thoughts on the 8x57 mauser

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brian923

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hey guys. wanted to know what you guys thought of the 8x57 for all different kinds of purposes. hunting, and long range target shooting.

i have a mauser that i hav just "sporterized" and am thinking about changing caliber. but...... there is a certain nestalgia (sp)
about the 8x57, so i dont know if i want to really change caliber. i cant really find a lot of info on the internet other than that the 8x57 was usd by the germans (dah) against the allies in WW1 and WW2.
i also know that the american loaded, or factory loaded ammo is not loaded to the cartridges full potential. i have shoot remington corlocked out of her when she was still in her origonal turkish mauser apperacnce, and she could put 4 rounds in an 1.5" hole at around 75 to 100 yards. i know that thats not benchrest accurrate, but for being a turk millitary rifle that was still full of not all, but some cosmoline, not to shabby.

tell me what you guys think about this round. i have seen that sierra has some really good bullets in the .323" catagory.

i have not shot this rifle after getting her finished up, but i will hopefully soon hit my grandfathers field, and when i do, ill let ya know how i shoots. ill also try to get a pic posted here soon.

thanks guys, brian
 
Nothing wrong with the 8x57. It is a .30-06 class cartridge available in a ton of commercial loadings (albeit mostly European ammo companies). IIRC, SIerra only has hunting bullets in .323", though. If you want match type, probably going to have to look at Europe again. The beauty of 8x57 is that right now, surplus ammo is DIRT cheap. One shop here was selling cases for $77 a few months ago. It was mixed manufacture and probably each round should be inspected, but you get the point.
 
I think that the 8x57mm (7.92x57mm Mauser) is such a fine cartridge that I even have a Remington 700 in it...

Among others, of course...

:)

Forrest
 
IMO, the 8x57mm is the best full-power rifle cartridge out there. Powerful enough for large game but still accurate enough for long range shooting. The recoil is tolerable (better than a .30-06 IMO) and it makes an impressive boom. If you want to go hunting load up some 196gr SP and you'll be all set. I'm not sure what to do about match bullets.
 
Biggest problem with the 8mm is it can be difficult to find a good selection of ammo or bullets. Plan on mail order unless you are forunate to have a very good gun shot. By contrast, it is usually easy to find a large selection of 308 or 7mm bullets.

8mm Mauser is a relatively well balance cartridge for north America, similar to 30-06 although typically loaded to lower pressure and velocity. BC of 8mm bullets tend to be low for bullet weight.

You can get a replacement barrel from Brownells for about $80 in any of a number of calibers

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/st...x?p=22531&title=SHORT+CHAMBERED+MAUSER+BARREL
 
If you are shooting out of a Mauser 98, make sure you know what the bore diameter is. Some of the older G98's (pre-1906, I believe) had .318" bores while newer G98's and K98's have .323" bores. Otherwise you'll run into a lot of issues.
 
thanks for all the info. i have measured and re-measured my barrel and found it to be the .323" bore. in relation to good bc bullets, sierrabullets.com shows an average of .520 bc for there 220 grn gamekings. not to shabby. not at all. but there about the best choice for the 8mm.
 
The 8mm Mauser or 7.9x57 JS was and is one of and in my opinion THE the best modern full size rifle cartridge that exists today that a nation has ever standardized. There is no reason for Yugoslovia to transitio to 7.62x51 nato for their M53's and M76's as it would acheive nothing good.
 
Only problem with 8mm is the lack of ammo. Last year at this time it was dirt cheap next year at this time and it will be an arm and leg price. Not too much for surplus anymore....
 
The prices are still ok, if you can find it. I can still find 8x57mm for cheap money, as long as I can find it at all. Just yesterday I picked up 100 rounds of Romanian surplus for $20 (5 boxes @ $4 apiece) at a local shop.

It's laquered steel case, but I shot a whole can of the stuff without issue so I did not hesitate to buy some more. So it is possible to find cheap 8x57mm, you just have to do a little searching. But better do it soon, cause it's going fast.
 
If my wife knew how many Mausers I have, I would get divorced, arrested, and committed.

I am a Mauser freak.
When they sold them at BIG5, I could not drive past the store.


I sporterized one at age 14 in 1965.
I took it up again at age 48 in 1999.

I love the 8x57 cartridge at the range with 200 gr Match King at 2650 fps [someone died and I got buckets]
I love hunting with 220 gr Sierra at 2650 fps [ someone died and I got buckets]

Here is a picture of a storage facility, where I keep some.
 

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Love it

I have a turk Mauser in 8mm. I just love it. I hand load for this gun and it will do a cloverleaf all day long with 150 grain Sierra's at !00 yards. All I did was get the bolt turned D&T and had the safety changed on it for $94.00. I put an old Leopold mount on it with a good scope and WALLA. great gun.


steve
 
I wish I had as many Mauser as you do...I only have one
Click to expand...

You only need one! A Yugo was my first surplus rifle. Great, solid 98.

I agree that the 8x57JS is in many respects superior to the .30'06. It is also the original spitzer--the one that prompted every other nation to adopt a similar high vel spitzer loading prior to WWI. It's the round that scared the US so much we switched ASAP from the .30'03 to the .30'06. It scared the bejesus out of everybody, and the only round that comes close to its perfect balance is the 7.5 Swiss GP-11.

Don't get domestically produced 8x57JS under any circumstances. It's all been dramatically downloaded because of outdated SAAMI specs. Domestic 8x57JS is on par with .30-30. There are however several European outfits from CZ to Privi to Norma who are cranking the stuff out, in addition to all the surplus.
 
8x57 is an excellent round.
I've owned many big ring 98's both military and commercial. I can't feel complete without at least one in my possession. My most recent is an FN contract in 7x57. I really like this gun and caliber. (hijack off)
Although 8m/m is drying up, it's much more available than 7m/m surplus
 
8mm Mauser

Anything the 30-06 can do , the 8mm Mauser will do just as well.
I actually prefer the 8mm Mauser over the 06. The 06 is just a copy of something good.........:D
 
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