turkish 8mm mauser ammo

[spacemanspiff]

I recently found some turkish ammo up here, and was wondering if anyone here has any chrono data on similar batches.
i have no idea what weight it is, but maybe i can describe it?
they are stamped with: 7.9 F S 1944 , and three characters that look like a backwards C, an upside down T, and a U with a dot over it.
compared to newer manufactured ammo from winchester, these feel significantly lighter. and while the winchesters have soft noses these are hard tipped.
the groove on the bottom of the case, around the primer, is black.

i bought 700 rounds, for $97.50; another place had something like 1500 rounds for $199. they came in bandoliers on stripper clips. i havent looked through too many of them, but some have the year 1940 stamped instead of '44.

what kind of velocity might i expect from these? its my understanding that the older ammo is hotter than the newly manufactured, is that correct?

 

[Dave Markowitz]

The reason that the Turkish ammo feels lighter than the Winchester SPs is that it's loaded with lighter bullets. IIRC, the Winchester is loaded with 170 grain bullets. The Turkish ammo is equivalent to the German Type-S Ball, i.e., 154 grain bullets.

I have not cronographed any myself, but I've read that the Turkish will do ~2900 fps out of a 29" barrel.

I find it nicer to shoot that S&B 196 grain sS Ball in my VZ-24. The S&B really kicks.

 

[Stinger]

Turk is about as hot as it gets. Be sure to check EACH round, the cases on many of these rounds have developed cracks in the brass and need to be properly disposed of.

Stinger

 

[Moparmike]

I will second the turk as hot ammo. Kicks more than a 30-06 did, more like a 300 savage (ow.). Watch out for the steel cored ammo. Mine was.

700 rounds, for $97.50; another place had something like 1500 rounds for $199

Man, you got reamed hard. Did they offer you any lubricant? I can get 700 rounds for 46-55 bucks, in 3 different websites. BTW, I got reamed at my local gunstore when I bought 2 70-rd bandoleers for $20, dont feel too bad. Live and learn.

Where should we look for these cracks? All of mine have odd looking crimps that could be cracks.

 

[Freightman]

The last Turk I bought I got on sale from Century $112 for 2100 rounds, the Greek ammo that I got here a fw weeks ago is cleaner , not as hot and is $44 for 700 rds from Century + $12 shipping no matter how much you order. http:www.centuryarms.com

 

[PlayTheAces]

Where should we look for these cracks? All of mine have odd looking crimps that could be cracks.

The problems that are reported most frequently on Turk 8MM are:

Loose bullets that you can easily pull out of the case.

Vertical splits running from the base of the bullet/crimp to the begining of the neck.

Also, it's very common for the splits to develop in the case after firing. The brass has gotten brittle with age.

I haven't run into the first two problems, and I have a fair amount of this stuff laid away. I've had numerous splits after firing it, though. Doesn't appear to affect accuracy or function.

 

[Wildalaska]

Man, you got reamed hard. Did they offer you any lubricant? I can get 700 rounds for 46-55 bucks, in 3 different websites.

He didnt get reamed..he got the Alaska bite that we all get..

Ya see...you guys can buy all the ammo you want UPS ground right to your door..us...either goes Air (ouch with a hazmat fee) or UPS to Seattle and then barge up here...

I haul TONS of stuff on barges and get preferable rates....Spiff aint gonna get that and even at my rates 700 rounds is about $10 freight on the barge IF tossed in with several thousand rounds of ammo....

So add $55 plus $10, plus the cost of UPS ($10) and you are already up to $75...guess the shop shouldnt pick up a $20 just becasue he laid out the $$ to ship THOUSANDS of rounds up here...then of course he has listen to people whine "but I can buy it cheaper off the net"...


WildspiffiscoolAlaska

 

[Moparmike]

It wasnt my intent to insult him. I didnt realize that he was in AK and was the victim of such exhorbitant shipping rates.

 

[Tropical Z]

I just brought in 420 rounds of 1943 Turk 8mm from The Sportsmans Guide.All i can say is it better be perfect or im gonna be in a RAGE!!!

 

[spacemanspiff]

you know, i spaced out about your shop wildalaska.... pm me if you have some mauser 8mm in bulk with prices.

i've looked over about 100 rounds so far. its a tedious process, and at first i didnt know what to look for, but within the first ten rounds i found two that had cracks in the case. one on the neck, kind of small, the other was about an inch long, and deep. the crimping all looks fine so far.
i have found about a dozen others that i'm not sure about. theres definite pitting on the neck all the way around, but the body of the case is fine. i'm setting all the ones in question aside.

eventually i'd like to start hunting and i'd like my mauser to be the ideal rifle for game meat. thought i'd have everything in order for this fall, but it looks like next year will be the soonest.


for the rounds i dont feel comfortable shooting, how should they be disposed of? i have a jar full of various rounds that either didnt fire, or were slightly damaged from being jammed. theres some 9mm, .40s&w, .45acp, 7.62x25, and a few other oddballs i found at the range. i usually pick up unfired rounds around my lane, but wont shoot them.

edit - i'm so envious of you lower-48ers that can buy ammo in bulk. i've talked to the guys at Turpin Guns about bulk ordering, letting my order piggyback on theirs, and they indicated i could pay wholesale price on the ammo and pay a portion of the shipping cost. and i spent an hour on the phone calling places to see what kind of ammo they had for me. Gunrunners had some, 1500 rounds for $199 or something.

 

[bmwguy]

Make sure you shoot this Turk 8mm only in bolt action and clean immediately after you shoot with 1/2 ammonia and water or Windex, this ammo is corrosive.

Do NOT shoot it in any semis-

 

[JohnKSa]

I've not heard anything bad about the 1944 Turk. The 1947 Turk is supposed to be the pits.

I think most folks are sorting their Turk ammo by pulling on the bullets. If they come out, throw that round away.

 

[Wildalaska]

Spiff usually Gunrunners has the best prices on that surplus ammo up here...ask for Niels the owner and tell him I sent you...

WildturkissmellyAlaska

 

[Freightman]

I save the bullets and the powder and you can load the componants in boxer brass. The powder is not the corrosive part it is the primmers.
I have a whole box of bullets and a couple of pounds of powder that I hav got from pulling down the Turk ammo to a less hot leavel.