-plated!

Remington made their Classic series of model 700 rifles for one year in 8mm. This is the equivalent of a factory custom rifle. They typically sell for around $700. in the used-but-not-abused condition.

8mm never became hugely popular in USA but it is widely used abroad. Years ago, I was stationed in Spain with US Air Force. It took almost a year for my fallow deer license to go through the gov't bureaucracies. I rented an 8mm rifle from my guide and took a trophy buck at distance of approx. 150 yards. One shot through the chest organs toppled this fine animal. Performance and accuracy impressed me.

Good hunting to you!
TR

 

[redneck383]

If you are able to find a good price on a Yugo M48 I wouldn't hesitate. Mine is very accurate with the iron sights and bolt travel is smooth. Look at Wideners. I saw they were in stock not long ago for under $300. The only warning I have is that the aftermarket for this model vs the K98 is drastically smaller as far as stocks go (at least in my experience). But the 8mm round is plenty for whitetail around here and with a good bullet I'd have no fear of elk hunting with it. Reloading would be a good way to get the most out of it though as many manufacturers don't load it to its full potential.

 

[denton]

http://utahguns.com/category/306/Rifles/listings/25681/8x57-Large-Ring-Mauser.html

 

[jason41987]

does it count as wanting an 8mm if i said i wanted an STG44 clone firing 7.92x33 kurz?.. maybe ill convert an AK to 7.92x33 and help bring it back

 

[Palehorseman]

When wildcatting was the rage, I had a FN k-98 8mm, rechambered to 8mm-06, then later had it rechambered to Ackley 8mm-06 improved, then to a Gibbs 8mm-06 improved.

Yeah I know, nuts, but being a gun nut back then could be done on the cheap and was fun.

 

[magnatecman]

If I spent 15 years trying to get a certain elk tag, I would NOT be using a rifle that is still in milsurp guise, i.e. mil trigger pull, not so great iron sights, no glass, full lenght stock, cleaning rod... ect.

I would have NO problems with a rebarreled M98 action in a good sporter type properly bedded stock, with good after market trigger, receiver correctly drilled for scope bases, and topped with a good piece of glass.

As Sergei Mosin posted there are LOTs of 50's era sporterized Mausers out there, some better than anything mass produced commercially today, and some real Bubba specials however... "May The Buyer Beware".

This would all depend on having confidence in the setup obviously, But I could go for a sporter version as well. Most of my shots on game are less than 100 yards, with the majority of those being less than 40 yards. But at the same time you don't want to limit yourself too much either. There are the occasional needs for shots of 4-500 yards. I would likely have a second rifle for those situations.

The area I'm putting in for the elk tag on, is an area my grand dad loved to hunt for deer . He also carried an 8mm labell ? (spelling?) is what he called it I believe. Is that the same thing as the 8mm mauser?

Anyway I feel like doing this as a way of honoring his memory in a way I guess.

 

[morcey2]

This would all depend on having confidence in the setup obviously, But I could go for a sporter version as well. Most of my shots on game are less than 100 yards, with the majority of those being less than 40 yards. But at the same time you don't want to limit yourself too much either. There are the occasional needs for shots of 4-500 yards. I would likely have a second rifle for those situations.

The area I'm putting in for the elk tag on, is an area my grand dad loved to hunt for deer . He also carried an 8mm labell ? (spelling?) is what he called it I believe. Is that the same thing as the 8mm mauser?

Anyway I feel like doing this as a way of honoring his memory in a way I guess.

8mm Lebel is a French round and is very different from the 8mm Mauser.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8mm_Lebel (wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt but it appears to be mostly correct.)

The ballistics are very similar, but Lebel-chambered rifles are much harder to find and hunting ammunition is next to nonexistent. With the correct bullet, 8mm Mauser is well capable of taking Elk out to 250-ish yards. I have a load with 200 gr Nosler partitions that go at 2550 fps out of one of my rifles and shoots MOA.

Matt

 

[tahunua001]

well unless you'll be hunting in thick trees then I suggest a sporterized version which can normally be had for much cheaper than getting an original. there are dozens of mauser models that were chambered in 8mm though most are based on the model 98 action. model 98s are very expensive though a lot of the clones can be had for around $300.

 

[denton]

There is no reason whatever that a good milsurp cannot be a very effective hunting rifle. One of the best made rifles I ever owned was a 6.5x55 Swedish milsurp. With Mojo sights, I could routinely do 1 3/4" groups at 100 yards.

If you can find an 8mm Mauser that shoots that well, you can add Mojos to it, instead of mounting a scope, and have an outfit that will drop most any moose in town out to 300+ yards. The whole package will probably be less than $325.

There are milsurp 8mm rifles that will do 2" or better groups. The trick is finding which one of the many that will do that. Many do 3", a few are only good enough to do 4", and a few are 2" and better, in my experience.

You can rather easily get 2750 FPS with a 175 grain bullet. As stated, that's a little slower than the 30-06 with equivalent weight. But no deer, elk, or moose is going to go home and brag to his family that he shrugged off a hit at 200 yards.

There are a great many cartridges that will work well on big game. If there is one that you have a particular fondness for, there is no reason not to use it.

 

[magnatecman]

8mm Lebel is a French round and is very different from the 8mm Mauser.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8mm_Lebel (wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt but it appears to be mostly correct.)

The ballistics are very similar, but Lebel-chambered rifles are much harder to find and hunting ammunition is next to nonexistent. With the correct bullet, 8mm Mauser is well capable of taking Elk out to 250-ish yards. I have a load with 200 gr Nosler partitions that go at 2550 fps out of one of my rifles and shoots MOA.

Matt

So it would be unlikely he actually was using the lebel huh?

 

[morcey2]

So it would be unlikely he actually was using the lebel huh?

Not necessarily unlikely. I think that there were quite a few imported between WWI and WWII, but that's just me going off memory of stories off the interwebz. Remington even produced some rolling block chambered in 8mm Lebel.

Matt